MiniDSP SHD Studio

[Sashoir]

I have a SHD studio, purchased principally to experiment with room correction. Overall I've been happy with my purchase; less so since Spotify connect on it seems to have gone kaput.
I think I shall eventually move on from Dirac for a few different reasons, but I think it's a reasonably well put together product. If you are in the UK, it is cheaper to buy direct and pay the import duties yourself than go through a re-seller. If you have other miniDSP products, beware: their IR codes are common across products, do to avoid changing volume, input, etc on my other devices unintentionally, I've had to employ gaffer tape over my 2x4 and nano Digi IR sensors.

 

[Tokyo_John]

I've been considering the MiniDSP SHD Studio, as I will be looking for a good crossover and room correction solution when I move into a new house and add a powered subwoofer to my system.

Right now I have a simple setup: Laptop->(USB)->DAC->(XLR)->Power Amp->Loudspeakers

Option A: If I get a subwoofer with an analogue high pass through channel I could do something easy like...
Laptop->(USB)->DAC->(RCA)->Subwoofer->(RCA)->Power Amp->Loudspeakers
...switching from XLR to RCA because most subwoofers don't take XLR. The potential downside is that our (ungrounded) electricity sometimes gives a little 60 Hz buzz with RCA connections, but this may or may not be an issue in the new place.

Option B: With the SHD Studio the paths split...
Laptop->(USB)->SHD Studio->
|->(SPDIF)->DAC->(XLR)->Power Amp->Loudspeakers
|->(SPDIF)->DAC->(RCA)->Subwoofer
...which seems to be what the SHD Studio is made to do. It requires another DAC as well (but maybe I don't have to get anything fancy to run a sub). The potential downside here is that the SHD Studio limits signals to 24/96 which is a downgrade from my current DAC's capabilities, although any loss in quality I suffer will likely be more than compensated by the benefits of Dirac room correction (I already own the mic).

Option C: ?

I don't really need the streamer aspect of the SHD studio, since I can stream from my computers without any issues. But minidsp does not seem to offer a similar product that does the same things without a streamer?

Maybe I'm better off with Option A so long as I don't get any hum issues with the RCA and ungrounded electricity. I'd be curious to know what kind of other higher end options there might be besides the minidsp, something that does what SHD Studio does but goes up to higher bit depth/rate and maybe ditches the streamer option?

 

[AudioStudies]

although any loss in quality I suffer will likely be more than compensated by the benefits of Dirac room correction (I already own the mic).

Indeed, I like Option B, and the cost of another DAC is not a big issue like it would have been 15 years ago, because there are so many inexpensive DACs that perform quite well.

 

[AudioStudies]

Shipping company contacted me to tell me I owe ~ $50 import duty fees. So if you order one, plan on such.

 

[brtd]

So how is the SHD treating you?

I'm awaiting mine... DHL is still getting it through customs. I will be using this in our living room, which (finally) will give us a nice 2-channel setup that is uncoupled from a TV. For years out music/TV situation was in the same spot.

I've used the gamut... Jriver for a long time before moving to Plex for it's simplicity. At the moment I am using a Chromecast audio, but that will be repurposed when the SHD arrives.

I just installed Volumio on my unRaid server to get a taste of it. Hmm -- at first glance I'm not sure I am a fan. But admittedly I haven't really given it much of a shot yet. In fact my googling the topic led me to another thread which referenced this one.

I've tried Roon, but gave up on it when it didn't play nice with my multichannel files for some reason. But since I'm going 2ch only in this case, I might give it another shot if the SHD is a workable endpoint.

 

[AudioStudies]

Regrettably, I haven't had a chance to hook it up yet.

 

[brtd]

OK - well perhaps we shall race. DHL texted me moments ago to pay the import fee (~$50). Maybe it will show up tomorrow.

 

[Helicopter]

I will probably get one eventually for the all digital Dirac. I won't use the streamer since I have Amazon Music HD.

 

[AudioStudies]

OK - well perhaps we shall race.

I think you will win.

 

[MaxBuck]

I will probably get one eventually for the all digital Dirac. I won't use the streamer since I have Amazon Music HD.

I think the DDRC-22D will accomplish that at a lower cost, assuming you have a good downstream DAC.

 

[poxymoron]

Hi. I don't want to hijack this thread but wondering if any Studio users can advise if it is possible to switch the left and right audio channels? I'll be connecting an SHD Studio to Edifier S3000pro active speakers along with a streamer of some sort and the right speaker is the master speaker with all the connections but I really need it to be on the left. Rather than just swapping the speakers can I swap the speakers and then swap the audio channels to compensate for the speaker swap? Does Dirac on the SHD Studio allow this? Thanks.

 

[Madjalapeno]

I have the full SHD. For a while I was using a Pi to stream to it so as to not need to use VolumeIO, but with the chip shortage that Pi is now serving elsewhere.

It's a nice piece of equipment - I like having a display for volume, etc.

 

[beefkabob]

Hi. I don't want to hijack this thread but wondering if any Studio users can advise if it is possible to switch the left and right audio channels? I'll be connecting an SHD Studio to Edifier S3000pro active speakers along with a streamer of some sort and the right speaker is the master speaker with all the connections but I really need it to be on the left. Rather than just swapping the speakers can I swap the speakers and then swap the audio channels to compensate for the speaker swap? Does Dirac on the SHD Studio allow this? Thanks.

I am 95% sure that you can. I don't feel like reinstalling all the software on my new computer right now to make 100% sure.

https://www.minidsp.com/images/documents/SHD%20Series%20User%20Manual.pdf

The Matrix Mixer on page 53.
Also, can your edifiers not choose their channels? My JBLs can choose left, right, or both channels each.

 

[Godataloss]

The whole REW process looks a bit intimidating to me, but perhaps just because I haven't done anything like it. Let me know if any of you have any "words of wisdom" as I will need to tackle that soon after the unit arrives . . .

No replies so I'll give you my .2 I went with Dirac on the SHD. I took my time with it, following the directions explicitly and had no issues and the results the very first time were excellent.

 

[Godataloss]

Hi. I don't want to hijack this thread but wondering if any Studio users can advise if it is possible to switch the left and right audio channels? I'll be connecting an SHD Studio to Edifier S3000pro active speakers along with a streamer of some sort and the right speaker is the master speaker with all the connections but I really need it to be on the left. Rather than just swapping the speakers can I swap the speakers and then swap the audio channels to compensate for the speaker swap? Does Dirac on the SHD Studio allow this? Thanks.

Not sure if Dirac can, but you can do this easily with the miniDSP control software.

 

[poxymoron]

that's great, thanks for the replies. i'll check the manual too.

 

[Dekiller]

Forget the Volumio. A Bubble heals the pain. Wish they will upgrade to 192K soon.

 

[poxymoron]

Hi. Can the USB on the Studio be used for output? I thought I read somewhere previously that that functionality had been added, but I cannot remember where, or if, I read that. Thanks.

 

[ex audiophile]

I have a SHD studio, purchased principally to experiment with room correction. Overall I've been happy with my purchase; less so since Spotify connect on it seems to have gone kaput.
I think I shall eventually move on from Dirac for a few different reasons, but I think it's a reasonably well put together product. If you are in the UK, it is cheaper to buy direct and pay the import duties yourself than go through a re-seller. If you have other miniDSP products, beware: their IR codes are common across products, do to avoid changing volume, input, etc on my other devices unintentionally, I've had to employ gaffer tape over my 2x4 and nano Digi IR sensors.

After trying them all I'm all in on Spotify. Could you elaborate on the "gone kaput" comment, lol. thanks

 

[NTK]

Hi. Can the USB on the Studio be used for output? I thought I read somewhere previously that that functionality had been added, but I cannot remember where, or if, I read that. Thanks.

In the spec section: