Minidsp SHD Review Updated (DSP, DAC & Streamer)

[nothingman]

Based on my research on miniDSP user group, firmware versions 1.1.11, 1.1.12 and 1.1.13 had the ability to attenuate the signal at both the input and output stage. The input stage attenuation was meant to deal with intersampling peaks that can cause digital clipping with some tracks. I guess there were some isolated user problems with these versions so they removed this function in 1.1.14 until they understand the problem better. My 1.1.13 version works fine so I am sticking with it for now.

Right. There were several documented cases of SHDs producing full-blast white noise at random, and at least one user posted pictures of their Dynaudio driver blown apart. miniDSP tried to identify and fix the problem but they couldn’t so they reversed course with 1.1.14. They say they’ll come back to the ASRC thing later but who knows when.

They have also twice (Example 1 — Example 2) said that ”all EQ” is happening in a 40bit floating point domain now but when asked directly on their forums to elaborate they didn‘t respond (par for the course for them — they disappear off their own forum for weeks/months at a time, and the current interval is at 4 weeks). Their comment doesn’t make a ton of sense to those of us reading the hardware spec sheets which suggest 32bit max, which is what SHD has previously operated at. Also, does “all EQ” mean Dirac too or just PEQ? No one knows.

 

[Stoutblock]

@nothingman

Scary! I guess I can see it might have been the right decision to backtrack until they know better. Looks like they are going to ask for help from the forum with beta testing before next release...good decision! I have had no such white noise ever from my SHD. I have always kept the amps off when firing up my preamp (SHD) and sources. Just a good practice. I wonder if the problem is hardware specific? I know they made some internal changes through the years. My SHD is over 3 years old.

miniDSP probably have all their efforts on their new FLEX HT and HTx?

 

[ebslo]

Volumio 3 update just dropped . No announcement on the MiniDSP forum yet, but it was announced in a newsletter and my SHD is getting the update now.

 

[radix]

Volumio 3 update just dropped . No announcement on the MiniDSP forum yet, but it was announced in a newsletter and my SHD is getting the update now.

Hurray! It's no longer a boat anchor. I've been using Volumio 3 on RPi for the multiroom and the SHD has been sidelined for I don't remember how long.

The SHD Series just got a massive upgrade to Volumio 3! As usual it took a lot more energy than expected to get all the pieces of the puzzle tested, but we're extremely happy at the results and hope you will feel the same. Noteworthy new features of this release include a newly redesigned interface, a new plugin for Spotify, multiroom support, Volumio's AI powered Supersearch, related artist and album display and a new plugin store. Best of all, it's free of charge to all SHD Series owners!

 

[Left]

I believe Volumio can use curl to access it's music files. Can anyone confirm whether the MiniDSP version can do the same?

Also, MPD, the software on which Volumio is based, has a satellite mode where the files and the indexing are done on another computer. Again, can this Neo3 version do that?

 

[rogu3]

New firmware (1.1.16) just dropped. Change log:

- Flex-HT/HTx series support first added.
- Future Beta releases support (as a new option in Settings)
- Fixed a bug where the crossover frequency will unexpectedly change by 1-Hz after changing channel from context menu.
- Output DSP Blocks color changed to yellow to indicate that they are active/enabled.(e.g. LPF enabled on outputs = Yellow Crossover button)
- User will now be able to manually add a miniDSP device by IPv4 address. (e.g. WIDG connection)
Firmware Updates
- Flex HT/HTx XMOS FW v1.69
- Flex HT/HTx DSP FW v1.10

- Changed LED behaviour: LED On when device is On, LED Off when device is Standby / Off
Flex-HT/HTx related changes
- Avoid interruptions in opening new sessions when the Flex-HT is powering on.
- WiSA module will be temporarily powered off during firmware programming and preset initializations
- Corrected the HTx avatar picture
Dirac Channel Selection
- Add 'Large / Fullrange' speaker to the selection list
- Added a dedicated button for user to change the preference, instead of prompting every time at the start of Dirac calibration.
Bass Management
- Tabs renamed from 'LFE Mgmt' to 'Bass Mgmt', 'LFE Routing' to 'Channel Routing'
- Fit UI elements in Bass Mgmt tab to HD screen width (1920 pixels) without the need to hide the left-menu
- Replaced the 'Reduce 10dB' in Bass Mgmt tab with full gain control
- Use smaller title fonts in the Gain control dialog to avoid the numeric entry box being obstructed

 

[Stoutblock]

still no fix to control volume prior to ASRC?

 

[rogu3]

still no fix to control volume prior to ASRC?

Nope. I was hoping for that too.

 

[HD MOVIE SOURCE]

That's great that they improved the performance. I'm thinking about buying one of these I'm impressed.

 

[Lord Victor]

I just got an SHD second hand, and its great! But every now and then the volume will drop for a split second, by a couple dB. Like lag/hitching, or as if someone quickly pressed down and back up on the volume.


At first I was using airplay, and thought it might be my phone lagging or a bad connection. But it also happens using tidal connect. And dirac on/off doesn't matter. And I've tried two different internet connections.


Hope someone out there knows what might be going on. I've tried contactin miniDSP and their forums, but since they're going on holiday now in china, I'm not expecting a response any time soon.

 

[EJ3]

Asian New Years Holiday is Feb 9-March 1 (March 2 is Saturday, 3 is Sunday). So it will probably be after then before you have contact with anyone there.

Actually it's the Lunar Calendar New Year, which many follow.

 

[tw99]

I just got an SHD second hand, and its great! But every now and then the volume will drop for a split second, by a couple dB. Like lag/hitching, or as if someone quickly pressed down and back up on the volume.


At first I was using airplay, and thought it might be my phone lagging or a bad connection. But it also happens using tidal connect. And dirac on/off doesn't matter. And I've tried two different internet connections.


Hope someone out there knows what might be going on. I've tried contactin miniDSP and their forums, but since they're going on holiday now in china, I'm not expecting a response any time soon.

Have you reset it to factory settings ? You can do that through the Device Console software.

 

[Lord Victor]

Have you reset it to factory settings ? You can do that through the Device Console software.

Yep, I’ve done a full factory reset by unplugging the power supply, holding down the reset button on the back, plugging it back in, and then pressing the reset all button in the software, and refreshed all the software updates - but the issue seems to persist.

It’s thankfully a very minor periodic issue - but none the less annoying once you know it’s there and of course shouldn’t be there.. the previous owner claims he never had the issue; to give the benefit of the doubt I suspect he might just not have noticed it since it’s minor.

 

[radix]

I just got an SHD second hand, and its great! But every now and then the volume will drop for a split second, by a couple dB. Like lag/hitching, or as if someone quickly pressed down and back up on the volume.

What is your input? Analog or digital?

If your analog is clipping the SHD, it can cause dropouts or other artifacts, at least that's what happens on a 2x4HD hooked up to a McIntosh preamp that was too hot for it.

 

[aschen]

Wierd never had that in my few years of ownership. I do still get the issue when I press up on the volume remote the volume will go down or vice versa, even after firmware updates. Not really a big deal in practice maybe once a month at most.


I did recently replace my screen. Minidsp made it really easy sending me a new PCB for around 30$. It had been degrading since the unit was new so shoulda prob been a warrantee thing but I waited so long to contact them. I didnt realize how bad the old screen had gotten super happy to have the legibility back and I hope it lasts.

 

[Lord Victor]

What is your input? Analog or digital?

If your analog is clipping the SHD, it can cause dropouts or other artifacts, at least that's what happens on a 2x4HD hooked up to a McIntosh preamp that was too hot for it.

Tidal connect, so it’s own internal streamer.
And not at a particularly high volume (-45dB to -30dB)

 

[radix]

Tidal connect, so it’s own internal streamer.
And not at a particularly high volume (-45dB to -30dB)

Does it happen with an external source? Can you play from a laptop via usb for a while? That might narrow it down between Volumio vs DSP.

 

[Lord Victor]

Does it happen with an external source? Can you play from a laptop via usb for a while? That might narrow it down between Volumio vs DSP.

Given the periodic/random nature of the issue, I'm never going to be 100% certain; but I've been playing via analogue input and USB input for a couple of days now, and haven't noticed the issue. So it seems plausible it might be exclusive to internal streamer/volumio.

Not sure what to do about that though. But knowing it isn't a hardware issue is nice at least, since Volumio/MiniDSP might be able to solve it with an update.

I did buy the unit explicitly because I wanted an internal streamer, for the convenience, so it not working would sort of be a near dealbreaker. As nice as the MiniDSP features are.

 

[radix]

Given the periodic/random nature of the issue, I'm never going to be 100% certain; but I've been playing via analogue input and USB input for a couple of days now, and haven't noticed the issue. So it seems plausible it might be exclusive to internal streamer/volumio.

Not sure what to do about that though. But knowing it isn't a hardware issue is nice at least, since Volumio/MiniDSP might be able to solve it with an update.

I did buy the unit explicitly because I wanted an internal streamer, for the convenience, so it not working would sort of be a near dealbreaker. As nice as the MiniDSP features are.

Did someone ask you about which firmware yet? I'd make sure that is current.

Are you using the wifi dongle or Ethernet? Or maybe you could put music on a USB stick and play from that for a while to try and isolate where the problem is.

IIRC, volumio is implemented on its own daughter card (a raspberry pi or similar) and connected to the main board with a ribbon cable. It could be the ribbon cable is loose or defective, or there's something going on with the Volumio daughter card. I think I remember some old posts about someone needing to replace the volumio card.

I've not used my SHD in a while, but one used to be able to go to something like http://minidsp-shd.local/dev and view volumio logs. Maybe they have that in the Device Console app now?

How to send Volumio logs to debug some issue?

Sending logs for Troubleshooting When your Volumio device does not work as expected, crashes or fails in particular conditions, the only way to understand what goes wrong is usually by looking at logs. So, if you experience such problems, please...

support.minidsp.com

I replaced my SHD with an Anthem STR, so I'm not current on the setup.

 

[Lord Victor]

Did someone ask you about which firmware yet? I'd make sure that is current.

Are you using the wifi dongle or Ethernet? Or maybe you could put music on a USB stick and play from that for a while to try and isolate where the problem is.

IIRC, volumio is implemented on its own daughter card (a raspberry pi or similar) and connected to the main board with a ribbon cable. It could be the ribbon cable is loose or defective, or there's something going on with the Volumio daughter card. I think I remember some old posts about someone needing to replace the volumio card.

I've not used my SHD in a while, but one used to be able to go to something like http://minidsp-shd.local/dev and view volumio logs. Maybe they have that in the Device Console app now?

How to send Volumio logs to debug some issue?

Sending logs for Troubleshooting When your Volumio device does not work as expected, crashes or fails in particular conditions, the only way to understand what goes wrong is usually by looking at logs. So, if you experience such problems, please...

support.minidsp.com

I replaced my SHD with an Anthem STR, so I'm not current on the setup.

I received the unit same day a new update was released, and factory reset it entirely per MiniDSP's recommendation (managed to have single exchange with their support before their holiday) - so everything was zeroed and updated to the newest.

When using the internal streamer it is hooked straight to ethernet (never figured out how to use the wifi thing on it, and had a cable ready anyway).

Would playing music from a USB stick be to play something via Volumio, without it being via the internet connection?

Hope I don't have to outright replace the board, though its still better than the entire unit obviously
Tho would suck since the price I got it at wasn't exactly amazing in the first place, but such is life.

Didn't know the Anthem units, or that they had a different room correction - how does it compare to Dirac? Guessing favourably since you switched? I had considered a Lyngdorf amplifier as well, but I wanted all the DSP/crossover options for developing DIY speakers, and the pre outs since I have my own power amplifier I want to use.