miniDSP Flex balanced or Motu M4?

[VilmFilm]

Planning on buying an SVS subwoofer to integrate with my JBL 305p studio monitors on my PC setup.

I can either get an expensive miniDSP Flex balanced and have bass management or I was also thinking of just buying a Motu M4 or M2 and just hooking the sub through the mirrored RCA cables WHILE still controlling the volume of both outputs since they are mirrored. If I go the Motu route I sadly won't have bass management but I can low pass the subwoofer at 50hz to try and blend with the main monitors. I prefer a low crossover anyways so I don't mind that but I still don't like the idea of the mains playing full range but it could still sound fine tho?

I do wanna take cost into account also but they both seem like fine ideas just one is obviously better than the other.

I do like the Bluetooth of the miniDSP so I could listen to music without turning on my PC but is it really worth $620 for crossover and Bluetooth when the Motu can still get a sub with my monitors?

Everything is still frustrating and I'm still upset there's no other options for 2.1 balanced dacs in the market.

 

[staticV3]

You can feed the JBL's balanced inputs from an RCA source, with the right cables you'll even retain the full noise rejection.

So I'd just buy a 2x4HD.

For an extra $30 you can add a Berrybak BEA-1 Bluetooth receiver and mirror the Flex' functionality there.

 

[Keith_W]

I wouldn't say that one option is better than the other, I would say that one might be better for your use case than the other. You CAN get bass management with the Motu, in fact you can get extremely powerful and sophisticated DSP on it. You do the DSP on your PC, and use the Motu as a "dumb DAC". If you want to do this, you will need software to make DSP filters (REW or one of the paid options, e.g. Audiolense, Acourate, etc) and software to host the filters (EqualiserAPO, CamillaDSP, or one of the paid options, e.g. Hang Loose Convolver, EKIO, Acourate Convolver, JRiver, HQPlayer, etc).

DSP on the PC is for people who want the "no stone unturned" option. You can really get into it and tune every little thing to way below audible thresholds. It can be as simple or as complex as you like. With the MiniDSP, you are stuck with a limited number of biquads (PEQ's) - this is good enough for most people, but if you like to tinker you will run into its limitations fairly quickly.

The disadvantage of doing the DSP on your PC is that your PC always has to be in the signal chain. So if you want to listen to music, you have to turn the PC on. The MiniDSP turns on almost instantly and is ready to play music within seconds. Can't say the same about your PC.

 

[Punchy_Power_Cat]

You do the DSP on your PC, and use the Motu as a "dumb DAC". If you want to do this, you will need software

But what about the dirac suit (for PC)? If I understand correctly it acts as an independant virtual USB drive that will be handled by Windows/Mac OS just as any DAC. Can you get this to work with a Motu Interface?

 

[VilmFilm]

But what about the dirac suit (for PC)? If I understand correctly it acts as an independant virtual USB drive that will be handled by Windows/Mac OS just as any DAC. Can you get this to work with a Motu Interface?

Fosi is launching a new product in a couple days. It's legit exactly what I and other people asked for. Balanced pre amp with sub out and high pass. I'ma try and go for that lol

 

[Keith_W]

But what about the dirac suit (for PC)? If I understand correctly it acts as an independant virtual USB drive that will be handled by Windows/Mac OS just as any DAC. Can you get this to work with a Motu Interface?

I don't see why not. I am not a huge fan of Dirac though, and I personally don't know anybody who is running Dirac on a PC. Most people I know who use PC's use Audiolense or Acourate.

 

[TheKoC]

But what about the dirac suit (for PC)? If I understand correctly it acts as an independant virtual USB drive that will be handled by Windows/Mac OS just as any DAC. Can you get this to work with a Motu Interface?

Yes you can, I run Dirac both on a Mac and a PC, in both cases you can use a Multichannel USB audio interface like the Motu M4 as output

 

[Punchy_Power_Cat]

Fosi is launching a new product in a couple days. It's legit exactly what I and other people asked for. Balanced pre amp with sub out and high pass. I'ma try and go for that lol

Very interesting, the ZP3. If it measures >110Sinad as they claim it might be a perfect solution going PC->Dirac->DAC->ZP3@80/120Hz HP->Amplifier->Speaker+Sub-Out

You could basically skip the entire miniDSP hardware unit and swap it for the ZP3. Of course it will depend on the pricing of the ZP3 which is unknown so far. Anyway I suppose it will be not even close to a miniDSP Flex, maybe not even the 2x4HD. The downsides are just two HP variations which are not tuneable but the tuning in should be taken care of by Dirac or any other live correction (I don't know any other beside Arc Studio). Very interesting.

 

[TheKoC]

Very interesting, the ZP3. If it measures >110Sinad as they claim it might be a perfect solution going PC->Dirac->DAC->ZP3@80/120Hz HP->Amplifier->Speaker+Sub-Out

You could basically skip the entire miniDSP hardware unit and swap it for the ZP3. Of course it will depend on the pricing of the ZP3 which is unknown so far. Anyway I suppose it will be not even close to a miniDSP Flex, maybe not even the 2x4HD. The downsides are just two HP variations which are not tuneable but the tuning in should be taken care of by Dirac or any other live correction (I don't know any other beside Arc Studio). Very interesting.

In that scenario Dirac on the PC cannot control time/frequency response of the subwoofer, only the stereo-output to the Fosi. So not really what someone would want.

 

[VilmFilm]

Very interesting, the ZP3. If it measures >110Sinad as they claim it might be a perfect solution going PC->Dirac->DAC->ZP3@80/120Hz HP->Amplifier->Speaker+Sub-Out

You could basically skip the entire miniDSP hardware unit and swap it for the ZP3. Of course it will depend on the pricing of the ZP3 which is unknown so far. Anyway I suppose it will be not even close to a miniDSP Flex, maybe not even the 2x4HD. The downsides are just two HP variations which are not tuneable but the tuning in should be taken care of by Dirac or any other live correction (I don't know any other beside Arc Studio). Very interesting.

I saw a post on the fosi forum. I think it was a picture at expona but it said a price tag of around $150 or it was $170 idk but around that ball park. It's a pretty good decent option price wise compared to miniDSP flex. Obviously the flex has much more control and features. But for the price it's not bad but I wish they ditched the tone controls and made it smaller

 

[Punchy_Power_Cat]

But for the price it's not bad

The entire point (at least for me) would be to have a decent crossover for low cost. If it's true that the crossover settings each only have a 12db/oct slope it is instantly not attractive anymore. A 120Hz crossover with only 12db slope rolls off slower than a common 80Hz/24db slope found in lots of internal subwoofer crossovers.

 

[VilmFilm]

The entire point (at least for me) would be to have a decent crossover for low cost. If it's true that the crossover settings each only have a 12db/oct slope it is instantly not attractive anymore. A 120Hz crossover with only 12db slope rolls off slower than a common 80Hz/24db slope found in lots of internal subwoofer crossovers.

Well I guess we wait for amir or I can ask someone at fosi. I didn't think about what slope the crossover would be.

 

[levimax]

But what about the dirac suit (for PC)? If I understand correctly it acts as an independant virtual USB drive that will be handled by Windows/Mac OS just as any DAC. Can you get this to work with a Motu Interface?

I have a Motu Ultralite MK5 and a PC and DIRAC DLBC and REW and find it a very powerful and flexible combination. I have previously had a lot of problems with DIRAC DLBC but recently the latest update seems to be working quite well and as much as I don't like to admit it creates a smoother response than I have been able to get with manual measurements and filters with REW and subjectively sounds good as well. In addition to having plenty of power for whatever filters you want to try, PC's are also great at storing and organizing music files and playing streaming services as well as analysing and editing music files (Audacity) or pretty much anything else you want or need (only weakness is playing MC content, it is not impossible but it is expensive and takes quite a bit of set up). I also find the "Cuemix 5" software for the interface to provide many useful features for DIY measurements and playback.