Minidsp SHD Review Updated (DSP, DAC & Streamer)

[pollock0424]

Yes, a great unit but I put mine for sale as my AVR Integra DRX-8.4 is fulfilling most of the stuff that miniDSP SHD does.

 

[WillBrink]

Yes, a great unit but I put mine for sale as my AVR Integra DRX-8.4 is fulfilling most of the stuff that miniDSP SHD does.

I didn't know Integra still existed. Cool.

 

[nick-v]

Yes, a great unit but I put mine for sale as my AVR Integra DRX-8.4 is fulfilling most of the stuff that miniDSP SHD does.

That's funny. I also have a DRX-8.4 in a different system. Hope Amir gets a chance to put it (or the Onkyo variant) through it's paces.

 

[epicure]

Does anybody else also think this unit could use two more output channels?

 

[beefkabob]

Does anybody else also think this unit could use two more output channels?

It could use 8 more. Why not? But there are other products for that.

 

[nothingman]

Just going to note here that I just got banned on miniDSP’s forum for pointing out that they haven’t provided a firmware update in over a year. I wrote a snarky post congratulating them like it was some sort of big accomplishment, and in terms of willful neglect of customers it absolutely is, and they didn’t take kindly to that.

Now, I’ll be the first to say it’s their forum, and I was badmouthing them, so it’s their prerogative to ban me, but that’s the sort of company they are. They’ll not update their $1300 flagship piece of hardware for an entire year, even just to fix stuff they broke in the last update like how the front panel OLED display and LED status light operates, and when they get criticism from an understandably frustrated customer about it, they just ban them off their forum rather than provide a response.

That fits a pattern I’ve seen from Day 1. Whenever there is controversy or criticism, they put blinders on and they say, “no, it’s the customer who is wrong,” and keep doing what they do with apparently zero engineers on staff and no intention to ever do better. Buyer beware.

 

[markstein]

I noticed the lacking support for the SHD as well and did not like the non existing manufacturer feedback in the forum.

This was one of the reasons I finally sold it.

 

[Rednaxela]

This was one of the reasons I finally sold it.

Out of interest, dit you replace it with anything?

 

[markstein]

Yes, with a RME ADI-2 Pro FS (input selector, volume control incl loudness, ASRC) plus RME Fireface UFX II (microphone preamp for my turntable, 8-channel D/A with room control EQ).

Probably most over-the-top setup, very complicated to operate, however, I have control over every single setting, great manufacturer support and great sound

 

[tw99]

Yes, with a RME ADI-2 Pro FS (input selector, volume control incl loudness, ASRC) plus RME Fireface UFX II (microphone preamp for my turntable, 8-channel D/A with room control EQ).

Probably most over-the-top setup, very complicated to operate, however, I have control over every single setting, great manufacturer support and great sound

ADI-2 Pro FS is exactly what I'd buy today if I didn't already have the SHD, as I'm now doing room correction in the speakers and the SHD is just a source selector/volume control.

 

[markstein]

ADI-2 Pro FS is exactly what I'd buy today if I didn't already have the SHD, as I'm now doing room correction in the speakers and the SHD is just a source selector/volume control.

What I did not like about the SHD - despite the not great firmware update support - is the ASRC without any means of attenuation. Volume control is located behind the ASRC. Minidsp tried to change this with an firmware update, however, that was an epic fail and they had to withdraw it.

ASRC - especially upsampling - without attenuation will lead to intersample clipping especially when listening to a lot of (not all) CD content (44.1kHz) but as well with some contemporary music at least from Tidal.

The SHD has an inbuilt volumio streamer - however without volume control. Meaning there is no way of attenuating the input signal before ASRC when using the streamer.

I did not like this whole flawed concept, so I sold the SHD.

If you are only using external sources which allow for volume control and forget about the inbuilt streamer, the SHD is a very capable and easy to operate device.

 

[nick-v]

I'm having an issue with my SHD, I'm curious if anyone else is having the same issue...

When I engage roon, I have a problem when switching back to a standard input (SPDIF in my case). When I switch to a different input after having roon engaged, there's no sound even though the correct input is selected.

I have my SHD (which is in a gear closet in the basement) controlled by Control4 via IR codes that were learned from a Harmony remote, so that might be causing me problems, but I don't think so.

When I look in the volumio dashboard, it shows the correct input selected (SPDIF), but I have to cycle inputs again to get the sound to start working correctly (defeating the purpose of Control4). It's not the end of the world for me, but when my wife and kids are using the system, it "doesn't work".

 

[NTK]

What I did not like about the SHD - despite the not great firmware update support - is the ASRC without any means of attenuation. Volume control is located behind the ASRC. Minidsp tried to change this with an firmware update, however, that was an epic fail and they had to withdraw it.

ASRC - especially upsampling - without attenuation will lead to intersample clipping especially when listening to a lot of (not all) CD content (44.1kHz) but as well with some contemporary music at least from Tidal.

The SHD has an inbuilt volumio streamer - however without volume control. Meaning there is no way of attenuating the input signal before ASRC when using the streamer.

I did not like this whole flawed concept, so I sold the SHD.

If you are only using external sources which allow for volume control and forget about the inbuilt streamer, the SHD is a very capable and easy to operate device.

Interesting. The miniDSP SHD series uses the Analog Devices ADSP-21489 DSP chip, which does its processing in floating point (32-bit float/40-bit extended precision float). If miniDSP uses its ASRC function for sample rate conversion, inter-sample overs should be a non-problem.

 

[markstein]

Interesting. The miniDSP SHD series uses the Analog Devices ADSP-21489 DSP chip, which does its processing in floating point (32-bit float/40-bit extended precision float). If miniDSP uses its ASRC function for sample rate conversion, inter-sample overs should be a non-problem.

View attachment 394345

Has anybody - confirmed - background data which implementation is used in the SHD?

If upsampling indeed is done in 32bit float you are right.

Maybe @John_Siau or @mdsimon2 can comment on this?

DSP Measurements and Rising Noise Floor

If you scan a library of lossless CD tracks with an upsampling reconstruction filter, you will find that most overs are less than +2 dBFS. I haven't seen any over +3 dBFS, and I'm not entirely sure that anything above 3.01 dBFS is possible when the input signal has been properly band limited. In...

audiosciencereview.com

 

[beefkabob]

I've had a lot of updates with my SHD over the years I've owned it.

 

[Rednaxela]

Have they resulted in correct red LED light behavior though?

 

[Rednaxela]

Yes, with a RME ADI-2 Pro FS (input selector, volume control incl loudness, ASRC) plus RME Fireface UFX II (microphone preamp for my turntable, 8-channel D/A with room control EQ).

Probably most over-the-top setup, very complicated to operate, however, I have control over every single setting, great manufacturer support and great sound

Wow that must be an incredible combo. I have been secretly looking at the UCX II but got stuck at the source selection and remote controlled volume control that it doesn’t really have. Great move to leave that and more to an ADI-2 Pro.

 

[markstein]

Wow that must be an incredible combo. I have been secretly looking at the UCX II but got stuck at the source selection and remote controlled volume control that it doesn’t really have. Great move to leave that and more to an ADI-2 Pro.

Yeah, I first was very disappointed to learn that the master volume wheel on UFX (and probably UCX as well) does not support fader groups in standalone mode, then I thought - it's only money - add the ADI-2 as volume control (plus so much more) ;-)

 

[nothingman]

I've had a lot of updates with my SHD over the years I've owned it.

I don’t know how you define “a lot” but I’ve had one for four years and it definitely doesn’t meet my criteria. Especially when thinking about in terms of what little has been improved over the years, and not just the number of firmware revisions, many of which have been released to fix problems caused by previous editions.

At the end of the day, there’s simply no arguing that it’s been over a year since miniDSP offered SHD users anything, not even the most basic bug fixes, and that’s well below an acceptable standard.

 

[Glasvegas]

Just going to note here that I just got banned on miniDSP’s forum for pointing out that they haven’t provided a firmware update in over a year. I wrote a snarky post congratulating them like it was some sort of big accomplishment, and in terms of willful neglect of customers it absolutely is, and they didn’t take kindly to that.

Now, I’ll be the first to say it’s their forum, and I was badmouthing them, so it’s their prerogative to ban me, but that’s the sort of company they are. They’ll not update their $1300 flagship piece of hardware for an entire year, even just to fix stuff they broke in the last update like how the front panel OLED display and LED status light operates, and when they get criticism from an understandably frustrated customer about it, they just ban them off their forum rather than provide a response.

That fits a pattern I’ve seen from Day 1. Whenever there is controversy or criticism, they put blinders on and they say, “no, it’s the customer who is wrong,” and keep doing what they do with apparently zero engineers on staff and no intention to ever do better. Buyer beware.

I did wonder what happened to that post. I was just about to like it and it was gone!