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miniDSP Flex

Sluraad

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Got my Flex in yesterday for my desktop setup, a few days earlier than initially expected! Dug up my old home theater sub and shoved it in the corner then spent a little bit of time figuring out how to make all the pieces work together.

Things came together when I reset the Flex to default configuration, disabled Dirac (I had run several Dirac scans already) and followed this general outline.
1: Run a L+R scans with my XO in place and sub off
2: Run a scan of the Sub, with my XO in place and the speakers off
3: Work up a PEQ filter for the sub in REW that looks nice and flat
4: Turn on L+R and subs and run a scan to see how the volume between the sub and speakers match up
5: Turn up the volume knob on the sub until the general volume levels match up closely between the speakers and sub to the house curve
6: Run Dirac and feed it my house curve.

I'm going to work on tuning the sub PEQ a little bit more to flatten it out but as of now I'm pretty happy with the results. This is a really neat little device with a lot of power and flexibility!
 

agiletiger

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View attachment 204242
View attachment 204248
Got my Flex in yesterday for my desktop setup, a few days earlier than initially expected! Dug up my old home theater sub and shoved it in the corner then spent a little bit of time figuring out how to make all the pieces work together.

Things came together when I reset the Flex to default configuration, disabled Dirac (I had run several Dirac scans already) and followed this general outline.
1: Run a L+R scans with my XO in place and sub off
2: Run a scan of the Sub, with my XO in place and the speakers off
3: Work up a PEQ filter for the sub in REW that looks nice and flat
4: Turn on L+R and subs and run a scan to see how the volume between the sub and speakers match up
5: Turn up the volume knob on the sub until the general volume levels match up closely between the speakers and sub to the house curve
6: Run Dirac and feed it my house curve.

I'm going to work on tuning the sub PEQ a little bit more to flatten it out but as of now I'm pretty happy with the results. This is a really neat little device with a lot of power and flexibility!
Good stuff! I haven’t added a curve yet. Is yours a canned one or did you end up with your own tweaked house curve?
 

Sluraad

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Good stuff! I haven’t added a curve yet. Is yours a canned one or did you end up with your own tweaked house curve?
I have a slightly tweaked curve based on the popular "Harman +6db". I've tried a +4db one, as well as flatter slants that do more or less the same thing, this is my preferred curve for systems that don't have an equal loudness curve adjustment built in (which accomplishes a lot of similar things).
 

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TimW

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The miniDSP Q2 2022 Newsletter just arrived in my inbox and I was amused to see the reference to Amir's review here.
1651679800233.png
 
Joined
May 7, 2020
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View attachment 204242
View attachment 204248
Got my Flex in yesterday for my desktop setup, a few days earlier than initially expected! Dug up my old home theater sub and shoved it in the corner then spent a little bit of time figuring out how to make all the pieces work together.

Things came together when I reset the Flex to default configuration, disabled Dirac (I had run several Dirac scans already) and followed this general outline.
1: Run a L+R scans with my XO in place and sub off
2: Run a scan of the Sub, with my XO in place and the speakers off
3: Work up a PEQ filter for the sub in REW that looks nice and flat
4: Turn on L+R and subs and run a scan to see how the volume between the sub and speakers match up
5: Turn up the volume knob on the sub until the general volume levels match up closely between the speakers and sub to the house curve
6: Run Dirac and feed it my house curve.

I'm going to work on tuning the sub PEQ a little bit more to flatten it out but as of now I'm pretty happy with the results. This is a really neat little device with a lot of power and flexibility!


I would do time integration between the mains and sub. You can use Alignment Tool in REW , you probably have to delay the mains. Remember to measure with time reference on. Then you put the delay value in the plug in, before run Dirac.
 

Sluraad

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I would do time integration between the mains and sub. You can use Alignment Tool in REW , you probably have to delay the mains. Remember to measure with time reference on. Then you put the delay value in the plug in, before run Dirac.
I did, though I'm still tweaking it. I've got a bit of a funky setup on my less than optimal desk but its all coming together nicely.

One thing I am noticing is that saved EQ from REW is not being correctly interpreted on the flex. I've used these all the time with my 2x4HD on my home theater setup and they behave as expected, but the ones I am applying to my sub are not even remotely close. If I plug the values into the PEQ manually not only does the minidsp software display a different PEQ graph but it works as expected. Anyone else noticed this?
 

Smitty2k1

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The more I think about this product the worse I feel the value is. You can find a used Denon X3500H AVR for about the same price as one of these miniDSP. It has the advanced Audyssey 32XT, HDMI switching, a solid DAC, and amplifiers built in. Obviously a much larger footprint but so much more functionality for the same price. Is there something the MiniDSP can do that much better than the Denon AVR or is the premium just because it's new (not used), and a small footprint?

Obviously used is always cheaper but the price on this just seems really high.
 

Sluraad

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The more I think about this product the worse I feel the value is. You can find a used Denon X3500H AVR for about the same price as one of these miniDSP. It has the advanced Audyssey 32XT, HDMI switching, a solid DAC, and amplifiers built in. Obviously a much larger footprint but so much more functionality for the same price. Is there something the MiniDSP can do that much better than the Denon AVR or is the premium just because it's new (not used), and a small footprint?

Obviously used is always cheaper but the price on this just seems really high.
The flex is a little premium, but don't forget to add on the $200 windows license for Audyssey that requires 5x as much work to get similar (but worse) results.
I've got an X3700h for my HT and the $200 Audyssey windows addon and I wish it could be a fraction as easy to tune and as good of quality as what I'm doing with my MiniDSP Flex. I'm probably going to haul my Flex out to hook up to my X3700h and try it out.
I think one thing that would really put the MiniDSP Flex on another level is if it had a dedicated LFE input channel, for a true 2.1 setup. Then Dirac could address the sub specifically and it would allow for much easier sub integration.
Mass produced AVRs that are of decent quality (Like Denon X series) do hold better value, but the MiniDSP Flex route provides better quality.
 

Smitty2k1

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The flex is a little premium, but don't forget to add on the $200 windows license for Audyssey that requires 5x as much work to get similar (but worse) results.
I've got an X3700h for my HT and the $200 Audyssey windows addon and I wish it could be a fraction as easy to tune and as good of quality as what I'm doing with my MiniDSP Flex. I'm probably going to haul my Flex out to hook up to my X3700h and try it out.
I think one thing that would really put the MiniDSP Flex on another level is if it had a dedicated LFE input channel, for a true 2.1 setup. Then Dirac could address the sub specifically and it would allow for much easier sub integration.
Mass produced AVRs that are of decent quality (Like Denon X series) do hold better value, but the MiniDSP Flex route provides better quality.
Wait what? $200 extra? Can't be done with everything built into the AVR or $20 phone app?
 

TreveK

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Ordered my unbalanced Flex direct from minidsp last Monday. It arrived at my delivery address in the UK yesterday (Tuesday) - I reckon 8 days is pretty good. Total cost was a few pence short of £500, including import tax, etc. This is for the Flex unit only - no Dirac or Umik-1 (both of which I'll order locally). Let the games begin!
 

amper42

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The miniDSP Q2 2022 Newsletter just arrived in my inbox and I was amused to see the reference to Amir's review here.
View attachment 204452

This miniDSP newsletter is a bit misleading? Orders for Balanced FLEX units ordered last Monday/Tuesday Apr25 and 26 are still not shipping. I was told it would be 2-3 weeks more for my balanced order. Telling readers all three versions are available for order without saying ONLY the digital version is shipping seems odd. Rather than trying to disguise the shipping reality, miniDSP should be straight forward. The problem is even the dates quoted are not firm and could be longer.
 

TimW

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This miniDSP newsletter is a bit misleading? Orders for Balanced FLEX units ordered last Monday/Tuesday Apr25 and 26 are still not shipping. I was told it would be 2-3 weeks more for my balanced order. Telling readers all three versions are available for order without saying ONLY the digital version is shipping seems odd. Rather than trying to disguise the shipping reality, miniDSP should be straight forward. The problem is even the dates quoted are not firm and could be longer.
What I read in that newsletter is that the digital version is now shipping and the analog ones are shipping again but new orders won't ship until the end of the month. Is that incorrect?
 

aikofan

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Has anyone else noticed a click or thump noise coming through the speakers when the Flex goes into or out of standby while the amp is on? I haven’t connected my sub so I hope this noise doesn’t become even more annoying through the sub.
 

amper42

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I didn't order analog. The article seems false to me. My Balanced FLEX order was placed on Apr 25 and has not shipped. I emailed to find out when it would ship as I heard nothing on a shipping timeline. They emailed back that balance FLEX units would not be available for three weeks or so. With that being the case, new orders most likely will ship in June. The FLEX balanced product isn't available EVEN for my order submitted last week. From my reading, the newsletter seems to skate around actual availability, trying to put a spin on it that's not really accurate. It would be nice if FLEX customers received an update on availability when they order. Customers shouldn't have to ask or wait weeks/months for updates on availability.

It seems like miniDSP wants to push orders to come in with long wait times for delivery. At least, that's the result of what's happening when Newsletters hint to potential buyers that wait times are short and current orders are caught up. I guess they follow that up with the delay was longer than originally thought. :D
 

antcollinet

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This miniDSP newsletter is a bit misleading? Orders for Balanced FLEX units ordered last Monday/Tuesday Apr25 and 26 are still not shipping. I was told it would be 2-3 weeks more for my balanced order. Telling readers all three versions are available for order without saying ONLY the digital version is shipping seems odd. Rather than trying to disguise the shipping reality, miniDSP should be straight forward. The problem is even the dates quoted are not firm and could be longer.
Mine (balanced - ordered on 25th) was in my hands two days ago.
 

amper42

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Mine (balanced - ordered on 25th) was in my hands two days ago.
OK, at least someone got one. :D
When did you get notice it shipped? I haven't gotten even a shipping email. But, miniDSP certainly charged my card the same day as the order. Funny how they found time for that - just no shipping.
 

antcollinet

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OK, at least someone got one. :D
When did you get notice it shipped? I haven't gotten even a shipping email. But, miniDSP certainly charged my card the same day as the order. Funny how they found time for that - just no shipping.
Order confirmation was on 25th April at 07:15 immediately after ordering UK Time. (So quite early - perhaps I got the last of the stock)

On the 29th I got an email from DHL on how to pay the duty, followed by shipping email (about an hour later) from MiniDSP.
It arrived early on the 3rd, a day early compared with the initial DHL estimate, possibily expidited by immediate payment of tax when I got the email from DHL.
 

TreveK

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This miniDSP newsletter is a bit misleading? Orders for Balanced FLEX units ordered last Monday/Tuesday Apr25 and 26 are still not shipping. I was told it would be 2-3 weeks more for my balanced order. Telling readers all three versions are available for order without saying ONLY the digital version is shipping seems odd. Rather than trying to disguise the shipping reality, miniDSP should be straight forward. The problem is even the dates quoted are not firm and could be longer.
Not true - as per my post above, the Unbalanced Analog version is shipping. I received mine on Tuesday after only 8 days.
 

poxymoron

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Folks, when integrating a subwoofer in a 2.1 system using the Flex with Dirac or REW does the sub need to have a volume control for level matching etc.?

The subwoofer I'm looking to use is a wireless Philips Fidelio FW1 which forms part of the forthcoming Philips FB1 Atmos soundbar system (it allows wired sub-in connection also) and it doesn't have a volume control (perhaps on a proprietary app). I'll use this sub with the Flex for music until I get the soundbar and satelite speakers and then move them to the TV, I'll then replace the sub for my Flex music system. Thanks.

 

antcollinet

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Folks, when integrating a subwoofer in a 2.1 system using the Flex with Dirac or REW does the sub need to have a volume control for level matching etc.?

The subwoofer I'm looking to use is a wireless Philips Fidelio FW1 which forms part of the forthcoming Philips FB1 Atmos soundbar system (it allows wired sub-in connection also) and it doesn't have a volume control (perhaps on a proprietary app). I'll use this sub with the Flex for music until I get the soundbar and satelite speakers and then move them to the TV, I'll then replace the sub for my Flex music system. Thanks.

No, it will be fine without - the flex can adjust the overall gain for any ouput, or the equalisation would do the same thing. You might run into a problem with headroom, if the sub level is much lower than the main so that the EQ has to turn up the subs so much that digital clipping starts. In that case it would be better to reduce the gain of the mains instead, to match the subs.
 
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