miniDSP Flex

[anotherhobby]

Just got my flex balanced. What’s the cheapest cable on amazon for driving my sub? Ordered monoprice xlr to TRS on amazon to feed my hypex power amp.

Goal: simple 2.1 system with a sub and a pair of kef R3s.

I got these on adapters on Amazon and used them for a little bit. Worked great, and you can use whatever cable you already have.

The pair is the way to go because it'll give you an excuse to get a 2nd sub.

 

[envydd]

I got these on adapters on Amazon and used them for a little bit. Worked great, and you can use whatever cable you already have.

The pair is the way to go because it'll give you an excuse to get a 2nd sub.

Thx ... will order them asap

 

[Stevienew]

update after sending a request to minidsp:
Minidsp DevTeam has asked for the preset files and a screenshot with the master volume setting to reproduce the problem.
Today I got the following answer, which I don't really understand:

Sounds good. We will pass it on to the technicians to see if they can reproduce the problem.
Please note that I think the problem may be with your gain structure. Do you see that you are at -47.5 dB master volume? That's really bad because you're basically gobbling up 50 dB of gain. Instead of an SNR of 120, you have an SNR of 70 dB.... Please use the product properly to get the best SNR and optimize this device.
a) Lower the gain on your amplifier or source.
b) Increase the gain in the DSP.

It is normal for the Volume setting to be well into the negative range at low listening volume, right?
What am I doing wrong?
Here the screenshot I sent them:

(That's just the config for the HPA)

Thanks

 

[MCH]

update after sending a request to minidsp:
Minidsp DevTeam has asked for the preset files and a screenshot with the master volume setting to reproduce the problem.
Today I got the following answer, which I don't really understand:

Sounds good. We will pass it on to the technicians to see if they can reproduce the problem.
Please note that I think the problem may be with your gain structure. Do you see that you are at -47.5 dB master volume? That's really bad because you're basically gobbling up 50 dB of gain. Instead of an SNR of 120, you have an SNR of 70 dB.... Please use the product properly to get the best SNR and optimize this device.
a) Lower the gain on your amplifier or source.
b) Increase the gain in the DSP.

It is normal for the Volume setting to be well into the negative range at low listening volume, right?
What am I doing wrong?
Here the screenshot I sent them:View attachment 191381
(That's just the config for the HPA)

Thanks

Minidsp employee during coffee break: "so much effort and development time to reach 120 db SNR and then the stupid users LOWER THE VOLUME!! can you believe it???"

 

[TheBatsEar]

Please note that I think the problem may be with your gain structure.

This guy seems to be a supporter, maybe he doesn't have the whole picture.

Do you see that you are at -47.5 dB master volume? That's really bad because you're basically gobbling up 50 dB of gain. Instead of an SNR of 120, you have an SNR of 70 dB....

He's not wrong, but such is is the nature of the MiniDSP used as a preamp. You have to expect that customers not listen to their signal at full tilt all the time.

Let's see what the techies say. It seems to be noteworthy that this is a regression from the previous firmware version, and as such the problem should be easier to find.

 

[TheBatsEar]

I ordered and payed my MiniDSP RCA with American Express: 505USD, was 452,79€ for me, at the time. DHL collects 99,25€ at delivery, 15€ of that is for DHL doing the tax paperwork, rest is tax. You get an email with a link to pay online, they accept credit cards and Paypal. I used Paypal.

So, the price for the MiniDSP Flex RCA for me, delivered to the door, will be 552,04€.

Once i have it, i'll buy the Dirac license, in the hopes to save a few bucks on tax.

 

[Stevienew]

I ordered and payed my MiniDSP RCA with American Express: 505USD, was 452,79€ for me, at the time. DHL collects 99,25€ at delivery, 15€ of that are for DHL doing the tax paperwork, rest is tax. You get an email with a link to pay online, they allow credit cards and Paypal. I used Paypal.

So, the price for the MiniDSP Flex RCA for me, delivered to the door, will be 552,04€.

Once i have it, i'll buy the Dirac license, in the hopes to save a few bucks on tax.

Did it the same way and it worked smoothly

 

[TurtleG]

Hi All, I just found ASR and already love the amount of great discussions and information.

I recently moved to a much smaller house, sold off my Yamaha R-N803D, large speakers, sub, etc, etc as I was downsizing and decluttering. I've been using a WXA-50 connected to some locally made speakers (Ascension 6632SQTL). I also just started experimenting with REW. Now I've settled into my new house I want to get upgrade my HiFi.

This is a noob question, that kind of relates to some recent posts. The Flex really appeals to me due to DIRAC and input options. What I would like to do is connect my PC and Airport Express (for AirPlay 2) > MiniDSP Flex > Power Amp (looking for a new one). However, my preference is to control volume from the source, mostly for convenience/usability.

Is this workable, and would I set the Flex to max or very high volume?

 

[anotherhobby]

Hi All, I just found ASR and already love the amount of great discussions and information.

I recently moved to a much smaller house, sold off my Yamaha R-N803D, large speakers, sub, etc, etc as I was downsizing and decluttering. I've been using a WXA-50 connected to some locally made speakers (Ascension 6632SQTL). I also just started experimenting with REW. Now I've settled into my new house I want to get upgrade my HiFi.

This is a noob question, that kind of relates to some recent posts. The Flex really appeals to me due to DIRAC and input options. What I would like to do is connect my PC and Airport Express (for AirPlay 2) > MiniDSP Flex > Power Amp (looking for a new one). However, my preference is to control volume from the source, mostly for convenience/usability.

Is this workable, and would I set the Flex to max or very high volume?

Yes, you could do that. Just be careful with the source volume obviously.

 

[Stevienew]

This is a noob question, that kind of relates to some recent posts. The Flex really appeals to me due to DIRAC and input options. What I would like to do is connect my PC and Airport Express (for AirPlay 2) > MiniDSP Flex > Power Amp (looking for a new one). However, my preference is to control volume from the source, mostly for convenience/usability.

Is this workable, and would I set the Flex to max or very high volume?

That's certainly one use case. The support of miniDsp has recommended me to set the volume as high as possible to have the greatest SNR. You just have to make sure that the volume of the respective source is reduced accordingly!

 

[TheBatsEar]

This is a noob question, that kind of relates to some recent posts. The Flex really appeals to me due to DIRAC and input options. What I would like to do is connect my PC and Airport Express (for AirPlay 2) > MiniDSP Flex > Power Amp (looking for a new one). However, my preference is to control volume from the source, mostly for convenience/usability.

Is this workable, and would I set the Flex to max or very high volume?

Instead of using the Flex at 0dB and blowing the speakers by setting the source to 0dB by accident, i would maybe start with the Flex at -120dB and the source at 0dB. Then you turn up the Flex, as loud as you possibly ever listen to plus a few dB more. Now you use the source to change the volume down.

You would lose some SNR in the Flex, but gain some in the source, but most importantly, you would reduce the risk of blowing your speakers.

 

[TurtleG]

Instead of using the Flex at 0dB and blowing the speakers by setting the source to 0dB by accident, i would maybe start with the Flex at -120dB and the source at 0dB. Then you turn up the Flex, as loud as you possibly ever listen to plus a few dB more. Now you use the source to change the volume down.

You would lose some SNR in the Flex, but gain some in the source, but most importantly, you would reduce the risk of blowing your speakers.

Thanks for the advice everyone. I like the sound of that idea TheBatsEar!

 

[Chromatischism]

update after sending a request to minidsp:
Minidsp DevTeam has asked for the preset files and a screenshot with the master volume setting to reproduce the problem.
Today I got the following answer, which I don't really understand:

Sounds good. We will pass it on to the technicians to see if they can reproduce the problem.
Please note that I think the problem may be with your gain structure. Do you see that you are at -47.5 dB master volume? That's really bad because you're basically gobbling up 50 dB of gain. Instead of an SNR of 120, you have an SNR of 70 dB.... Please use the product properly to get the best SNR and optimize this device.
a) Lower the gain on your amplifier or source.
b) Increase the gain in the DSP.

It is normal for the Volume setting to be well into the negative range at low listening volume, right?
What am I doing wrong?
Here the screenshot I sent them:
(That's just the config for the HPA)

Thanks

Ok – imagine I have a PC or mobile device (such as Chromecast to optical) hooked up to this, should that also stay at 100%? Because with the MiniDSP Flex connected to an amp, the only volume controls I have are with the source or the DAC.

 

[TomJ]

Here's the best way to adjust gain on devices with digital volume control including the Flex & SHD. In general terms, set the gain higher on devices that process the signal with low bit depth (eg 16 bit) to preserve the music signal, and set the gain lower on devices with high bit depth (32 bit on the Flex and SHD) which do bit padding (increase the bit depth) to give you a broader range of volume attenuation before the music signal starts to degrade.

In practical terms, if you're streaming from your phone or laptop and not using a bit padded music player, turn the music volume up all the way (or almost all the way if your source device clips at high levels) and then lower the volume as needed on your Flex.

cheers, Tom

 

[MCH]

This, and subsequent posts :

Post in thread 'Software volume control - does this affect sound quality in a negative way?' https://audiosciencereview.com/foru...-quality-in-a-negative-way.31394/post-1108187

 

[Pengweng]

Hello ASR (first post),

Thought a bit of shipping info might be useful for anyone who is waiting on one of these. Apologies for cross posting in both threads.

Ordered and paid for a Flex (RCA option) on MiniDSP site 17 Feb, just before it became clear that MiniDSP didn’t have them in stock to ship. No news until two days ago (16 March) when I got a shipping notification from DHL and then confirmation a few hours later from MiniDSP. Sticker on the parcel shows it left HK 16/03. I paid the import fees on DHL site yesterday (17th), very straightforward) and it arrived just now (18th). I’m in the north of England.

So they are shipping back orders now and they arrive fast. I hope this means they’ll be available for new orders soon too if you want one and haven’t ordered yet. I'd have liked more communication from MiniDSP on this post-order but it was clear enough what was happening from their website.

Now looking forward to setting up etc. Went without Dirac in first instance then will probably upgrade to Dirac plugin at some point, rather than paying extra for it to be shipped with something that can be upgraded remotely, saving approx. £30 in import fees. I think various people pointed this out upthread so thanks to them for that.

 

[TheBatsEar]

Hello ASR (first post),

Welcome

Thought a bit of shipping info might be useful for anyone who is waiting on one of these

Appreciated. I think i'll order another Flex for the office once everyone had one and they are available easily.

Went without Dirac in first instance then will probably upgrade to Dirac plugin at some point, rather than paying extra for it to be shipped with something that can be upgraded remotely, saving approx. £30 in import fees. I think various people pointed this out upthread so thanks to them for that.

Yep, same here. Not yet sure if i'll put the money down, as i'm pretty happy with what i have. Then again, it could be better for only 200 bucks ...

 

[TreveK]

Thanks for the shipping update. Impatient to order mine, as soon as minidsp open the doors again!

 

[Pengweng]

Welcome
...
Yep, same here. Not yet sure if i'll put the money down, as i'm pretty happy with what i have. Then again, it could be better for only 200 bucks ...

Thank you!

Yes, umming and ahhing about whether to do the Dirac upgrade straight away or not. The problem is by the time I've learnt how to generate and apply the PEQ from REW (which I've only used so far for straightforward measurements for comparison or tweaking sub levels), some of the upfront benefit of having something easy and plug and play like Dirac which doesn't require that investment of time is lost...

 

[dpturner]

arrived today. minidsp flex (rca) + umik-1. ordered feb 20, heard nothing for several weeks, finally contacted support, a couple days later they added the note on their website about shortages, a few days later it shipped. took about a week from hong kong to seattle area.
i've got my work cut out for me, it's gonna take a couple weeks before i get around to actually connecting this to my main system. i will play with it on my "development system". this is my first foray into modern, measurement-based, digital equalization and room correction. wish me luck!