Minidsp Flex TRS new chip update to dual ES9017

[Robocop]

A Flex TRS hardware upgrade

As most of you know, miniDSP always tries to achieve better performance for our customers. In the case of the Flex TRS, we were able to improve its excellent noise and distortion specifications even further in a change made in May 2025. By changing the output DAC section from PCM1795 to Dual ES9017, we achieved the following upgrade from v1 hardware. SNR: From 121dB(A) to 126dB(A) THD+N: From -112dB (0.00025%) to -120dB(0.0001%) Crosstalk: From -123dB(A) to -128dB(A) On our APX555, it looks like very quiet and clean:

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[Peluvius]

Surely not an audible improvement....

 

[TurtlePaul]

Surely not an audible improvement....

Probably not, but a DSP can chew through overhead and people (like me) use these as volume control. So it isn’t unheard of the peak signal being down 40 dB vs. digital zero.

 

[Peluvius]

I take your point. I have multiple sources running through mine so usually have it set to -15dB and use the source to adjust from there. I guess if you are down at -40 maybe, I hadn't thought of that.

 

[Audiovibes]

Paralleling 4 channels per chip allowed them to improve on the single channel performance of the chip. The AP measurement shows 48kHz input. Performance decreases as the sample rate increases:

 

[TurtlePaul]

The AP measurement shows 48kHz input. Performance decreases as the sample rate increases:

Certainly the biggest part of the performance decrease is that they increase the bandwidth of their test as the sample rate increases. I would assume that you get the same 20hz-20khz performance at all sample rates.

 

[Ropeburn]

Certainly the biggest part of the performance decrease is that they increase the bandwidth of their test as the sample rate increases. I would assume that you get the same 20hz-20khz performance at all sample rates.

I was wondering about that because it seems so counterintuitive at first glance. Now it makes sense.

Also means that's not really good for marketing purposes. "The higher quality input, the worse it performs. Something must be wrong with it lol"

 

[Audiovibes]

Certainly the biggest part of the performance decrease is that they increase the bandwidth of their test as the sample rate increases. I would assume that you get the same 20hz-20khz performance at all sample rates.

But we all know well seasoned audiophiles can hear till 160kHz!