miniDSP Tide16 - Holy Grail with 16 Channel Atmos/DTS:X, high SINAD

[a_ron]

have lots of treatment in the room

Does your treatment include absorption for frequencies from 150Hz down to your lowest room mode? If not, then you want ART.

ART does one thing: control decay time of the reverberations of frequencies 150Hz and below. Absorption panels thick enough to control frequencies that low are not practical in many listening spaces. So, ART for below 150 and absorption panels for above 150.

An ART license is in addition to Dirac Room Correction and Bass Control, which have their own, in my most humble opinion, tremendous benefits.

I have a Tide16. Yes, being an early adopter means you will deal with some bugs, but I'm very happy with my purchase. Two channel music with four subs and Dirac RC + BC + ART... It's glorious!

 

[a_ron]

No. One in each of the four corners of the front wall.

Ah, ok. You went for vertical diversity vs the typical horizontal front-to-back diversity. Just curious... Was that due to constraints? Or maybe you have LF absorption at the rear. Or maybe the mode created by the height of the room is more problematic than the mode created by the depth of the room?

 

[Hko]

Hi Team,
Can anyone sell the Tide16 or put me off it?, I'm on the fence about it, I currently have an Anthem AVM70 (running 7.2.4 with plenty on AMP power and Speaker wattage - PB3000 subs open port (but read perhaps I should run them closed in this small room...), which is pretty good, but I have a small room 410cmX360cmX240cm high, so bass is an issue, have lots of treatment in the room, but the whole ART sounds like the go, I know the Tide16 only has hdmi 2.0b which I'm ok with, but I cant really find any real reviews or too many 'This thing is great' posts, what is the general feeling about the Tide16, should I get one? or wait for something else?, thanks in advance... Ryan

Have you followed the miniDSP Tide discussions (https://www.minidsp.com/community/forums/tide-series.54/). I think there you can find very good points about the current owners opinions on the device. To me it seems that most of the users are very positive about their unit even though there are still things to be set right. One annoyance is the very long startup time of the unit and I think this is an issue which most likely will not get much better (even though it maybe can be optimised to some extent). Also selecting a different scene takes quite some time.

I am very happy with mine. Dirac ART does just wonders (but you can get Dirac ART with other devices too).

 

[BJL]

(but you can get Dirac ART with other devices too).

I wonder about this. Do all AVPs (or AVRs) provide equal support for. ART? Will an AVP that was purposefully designed to support ART, such as our Tide or recent Storm Audio processors provide better support and/or better result vs. a processor where ART is an add-on, or a processor with more limited hardware design?

The only hint that I've seen is a FAQ on the Dirac website concerning the three little dots that appear on the right (the ones you click to open a group when designing a filter.) From what I could understand (not much!) as you start to reach the limits of your processorr, the dots become colored, and at some (not clearly defined point) the colors indicate that you have hit a limit and have to reduce aspects of your filter to accommodate.

I note that the dots on my ART filters on the Tide are neverr colored.

 

[jhaider]

Ah, ok. You went for vertical diversity vs the typical horizontal front-to-back diversity. Just curious... Was that due to constraints? Or maybe you have LF absorption at the rear. Or maybe the mode created by the height of the room is more problematic than the mode created by the depth of the room?

Aesthetic constraints as much as anything. The back wall is a thoroughfare and cabinets make aesthetic sense on the front wall.

 

[chelgrian]

Have you followed the miniDSP Tide discussions (https://www.minidsp.com/community/forums/tide-series.54/). I think there you can find very good points about the current owners opinions on the device. To me it seems that most of the users are very positive about their unit even though there are still things to be set right. One annoyance is the very long startup time of the unit and I think this is an issue which most likely will not get much better (even though it maybe can be optimised to some extent). Also selecting a different scene takes quite some time.

I am very happy with mine. Dirac ART does just wonders (but you can get Dirac ART with other devices too).

43s to boot from standby is a complete dealbreaker for me, this sounds like a very badly optimised emdedded Linux boot plus application startup.

 

[BJL]

43s to boot from standby is a complete dealbreaker for me, this sounds like a very badly optimised emdedded Linux boot plus application startup.

It is 43 seconds from power on/standby (1 watt consumption) to ready, and that includes loading all the various filters. It is instantaneous from idle (23 watts consumption) to ready.

 

[4NZRyan]

Thanks guys, ok a few things to check out

 

[chelgrian]

It is 43 seconds from power on/standby (1 watt consumption) to ready, and that includes loading all the various filters. It is instantaneous from idle (23 watts consumption) to ready.

Yes I know that and it’s still ridiculous there is no excuse for take that long to boot and there is no excuse for taking that much power in idle. The EU requirements state

‘from 2025, devices must not consume more than 0.5 Watts in standby or in off mode, or 0.8 Watt if they are on standby while displaying their status or information‘

 

[BJL]

Yes I know that and it’s still ridiculous there is no excuse for take that long to boot and there is no excuse for taking that much power in idle. The EU requirements state

‘from 2025, devices must not consume more than 0.5 Watts in standby or in off mode, or 0.8 Watt if they are on standby while displaying their status or information‘

When I don't use the Tide, I generally turn it off. Not difficult, flip a switch. When it is off, it consumes zero watts. If 43 seconds is too long for you, buy something else. I'm not in that much of hurry.

The EU requirement of .5 watt on standby seems unreasonable to me, but not really important, I shut it off. Idle is just the state when switching a disc or something like that.

 

[chelgrian]

When I don't use the Tide, I generally turn it off. Not difficult, flip a switch. When it is off, it consumes zero watts. If 43 seconds is too long for you, buy something else. I'm not in that much of hurry.

The EU requirement of .5 watt on standby seems unreasonable to me, but not really important, I shut it off. Idle is just the state when switching a disc or something like that.

The base load of my entire house is less than 100w, adding 23w to that is entirely out. It is really not hard to achieve an active standby of 0.5w it is equivalent of putting a computer in to a suspend mode only leaving sufficient hardware running to wake from suspend. All consumer hardware placed on the market in the EU achieves this, low power standby is not new the previous rules in force from around 2014 until 2025 were for a maximum of 1w in standby.

Having to wait nearly a minute for something to pass audio after deciding to use it would get it thrown in the bin by my wife.

On the ‘buy something else’ you know full well that that means compromising elsewhere.

For comparison a Marantz AV30 draws 0.2w in full standby and 2w in network standby, which will be the maximum when WiFI is on and most of that will be going to the radio. It wakes from those modes fast enough not to cause complaints.

 

[BJL]

The base load of my entire house is less than 100w, adding 23w to that is entirely out. It is really not hard to achieve an active standby of 0.5w it is equivalent of putting a computer in to a suspend mode only leaving sufficient hardware running to wake from suspend. All consumer hardware placed on the market in the EU achieves this, low power standby is not new the previous rules in force from around 2014 until 2025 were for a maximum of 1w in standby.

Having to wait nearly a minute for something to pass audio after deciding to use it would get it thrown in the bin by my wife.

On the ‘buy something else’ you know full well that that means compromising elsewhere.

For comparison a Marantz AV30 draws 0.2w in full standby and 2w in network standby, which will be the maximum when WiFI is on and most of that will be going to the radio. It wakes from those modes fast enough not to cause complaints.

I do not understand what you mean by saying that the base load of your house is 100 watts. You don't have heat or air conditioning? No modem, no router, no household appliances? No electric car, you're still using one of those planet destroying fossil fuel vehicles?

No matter, for the purposes of the topic of this thread, the Tide16 is not the right processor for you, so purchase a Marantz or whatever.

For me, waiting 40 seconds or so for the device to boot up is barely enough time to pour a cup of coffee (or something else), put a disc in the player, and get settled in my chair for listening or viewing, and when I am done, I flip a switch and, voila, consumption is zero watts.

 

[Keith_W]

I do not understand what you mean by saying that the base load of your house is 100 watts. You don't have heat or air conditioning? No modem, no router, no household appliances? No electric car, you're still using one of those planet destroying fossil fuel vehicles?

Not to mention a refrigerator alone is 100W. Maybe he lives in Far North Canada where they put food in the freezer to keep it warm

 

[kyuu]

Not to mention a refrigerator alone is 100W. Maybe he lives in Far North Canada where they put food in the freezer to keep it warm

100W? Seems low, should be using substantially more than that when the compressor is running. And little or nil when it is not, unless it's one of those with a screen for some reason.

I'm assuming by 100W "base load" they are referring to the electrical load when nothing is actively in use. So presumably that encompasses all devices in standby and anything that is always on.

 

[Lsc]

The base load of my entire house is less than 100w, adding 23w to that is entirely out. It is really not hard to achieve an active standby of 0.5w it is equivalent of putting a computer in to a suspend mode only leaving sufficient hardware running to wake from suspend. All consumer hardware placed on the market in the EU achieves this, low power standby is not new the previous rules in force from around 2014 until 2025 were for a maximum of 1w in standby.

Having to wait nearly a minute for something to pass audio after deciding to use it would get it thrown in the bin by my wife.

On the ‘buy something else’ you know full well that that means compromising elsewhere.

For comparison a Marantz AV30 draws 0.2w in full standby and 2w in network standby, which will be the maximum when WiFI is on and most of that will be going to the radio. It wakes from those modes fast enough not to cause complaints.

So what are you saying? That the Tide16 is not the right processor for you or it is except this start up time is not within acceptable limits. Maybe they will figure out a way to improve the start time. I also don’t like slow start to times but will consider all factors and weigh the pros and cons.

The Tide16 looks to be promising. I’m thinking the 2.1 hdmi board will be a priority development feature and potentially will be coming soon…but who knows. I don’t dictate what they build …just a consumer.

 

[TimoJ]

100W? Seems low, should be using substantially more than that when the compressor is running.

100W seems high, I just bought a refigerator (398 litres internal volume) and it uses 29-30W (measured) when the compressor is running.

 

[EWL5]

Yes I know that and it’s still ridiculous there is no excuse for take that long to boot and there is no excuse for taking that much power in idle. The EU requirements state

‘from 2025, devices must not consume more than 0.5 Watts in standby or in off mode, or 0.8 Watt if they are on standby while displaying their status or information‘

I think most folks in this thread understand this is miniDSP's first attempt at a product of this kind. Buyers should know what they're getting into for a "Mark 1" product. If you want something that just "works", there are so many other mass market products out there.

I'll repeat until I'm blue in the face: the Tide16 is a niche product and won't satisfy everyone (especially the "V" side of AV).

 

[Frunse]

The A side will also not satisfied me only 48kHz Samplerate out there no FIR Filter for now!

I wait for Hyperion DPR-16 and use RME HDSPe AES Card with CamillaDSP for FIR filtering @96kHz

But right it cost more than @ all......

For now i will use an DIY HDMI to AES Extractor for 7.1 LPCM only (150 to 200€)
RME Card 800€ (+PC needed, may be RPI5 with an PCIe X1 card will do the same, need to check this)
8x SMSL SU-2 900€

Still cheeper than MiniDSP at all and up to 192kHz possible 16 Channel Analogue Out.

 

[kyuu]

100W seems high, I just bought a refigerator (398 litres internal volume) and it uses 29-30W (measured) when the compressor is running.

398 liters is pretty small, at least by American standards. Usually we're talking at least 750 liters, often more.

But in any case I'm finding it hard to find any power ratings on refrigerators except for their "defrosting input", which is typically in the 200-300W range. I'm assuming they use less than that in normal operation, so they may use substantially less power than I was thinking. 100W may be a reasonable guess, actually.

 

[chelgrian]

I do not understand what you mean by saying that the base load of your house is 100 watts. You don't have heat or air conditioning? No modem, no router, no household appliances? No electric car, you're still using one of those planet destroying fossil fuel vehicles?

No matter, for the purposes of the topic of this thread, the Tide16 is not the right processor for you, so purchase a Marantz or whatever.

For me, waiting 40 seconds or so for the device to boot up is barely enough time to pour a cup of coffee (or something else), put a disc in the player, and get settled in my chair for listening or viewing, and when I am done, I flip a switch and, voila, consumption is zero watts.

In the UK no I don’t have air conditioning. I do have heating but I use it perhaps 3 months of the year.

That 100w is with all my fibre and WiFi infrastructure running plus an A rated Miele fridge freezer and everything else in standby and is what my house is consuming perhaps 16 hours out of each 24 when I’m asleep or at work.

In the summer my consumption is covered by solar + battery and the excess is sold back to the grid, in the winter some is pulled in from the grid.

Any increase in base load represents energy I’m not storing for use overnight or selling back to the grid.

A don’t yet have an electric car as due to the limited number of miles I do the embodied emissions due to manufacturing would be worse than running my existing ICE vehicle in to the ground then replacing it with electric when it is scrapped.