Minidsp and competitors

[alaios]

Hello to the team.
I was discussing this last night with some friends. Are there in the market competitors to the minidsp? So products that do the same type of processing to the signal. Somehow it feels that minidsp is the only company offering such products to the market.

In other words what is China doing if minidsp is so successful? Where is the competition?
Regards,
Alex

 

[Mort]

There are lots of competitors. Preamplifiers, AVRs, some DACs and streamers are all competitors. Many do bass management and digital signal processing.

Also, I'm not so sure MiniDSP is 'so successful'. They sell in the the hundreds of units, not thousands like many competitors.

 

[Treblehead]

If your budget is limited, Minidsp would be the only affordable option for many cases. There are lots of competitors such as Anthem(Anthem STR PRE), Trinnov(Anthem Nova, Trinnov Amethyst, Trinnov AV Series), Stormaudio(almost all of their products), and DEQX (all of their products) with a much higher price tag. I'm from CHINA and I've also encountered this kind of problem that seems that Minidsp is the only option. To be true there are some products I may call "competitors" such as Audio Speed Beautiful(this one does not have a foreign brand name) which can work as a powerful DSP crossover, and EmbersLab Echo series which can work as room-correction. And you can see the problem, indeed they are cheaper than Minidsp but none of them have the full function as Minidsp. For my advice, if your budget is higher, Stormaudio Core 16 will be the best upgrade to Minidsp.

 

[Treblehead]

One more thing to say, it's much cheaper to do a PCB layout in CHINA compared to Western countries, so you can do your active asp crossover with a reasonable price that is even much cheaper than Minidsp.

 

[alaios]

If your budget is limited, Minidsp would be the only affordable option for many cases. There are lots of competitors such as Anthem(Anthem STR PRE), Trinnov(Anthem Nova, Trinnov Amethyst, Trinnov AV Series), Stormaudio(almost all of their products), and DEQX (all of their products) with a much higher price tag. I'm from CHINA and I've also encountered this kind of problem that seems that Minidsp is the only option. To be true there are some products I may call "competitors" such as Audio Speed Beautiful(this one does not have a foreign brand name) which can work as a powerful DSP crossover, and EmbersLab Echo series which can work as room-correction. And you can see the problem, indeed they are cheaper than Minidsp but none of them have the full function as Minidsp. For my advice, if your budget is higher, Stormaudio Core 16 will be the best upgrade to Minidsp.

So the minidsp flex for example has no direct competitor. Trinnov etc are way more expensive right?

 

[jeffbook]

One more thing to say, it's much cheaper to do a PCB layout in CHINA compared to Western countries, so you can do your active asp crossover with a reasonable price that is even much cheaper than Minidsp.

Well, maybe so if you are a qualified analog electronics engineer. (I know a guy who works at the old Burr-Brown TI division...).

But if you aren't qualified as an EE or as an advanced hobbyist to do this, the miniDSP Flex or Flex 8 (if you have a multiway active speaker system) is a great way to go, You also have a significant number of input EQ filters to allow you to handle nasty room modes in addition to the crossover and EQ for each output channel.

 

[anotherhobby]

So the minidsp flex for example has no direct competitor. Trinnov etc are way more expensive right?

There are some similar products, although I'd say the Flex specifically is a bit unique in it's niche (size/display/features/measurements). One example that at least compares to the miniDSP 2x4HD would be the t.racks DSP 4x4 Mini. It's quite a bit cheaper and doesn't measure terrible. I use one downstream from my miniDSP Flex to drive 4 subs in my office using 2 of the outputs on the Flex. I'm only using the t.racks for delays and routing, but the software is quite full featured, although not nearly as nice as miniDSP's Device Console software, and is Windows only (I ran it in a VM on my Mac when I set it up).

 

[Jon L]

For what it's worth, there is DriveRack..

 

[Treblehead]

So the minidsp flex for example has no direct competitor. Trinnov etc are way more expensive right?

Yes, I do think so.

 

[Scrivs]

I just received a DCX2496 Pro shipped (to HI) for abut $300. Combined with a $150 DEQ2496, have more possibilities than I would ever need.

They are both 100% transparent to me, and have improved my humble system immeasurably.

Only caveat for new users is the learning curve. There are, however PC interfaces that have been created that greatly increase usability. Similar to what RME has done with the ADI-2, etc.

 

[Ultrasonic]

I'm open to being corrected but I think the ability of miniDSPs to apply time-delays to main speakers for subwoofer integration in stereo systems may be unique? The associated range of high-pass filters that can be applied may well be too? Yes those will multi-channel systems based around AVRs will think the former is basic functionality but it is not in stereo systems.

 

[anotherhobby]

I'm open to being corrected but I think the ability of miniDSPs to apply time-delays to main speakers for subwoofer integration in stereo systems may be unique? The associated range of high-pass filters that can be applied may well be too? Yes those will multi-channel systems based around AVRs will think the former is basic functionality but it is not in stereo systems.

The t.racks that I posted about above can add time delays to any of the outputs.