MINIDSP Adept ADC & Phono Preamp Review

[CT Man]

The remote control has a source button which cycles through MC, MM, RCA and XLR. What happens if someone accidentally presses that twice when sending a line level signal through RCA, perhaps mistaking it for a different button? I think the same problem could arise using the front panel knob to change sources. I sure hope MC and MM are set to zero volume if this happens.

Wouldn't if be better to have a design where there's a simple source selection between RCA and XLR with a separate, less easily accessed method for assigning MC, MM or Line Level to the RCA source?

 

[CedarX]

Good alternative to Cosmos ADC? For measurements?

Better ESS ADC chip?

Per MiniDSP spec sheet, the Adept uses a ES9842pro ADC chip whereas the Cosmos ADC uses an ES9822pro.
If I’m not mistaken, the ES9842 and the ES9822 are basically the same chips—either with 4 independent channels, or 4 channels coupled into 2.

 

[amirm]

That means I can add it to my phono amp league table. It sits mid-table, so respectable phono performance.

I decided to not put it in my rankings since this is a combo device (phono stage and digitizer) with different set of constraints/knobs.

 

[dtaylo1066]

A great little unit. MiniDSP hits a lot of home runs for us!

 

[beeface]

this seems ideal for the cartridge index thread

 

[DrCWO]

Just want to let you know that it flawlessly works with my Roon Extension rooPlay to route analog input through Roon DSPs.

Best DrCWO

 

[Roland68]

Quite unfortunate that the price of this jumps from $299 in the US to £399 in the UK. That's hard to justify.

This is easy to explain.
The $299 is a net price ex works in China, not the USA. This does not include any taxes or customs duties in your country, nor does it include shipping, handling, etc.
If a dealer offers the device in your country, they bear the entire risk for warranty and other claims, as well as all risks and shipping and handling costs.
Of course, a dealer doesn't do this for free.

Otherwise, no one is stopping you from ordering the device directly for this price. However, the entire responsibility then lies with you, and you would have to return it at your own expense for the warranty.

Excerpt from the shipping conditions:
For shipments to the rest of the world:
- Shipping costs advertised on the miniDSP website are for shipping costs only. The customer is responsible for paying all taxes and duties, including country, provincial, government, state and local sales, use, goods and services, value-added, privilege and similar levies/taxes. Please contact your local customs office to learn of your country's import fee structure.
- The customer is responsible for clearing, filling and submitting any document or process required by the destination authority such as custom, shipping carriers.

 

[audio_tony]

The $299 is a net price ex works in China, not the USA.

Fair enough. I was under the impression $299 was the retail price in the USA.

Many years ago I worked for an importer of electronics goods (VCRs, HiFi etc.) and did once get a look at a ledger - I was astonished at the difference between the landed cost and the retail price (although warranty / service cover aside, they did have a huge markup!).

 

[Roland68]

Fair enough. I was under the impression $299 was the retail price in the USA.

Many years ago I worked for an importer of electronics goods (VCRs, HiFi etc.) and did once get a look at a ledger - I was astonished at the difference between the landed cost and the retail price (although warranty / service cover aside, they did have a huge markup!).

But the importer also had to use this money to pay your salary and social security benefits, as well as those of many other employees, as well as building rent, heating, water, electricity, import costs, interest on financing loans, company taxes, and much more. All of this has to be paid from the surcharge, every month. And his profits are also taxed.

It's also worth noting that costs have risen sharply in recent years.
Therefore, I think ex-factory prices, like those for MiniDSP, are better and more transparent, and each buyer just has to pay the surcharge, which is often determined by the costs in their country.

 

[DSJR]

Much needed (these days) lf filter? if it has one, what's the response result please?

Not sure about the seemingly limited hf overload margin either.

 

[Davey]

Much needed (these days) lf filter? if it has one, what's the response result please?

It's listed on the information page. (20Hz 4th-order.)

ADept

The miniDSP ADept is a compact high-resolution A/D (analog-to-digital) convertor that accepts single-ended (RCA) or balanced (on XLR) audio signals. The digital output is available on SPDIF coaxial and TOSLINK optical connectors, and can also be recorded to a computer or mobile device via the...

www.minidsp.com

 

[Davey]

I hesitate to even engage because you’re so wrong, but what part of what you showed me is the standard 5mV FFT and SINAD dashboard that starts every phono input review?

So, what do you think of this unit?

 

[doktorsteve]

Am I am missing something here? Is this an ADC with analog RIAA eq before it, or is it an ADC followed by DSP RIAA eq?
If it uses analog eq then there is no excuse for poor HF overload margin.
If it has DSP eq then that would explain the perfect frequency response.

 

[Yorkshire Mouth]

It would be remiss of me not to ask if you're going to review the MiniDSP Pocket ADC.

@amirm ?

Please and thank you.

 

[Davey]

Am I am missing something here? Is this an ADC with analog RIAA eq before it, or is it an ADC followed by DSP RIAA eq?
If it uses analog eq then there is no excuse for poor HF overload margin.
If it has DSP eq then that would explain the perfect frequency response.

No, it's definitely not analog EQ.
An input analog stage with some switched loading options, but all DSP after that.

 

[Heinrich]

I understand that the device relies on 'digital amplification' for phono input. Is there any information on the input characteristics? Especially input noise current when used with MM pickups may be of interest. (Don't want to reheat a previous discussion, just the info would be nice, if there is any.)

 

[lini]

(...) Company has an explanation for why you don't need more at higher frequencies due to RIAA equalization. But in above tests, I have the generator go through inverse RIAA equalization. (...)

Uhm - so what exactly does that mean? I.e., does the DUT get to see the generator levels in the diagram as input levels - or are these generator levels pre-(inverse-)RIAA, so that one would have to multiply accordingly and that for example the 20 mV, which would appear to be the onset of clipping at 20 kHz in the diagram, would actually translate to 20 mV times factor ca. 9.55 (= ca. +19.6 dB) = ca. 191 mV?

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini

 

[amirm]

hm - so what exactly does that mean? I.e., does the DUT get to see the generator levels in the diagram as input levels - or are these generator levels pre-(inverse-)RIAA, so that one would have to multiply accordingly and that for example the 20 mV, which would appear to be the onset of clipping at 20 kHz in the diagram, would actually translate to 20 mV times factor ca. 9.55 (= ca. +19.6 dB) = ca. 191 mV?

Hello Manfred. I didn't do the math , but yes, the equalization applies post signal generator. You can see its effect int he slope of the FFT int he dashboard.

 

[amirm]

Oh wait.... You made me think. I should not be pre-equalizing the generator for ticks and pops. Not sure what the right thing is now as we an to see how the pre-amp responds to music in that spectrum which does require pre-equalization.

 

[Jimi Floyd]

Call me old-style, but I think an ADC and a phono-pre should not belong to the same box.