adding some type of RC

[airgas1998]

I'd like to implement something like the mini shd with dirac into my system, but this looks way to complicated. is there a user friendly model to choose or am I sol if I'm not knowledgeable. for example I wouldn't know how to adjust peq slopes gains delays etc etc...can dirac just do it for me? am I just wasting time and money and really need to know about this stuff?? the big thing for me would be something that can pass a HPF so i can relieve my monitors, and let the sub do the heavy lifting....

 

[DonH56]

Dirac Live is automated; make the measurements following the pictures it provides, set your target curve, and go. You don't need to know the technical stuff for it to run.

Bass management is normally handled by the AVR/AVP/whatever, however. Dirac Live treats every speaker as full-range. You could adjust the target curves to create your own crossover, of course, but I'd expect the crossover to the subs to be done by your AVR. I do not have a miniDSP SHD so do not know if it includes bass management; hopefully, it says so in the literature, or one of our fellow members will know.

HTH - Don

 

[airgas1998]

Dirac Live is automated; make the measurements following the pictures it provides, set your target curve, and go. You don't need to know the technical stuff for it to run.

Bass management is normally handled by the AVR/AVP/whatever, however. Dirac Live treats every speaker as full-range. You could adjust the target curves to create your own crossover, of course, but I'd expect the crossover to the subs to be done by your AVR. I do not have a miniDSP SHD so do not know if it includes bass management; hopefully, it says so in the literature, or one of our fellow members will know.

HTH - Don

That's just it..my Rotel preamp has no bass mgmt...

 

[airgas1998]

i just need some input on which model would be best suited for my needs... i have a pre and amp that uses xlr connects, and I have a separate dac as well...

 

[DonH56]

That's just it..my Rotel preamp has no bass mgmt...

OK, I saw you had an Onkyo AVR in your sig.

The miniDSP SHD product brief shows subwoofer integration and crossovers so it should work just fine for you. There may be other options but I am not really competent to comment (not something I follow).

 

[DVDdoug]

You can make an RC filter which will drop-off at 6dB per octave. Here is an online calculator.

Note that with ANY filter the cutoff frequency is defined as the -3dB point so if you calculate/design a "100Hz" high-pass filter it's 3db down at 100Hz. Then at -6dB per octave you'd be -9dB down at 50Hz. If you want to "fully pass" 100Hz you'd have to calculate lower cutoff frequency.

It can get a little tricky because in a high-pass filter the load (i.e. the power amp input) is in parallel with the filter's resistor, lowering the effective resistance and that increases the cutoff frequency. If you know the amplifier's input impedance you can calculate the effective resistance, otherwise the resistor should be low relative to the amplifier's input impedance. But, if the resistance is too low it will "load" the preamp output.
So usually, 10K is a good compromise assuming the amplifier's input impedance is about 100K.

...That's one of the "problems" with passive filters if you don't have control of the associated circuitry. Plus RC filters have that slight-slope and more complex LC filters can be lossy.

But, it may be "better than nothing".

 

[airgas1998]

ok let's start over based on my current setup what model would best be suited for my needs....I only stream music no tt or cd player etc..and i have an external dac so really don't need one already built-in..thought I saw something like the minidsp 2x4hd that can come with Dirac??? thinking this would be the model best suited for me..no??

heres a breakdown....streamer (bluesound node) to dac-preamp/subwoofer-amp-ch 1 speaker, ch 2 speaker..this would be a 2.1 system only...

also, don't need volumio(or whatever it's called) and or roon unless no way around that...

 

[airgas1998]

come on guys no one can recommend a minidsp model that would definitely work for my needs??? i know donh56, said the shd but that has a built in dac i don't need. i don't want to give up any of my equipment or duplicate it with something i already have ie; another dac, preamp...or do I not have a choice?? does anybody know of a certain member who is an expert in knowing the ins/outs of the minidsp models?? thanks guys..