Is there a Clean Way to do 2.1 from a Mac mini that isn't MiniDSP?

[feeshta]

Hello all. I'm looking for a DAC/Preamp that can cleanly handle 2.1 audio. By that I mean, I would prefer to be able to feed it digital signal (USB Audio) I don't want to have splitters involved, I would like a discreet RCA output for the subwoofer, and ideally it would be awesome to have crossovers built in to keep some of the bass out of the main stereo pair. Volume control would also be a plus. The setup is a Mac Mini M2 for Multimedia duty, with a XTZ A2-300 Stereo amplifier, Tekton Design Impact Monitors, and a REL T9i sub. I intend to try out Dirac's software solution for Mac as well.

Of course, everyone is going to immediately say MiniDSP 2x4HD/DDRC-24, and that was my first choice as well. While it worked, it was great. It did everything I need perfectly well. However, it has now died for the second time in less than 2 years, and I am done with MiniDSP as a company. Never buying any of their products again. It takes forever to get service done, and it keeps dying in the same way (Keeps going silent, requiring a manual power cycle every 20-30 minutes) which tells me there is an unaddressed quality control issue or design flaw. I don't trust that it's going to get any better, so it's time to move on.

I've looked at a variety of potential solutions, but can't seem to find anything as well suited to the purpose as the Mini-DSP. Does anyone have any suggestions for how to handle this situation, preferably with decent quality equipment that won't die on me all the time? If I have to go to multichannel gear, that isn't a major issue for me as I plan to eventually have a surround system again, there just isn't a way to set it up in my current room without it being a mess. I also have a bunch of Adcom gear back home, so no amplification is needed.

Thoughts?

 

[staticV3]

One option would be a WiiM Amp/Amp Pro/Ultra, connected to your Mac via Optical.

If your Mac does not have Optical built-in, then you can add that functionality with a Hifime UR23 or Cubilux SPDIF Converter (both USB-A and USB-C available).

 

[Roland68]

Hello all. I'm looking for a DAC/Preamp that can cleanly handle 2.1 audio. By that I mean, I would prefer to be able to feed it digital signal (USB Audio) I don't want to have splitters involved, I would like a discreet RCA output for the subwoofer, and ideally it would be awesome to have crossovers built in to keep some of the bass out of the main stereo pair. Volume control would also be a plus. The setup is a Mac Mini M2 for Multimedia duty, with a XTZ A2-300 Stereo amplifier, Tekton Design Impact Monitors, and a REL T9i sub. I intend to try out Dirac's software solution for Mac as well.

Of course, everyone is going to immediately say MiniDSP 2x4HD/DDRC-24, and that was my first choice as well. While it worked, it was great. It did everything I need perfectly well. However, it has now died for the second time in less than 2 years, and I am done with MiniDSP as a company. Never buying any of their products again. It takes forever to get service done, and it keeps dying in the same way (Keeps going silent, requiring a manual power cycle every 20-30 minutes) which tells me there is an unaddressed quality control issue or design flaw. I don't trust that it's going to get any better, so it's time to move on.

I've looked at a variety of potential solutions, but can't seem to find anything as well suited to the purpose as the Mini-DSP. Does anyone have any suggestions for how to handle this situation, preferably with decent quality equipment that won't die on me all the time? If I have to go to multichannel gear, that isn't a major issue for me as I plan to eventually have a surround system again, there just isn't a way to set it up in my current room without it being a mess. I also have a bunch of Adcom gear back home, so no amplification is needed.

Thoughts?

Since you are already using a Mac Mini M2, how about a multi-channel DAC, e.g. Topping DM7, Okto Dac8 or an external multi-channel sound card in conjunction with a convolver and FIR filters?
Absolutely transparent, flexible and for me the logical choice after MiniDSP.
Keywords for the search:
ACOURATE
Confolver
FIR Filter
accuratesound

 

[feeshta]

One option would be a WiiM Amp/Amp Pro/Ultra, connected to your Mac via Optical.

If your Mac does not have Optical built-in, then you can add that functionality with a Hifime UR23 or Cubilux SPDIF Converter (both USB-A and USB-C available).

Hmm, the UItra is the only one that would seem to fit the bill. It has a lot of wasted/duplicated functionalities I don't really need, like the screen and streaming capabilities I would probably never use because it's easier to use the Mac versions. It does have inbuilt room correction though, and I think with my TV I can do HDMI Audio pass through and use that to feed the Streamer. Would need to fish another cable through the wall, but that's not a major issue. Worth further investigation at least. If the room correction isn't up to standards I could add Dirac Live to the Mac itself after the fact.

 

[feeshta]

Since you are already using a Mac Mini M2, how about a multi-channel DAC, e.g. Topping DM7, Okto Dac8 or an external multi-channel sound card in conjunction with a convolver and FIR filters?
Absolutely transparent, flexible and for me the logical choice after MiniDSP.
Keywords for the search:
ACOURATE
Confolver
FIR Filter
accuratesound

To be honest, I'm not feeling any Chinese-sourced DAC type systems after my experience with MiniDSP, so Topping is pretty much out. The other solution is $2K and doesn't seem to be 2.1 ready, so I'm not seeing that as a real winner either to be honest. Thanks for the suggestions though.

 

[Roland68]

To be honest, I'm not feeling any Chinese-sourced DAC type systems after my experience with MiniDSP, so Topping is pretty much out. The other solution is $2K and doesn't seem to be 2.1 ready, so I'm not seeing that as a real winner either to be honest. Thanks for the suggestions though.

You're seeing something wrong here, you can use it to actively control 2 x 3-way speakers and 2 subwoofers, so 8 completely separate ways. 2.1 is minimalism.
As I said, an external sound card with multiple channels is sufficient.

 

[feeshta]

You're seeing something wrong here, you can use it to actively control 2 x 3-way speakers and 2 subwoofers, so 8 completely separate ways. 2.1 is minimalism.
As I said, an external sound card with multiple channels is sufficient.

Okay, so apparently Okto has 2 different dac8s. The first one that came up in search for "dac8" is the dac8 Stereo. In fact it was the entire first page of search results. The dac8 Pro seems to be the one you are referring to? That would be a very capable system. Probably severe overkill in my current application, but potentially useful when I move. The price is a bit of a killer though.

 

[cobby]

On macOS, you can sync multiple soundcards using Audio MIDI Setup to create an Aggregated Device. To apply audio filters like low-pass and high-pass, use SoundSource by Rogue Amoeba. Both soundcards should be set to the same sample rate in Audio MIDI Setup to ensure proper synchronization. If you need more advanced routing, tools like Loopback or BlackHole can help manage audio between different devices.
from ChatGPT

 

[CatNinja]

If you want something rock-solid, made in Germany instead of China, I had a lot of success with RME.

My UCX has been running since 2014. I have 2 channels going to the main speakers with a 80Hz HPF, another channel going to a sub with a 80Hz LPF, with some PEQ using the built in DSP to round out some room modes. It has 5 more channels if you need to add surround speakers, and can be expanded via ADAT to add even more channels.

Their TotalMix mixer is extremely flexible, allowing you to route any combination of inputs to outputs, as well as applying filters/EQ/effects to any combination of them.

They are not cheap, but it will easily fulfill your requirements.

 

[DWPress]

A Motu M4 (or 4ch Focusrite) would also give you a natural 4ch output to feed the sub. A Asus Xonar external USB sound card would also work but dropping into only acceptable SINAD numbers. I use a Okto DAC8 Pro with my M2 Mini but I'm using all those channels - brilliant bit of kit if you're seriously considering for future expansion. The WiiM line is great though not as flexible, I use a WiiM Pro in the house for EQ and love the GUI and constant feature updates.

However, the miniDSP software makes it easy to do the XO separation to sub. What do you have in mind to control the separation of mains to sub without their software? There are a few solutions, it can even be done within Roon or JRiver if you use either of those apps.

You could try the aggregate device method in AudioMidi to try to get rolling but it's been shown that eventually there is a clock drift unfortunately.

Happy to try to help with further questions, I've been doing multichannel on Mac for years.

 

[theREALdotnet]

If the room correction isn't up to standards I could add Dirac Live to the Mac itself after the fact.

I'm using Dirac Live BC on a Mac mini, but instead of a multi-channel DAC (too expensive) I'm using an RME USB interface and three SMSL SU-1 DACs connected to it via Toslink, to make a 2.4 system.

 

[DWPress]

I use DLBC in my system as well but in a rather unconventional way with active XO in my 3 way speakers + 2 subs. Lots of possibilities on Mac, here is my setup running things through Hang Loose Convolver and the way the audio is routed:

 

[grizaudio]

GitHub - HEnquist/camilladsp: A flexible cross-platform IIR and FIR engine for crossovers, room correction etc.

A flexible cross-platform IIR and FIR engine for crossovers, room correction etc. - HEnquist/camilladsp

github.com

You can easily do this on a Raspberry Pi like I do also.

GitHub - mdsimon2/RPi-CamillaDSP: Guidance on implementing CamillaDSP on a Raspberry Pi

Guidance on implementing CamillaDSP on a Raspberry Pi - mdsimon2/RPi-CamillaDSP

github.com

 

[johny_2000]

it keeps dying in the same way (Keeps going silent, requiring a manual power cycle every 20-30 minutes) which tells me there is an unaddressed quality control issue or design flaw.

I had the same issue with a 2x4 HD a few years ago. I've since installed a few firmware updates on it (now ver.1.62). And the last thing I did was install a high quality low noise Seasonic power supply on the connected PC. Since then, all issues of this kind have gone away. I also installed a USB 2.0 Isolator on it last month, just as a precaution. Still works great.

I recently updated the Control Center software on the PC to Win 10/11 version. It has some nice improvements to the user interface. I was able to load REW room EQs as biquads files separately for the speakers and subwoofer in seconds.