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

[Lsc]

Hmm I am near the Canadian border. I can pick it up from their store. Comes to like $3600 USD.

Hmm I wonder if I can order online to ship to US. Maybe the shipping will be too much - will check soon.

 

[rolfrander]

Just want to remind everybody that the official web-page still says:

Release Details(15/01/2026): Tide16 will soon become available for purchase on this product page for 3500USD in the coming 4weeks. Stay tuned for updates to the user manual and additional app notes/details. Thanks for your patience!

The admin on the minidsp community forum wrote this last week:

We are having some delays from few suppliers and putting the final touches to firmware & Manual but we're looking good with lots of great progress from the team in the past few weeks. Hopefully some update mid of next week with a specific date on the start of shipments.

 

[Tre2023]

Continuous audio is a tvOS 26.4 (not released yet) feature which continuously sends digital silence across the HDMI link to avoid the HDMI receiver going in to a power saving mode.

This fixes issues with thing like Sonos systems where the unit would produce pops as parts of the audio path went to sleep.

Doing this involves sending Atmos as PCM inside Dolby MAT2. This is not ‘broken’ regardless of what people on this forum think and is just as valid as passing TrueHD or EAC through the MAT2 connection. There is literally no difference by the time it hits the Atmos renderer.

If it was ‘broken’ then it would never pass Dolby’s conformance tests and the companies would not have the right to call the options Atmos or to use the Dolby logo.

When I use the word “broken”, I mean my unit will no longer will play movies or TV shows from any app with a Dolby Atmos track. The video will not start and will kick back to the title page. I am then presented with a message about a problem playing this content. I must turn OFF Dolby Atmos in settings for the videos to play without issue.

So, yes, my unit is effectively broken as the new firmware update disabled it to a degree. I’m sure a future update will fix it. I am not unaware of how audio is handled in the Apple TV 4K. A conversion to LPCM does not degrade audio quality, though it can be an annoyance for those with newer TVs that support 4K and eARC but connect to AVPs and AVRs that do not do so and they will have to make certain choices or by certain devices to work with the increased bandwidth needed for multichannel PCM signals with or without Atmos metadata.

I do hope those purchasing the new miniDSP Tide 16 enjoy it and it proves to work as well as their other products.

 

[peng]

Hmm I am near the Canadian border. I can pick it up from their store. Comes to like $3600 USD.

You have to wait till Q2 so may be another month or two, at the earliest, I assume, if there is no further delays.

 

[chelgrian]

When I use the word “broken”, I mean my unit will no longer will play movies or TV shows from any app with a Dolby Atmos track. The video will not start and will kick back to the title page. I am then presented with a message about a problem playing this content. I must turn OFF Dolby Atmos in settings for the videos to play without issue.

So, yes, my unit is effectively broken as the new firmware update disabled it to a degree. I’m sure a future update will fix it. I am not unaware of how audio is handled in the Apple TV 4K. A conversion to LPCM does not degrade audio quality, though it can be an annoyance for those with newer TVs that support 4K and eARC but connect to AVPs and AVRs that do not do so and they will have to make certain choices or by certain devices to work with the increased bandwidth needed for multichannel PCM signals with or without Atmos metadata.

I do hope those purchasing the new miniDSP Tide 16 enjoy it and it proves to work as well as their other products.

If you are running 26.4 then you are running beta firmware and apps may or may not work if the actual release 26.4 when it arrives has this issue then that is a different matter.

 

[Tre2023]

Yes, it is beta firmware. I’m sure it is just a matter of tinkering with it so that it works properly with each generation of Apple TV 4K when officially released.

 

[chelgrian]

Yes, it is beta firmware. I’m sure it is just a matter of tinkering with it so that it works properly with each generation of Apple TV 4K when officially released.

More specifically apps are not allowed to make use of any new APIs until the RCs are released which is why you see a flurry of app updates at around RC time just before the the full release.

 

[Tre2023]

If you are running 26.4 then you are running beta firmware and apps may or may not work if the actual release 26.4 when it arrives has this issue then that is a different matter.

Manually checked for an update this afternoon and it downloaded the 26.4 Developer Beta, again. This time, everything works. Joy!

 

[jam]

Hmm I am near the Canadian border. I can pick it up from their store. Comes to like $3600 USD.

Sure you could but I believe you would still get slapped with the tariffs from your dear president if they're still in effect at that time, unless you manage to smuggle one in without getting caught. If you were to get caught trying to smuggle one in, I don't know if you would also get slapped with a fine for not declaring it; I don't know how understanding the customs agents would be in such a situation. Things you have to take into account...

 

[chelgrian]

Manually checked for an update this afternoon and it downloaded the 26.4 Developer Beta, again. This time, everything works. Joy!

There was a new beta build released yesterday.

 

[monsterlag]

Sure you could but I believe you would still get slapped with the tariffs from your dear president if they're still in effect at that time, unless you manage to smuggle one in without getting caught. If you were to get caught trying to smuggle one in, I don't know if you would also get slapped with a fine for not declaring it; I don't know how understanding the customs agents would be in such a situation. Things you have to take into account...

Nada. You pay customs duty at the border by declaring it as long as it’s for personal use, not the full tariffs. This would be about $80 or so. No need to smuggle it in or anything.


Just say you have items to declare, show the receipt and pay the duty. They accept credit cards/cash etc.

 

[jam]

Nada. You pay customs duty at the border by declaring it as long as it’s for personal use, not the full tariffs. This would be about $80 or so. No need to smuggle it in or anything.


Just say you have items to declare, show the receipt and pay the duty. They accept credit cards/cash etc.

Wow that's good. If this is the case, you'd be better off going to pick-it up at Solen. They're located in St-Hubert, a suburb on the south of Montreal so you wouldn't even need to cross any of the busy bridges as if you were going onto Montreal itself.

In Canada we're allowed an exemption of $40 CAD (used to be $20) even if it's for personal use. So the foreign currency amount gets converted to CAD and then depending on the item, there usually is a tariff, for electronics it's about 5% if it hasn't changed from the last time I brought something in. However, it doesn't end there, then they add the customs brokerage fees that are relative to the total amount and finally they top it off with the federal and provincial sales taxes, anywhere from 13% to 15% depending on the province except for Alberta where they only have the 5% fed. tax.

 

[rolfrander]

Just want to remind everybody that the official web-page still says:

The admin on the minidsp community forum wrote this last week:

A slight update on the web-page today:

Release Details(04/03/2026): With some unfortunate delay due to Chinese New Year, stock is now building up well and Tide16 will soon become available for purchase on this product page for 3500USD. Stay tuned for updates to the user manual and additional app notes/details. Thanks for your patience!

 

[Lsc]

A slight update on the web-page today:

Thanks for the update! Who is ready to order day 1?!

Will have to see how the tariff situation looks but something is telling me to wait for the next one with HDMI 2.1 and other updates OR just buy the AV20.

 

[EWL5]

A slight update on the web-page today:

Ah, so they did pull the Chinese New Year card. It's almost like they didn't realize it happens...once a year. LOL!

 

[monsterlag]

Thanks for the update! Who is ready to order day 1?!

Will have to see how the tariff situation looks but something is telling me to wait for the next one with HDMI 2.1 and other updates OR just buy the AV20.

It’s a non starter without 2.1 for me. Even my comparatively lowly 3700H from 2021 has HDMI 2.1. Secretly hoping that it supports 2.1 but is just not “certified” 2.1 due to licensing costs.

 

[ban25]

It’s a non starter without 2.1 for me. Even my comparatively lowly 3700H from 2021 has HDMI 2.1. Secretly hoping that it supports 2.1 but is just not “certified” 2.1 due to licensing costs.

It has some features, like VRR, but not the hard part, which is the bandwidth. It's only 18 Gbps whereas even your 3700H has one 40 Gbps port.

 

[Lsc]

It’s a non starter without 2.1 for me. Even my comparatively lowly 3700H from 2021 has HDMI 2.1. Secretly hoping that it supports 2.1 but is just not “certified” 2.1 due to licensing costs.

I agree that thisis the biggest bummer for me as well. They would need to develop a new HDMI board that supports 2.1. This may be a hardware issue vs a licensing issue.

 

[chelgrian]

I agree that thisis the biggest bummer for me as well. They would need to develop a new HDMI board that supports 2.1. This may be a hardware issue vs a licensing issue.

They have already said that they have concentrated on a rock solid implementation which meets the needs of Film and streaming which do not need 2.1 features which are considerably more difficult to implement. Then they will come back to 2.1 in the future.

 

[thcdru2k]

My current setup is AVR-X3700H for HDMI 2.1, Atmos decoding with all bass management/crossover/audio routing managed by Flex HTx.

I would much rather lose HDMI 2.1 because the only application for that is video gaming and high refresh rates instead of compromise on audio.

Plus minidsp has already mentioned that 8K Vroom essentially solves that issue.