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Minidsp Flex Review (Audio DSP)

Rate this product:

  • 1. Poor (headless panther)

    Votes: 4 0.7%
  • 2. Not terrible (postman panther)

    Votes: 16 2.8%
  • 3. Fine (happy panther)

    Votes: 117 20.6%
  • 4. Great (golfing panther)

    Votes: 431 75.9%

  • Total voters
    568

antcollinet

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First post here. This is probably discussed elsewhere, but I am wondering about possibly overloading an (unbalanced RCA) Flex by inserting it into the external processor loop of the Outlaw RR2160MkII. The spec on the Flex site says 2vRMS is the input limit. But there is this disclaimer on the Outlaw page for the MkII: "You can add external processors either in the external processor loop or in between the pre- out/main in section of the receiver. The RR2160MkII, like most modern devices, has quite a bit of gain, and can easily be outputting 2Vrms, and obviously more peak. As such, you will need to reach out to the EQ manufacturer to ensure this will not overload the input stage of your external. We won't know what the input stage of other companies external processors can handle...." This seems like it could be a definite problem. I do note that the Flex spec for the balanced XLR connections is 4vRMS input limit. Would I have a problem using the RCA connections?
2VRMS allowed input on the flex. 2VRMS output from the outlaw.

Seems like a good match to me.
 

johnp98

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Skimmed through this thread and the one on the 2x4HD and just wanting to confirm my suspicion that the 2x4HD is still good enough (and best bang for the buck) if your just doing subwoofer eq /integration and then flex is best if you need the dac component or added features of the screen or Bluetooth or Dirac etc? Is that a fair summary?
 

Sluraad

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Skimmed through this thread and the one on the 2x4HD and just wanting to confirm my suspicion that the 2x4HD is still good enough (and best bang for the buck) if your just doing subwoofer eq /integration and then flex is best if you need the dac component or added features of the screen or Bluetooth or Dirac etc? Is that a fair summary?
I would agree with this. I have a 2x4HD for subs in my HD, and a Flex balanced for my dac/dirac on my desktop.
 

antcollinet

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"and can easily be outputting 2Vrms, and obviously more peak" is the concerning part. So, would every peak push the Flex into distortion?
That is because the peak of 2vRMS is 2x21.41 in both cases.
 

mike70

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Considering Flex digital outputs to an external DAC ... the USB output have 4 channels ... it works with a stereo DAC?

Some DACs works better with USB :)
 

abdo123

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Does anyone know if it is possible to have a separate gain on an input. I can set a gain on an ouput, but I'd like to have an additional gain on the analogue input to level it out with the digital inputs (at the moment I have to increase the volume when listening to the turntable.

I know I could use a separate preset for this, but that would mean slecting first analogue input, then analogue preset. It'd be much better if the analogue was just permanently amped up a little.
Nope. I had this same issue.

You really need a dedicated phono stage with the MiniDSP. It's probably sounding way off too because of the impedance mismatch.
 

antcollinet

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Nope. I had this same issue.

You really need a dedicated phono stage with the MiniDSP. It's probably sounding way off too because of the impedance mismatch.
I have a phone pre - but it is unbalanced connected to a balanced miniDSP. So -6dB (at least) compared to digital sources.

But thanks for your reply. You've confirmed what I thought. I'll just duplicate the setup and up the gain on the duplicate, then use that for the turntable.
 

abdo123

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I have a phone pre - but it is unbalanced connected to a balanced miniDSP. So -6dB (at least) compared to digital sources.

But thanks for your reply. You've confirmed what I thought. I'll just duplicate the setup and up the gain on the duplicate, then use that for the turntable.
That's more of a blessing than you might think, my MiniDSP (unbalanced) very occasionally clips on loud tracks.

The extra -6dB is just the right amount of headroom.
 
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So, I need some advice. Can I just connect my subwoofer with a TRS to RCA cable on the balanced outputs version of flex? Also, if I turn up volume on the flex will it also increase volume on my SVS 3000 micro?

Because currently if I plug the sub into my Bluesound NODE I need to adjust sub volume separately because I am using NODE as a streamer only and it connects to a DAC which I am using as a preamp.
 
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antcollinet

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So, I need some advice. Can I just connect my subwoofer with a TRS to RCA cable on the balanced outputs version of flex? Also, if I turn up volume on the flex will it also increase volume on my SVS 3000 micro?

Because currently if I plug the sub into my Bluesound NODE I need to adjust sub volume separately because I am using NODE as a streamer only and it connects to a DAC which I am using as a preamp.
As long as you use a correctly wired cable - yes (MiniDSP has a picture of how this should be wired)

And yes, the volume will be changed by the Flex volume control.
 

Keened

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So, I need some advice. Can I just connect my subwoofer with a TRS to RCA cable on the balanced outputs version of flex? Also, if I turn up volume on the flex will it also increase volume on my SVS 3000 micro?

Because currently if I plug the sub into my Bluesound NODE I need to adjust sub volume separately because I am using NODE as a streamer only and it connects to a DAC which I am using as a preamp.
Yes, or rather it should be a TS to RCA or TRS connector wired appropriately.

It will increase the signal value on all outputs at the same time. I'm not sure if you can change this in the configuration. You might need to attenuate the signal on that channel if you are summing channel 3+4 to mono.

The idea is that you low pass/balance/time delay/etc your subs first using the matrix and then run any other DSP on top of that since it is a 2x4 processor.
 

antcollinet

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Yes, or rather it should be a TS to RCA or TRS connector wired appropriately.

It will increase the signal value on all outputs at the same time. I'm not sure if you can change this in the configuration. You might need to attenuate the signal on that channel if you are summing channel 3+4 to mono.

The idea is that you low pass/balance/time delay/etc your subs first using the matrix and then run any other DSP on top of that since it is a 2x4 processor.
You must not use a TS connector on the output. The cold signal of the output is then shorted to earth and will be overloaded - possibly causing damage.
 
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Keened

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You must not use a TS connector on the output. The cold signal of the output is then shorted to earth and will be overloaded - possibly causing damage.
Hmm, I have the adapters MiniDSP provided for TRS -> RCA and on the TRS side and have red to center and bare (presumably white) to body/shield and the exact same configuration on the RCA side. There is no third connection so presumably the cold on the TRS is floating.

I've been using a 6.35 TS -> TS 3.5mm for my wireless subwoofer connection without an issue so far.
20220516_153347_HDR_crop.jpg
 
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antcollinet

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Hmm, I have the adapters MiniDSP provided for TRS -> RCA and on the TRS side and have red to center and bare (presumably white) to body/shield and the exact same configuration on the RCA side. There is no third connection so presumably the cold on the TRS is floating.

I've been using a 6.35 TS -> TS 3.5mm for my wireless subwoofer connection without an issue so far.View attachment 207034
Your TS to RCA subwoofer is shorting the cold signal to ground. It might survive that, but we don't know the design of the output circuit. It might do no damage. It might fail after a short time - or it might just shorten it's life. It might already have killed the cold output.

You've Got To Ask Yourself One Question: 'Do I Feel Lucky? ' Well, Do Ya?'


Edit - I've just looked at the ouput impedance of the flex balanced and it is 200ohm, so with a 2V ouput (per "side") it is only 10mA into a short. That is unlikely to be too taxing for most driving devices (probably an Op Amp). So it'll (probably) be fine.
 
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Keened

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Edit - I've just looked at the ouput impedance of the flex balanced and it is 200ohm, so with a 2V ouput (per "side") it is only 10mA into a short. That is unlikely to be too taxing for most driving devices (probably an Op Amp). So it'll (probably) be fine.
raw-938453194.gif


I did it because I could not find a F-F RCA adapter in my box of parts and it seemed to work so I just went with it. I'll test it later to confirm no damage.
 

dougi

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That's more of a blessing than you might think, my MiniDSP (unbalanced) very occasionally clips on loud tracks.

The extra -6dB is just the right amount of headroom.
Note that the input level control is after the ADC, so the ADC might still saturate, but at least no digital clipping. I am running my phono pre into a preamp with a volume control then into the flex because of this, and also because I get a bit of a ground loop with phono pre directly into the flex. Haven't tried grounding the flex yet to see if that helps.
 

abdo123

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Note that the input level control is after the ADC, so the ADC might still saturate, but at least no digital clipping. I am running my phono pre into a preamp with a volume control then into the flex because of this, and also because I get a bit of a ground loop with phono pre directly into the flex. Haven't tried grounding the flex yet to see if that helps.
I have no idea how balanced audio works when connected with only the positive voltage of an unbalanced audio.

Like does it clip in this case at 2V or 4V?
 
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