miniDSP Flex

[amper42]

Thanks for the response. What day did you order the RCA FLEX? What day did your shipping email come?

On Apr28 miniDSP finally responded to my email where I asked when my Balanced FLEX would finally ship saying:
"All new Flex orders will hopefully ship in the week of early May if all goes well as per the note on the product page. Thanks for your patience as we just wait for unit to slowly arrive from China (strong limits in place due to Covid outbreak rules)."

Then a few days later the product page was updated to read:
"STOCK UPDATE (3rd May 2022): Due to an infortunate delay from one supplier, Flex units are currently low in stock. Flex TRS Orders placed from today (3rd May) and onward will ship by end of May till stock of the current batch depletes. Flex Digital and Flex RCA are still in stock. Please note that the whole team is doing our utmost best to keep up with the current challenges. Thanks for your patience!"

Apparently, email responses from miniDSP and the updates on the FLEX page cannot be relied upon for an accurate shipping date. We do know a group of Balanced FLEX units shipped during a small window on Apr25 until everything became immediately "out of stock" again for another month? It's really hard to know, because there is no individual customer care being provided to inform customers of their projected individual shipping date for Balanced FLEX orders. The customer either receives a shipping email from DHL/miniDSP or they don't. And you really have no idea how long the wait will be.

When I see wording like "low stock" what that really means is we don't have any and really can't be sure when we will. So any Newsletter that tries to encourage new Balanced FLEX orders while not clearly stating units are not shipping seems a bit misleading to me.

 

[poxymoron]

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.

That's what I suspected after reading the Flex/REW tutorials. So the end result in the worst case is the system as whole can only get so loud. Not a problem in the small room it's in (hence my modestly sized temporary sub of choice). Thanks for the reply.

 

[antcollinet]

That's what I suspected after reading the Flex/REW tutorials. So the end result in the worst case is the system as whole can only get so loud. Not a problem in the small room it's in (hence my modestly sized temporary sub of choice). Thanks for the reply.

Only to the extend the subs are limited in ouput level. Obviously if the subs prvoide limited power, if you output singificanlty higher SPL from your mains, the sound would become unbalanced.

So use of the flex is not what limits the volume. The ouput of the lowest of whichever speaker is what will limit the overall volume.

 

[Eneko]

Just received mine It’s the digital version. Works smoothly. Now… let’s see if I can find time to go deep into the rabbit hole

 

[Sluraad]

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.

https://cmcpr.prowly.com/174858-tp-vision-previews-new-premium-philips-fidelio-wireless-av-platform

https://prowly-uploads.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/7164/assets/384943/large-560ade3e288f351435be8c202aeb4405.jpg

It looks like the sub has a volume knob on it, so you just adjust the volume on the sub to have similar volume levels at the crossover point as your mains. You do get a +/- 12db output volume level for your sub in the miniDSP, but generally you can match it with the master volume on the sub. After that dirac takes care of the rest.

 

[Sluraad]

Wait what? $200 extra? Can't be done with everything built into the AVR or $20 phone app?

What's built into the AVR is fairly inaccurate and lacks additional tuning. Easy and something a lot of casual probably consider good enough? Sure.

The $20 phone app also has quality limitations related to tuning and how good of a job it does aligning the speakers with the scan. Also easy and something a lot of casual users also consider good enough? Yep.

The $200 desktop app has a ton of features but is a little odd regarding how its built, eventually it will get the ability to integrate with REW and do additional scans to refine its EQ capabilities, but Audysseys precision in aligning and the ability to tune speaker phase is still VERY limited. Will people who run it and not want to tune anything more think its fine? Sure.

Let's not even get into the pathetic Sub EQ (single or dual) that Audyssey has, though I haven't used DLBC to compare it to the superior solution of miniDSP + MultiSubOptimizer. My understanding is that DLBC is able to do a similar level of multi sub optimization, as well as include bass from your main speakers in a Geddes style approach.

Dirac's setup process is extremely efficient, and extremely accurate. It gives you the ability to define a target curve SUPER easily, and the accuracy as to which it matches it is extremely high. It also gets the speaker alignment perfect every time in my experience, and its phase tuning abilities is damn near magic.

On the Denon side I do like Audysseys DynamicEQ and DynamicVol features, and some of the stuff Denon does with center channel spread, etc are pretty nice and currently I don't believe any system that implements Dirac has comparable features. Dolby is going to making comparable features part of their standard, so I imagine we'll see those features implemented on AVRs that also have Dirac.

 

[poxymoron]

It looks like the sub has a volume knob on it, so you just adjust the volume on the sub to have similar volume levels at the crossover point as your mains. You do get a +/- 12db output volume level for your sub in the miniDSP, but generally you can match it with the master volume on the sub. After that dirac takes care of the rest.

The two knobs are for gain and crossover, no volume knob. Thanks.

 

[Sluraad]

The two knobs are for gain and crossover, no volume knob. Thanks.

Is this gain knob somehow different than a volume knob? Those are two pretty standard knobs for subwoofers.

 

[antcollinet]

Is the gain knob somehow different than a volume knob? Those are two pretty standard knobs for subwoofers.

Yes - gain (for all intents and purposes) is volume.

 

[poxymoron]

Yes - gain (for all intents and purposes) is volume.

Okay, I thought while similar it was more to do with input volume and more likely to introduce distortion if also adding gain in the Flex.

 

[Antônio Souza]

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.

MiniDsp shd and Flex séries main use are for 2.2 and 2.1 stereo músic listening.

 

[will.b]

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?

It's most likely the preset you've selected when generating the PEQ in the REW EQ window.
From the FLEX spec sheet:

Processing resolution / Sample rate

32 bit/96 kHz (32bit/48 kHz with Dirac Live® license)

As you have Dirac enabled, 48 kHz is the one you want. I think it's just the miniDSP preset and not the miniDSP 2x4HD one.
The 2x4HD without Dirac is 96 kHz as well.

 

[Sluraad]

It's most likely the preset you've selected when generating the PEQ in the REW EQ window.
From the FLEX spec sheet:

Processing resolution / Sample rate

32 bit/96 kHz (32bit/48 kHz with Dirac Live® license)

As you have Dirac enabled, 48 kHz is the one you want. I think it's just the miniDSP preset and not the miniDSP 2x4HD one.
The 2x4HD without Dirac is 96 kHz as well.

This is probably it, I've been used to using the 2x4 HD filters for so long I didn't notice the 96khz part.

 

[Sluraad]

This is probably it, I've been used to using the 2x4 HD filters for so long I didn't notice the 96khz part.

Yep, I updated my REW to the latest and when I do an export with Generic filter type I can now select 48khz and these are working just fine.
I think I'm done with my desk setup, really happy with how it sounds on music and movies. Maybe, maybe in the future replace my subwoofer. It's old, I've had it for nearly 20 years, but it still works pretty ok for a 10" sub.

 

[amper42]

My FLEX TRS arrived today. $600 to the front door. No import fee charged in USA or DHL handling fee.
The body of the FLEX looks a bit chunky and the volume control has some wiggle in it. The serial number is placed on the bottom with a piece of tape over a paper number. This doesn't have the finish of an Apple product.

 

[poxymoron]

My FLEX TRS arrived today. $600 to the front door. No import fee charged in USA or DHL handling fee.
The body of the FLEX looks a bit chunky and the volume control has some wiggle in it. The serial number is placed on the bottom with a piece of tape over a paper number. This doesn't have the finish of an Apple product.

Or the price

 

[VeerK]

Or the price

Mac mini not so bad

 

[Geronimo.USMC]

My FLEX TRS arrived today. $600 to the front door. No import fee charged in USA or DHL handling fee.
The body of the FLEX looks a bit chunky and the volume control has some wiggle in it. The serial number is placed on the bottom with a piece of tape over a paper number. This doesn't have the finish of an Apple product.

Mine is on it's way as well. Yup, $600......I'm set to pick it up at my local DHL facility in a few days.

 

[8bits]

I also just got mine and I am starting to read the guides and pages about setting up Dirac with it. I have a few questions that you folks might be able to help I think:

My current setup is a pair of KEF LS 50 Metas (port covered) and an SVS 1000 Pro sub.

1) The SVS sub has built-in DSP, which I disabled, but I can't disable the volume control, so should I set the internal Sub volume to 100% when integrating via the Flex/Dirac?
2) Should I apply the Xover curve between speakers and Sub before I do the Dirac measurements?
3) I read in this thread that it would be better to use the Harmann target curve from here since the default Dirac one is not the best option. Anyone has used both and can chime in as to what they think?

 

[Sluraad]

I also just got mine and I am starting to read the guides and pages about setting up Dirac with it. I have a few questions that you folks might be able to help I think:

My current setup is a pair of KEF LS 50 Metas (port covered) and an SVS 1000 Pro sub.

1) The SVS sub has built-in DSP, which I disabled, but I can't disable the volume control, so should I set the internal Sub volume to 100% when integrating via the Flex/Dirac?
2) Should I apply the Xover curve between speakers and Sub before I do the Dirac measurements?
3) I read in this thread that it would be better to use the Harmann target curve from here since the default Dirac one is not the best option. Anyone has used both and can chime in as to what they think?

#1: SVS' DSP is.... very weak compared to what you can do with the output 10 band PEQ capability of the miniDSP + REW. I've got a SB1000 Pro and SB3000 and don't use the built in ones. You'll get the best results from Dirac if you get the volume level of the SVS to match the resulting +6db target point before running Dirac, also use REW to get your EQ for your subwoofer set up before you run Dirac.
The MiniDSP Flex is a 2 channel device, not a 2.1 channel. It doesn't address the subwoofer directly just the resulting output from post-crossover.
#2: Yes. LR 24db is what I would do. But you need to do a bit more work first.
#3: I use the +6db target curve myself, I like it better than the +4 or +8.