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I have recently started using DAC/preamp RCA out -> miniDSP 2x4HD -> Amp. It works well for me. The 2x4HD increases the noise floor somewhat; without it I could just hear speaker hiss from about 6 inches max from the midrange driver, with it I can just hear the hiss from 3-4 feet on-axis. I still can't hear the hiss standing near the speaker nor from listening position (12 feet back), so the signal processing capability is definitely worth the addition of noise I can't hear unless I'm trying.
Much. My speakers are bad, my room is worse, and sub integration is even more finicky without the DSP, so there was a lot of low-hanging fruit. It took time though, lots of trial and error to find a method that yielded significant improvement. If I had good speakers in a decent room I may not bother with it.
TimW
Major Contributor
Which miniDSP product are you referring to? If the miniDSP is in the signal path then it is converting analog to digital and then back to analog, there is no analog bypass.
- Thread Starter
- #6
SHD
Get the DDRC-24 and use Dirac.
you can thank me later.
you can thank me later.
Oh you're looking to purchase the SHD. Yeah just do it, flawless product.
Why would you use another DAC if the SHD has everything you need? You must have a good very good reason to want to use it that way?
probably tapes or LPs. Or worse, MQA or DSD.
In case of LP: connect the RIAA box to the SHD. If you have more analog sources: buy a simple passive switch box. DSD or MQA: don’t bother..
- Thread Starter
- #12
Would you buy the SHD before you bought a new pair of speakers just to see if it made that much of a difference?
Dirac will make a gigantic difference, specially if you have zero room correction going on right now.
I'm using an old miniDSP Balanced wired for unbalanced in a PC RCA>miniDSP>RCA-AMP 2.1 configuration. Luckily my amp is so old it has multichannel input that bypasses any processing. Made a Huge difference in quality once I went through sub integration and some PEQ. Had a high noise floor at about -65 to -70 that I tracked to the motherboard and a new motherboard (was upgrading anyway) brought the floor down to about -87. Still noisy so I just got in the mail a DDRC-24 so I will see how much a USB connection and DIRAC added in improves that. But, I can run the PC via HDMI/Toslink to the same amp and although the noise is lower, the sound is nothing like the miniDSP with respect to sub/bass and sharpness of imaging and soundstage. So I understand the arguments about the benefits of DSP and the trade-off with increased noise or distortion. If I am playing music with a floor of around -30, who cares if the system noise is -90? At about 75dB listening volume it is not even audible at my 10 ft listening distance. I can only imagine how much better it could be with a digital path and maybe something like a Topping E30 for input into an amp. My general feeling now is that if you want to improve the sound of a system, the benefits of even just DSP is worth the tradeoff. Possibly the higher end your equipment is, the more some flaw in DSP is likely to be revealed and the tradeoff value is less. But for a regular Joe the miniDSP is a Godsend. I'll see how much improvement I get with the DDRC-24 and Dirac.
I apologize for the long-winded answer to teh OP's question. Short answer-You will enjoy the DSP improvement over any distortion/noise added.
I apologize for the long-winded answer to teh OP's question. Short answer-You will enjoy the DSP improvement over any distortion/noise added.
You still haven't told us why you want another DAC in front of the SDH?
- Thread Starter
- #16
How much better is Dirac than Audessy MultiXT?
I don’t know, haven’t done a comparison.
Dirac fixed my system though. Without exaggeration.
I guess it all depends on wether you value surround? In that case, the SHD is not a very complete solution. Also, MultiXT or MultiXT 32? The latter is quite a bit more advanced. Do you already have any of these in your current setup? For stereo I think Dirac will be a bit better though.
And we still have no idea about your setup or what you’re trying to accomplish..
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- Thread Starter
- #19
I have a Denon 4700 but I only use it for stereo. The reason I'm asking about Dirac is that the Denon won't do room correction for your zone 2 speakers.
Ah, that clears things up, thanks!
If you really want to go for the SHD, I would connect it over zone 2 HDMI and use a deembedder to get SPDIF into the SHD. That will give you a full digital path from AVR to SHD.
If you really want to go for the SHD, I would connect it over zone 2 HDMI and use a deembedder to get SPDIF into the SHD. That will give you a full digital path from AVR to SHD.
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