Minidsp SHD Review Updated (DSP, DAC & Streamer)

[Nullproblemo]

You can get the SHD a bit cheaper from minidsp.nl and afaik they're also the only ones in europe that include the microphone. I got one from them to replace my integrated and I'm super happy. Started off with stereo, now I have 2.1. Got all sorts of sources hooked up to it and it just works. I think it really has no competition, so if you don't want separate boxes for streamer and dac and preamp (for additional analog sources), then this is the clear choice.

Good tip! Maybe I should go for the Studio version and use an external dac with even better sinad for the same money. As I don't use analog, I'm not spending on useless functions.

Do you know if I have to use the external Dac in preamp mode for volume control or can the Minidsp studio control overall volume, even with an external dac in between itself and power amp?

 

[kokoon]

I can't say for sure, but I'd be surprised if volume control doesn't affect digital outputs.
Can you really get a better performing 4 channel DAC for less than whatever is the price difference between full SHD and studio version?
For me personally, having fewer boxes (and power supplies and interconnects) definitely outweighs benefits of marginally better SINAD, so I wouldn't go with Studio.

 

[Nullproblemo]

That's correct too. I considered that the Studio is half the size and matches the format of most Dacs and the purify amp on my radar. I also can go out over Aes/Ebu to the Dac and balanced XLR out from Dac to amp.
If I can control overall volume through minidsp I can also hide dac + amp if it doesn't look nice.
So many things to consider.... actually too many choices and still not want I exactly want: a studio with Dac or an Okto with dirac ‍♂. Nad M33 was an option but price/performance is not meeting my expectations.

 

[SDX-LV]

That's correct too. I considered that the Studio is half the size

This was my main reason to research Studio variant, along with a strictly theoretical idea of usin AES/EBU outputs to something like Genelec Ones (which I will probably never need). In the end got analog variant because it more fool-proof and slightly cheaper than messing with dual balanced DACs.

 

[SDX-LV]

There are no free lunches.

Very interesting experience with filters. Noted for myself.

I also see in your signature that you use both SHD and DDRC-24 in very similar setups. Could you share your experince if there is any audiable disadvantage with DDRC-24 compared to SHD with 110+ SINAD? Some people talk about higher noise floor or not good enough SINAD in DDRC-24, but is it anything You can hear in real life? I already went with SHD, but would like to know if DDRC-24 can be as good?

 

[mdsimon2]

Very interesting experience with filters. Noted for myself.

I also see in your signature that you use both SHD and DDRC-24 in very similar setups. Could you share your experince if there is any audiable disadvantage with DDRC-24 compared to SHD with 110+ SINAD? Some people talk about higher noise floor or not good enough SINAD in DDRC-24, but is it anything You can hear in real life? I already went with SHD, but would like to know if DDRC-24 can be as good?

I've used both a SHD Studio (w/ an Okto dac8 pro) and a DDRC-24 in the past, personally I think that the audibility of the DDRC-24 SINAD is way overblown. In all likelihood audibility of the noise floor mostly depends on the sensitivity of your speakers. I did not use terribly sensitive speakers in either setup (85-90 dB) and I could not hear the noise floor from my listening position. If you got within 1 ft of the speakers you could hear a slight hiss from with the DDRC-24 but the the SHD Studio + Okto was completely silent.

I will say that using the DDRC-24 ADC will degrade its performance a bit more compared to just the DAC (3 dB worse noise and 10 dB worse THD) and the SHD has a significantly better ADC than the DDRC-24.

In summary to me there is limited difference in audibility but as you are aware there is a big difference in usability. To me unless you are very price conscious the SHD is worth it as it has a nice screen with volume indication and source selection, way more input / output options on top of better ADC/DAC measurements than the DDRC-24.

Michael

 

[Staki]

I live in Belgium and ordered SHD directly from minidsp in HK. I paid around 250 EUR customs but this was still way cheaper than any reseller.

 

[Hayabusa]

I live in Belgium and ordered SHD directly from minidsp in HK. I paid around 250 EUR customs but this was still way cheaper than any reseller.

I paid 1440 euros here locally in the Netherlands.
Indeed that is +/- 100 euro more than you paid but now I have local service in case of a garantee issue...
For me thats worth it!

 

[Dathzo]

I paid 1440 euros here locally in the Netherlands.
Indeed that is +/- 100 euro more than you paid but now I have local service in case of a garantee issue...
For me thats worth it!

Agree, much better. And the local service is great!

 

[Nullproblemo]

Just did the same: ordering directly in HK. With customs and Vat will pay +- 1340 euros.

 

[whitfc]

Does Dirac measure the output from the subs separately to the left and right main speaker channels? I read somewhere that the NAD C658 does this but not the SHD. If that is true why are they different?

 

[Dathzo]

Does Dirac measure the output from the subs separately to the left and right main speaker channels? I read somewhere that the NAD C658 does this but not the SHD. If that is true why are they different?

That is true. Minidsp SHD handles it as 2.0, while the NAD C658 handles it as either 2.1 or 2.2. That’s the main reason I got the latter. If it makes an audible difference, I don’t know. We would need blind A/B testing and measurements to compare. i suppose the SHD is capable to separating the channels, but they would need to modify their software to do so

 

[dvmierlo]

Last weekend my new all digital audio setup has gone live

I stream my Spotify/Tidal music via the miniDSP SHD Studio to my Dutch & Dutch 8c speakers via AES3. This works very very good and sounds amazing! With the UMIK-1 I have setup room correction using Dirac Live. The room correction needed with these amazing speakers is minimal but it does brings back the balance. Everything is working solid.

The device itself can be configured via the SHD software and connecting my computer via USB to the miniDSP. Updating the firmware is quick and easy and is done via my computer. Dirac Live is configured the same way. It is semi-integrated in that the 4 presents on the device are used for channel mapping and Dirac Live configuration but have to be store separately via the SHD and Dirac Live software. A bit strange behavior. The Dirac Live software most me started from inside the SHD software. Another strange behavior of the miniDSP SHD Studio is when I configure the display to turn off after a period, when the display turns off it shows the red LED, which is the same as when it is in standby mode. This makes it confusing to see if the miniDSP is active or in standby.

The Volumio UI is a hit and miss. Configuring the audio settings in the miniDSP via Volumio works good and solid. But the Tidal integration is a big miss in my opinion. The artist art work is not displayed in the correct aspect ratio but the album covers are. I do not know why this is. Not all Tidal options are available. So mostly I like an album in the Tidal app and then look it up in Volumio. This is the reason why I mostly stream using Spotify Connect. This works perfectly. I do have the option to play the Tidal music on my computer via USB to my miniDSP. But my computer is not close to my listening position. Since Volumio has released Tidal Connect, I hope miniDSP will release their version very soon!

Volumio has no problem with my local music library on my Synology NAS. It works good and does find most of the metadata, artist images and album covers. I did notice that some collection albums are not grouped together based on the metadata in the mp3's (it's an old catalog )

I did notice that from time to time, that the Volumio playback progress bar is out of sync. Sometimes it does not update the current played song in the UI even though it plays the song it without any problems. A refresh of the browser resolves this. It's annoying. But that's why I use Spotify Connect most of the times.

My TV is also connected via TOSLINK to my miniDSP. This makes it for me a perfect device to accomplish a minimal setup that sounds amazing.

Beside all these little mostly Volumio quirks, I enjoy my new and minimal audio setup. The 8c's just sound amazing and with Spotify Connect it is so easy to use. I can highly recommend this setup.

[edit] One more thing I must mention is the excellent documentation that comes with the miniDSP!

 

[Staki]

I paid 1440 euros here locally in the Netherlands.
Indeed that is +/- 100 euro more than you paid but now I have local service in case of a garantee issue...
For me thats worth it!

I respect your decision to use the local reseller, but I just want to get the facts straight on the thread. Current price of SHD is 1,515 EUR at minidsp.nl and 1,299 US$ at minidsp.com. When I bought it in the beginning of the year, it was 100$ cheaper. minidsp.nl seems to be the cheapest source in Europe, everywhere else I looked the price was higher. Therefore your price of 1,440 EUR seems to correspond to the earlier lower price, so your purchase and mine can be compared directly. I checked my invoices: I paid 1,149$ (already had UMIK-1, so 50$ discount) + 30$ shipping. My paypal was charged 961 EUR. On top of that customs was 216 EUR (earlier quote was from memory so not quite correct), for a total of 1,177 EUR. Even if I had bought the full set with UMIK-1, the total would have been roughly 1,220 EUR, therefore more than 200 EUR cheaper.

 

[Hayabusa]

I respect your decision to use the local reseller, but I just want to get the facts straight on the thread. Current price of SHD is 1,515 EUR at minidsp.nl and 1,299 US$ at minidsp.com. When I bought it in the beginning of the year, it was 100$ cheaper. minidsp.nl seems to be the cheapest source in Europe, everywhere else I looked the price was higher. Therefore your price of 1,440 EUR seems to correspond to the earlier lower price, so your purchase and mine can be compared directly. I checked my invoices: I paid 1,149$ (already had UMIK-1, so 50$ discount) + 30$ shipping. My paypal was charged 961 EUR. On top of that customs was 216 EUR (earlier quote was from memory so not quite correct), for a total of 1,177 EUR. Even if I had bought the full set with UMIK-1, the total would have been roughly 1,220 EUR, therefore more than 200 EUR cheaper.

Also for me the list price was 1515 euro, but you can always ask for a discount

 

[Nullproblemo]

Also for me the list price was 1515 euro, but you can always ask for a discount

My discount was an FX rate of 1,2 that all European sellers keep for themselves, in addition to their standard margin.

 

[CumSum]

Very interesting experience with filters. Noted for myself.

I also see in your signature that you use both SHD and DDRC-24 in very similar setups. Could you share your experince if there is any audiable disadvantage with DDRC-24 compared to SHD with 110+ SINAD? Some people talk about higher noise floor or not good enough SINAD in DDRC-24, but is it anything You can hear in real life? I already went with SHD, but would like to know if DDRC-24 can be as good?

I use my SHD Studio with two SMSL SU-8 V2's. I believe there was an improvement (nothing drastic) over the DDRC-24, but I haven't actually properly A/B'd both boxes against one another.

I will admit the DDRC-24 is the better value. Both products fundamentally do the same exact thing to the sound. The benefits of the SHD are a higher sample rate of 96KHz, onboard display, onboard streaming, and it let's you use your own external DAC's which on paper can be much better than what's onboard the DDRC-24.

 

[AdamG]

Last weekend my new all digital audio setup has gone live

I stream my Spotify/Tidal music via the miniDSP SHD Studio to my Dutch & Dutch 8c speakers via AES3. This works very very good and sounds amazing! With the UMIK-1 I have setup room correction using Dirac Live. The room correction needed with these amazing speakers is minimal but it does brings back the balance. Everything is working solid.

The device itself can be configured via the SHD software and connecting my computer via USB to the miniDSP. Updating the firmware is quick and easy and is done via my computer. Dirac Live is configured the same way. It is semi-integrated in that the 4 presents on the device are used for channel mapping and Dirac Live configuration but have to be store separately via the SHD and Dirac Live software. A bit strange behavior. The Dirac Live software most me started from inside the SHD software. Another strange behavior of the miniDSP SHD Studio is when I configure the display to turn off after a period, when the display turns off it shows the red LED, which is the same as when it is in standby mode. This makes it confusing to see if the miniDSP is active or in standby.

The Volumio UI is a hit and miss. Configuring the audio settings in the miniDSP via Volumio works good and solid. But the Tidal integration is a big miss in my opinion. The artist art work is not displayed in the correct aspect ratio but the album covers are. I do not know why this is. Not all Tidal options are available. So mostly I like an album in the Tidal app and then look it up in Volumio. This is the reason why I mostly stream using Spotify Connect. This works perfectly. I do have the option to play the Tidal music on my computer via USB to my miniDSP. But my computer is not close to my listening position. Since Volumio has released Tidal Connect, I hope miniDSP will release their version very soon!

Volumio has no problem with my local music library on my Synology NAS. It works good and does find most of the metadata, artist images and album covers. I did notice that some collection albums are not grouped together based on the metadata in the mp3's (it's an old catalog )

I did notice that from time to time, that the Volumio playback progress bar is out of sync. Sometimes it does not update the current played song in the UI even though it plays the song it without any problems. A refresh of the browser resolves this. It's annoying. But that's why I use Spotify Connect most of the times.

My TV is also connected via TOSLINK to my miniDSP. This makes it for me a perfect device to accomplish a minimal setup that sounds amazing.

Beside all these little mostly Volumio quirks, I enjoy my new and minimal audio setup. The 8c's just sound amazing and with Spotify Connect it is so easy to use. I can highly recommend this setup.

[edit] One more thing I must mention is the excellent documentation that comes with the miniDSP!

Welcome Aboard @dvmierlo.

 

[FFeller]

Hi,
i am a new member
I'm interested in the miniDSP SHD
How work the streamer with Qobuz ?
Many thanks

 

[dvmierlo]

Hi,
i am a new member
I'm interested in the miniDSP SHD
How work the streamer with Qobuz ?
Many thanks

Hi FFeller,

I have no experience with Qbuzz on the miniDSP. I do not see an out-of-the-box plugin for Qobuz in Volumio on the miniDSP SHD Studio. My experience with Tidal on Volumio are not the great either because of the lack of Tidal features that are not exposed in Volumio. Spotify Connect work prefect on Volumio on the miniDSP SHD. Tidal has Tidal Connect which is available in the latest Volumio version but is at this moment not released yet on the Volumio edition in the miniDSP SHD.

Because Apple has made HiFi audio available with no additional cost, I believe there are a lot of changes coming in the near future of audio streaming. So exiting for us audio enthusiasts