That's my use case, I currently use the Flex HTx but 2x4 is limiting for me- I have 4 subs and two rumblers, with an extra daisy-chained DSP, run off two outputs for now for instance. Once you add a couple front ambience/atmos channels, and have active systems with multisub, you could wind up with only a few "traditional" surround channels even available despite 16 channels to start with.
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miniDSP Tide16 - Holy Grail with 16 Channel Atmos/DTS:X, high SINAD
As far as delivered price (in the US) is concerned, the Tide16 is competitive with the AV30 (and the HTP-1), when I purchased, the Tide was $4450 including broker fee, tax (aka tariff), & shipping with the complete Dirac Suite license included. I believe nothing has changed with US China tariffs, so it should be about the same.
It is a different design from the Marantz. Better to look at the manuals for the respective products and become familiar with their features and specs before dismissing one or the other, as well as considering audio performance. For me, superior audio performance is the threshold. Others may have different requirements.
As far as interface is concerned, I found the Tide to be quite simple and straight forward. The basic set up (following the manual) took maybe 10 minutes, plus whatever time you choose spend on Dirac or other advanced features. It is no more idiosyncratic than any other AVP, they each have their own individual qualities. You can experience the Tide interface directly by downloading the miniDSP Device Console, select templates on the left, and then select Tide 16 on the right, and come to your own conclusion as to whether the interface works for you. The manual is detailed and an easy fast read. The current software release (1.16.6) is stable, with some issues identified in the published change log.
For anyone who has used miniDSP products in the past, the Tide will be familiar.
I have no interest in AVP/AVR gear and actively avoid proprietary mch-encoded content.
But just as a DSP unit for active crossovers and DRC, this unit is both limited in channel count and at the same time crazy pricey.
I wish Dirac software-only on PC / RPi had a rental option like Roon, or say a 90-day trial, I'd pay a fair bit for that
But just as a DSP unit for active crossovers and DRC, this unit is both limited in channel count and at the same time crazy pricey.
I wish Dirac software-only on PC / RPi had a rental option like Roon, or say a 90-day trial, I'd pay a fair bit for that
Dirac ART PC version has a 14 day trial period.
I took advantage of that and happy that I did.
jaakkopetteri
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I'm not, ART is way too good
I am considering one of these specifically for Dirac Art, I assume the Dirac interface is the same on all products? and how are people coping with the lack of HDMI inputs? My setup is a bit tricky as I have two projectors and an LG Oled in my theatre. room. Currently I use an AVM70 that is excellent but I am very curious about ART and this seems the lowest cost option currently with xlrs.
Edit, I just watched a YouTube clip where it states that DTS Neural X only supports 11 channels on this processor. After some further investigation it seems this is true, strange as I always thought DTS Neural would always utilise every speaker in the system but now I see this is processor dependant...This is not a feature I would want to lose given my recent wide speaker upgrade project which I consider to be worthwhile, shame! I had done quite a lot of reading on this machine including most of the posts in this thread surprised to see no mention of it at all. Looks like im back to the AV20...
Edit, I just watched a YouTube clip where it states that DTS Neural X only supports 11 channels on this processor. After some further investigation it seems this is true, strange as I always thought DTS Neural would always utilise every speaker in the system but now I see this is processor dependant...This is not a feature I would want to lose given my recent wide speaker upgrade project which I consider to be worthwhile, shame! I had done quite a lot of reading on this machine including most of the posts in this thread surprised to see no mention of it at all. Looks like im back to the AV20...
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Why would you lose the feature if your AVM doesn't have that feature either?
Anthem did say they would have DTS:X Pro, and Roon at launch time, but they never came, and there's been not even rumors about the timing, if such features would ever come.
The Anthem AVM 70 supports DTS Neural upmixing to 13 channels, don't you have that processor also?
Edit, actually up to 15 channels!
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Where did you get that information? I would love to read such good news. Anthem's website no longer even mentions Neural X: Pro. You need Neural X: Pro to do 7.1.6. Are you actually running 13 channels in Neural :X? I don't believe it can do it, but you can run it with DSU.
I thought it was common knowledge, google it and you can find it. I have a 9.3.4 currently and can confirm DTS Neural X uses wides, up to 15 channels.
I just did, because you said you have 9.3.4 and that I can google it, It first did say yes, but I know with AI, you have to challenge them sometimes, then they might correct themselves.
After it answered yes, I pushed it back a little:
if Neural:X can supports up to 11 channels than why you said it can support 9.3.4? That would be 13 channels.
Then it corrected:
And by the way, the AVM70 has only 15 channels so how can you run 9.3.4 regardless?
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Edit, I think I might have my wires crossed here! I might be getting confused with the Dolby Upmixer so take my post with a grain of salt until I can confirm.
I just booted up my system and my wides are active with dsu upmixer but not the dts upmixer, this is weird I could have sworn it was the other way round!...
I apologise for my confusing posts, this has confused me to no end!
I just booted up my system and my wides are active with dsu upmixer but not the dts upmixer, this is weird I could have sworn it was the other way round!...
I apologise for my confusing posts, this has confused me to no end!
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Is this a hardware or software issue?
This personally doesn’t matter to me since I don’t have any wides or heights but I prefer to buy processors without outdated components.
The MiniDSP is still on my radar but I may try to just get the Trinnov CI since I can just get the 8 channel version.
I hope you are not offended, I only Google it because you asked me to! Now you don't seem to trust Google but that's fine. I believe you heard what your heard and I concur with you that there seemed to be some debates on this, wonder why though..
I admit I did not know it was controversial enough to be a widely debated thing, like you, I thought it was common knowledge, though our knowledge on this goes the opposite way Lol.
Just for fun, since you mentioned AVS forum, here's a few AVM owners who confirmed theirs wouldn't so what yours did, if yours do, and I have no idea why you guys have different results. For me, I am too lazy to hook up two more speakers now just to prove something that I don't think is worth it.
Since you mentioned AVS forum, I also took a look of some posts on the topic:
Below are pasted directly from some of the posts, I have not read a single one that confirmed Neural X could run 7.1.6, or 9.1.4, not using DTS Neural X
One poster said he got something from Anthem:
That referenced to DTS:X but of course Neural:X is an upmixer of the DTS:X. subject to the same max channel limit.
Anyway, may be your AVM70 miraculously has the Pro upgrade/update.
So there is not point debating any more, happy for you..Reply
Peng, I must apologise I got my wires crossed and im totally baffled as to what I was thinking. I tried my wides using DTS X neural and they aren't working but they are using the Dolby upmixer. I could have sworn Neural X was the catalyst for me adding wides which was no small feat given my room, it must have been when the DSU upmixer was updated in the Anthem to support wides which came a while after the initial product release that im referring to, what a mess sorry!I hope you are not offended, I only Google it because you asked me to! Now you don't seem to trust Google but that's fine. I believe you heard what your heard and I concur with you that there seemed to be some debates on this, wonder why though..
I admit I did not know it was controversial enough to be a widely debated thing, like you, I thought it was common knowledge, though our knowledge on this goes the opposite way Lol.
Just for fun, since you mentioned AVS forum, here's a few AVM owners who confirmed theirs wouldn't so what yours did, if yours do, and I have no idea why you guys have different results. For me, I am too lazy to hook up two more speakers now just to prove something that I don't think is worth it.
Since you mentioned AVS forum, I also took a look of some posts on the topic:
Below are pasted directly from some of the posts, I have not read a single one that confirmed Neural X could run 7.1.6, or 9.1.4, not using DTS Neural X
One poster said he got something from Anthem:
That referenced to DTS:X but of course Neural:X is an upmixer of the DTS:X. subject to the same max channel limit.
Anyway, may be your AVM70 miraculously has the Pro upgrade/update.
Reply
So the good thing is the Tide is now a consideration as its the DSU upmixer that will utilise the wides...gosh storm in a tea cup lol...
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No worry, good to know you are not offended by my questioning. I was just surprised, that's all. Yes the limit was on the DTS side, not the hardware so the Tide 16 should do your wide channels fine. The biggest gain going to the Tide or Marantz AV20 is Dirac Live, especially if you are going all the way to ART. I did the 14-days trial so I know ART does, and will work, way better than ARC Genesis objectively speaking.
From your brief description, it does not look like the Tide was designed for the connectivity that you require. As much as I love my Tide, I would not suggest purchasing it, if the features do not match your requirements.
miniDSP is entirely clear on the product sheet that the Tide supports Neural:X not the pro version, and have explained that this is due to licensing fees and low consumer interest given the added cost.