Minidsp SHD Review Updated (DSP, DAC & Streamer)

[Alfachris]

I also use the SHD as an active filter for my replicas of Kinoshita RM11 (bigger) ..... I just carried over the settings of my old digital active filter, with just slight modifications ... the speaker amps are 4 mono blocks based on Neurochrome modules ... the amps are attached to the back of the speakers
With the SHD, I only have one digital / analog conversion ... it's superb

 

[whitfc]

This is my 2nd SHD .... I bought the latter because it had been upgraded by the first owner, condos of 2 analog output cards changed by more efficient condos, and psu power supply changed for a linear power supply

How did the linear power supply affect the sound quality?

 

[RichB]

How did the linear power supply affect the sound quality?

Negatively

There should be an audiophile market for replacing linear power supplies with high-performance SMPS.

- Rich

 

[nothingman]

How did the linear power supply affect the sound quality?

Probably about as well as that $10,000 Purifi power amp from LKV that adds a linear PSU which in turn adds significantly to the noise floor, THD, and IMD over the basic EVAL1 design.

 

[Alfachris]

How did the linear power supply affect the sound quality?

Frankly I could not compare my original SHD was already sold ..... I wanted this SHD "tweaked" especially for its improved analog output cards .... What I can say is that it is absolutely silent, even when listening to my horns, which are at 110db of output ... I hear nothing, that's fine with me

 

[Alfachris]

I will maybe buy another SHD for my second system ..... I find it too good ...... I could compare the 2 at that time ... I would tell you

 

[Sonnie]

Didn't Amir test it with the stock power supply and there was zero audible noise? I'm not sure why it would need to be tweaked anymore that factory. What am I missing? Nothing audible of course.

 

[Alfachris]

Didn't Amir test it with the stock power supply and there was zero audible noise? I'm not sure why it would need to be tweaked anymore that factory. What am I missing? Nothing audible of course.

Surely!
Although it is practically new, the SHD was modified so no longer under warranty, so I made a very good financial deal ... that's it
I am very satisfied, it works really very well

 

[aschen]

After living with this thing for a few weeks I think it may be some of the best money I've ever spent in audio.

The flexibility really let's you do what you like.

My dream shd would have a bigger display, let you program names for inputs and presets, have a few more preset slots, and a nice chunky aluminum remote

I'd gladly pay 2k for these niceties, but as is it is really a great and powerful piece

 

[Staki]

After living with this thing for a few weeks I think it may be some of the best money I've ever spent in audio.

The flexibility really let's you do what you like.

My dream shd would have a bigger display, let you program names for inputs and presets, have a few more preset slots, and a nice chunky aluminum remote

I'd gladly pay 2k for these niceties, but as is it is really a great and powerful piece

I could not agree more. The ability to apply Dirac to your analog sources is a killer feature. Now I'm only waiting for them to finish their Roon certification so that I can disable the Volumio plugin.

My biggest feature request for SHD 2.0 would be proper management over ethernet or wifi. The wifi bridge that they currently offer cannot stream audio to the SHD USB port (which you will lose by connecting it), so imho it is useless.

 

[RichB]

There is an update to fix the MiniDSP input change IR repeating issue.
MiniDSP : Volume up on remote changes input. (2/2)

Good news is that we were indeed able to reproduce the issue related to timing (i.e. pressing the IR at a specific time of the OLED display). We've now issued a firmware build (v1.28) to solve this issue under the user downloads section.

Have a look and feel free to create a support ticket if you have any questions.
Lots of exciting new features are coming up the coming weeks we hope.. Stay tuned.

Devteam

- Rich

 

[Sonnie]

Hmmm... well I have my old unit connected until they get the popping sound fixed... hopefully that will be in the next few weeks.

 

[kokoon]

So if I'm getting a new SHD right now and need the trigger hack to be possible, I have to make sure I'll be getting a Neo3 revision and I'll have clicks-n-pops/phasing issues playing Roon directly to device? Did I get it right?

I'm serious, want to order this week, but all EU vendors look like they're out of stock atm.

 

[nothingman]

Yes, that’s the gist. To repeat, that clicking/popping is only hi-res and only using Roon. I don’t use Roon so I’d never know there’s a problem. Personally I doubt they’ll make a fix to the unsanctioned Roon functionality. Much more likely it all waits until the Roon certification is fixed entirely. Just my guess, though.

I’m on the Neo3 hardware now. I can confirm that the USB Host post works beautifully with this step up cable and this connector to replace the barrel. Couldn’t have been easier to do. My dmm reads 12.7V. Anyone who was going to use the USB wifi dongle would be much better served switching to a wifi-to-ethernet bridge like the ones from TP Link.

 

[nothingman]

Just in case it’s of interest, here are some shots from inside the latest hardware, along with a comparison to an early model than I found online elsewhere. I know we’ve seen the power supplies, but I don’t think anyone shared from the rest of the hardware.

The main board is now labeled “Ver 2.0 October 22, 2020.” (That green patches are me marking out my serial.) The RPi now sits on some sort of two level arrangement with a heatsink. The chassis of the unit definitely runs cooler in my unscientific observation. There is now no immediate access to the MicroSD card, and I don’t know if it sits under the heatsink or the level below that. There’s a small marking next to the RPi board that says “October 13, 2020.”

Looks it’s evolved a bit over the years, e.g. no more exposed wiring from the motherboard to the RPi. At the same time, the firmware and desktop software is compatible across all models so it can’t be anything too revolutionary. I’ve never been confused for an electrical engineer so I can’t tell you anything beyond that, but I know some people like to take a look under the hood without having to do the screws themselves so here ya go.

(Edit: that comparison image doesn’t show the full image with caption unless you hit the little grid button on the bottom right — at least that’s the case on my monitor.)

 

[RichB]

Good news for the MiniDSP SHD owners:
MiniDSP : New Volumio Build v1.94 (1/1)

Dear All,

Following few weeks of deep dive into a completely new Audio driver and a new kernel, we're excited to release this new Arm build with some major improvements and bug fixes. Once again we appreciate your patience as this process took a lot longer than expected as some of the kernel/driver issues required quite a lot of our attention... Like anything in product dev, it's not always as easy as it seems.. Good news is we learned a lot on the way..

We expect Volumio v1.94 to be available in the coming 24h on the Volumio servers and note that it is at this time for Neo2 build only (Black USB host connector/SHD unit purchased before Jan 2021). See below for Neo3 builds.

Here is a list of improvements on v1.94:

- Indexing bug: Volumio not indexing correctly some songs due to some specific artwork ratio (Volumio bug). Problem solved
- L/R reversal: When using Spotify/Roon, channels would sometime reverse with play/pause (low level driver issue). Problem solved.
- Lots of modifications behind the scenes to finalize Roon certification. We're now pending to get it retested by RoonLabs.

WARNING: Once the build is available on the Volumio OTA servers, you will be able to update the firmware for your Volumio Streamer.
Note that you must also update the miniDSP XMOS firmware to v1.29. We've already posted a new zip file in our userdownloads section for v1.29. Please update as per manual.

A Neo3 build (Blue USB Host connector / SHD unit from Jan 2021) is now ongoing to solve the following:
- Indexing bug (similar fix as above = Easy)
- Roon modifications for certification

I have upgrade the XMOS firmware to 1.29.

- Rich

 

[Sonnie]

Good news for the MiniDSP SHD owners:
MiniDSP : New Volumio Build v1.94 (1/1)



I have upgrade the XMOS firmware to 1.29.

- Rich

So still nothing for the popping issue as of now.

 

[RichB]

So still nothing for the popping issue as of now.

Correct, XMOS 1.29 does not fix the popping issue. We will have to wait for Volumio 1.94.

- Rich

 

[kokoon]

So this update is not out yet, plus it's not made for the newest hardware?

 

[RichB]

So this update is not out yet, plus it's not made for the newest hardware?

There are updates for the newest hardware that move forward toward Roon certification.

- Rich