Minidsp Flex Review (Audio DSP)

[Grotti]

the number is with everything included to your doorstep. @Grotti

Thank you very much. I am very tempted...

 

[stemfencer]

the number is with everything included to your doorstep. @Grotti

Source?

 

[abdo123]

Source?

My invoice from DHL when i bought it .

 

[martijn86]

The price for the TRS version in good old Europe is 899 Euro ....

I was fully expecting that to be the full kit with mic and Dirac Live license. I was wrong.

 

[Pirx]

Great device I wanted to try, but that price in EU ...
Almost twice as much as in US ...

 

[Tangband]

Order directly from the MiniDSP site and it will be 620 euro.

Its still the best you can buy for that money.

 

[abdo123]

Great device I wanted to try, but that price in EU ...
Almost twice as much as in US ...

View attachment 185841

Like i mentioned above for the unbalanced version it’s 560 euro all included and 620ish for the balanced version if you order directly from MiniDSP.

 

[Savi]

Great device I wanted to try, but that price in EU ...
Almost twice as much as in US ...

View attachment 185841

motu ul mk5 vs minidsp flex debate is not the same in Europe. I have seen the motu at 685 euros several times.

 

[Stephen]

Its still the best you can buy for that money.

I use the Berhinger DEQ 2496 ultra-curve pro with a external DAC, and it's fabulous for a bit cheaper...

​

 

[vicenzo_del_paris]

Like i mentioned above for the unbalanced version it’s 560 euro all included and 620ish for the balanced version if you order directly from MiniDSP.

I confirm to France it was 565€ all included for me (unbalanced version)

 

[abdo123]

I don't think the raised multi-tone distortion is a resampling issue, Digital in Digital out shows no distortion components (ASIO @192KHz).

 

[Tangband]

I use the Berhinger DEQ 2496 ultra-curve pro with a external DAC, and it's fabulous for a bit cheaper...

​

Interesting. But can you really do a FIIR 2-way digital crossover in stereo LP and HP in that way ? Or are you just using the Behringer for roomcorrecfion ?

 

[PeteL]

Like i mentioned above for the unbalanced version it’s 560 euro all included and 620ish for the balanced version if you order directly from MiniDSP.

Not sure about the "all included" tough. I don't know how DHL works for Europe, but as a point of comparison, for Canada, I just ordered the 2X4 HD from them directly, it's a 225 USD product. I paid 30$ for shipping, plus 65$ in custom fees, so all together, I paid about 150% of the advertised price, which still an OK price for what it does but it is what it is.

I did consider the Flex but in term of features I tought the premium didn't justify it, I may have had considered further if I saw the measurments before tough, but not sure if the upgrade is really audible, maybe.

I must say however, that in this day and age, a company that offers no return possible whatsoever is a bit of a turnoff. It is probably partly how they keep price low, but still, it's not really as a company the first place to cheap out on. buying with confidence, support after the sale really should be a must. I ordered from them because there are not many comparable but I do wish there was more competition, to have choices.

 

[abdo123]

Not sure about the "all included tough"

I did not just convert the price from the website, i actually ordered the device and added up everything that i ended up paying.

 

[Dennis_FL]

There are three variations (from the manual here: Digital version isn't out yet.

 

[Ultrasonic]

Perfect subwoofer integration can be done with this mini-dsp ,

I am well aware and this is the principle reason I have been using miniDSP products for several years. The point I was making was that Dirac Live doesn't do this automatically, but rather it needs to be done manually using measurements and adjusting settings in the miniDSP software ('plugin'). Many make the mistake of assuming the Dirac Live will do this all for them which I why I was trying to highlight the distinction.

 

[Ultrasonic]

Import costs will vary from country to country, but it's worth noting that the Dirac Live update can be bought separately and so for many it will work out cheaper to get a non-Dirac model shipped and to then subsequently buy the software update to add Dirac.

 

[Krobar]

I am well aware and this is the principle reason I have been using miniDSP products for several years. The point I was making was that Dirac Live doesn't do this automatically, but rather it needs to be done manually using measurements and adjusting settings in the miniDSP software ('plugin'). Many make the mistake of assuming the Dirac Live will do this all for them which I why I was trying to highlight the distinction.

Dirac Live with Bass Control does do multi-sub integration for you but last I checked MiniDSP are not offering it (Would only really be relevant to stereo plus subwoofers use as all speakers need to processed by Dirac).

 

[Dennis_FL]

This is exactly what I need. Now, what do I do with my Gustard X16 and preamp?

 

[capslock]

Not sure about the "all included" tough. I don't know how DHL works for Europe, but as a point of comparison, for Canada, I just ordered the 2X4 HD from them directly, it's a 225 USD product. I paid 30$ for shipping, plus 65$ in custom fees, so all together, I paid about 150% of the advertised price, which still an OK price for what it does but it is what it is.

I did consider the Flex but in term of features I tought the premium didn't justify it, I may have had considered further if I saw the measurments before tough, but not sure if the upgrade is really audible, maybe.

I must say however, that in this day and age, a company that offers no return possible whatsoever is a bit of a turnoff. It is probably partly how they keep price low, but still, it's not really as a company the first place to cheap out on. buying with confidence, support after the sale really should be a must. I ordered from them because there are not many comparable but I do wish there was more competition, to have choices.

Some EU laws were changed so that everything above a value of € 5 including shipping gets taxed for VAT. This lead to the annoying situation that a €6 overseas shipment from a small vendor will now result in a personal trip to the post office (the delivery people are not allowed to accept CoD payments due to pandemic regulation in Germany at the moment) to pay €1 in VAT and €7.50 in brokerage fee where under the previous set of rules anything below € 26 was exempt and much stuff beyond that slipped through due to misdeclaration or overwork at the customs office.

It is also annoying that after Brexit, we now pay full VAT even on private shipments of used stuff from the UK, and that some commercial sellers on ebay.uk will collect British VAT (which they can keep) and we have to pay European VAT on top.

On the plus side, a web interface was generated that allows foreign shippers to prepay VAT and receive a transaction code that gets printed onto the shipping label. A lot of far eastern outfits such as Aliexpress, Gearbest, HifiGo have eagerly adopted this route, and buying on Aliexpress has never been more hassle free, even if it is a little more expensive on average. I even had a shipment from an Amazon marketplace seller come this way, the listing of which wasn't clear wether taxes were due. I wouldn't be surprised if MiniDSP is doing the same thing now.