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dac with EQ to TV - DSP choice and cheaper alternatives

Pioter

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Mar 22, 2021
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Dear friends. I have finalized home purchase and I need to start working on my 2.0 (and later or 2.1) set up.
I have samsung s95b and I am going to listen music from this tv.

As far as I know room correction is crucial thing to improve SQ.
I want to have such set up:

tv->dac with dsp/eq -> powered speakers
or
tv and separate streamer (i guess i simply can switch between these two?) -> powered speakers

below are my questions:
miniDSP DDRC-24 - someone is selling it used for not bad price. Can i use it as DAC with dsp and simply plug it to TV?

minidsp flex (+rasberry as streamer)->tv->speakers - how would that option differ with miniDSP DDRC-24?

minidsp SHD->tv->speakers - this is all in one solution?

rasberry pi + camiladsp ->tv->speakers - this seems to be too complicated and can't be plugged in directly to TV if i am not mistaken (I saw some workarounds but I don't understand these)

If I go with external raspberry pi and plug it to minidsp flex i essentially have the same device as minidsp shd?
 

Rednaxela

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tv->dac with dsp/eq -> powered speakers
This is what I do. Would recommend it for its simplicity, and I like the experience of the streaming service’s TV app when the music is playing.
 

YSDR

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minidsp SHD->tv->speakers - this is all in one solution?

If I go with external raspberry pi and plug it to minidsp flex i essentially have the same device as minidsp shd?
Yes, if the SHD's streaming abilities is enough for you. For most users, it's enough IMO. Have Tidal + Connect, Spotify + Connect, Qobuz, Roon Ready.

Yes, except the Flex have fewer connections than the SHD have, plus you lose one digital input due to connecting the Pi.
 
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Pioter

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Thanks!
miniDSP DDRC-24 - what about this one, can I use that as stand alone dac and plug it into tv?

another question:
I can use both SHD and Flex for 2.1 system? And i am also not sure why people are looking forward for streamer given the fact that many dacs are supporting Bluetooth.
I assume that I can simply use flex and stream music through for example spotify via my iphone? That would lead to conlusion that I should rather go with flex (to save few bucks) and if Bluetooth streaming become an issue -> just purchase cheap rasberry to stream music.

and last by not least:

is there any rasberry option that would serve as dsp/streamer and also support 2.1? HiFiBerry DAC+ DSP seems to be much cheaper option than flex and have same capabilities actually (except for not supporting 2.1)
 

YSDR

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You can use a DDRC-24 as a standalone DAC for a TV but the number of inputs on this device is limited, if it's enough for you then yes, you can use it.

Streaming is a direct stream of the file that you want to hear (and your e.g. smartphone is just a remote controller for it) which is lossless, a BT audio transfer needs a conversion which is lossy, so it's not a direct stream of the wanted audio file. That's the main difference.
Moreover if your smartphone turns off, the BT is gone whereas with streaming, the music continue to play, even you can use a different device to connect to the streamer and continue the control because with stream, the audio file doesn't go through your smartphone.
 
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