MINIDSP Adept ADC & Phono Preamp Review

[lini]

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.

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.

Well, to me it would simply be a question of how I'd interpret/rate your test results.

So if for example those 20 mV at 20 kHz would just be the generator output level into the inverse-RIAA, which should then apply the aforementioned +19.6 dB, thus generating an output voltage of 191 mV into the DUT, I'd deem that DUT to actually already sport a pretty decent overload margin. I.e., if one would go by Shure's old study, which would show peak modulation velocities up to 50 cm/s near 20 kHz, even a pretty loud DJ cartridge with a transmission factor of ca. 2 mV per cm/s (peak; and in 45°/stereo modulation) would appear unlikely to produce an output voltage anywhere near 190 mV at 20 kHz with actual record content (and maybe not even with spurious signals caused by scratches/dirt/whatever, who knows...).

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini

 

[Billy Budapest]

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

If the RIAA equalization is done in the digital domain, they should.

 

[JakeK]

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?

Yes, but for that they have the Minidsp Pocket ADC for a lot less money:

PocketADC

The miniDSP Pocket ADC is an extremely compact high-resolution A/D (analog-to-digital) convertor that accepts a stereo analog input on single-ended (RCA) connectors and converts it to SPDIF coaxial and TOSLINK optical digital outputs. This pocket size converter supports high sample rate and...

www.minidsp.com

 

[amirm]

Well, to me it would simply be a question of how I'd interpret/rate your test results.

So if for example those 20 mV at 20 kHz would just be the generator output level into the inverse-RIAA, which should then apply the aforementioned +19.6 dB, thus generating an output voltage of 191 mV into the DUT, I'd deem that DUT to actually already sport a pretty decent overload margin. I.e., if one would go by Shure's old study, which would show peak modulation velocities up to 50 cm/s near 20 kHz, even a pretty loud DJ cartridge with a transmission factor of ca. 2 mV per cm/s (peak; and in 45°/stereo modulation) would appear unlikely to produce an output voltage anywhere near 190 mV at 20 kHz with actual record content (and maybe not even with spurious signals caused by scratches/dirt/whatever, who knows...).

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini

Let me do some more testing when I get a chance with and without reverse RIAA.....

 

[GLVZ Music]

Perdón por mi ignorancia, pero puedo conectar un preamp neve1073 y grabar audio a través de mini dsp en mi daw? Tendría posibilidad dentro del daw de usar minidsp para grabación y un dac topping dedicado solo para reproducción? Tenía pensado comprar rme adi2, 2000euros, pero quiza con este adc y un dac topping puedo conseguir resultados similares por mucho menos. No se si estoy en lo cierto, gracias de antemano y perdón nuevamente por mi ignorancia.

 

[JeremyFife]

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

You are old-style

I had a similar thought at first.
I see this as a versatile preamp designed to feed a DSP device. It's able to bring those digital benefits to TT and another analogue source. There's not much out there that does this so well.

 

[amirm]

Forgive my ignorance, but can I connect a Neve1073 preamp and record audio through Mini DSP in my DAW? Would it be possible to use Mini DSP for recording and a dedicated DAC topping just for playback within the DAW?

Yes to both.

 

[amirm]

One note though: the clocks won't be synchronized. So you cannot do any real-time/live mixing. For offline editing, that doesn't matter.

 

[Sono]

Not sure if vinyl ripping is still of any noteworthy relevance these days. To anyone nevertheless interested, the Adept’s ADC feature might be a nice option to convert some maybe rare vinyl records to digital, with probably very fine results.

 

[GLVZ Music]

Sí a ambas.

Gracias

 

[GLVZ Music]

Una nota: los relojes no estarán sincronizados. Por lo tanto, no podrás realizar mezclas en tiempo real/en vivo. Para la edición sin conexión, esto no importa.

no entiendo esto. Me puede generar problemas a la hora del monitoreo, la pre-escucha en una grabación?

 

[Roland68]

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

That's what people used to say about switching power supplies in audio electronics/devices.

It's actually an ideal combination, as the performance of devices like the Adept and ADI 2/4 speaks for itself.

 

[CedarX]

Yes, but for that they have the Minidsp Pocket ADC for a lot less money:

PocketADC

The miniDSP Pocket ADC is an extremely compact high-resolution A/D (analog-to-digital) convertor that accepts a stereo analog input on single-ended (RCA) connectors and converts it to SPDIF coaxial and TOSLINK optical digital outputs. This pocket size converter supports high sample rate and...

www.minidsp.com

No USB output, which could be a very significant difference. The lower spec ADC chip is most likely “good enough”.

 

[morillon]

No USB output, which could be a very significant difference. The lower spec ADC chip is most likely “good enough”.

you will see that this is much better than "just enough"...in mesureaments in any case
(not so lower spec chip adc)
;-)
USB is not a problem because it can be easily bypassed...but the only unbalanced aspect remains....

 

[DrCWO]

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

Please look here and please let me know why you believe it should not be in the same box.
Seems RME dis a good job here...

R

'RME ADI-2/4 Pro SE - RIAA mode measurements'

Dec 10, 2022

Hi

here are some measurement of the new RME ADI-2/4 Pro SE in RIAA (phono) mode

The RME ADI-24 Pro SE is RME's last addition to their ADI-2 converters range.

RME explains that SE means "Special Edition", and they advertise it as a Special, Limited edition, on top of the existing ADI-2 serie.

Externally, the family relation with the ADI-2 range can't be denied.

Here-above, from top to bottom,
RME ADI-2 Pro fs BE
RME ADI-2 Pro fs R BE
RME ADI-2/4 Pro SE

The most obvious difference with the ADI-2 Pro fs (R) is the presence of an additional 4.4mm Pentacon...

• Rja4000
• Replies: 441
• Forum: Audio Interfaces (ADC & DAC)

• 

 

[Sono]

[] USB is not a problem [...]

Right. But no USB could be definitely one.

 

[Jimi Floyd]

Please look here and please let me know why you believe it should not be in the same box.
Seems RME dis a good job here...

R

'RME ADI-2/4 Pro SE - RIAA mode measurements'

Dec 10, 2022

Hi

here are some measurement of the new RME ADI-2/4 Pro SE in RIAA (phono) mode

The RME ADI-24 Pro SE is RME's last addition to their ADI-2 converters range.

RME explains that SE means "Special Edition", and they advertise it as a Special, Limited edition, on top of the existing ADI-2 serie.

Externally, the family relation with the ADI-2 range can't be denied.

Here-above, from top to bottom,
RME ADI-2 Pro fs BE
RME ADI-2 Pro fs R BE
RME ADI-2/4 Pro SE

The most obvious difference with the ADI-2 Pro fs (R) is the presence of an additional 4.4mm Pentacon...

• Rja4000
• Replies: 441
• Forum: Audio Interfaces (ADC & DAC)

• 

As much as I love my RME ADI-2 DAC fs, I have MC cartridges and they cannot be connected to the ADI-2/4 pro SE which is MM only and besides that it relies on digital eq to simulate variable input capacitance, which is not neat if you ask me.

 

[morillon]

In my opinion, it's important to realize that one of the obvious uses of these two machines is to be able to modernize older, or even newer, sound cards in surprising ways, at low cost, gor line level...as long as they have digital inputs...

I was surprised that it hadn't been done yet, even though it's been available for a while.

Afterwards... you need to use ADC...
;-)

 

[Valentino]

I bought my Adept in may, so here’s the use case:
It has (preset 1) my turntable (AT33PTG/II mc cart) connected to RCA (phono amp enabled) and (preset 2) my SACD player connected to XLR. Output on optical to a streaming pre/control amp:

I’ve done a quick test recording from the usb output with Audacity. Works a charm.

 

[Valentino]

MiniDSP’s own HPF measurements: