MINIDSP Adept ADC & Phono Preamp Review

[PristineSound]

A Topping and this, you now have a cheap Audio Precision APx516B

 

[JayGilb]

Amir, thanks for the review.

 

[daniboun]

A miniDSP dealer in Colorado (USA) has the Adept for sale for $395.95. As Amir stated, tariffs are in play for US customers.

This is only the beginning . In my humble opinion, Audiophonics will soon no longer be able to sell to the USA... and more generally, all European audio products will be difficult to export...

 

[Sono]

Here are the possible scenarios of this ADC




View attachment 472343

As I’m totally unfamiliar with ADC devices like this one:

Would it also be able to handle (convert) signals coming from a cassette deck, via line input?

 

[Anatols_Dad]

As I’m totally unfamiliar with ADC devices like this one:

Would it also be able to handle (convert) signals coming from a cassette deck, via line input?

I just googled the same question 5 minutes ago - the internet says no to generally attaching a cassette deck to a phono preamp...

Funny, I was actually thinking of a product like this yesterday, to use my DAC as my preamp - skipping the preamp . Shame there isn't a high pass filter, but looks great otherwise! Great review!

 

[Billy Budapest]

As I’m totally unfamiliar with ADC devices like this one:

Would it also be able to handle (convert) signals coming from a cassette deck, via line input?

It looks like you can bypass RIAA equalization, so yes, you can.

 

[Sono]

It was this part of daniboun’s picture that makes me consider a possible cassette deck connection:

 

[Billy Budapest]

One missing feature that digital photo preamps can easily implement: surface noise/pop and click suppression.

Perhaps a firmware update could implement this feature, but it would not be able to be controlled by the physical user interface. I guess an app would need to be introduced, if that would be possible with this device.

 

[nothingman]

I was waiting for this one, thanks Amirm.

Is it confused about what it's for: ADC with RIAA (so, it happens to be a phono stage rather than being designed as one)?
Ideal, which I'm sure is the idea, as an ADC pre-amp before a DSP stage (as @daniboun shows)
More headroom on the MM phono input would have been nice, as would physical volume control (last one is just me, personal preference)

It's really nice though, looks fantastic too (personal opinion) and good value

With all the settings for gain, impedance, capacitance, and vinyl equalization curves, I would say it’s a phono stage first, with added benefit of defeating all of that stuff and using it as a simple line-in ADC (and very good one at that!) to boot.

 

[nothingman]

Testing phono equalization with three different gain settings was challenging so I went for a representative sample. Here is the frequency response:
View attachment 472304

I have not seen any analog RIAA equalization to be this good! Yes, a high pass filter would be nice but otherwise, this is textbook perfect. I should have noted that the above is with 96 kHz sampling as otherwise, it will stop earlier.

@amirm This unit absolutely has a HPF. That is what “HPF” is for on the front! Can you test that setting, please?

 

[Waxx]

This is a great device, it made me even think a second to replace my beloved Cambridge CP2 phono stage that i now use on the analog in of my MiniDSP Flex... But i won't, the Cambridge is as good as it gets in the analog domain and already higher resolution than most vinyl itself, so why replacing.

But it surely is a solution for those who want to use a minidsp without analog input for vinyl. That was something many asked, and MiniDSP gave it to them now, and in a high enough quality to convince everyone of it.

 

[nothingman]

Since they seem honest at the rest of their specs, let's believe them:

View attachment 472351

One missing feature that digital photo preamps can easily implement: surface noise/pop and click suppression.

Perhaps a firmware update could implement this feature, but it would not be able to be controlled by the physical user interface. I guess an app would need to be introduced, if that would be possible with this d

ASR is all about third-party testing, and I’d still like to see the 5mV MM input FFT at the very least to get the picture. There’s no good reason to have this missing when it’s going to be compared to other phono preamps, including digital ones, that all have the dashboard and FFT diagram.

 

[daniboun]

It was this part of daniboun’s picture that makes me consider a possible cassette deck connection:

View attachment 472359

Is a cassette deck an analog source? If so: you have the answer)

 

[Karmacoma]

This brand should be in the audiophiles' pantheon, another great usefull product.

 

[Davey]

ASR is all about third-party testing, and I’d still like to see the 5mV MM input FFT at the very least to get the picture. There’s no good reason to have this missing when it’s going to be compared to other phono preamps, including digital ones, that all have the dashboard and FFT diagram.

 

[Bland_username42069]

Impressive piece of kit.

 

[welwynnick]

Sure, but what's the SNR at 5mV input?

It will be worse than the SNR measurement at 4V - but how much worse - and how does it compare to phono preamps?

 

[morillon]

The small pocket, even though it's much more concise in its features, seems to be designed just as rigorously and offers even more astonishing measurements for its price.... ;-)

In any case, these are long-awaited tests. ;-)




(The simple pocket allows you to upgrade many older audio cards with digital inputs to an unbalanced input... ;-
)

If the pocket requires a sound card etc., the adept seems to be able to connect directly to USB on some computers.... that opens up a lot of possibilities ;-)

 

[morillon]

!
same trigger than pocketadc at -68db
???

 

[Herbert Shooler]

Great review,its like a very basic Parks Puffin.....