Minidsp Flex Eight!

[juliangst]

Really surprised by the price. It's only $30 more expensive than the Balacned Flex 2x4 but importers like audiophonics sell it for 350€ more than the 2x4 Flex

 

[Piere]

Note, price on the MiniDSP site is without VAT, duties and shipment. But it is still a remarkable difference.

 

[juliangst]

Note, price on the MiniDSP site is without VAT, duties and shipment. But it is still a remarkable difference.

That’s why I compared it to the other imported MiniDSP.

Balanced Flex 570 USD on minidsp —> 750€ on Audiophonics with VAT
8 channel Flex 600 USD on minidsp —> 1100€ on Audiophonics with VAT

An 8 channel Topping DM7 and a raspberry Pi with camillaDSP are like 500€ less. I just wish we had another company like minidsp that makes easy to use, affordable and well measuring DSPs

 

[MCH]

The original price of the balanced flex at Audiophonics was 899 euros.
Apparently they explained that with minidsp they don't get dealer discount with the first deliveries of a new product and that they would decrease the price when they do. And that indeed happened after a few months.
I would expect the same will happen with the new flex eight, but I don't know, maybe you can just ask them, they are members here @Audiophonics

 

[juliangst]

The original price of the balanced flex at Audiophonics was 899 euros.
Apparently they explained that with minidsp they don't get dealer discount with the first deliveries of a new product and that they would decrease the price when they do. And that indeed happened after a few months.
I would expect the same will happen with the new flex eight, but I don't know, maybe you can just ask them, they are members here @Audiophonics

That makes a lot more sense, thanks!

 

[DWPress]

It was never intended to do x-over with FIR filters. And personally I don't see why you should do, apart from the experiment. Experimented in the past with it on the PC with BruteFIR and a VST convolver. Nice to restore old shellac records but for x-over not the Holy Grail.

It should be adequate for a 2 way speaker XO provided the bass isn't to messed up to begin with. Not sure why you found FIR based XO lacking, plenty of us would do it no other way for soooooo many reasons.

 

[Piere]

It should be adequate for a 2 way speaker XO provided the bass isn't to messed up to begin with. Not sure why you found FIR based XO lacking, plenty of us would do it no other way for soooooo many reasons.

Sorry, I never said FIR is lacking. Please do not manipulate my words. IMO it isn't simply worth the effort. X-overs are always a compromise and what is the best compromise is a never ending discussion, not free of personal opinions.

 

[DWPress]

No offense meant, just clarifying for people for people that it is possible with this unit and fairly easy to implement if you know what to do or do a little research and ask questions. Happy for you that your personal opinion differs and you've found another path to audio bliss.

 

[Audiophonics]

The original price of the balanced flex at Audiophonics was 899 euros.
Apparently they explained that with minidsp they don't get dealer discount with the first deliveries of a new product and that they would decrease the price when they do. And that indeed happened after a few months.
I would expect the same will happen with the new flex eight, but I don't know, maybe you can just ask them, they are members here @Audiophonics

You have explained it perfectly.

This is exactly what is happening with the EIGHT.

 

[TabCam]

I asked MiniDSP a follow-up question about the possibility of a balanced version of Flex Eight (similar to the versions available for the Flex which has unbalanced, balanced-TRS, and digital versions). They said there is not enough room on the unit for 8 TRS connectors, so no. Looking at the Flex Eight's back-panel, there is no way 8 TRS outputs will fit, so any balanced option will need breakout connectors rather than TRS or XLR. I asked a follow-up question if a balanced with Phoenix breakout connectors would be a possibility. Here is the response:

As always, MiniDSP is open to feedback and provides meaningful responses (some of the many reasons I like the company)! They are hearing customer requests for balanced. I recommend for those who want balanced option, email their support with a kind note.

I think they need two 8 channel DAC chips in order to make it balanced. That is why I do not expect a flex 8 balanced in the foreseeable future.

btw, I got it very quickly delivered for my active crossover. I used a miniDSP Studio SHD before but needed at least three channels due to a switch from two to three drivers. A pity it doesn't have rca input, that would make it a real one box solution.

 

[markofjohson]

Re no analog input on Flex8... can one get an inexpensive RCA-SPDIF ADC box to turn the digital in to analog in? (I ask as I never used SPDIF.) Thanks.

 

[TabCam]

Re no analog input on Flex8... can one get an inexpensive RCA-SPDIF ADC box to turn the digital in to analog in? (I ask as I never used SPDIF.) Thanks.

Yes, but I have not found a very good one yet. The MiniDSP one on the regular Flex seems very good so it is a pity!

 

[Marc v E]

Anyone received their flex eight yet?
Any measurements or setup to share?
I'm really curious what people's real world applications are.

 

[mlee]

Anyone received there flex eight yet?
Any measurements or setup to share?
I'm really curious what people's real world applications are.

Had mine for about a week. Had a few firmware bugs but they were fixed right away. Everything seems good now. Works as advertised. No measurements but seems like a good unit. I'm using them to run a 3-way open baffle line array. Seems like good value.

 

[TabCam]

Anyone received there flex eight yet?
Any measurements or setup to share?
I'm really curious what people's real world applications are.

I have received it. I use it for a three way open baffle and it replaced a MiniDSP SHD Studio, an analog crossover that was noisy and two Topping dacs. l have only done complete system measurements and they look better than before as I now can adjust slopes per unit and far sharper than I could with the analog crossover.

In combination sounds better that the devices that were replaced and I the only thing I saw was slightly elevated levels of distortion but that is probably a measurement volume level effect caused by in room noise and that decreases if the the relative noise level decreases wfith higher volume.

 

[Виталий]

please post photos inside flex eight

 

[TabCam]

please post photos inside flex eight

This german DIY site has some photos of the inside.

 

[mdsimon2]

This german DIY site has some photos of the inside.

That is the base Flex, not the Flex 8. Although I assume they are using the same base DSP board on the Flex 8 with an ES9080 DAC board.

Michael

 

[Виталий]

This german DIY site has some photos of the inside.

Can you open yours and take a picture?

 

[Draki]

That is the base Flex, not the Flex 8. Although I assume they are using the same base DSP board on the Flex 8 with an ES9080 DAC board.

Michael

As per @dreite (a very knowledgeable member at MiniDSP forum) it actually uses two ES9080 chips. Some paralleling is done, hence the high SNR.