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

I posted on the Hyperion APR-16 thread that mine arrived last week and it’s on its way Amir for testing. Dirac for the APR-16 is still listed as coming soon with no timeline from the manufacturer or Dirac. Does anyone know if there are similar issues with the Tide16?
 
PGAMiami said:
I posted on the Hyperion APR-16 thread that mine arrived last week and it’s on its way Amir for testing. Dirac for the APR-16 is still listed as coming soon with no timeline from the manufacturer or Dirac. Does anyone know if there are similar issues with the Tide16?
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I've also been wondering if they have something in common. You reported that AudioControl said this:
Dirac has not given us a timeline yet
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MiniDSP say this:
Unfortunately as much as we'd love to have a final answer and give an ETA, there has been some delays outside our control by a 3rd party partner. We're getting really close but sometimes things are a bit more complex to solve than they look.
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It occurred to me they might be talking about the same problem. My cynical mind imagined that StormAudio thought these two processors would be a big threat to their business, and being long/strong partners with Dirac, they pulled some strings to delay the Dirac release to the Tide16 & APR-16.
Shame on me.

EDIT : For the avoidance of doubt, this is just whimsical frivolity, nothing serious.....
 
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welwynnick said:
I've also been wondering if they have something in common. You reported that AudioControl said this:

MiniDSP say this:

It occurred to me they might be talking about the same problem. My cynical mind imagined that StormAudio thought these two processors would be a big threat to their business, and being long/strong partners with Dirac, they pulled some strings to delay the Dirac release to the Tide16 & APR-16.
Shame on me.
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Possible,but seems unlikely to me that Storm would have the leverage. Dirac is in the software business so the more devices their products can run on, the better. Marantz and Denon I would think is much more important for Dirac than Storm. Given how AI is “eating” software I would think Dirac should attempt to be as ubiquitous as possible before an AI driven competitor comes along. I expect prices will come down much further.
 
PGAMiami said:
Possible,but seems unlikely to me that Storm would have the leverage. Dirac is in the software business so the more devices their products can run on, the better. Marantz and Denon I would think is much more important for Dirac than Storm. Given how AI is “eating” software I would think Dirac should attempt to be as ubiquitous as possible before an AI driven competitor comes along. I expect prices will come down much further.
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Agreed, that might be the reason why Dirac appeared to be on sale more frequently (at least twice a year for the past 2-3 years) as they now have the volume to support a lower margin.
 
chelgrian said:
The only one I know of is Audiocontrol Hyperion, again announced but not really available, double the advertised price of the Tide 16 and you have to buy Dirac licenses on top of that if you want it.

HDMI switch chips from Nuvoton which could actually do 48Gbit only became available in 2025.
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Are you sure about that? I have the AudioControl Maestro x9s and it came with Dirac Live (full bandwidth) and DLBC included. I don't think that they would offer a AVP that makes you pay for all of the licenses when they still have product out there that has everything but ART. That's me just guessing as I haven't seen the Hyperion ARP available yet.
 
prerich said:
Are you sure about that? I have the AudioControl Maestro x9s and it came with Dirac Live (full bandwidth) and DLBC included. I don't think that they would offer a AVP that makes you pay for all of the licenses when they still have product out there that has everything but ART. That's me just guessing as I haven't seen the Hyperion ARP available yet.
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AudioControl haven't been very clear about this, but it looks like Dirac is not included. It was discussed in the APR-16 thread, and the licenses are listed in the Dirac shop:
www.audiosciencereview.com

Audiocontrol Hyperion Processor

I was leaning to the Tide16 as its features more closely match my needs. And it’s cheaper. I don’t use AioP and I like that the Tide16 has a usb audio in. But in the end it seems to me the Hyperion is a better built product with better parts and support. Most of the time I’m either 1)...
www.audiosciencereview.com www.audiosciencereview.com
Kal Rubinson said:
I (not a lawyer) was told, outright, that the licenses were not to be included. We probably spoke with different people.
This was on October 8, as part of a Q/A exchange:
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Kal Rubinson said:
4. Will Dirac-ART be included?
It will be Dirac Ready, meaning it has the ability to run ART, but the end user will have to purchase separately, Dirac Live will not be automatically be included with purchase of Hyperion.
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welwynnick said:
AudioControl haven't been very clear about this, but it looks like Dirac is not included. It was discussed in the APR-16 thread, and the licenses are listed in the Dirac shop:
www.audiosciencereview.com

Audiocontrol Hyperion Processor

I was leaning to the Tide16 as its features more closely match my needs. And it’s cheaper. I don’t use AioP and I like that the Tide16 has a usb audio in. But in the end it seems to me the Hyperion is a better built product with better parts and support. Most of the time I’m either 1)...
www.audiosciencereview.com www.audiosciencereview.com


View attachment 529793
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They're nerfing their product if they do that. I know that they will not make ART available for the Maestro line - but the only avantages Hyperion would have to offer is the 9039qm dacs instead of the 9038 Pro's that are in the Maestro series, AoiP, and USB audio in. These are great upgrades for a systems intergrator - but.....well that's who they're targeting. The issue of having to buy Dirac would turn me away from the Hyperion, even though AudioControl offers the best customer service that I have ever seen in the industry!
 
welwynnick said:
AudioControl haven't been very clear about this, but it looks like Dirac is not included. It was discussed in the APR-16 thread, and the licenses are listed in the Dirac shop:
www.audiosciencereview.com

Audiocontrol Hyperion Processor

I was leaning to the Tide16 as its features more closely match my needs. And it’s cheaper. I don’t use AioP and I like that the Tide16 has a usb audio in. But in the end it seems to me the Hyperion is a better built product with better parts and support. Most of the time I’m either 1)...
www.audiosciencereview.com www.audiosciencereview.com


View attachment 529793
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Folks are definitely paying for any Dirac license on the APR-16!

I'm not a believer in the "conspiracy" that Storm would have anything to do w/the delay in the Tide16 roll-out. They serve completely different markets and miniDSP is probably as niche as you can get in audio.
 
PGAMiami said:
I posted on the Hyperion APR-16 thread that mine arrived last week and it’s on its way Amir for testing. Dirac for the APR-16 is still listed as coming soon with no timeline from the manufacturer or Dirac. Does anyone know if there are similar issues with the Tide16?
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Thank you for your generosity! I’m very curious on how well it will perform given the superior DAC chipset over the Tide16. Looks like a professional integrator level unit. Too bad on the Dirac release timeframe - I’d expect the Tide16 to have Dirac ART from day 1 but these things tend to get fluid.
 
EWL5 said:
Folks are definitely paying for any Dirac license on the APR-16!

I'm not a believer in the "conspiracy" that Storm would have anything to do w/the delay in the Tide16 roll-out. They serve completely different markets and miniDSP is probably as niche as you can get in audio.
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As far as I can tell both the minidsp and the audiocontrol are running the DSP on the ARM chipset, I think the Storm has a conventional DSP and I believe uses a Raspberry Pi for its control plane.

If both the Audiocontrol and the MiniDSP are delayed for Dirac that sounds as through there is some kind of issue with getting Dirac running acceptably in a native implementation on the ARM.
 
chelgrian said:
As far as I can tell both the minidsp and the audiocontrol are running the DSP on the ARM chipset, I think the Storm has a conventional DSP and I believe uses a Raspberry Pi for its control plane.

If both the Audiocontrol and the MiniDSP are delayed for Dirac that sounds as through there is some kind of issue with getting Dirac running acceptably in a native implementation on the ARM.
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PGAMiami's APR-16 is on its way to Amir for testing so all eyes are on the Tide16 at this point.

It's too bad Amir won't be able to tell us the cross terms from ARM since Dirac is not part of the testing I think.

Edit: I missed the "Coming Soon" for the Dirac licenses for the APR-16!
 
chelgrian said:
As far as I can tell both the minidsp and the audiocontrol are running the DSP on the ARM chipset, I think the Storm has a conventional DSP and I believe uses a Raspberry Pi for its control plane.

If both the Audiocontrol and the MiniDSP are delayed for Dirac that sounds as through there is some kind of issue with getting Dirac running acceptably in a native implementation on the ARM.
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It literally could be many things. If I recall correctly last fall Hyperion engineers at a show said Dirac was working. But maybe it’s unstable? Maybe on the ARM processor they can run a version that’s closer to or even better than the Storm version and someone’s complaining? Maybe the economics are not agreeable to all? These are all just speculation.
 
EWL5 said:
Folks are definitely paying for any Dirac license on the APR-16!

I'm not a believer in the "conspiracy" that Storm would have anything to do w/the delay in the Tide16 roll-out. They serve completely different markets and miniDSP is probably as niche as you can get in audio.
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I doubt Storm has the volume or clout to pressure Dirac, but Harmon Intentional, who now owns Marantz and Denon and is a division of Samsung, certainly has the clout. We don’t know what’s in their agreement with Dirac. Even the top of line AV10 runs a stripped down version of Dirac. One can easily see why they would not want Tide16 and APR16, both with ARM based processors, to have a much more capable Dirac. Not a conspiracy theory, just good business strategy for them to slow down or otherwise limit the roll out of Dirac. Again, pure speculation. Regardless as someone who ordered an APR16 based on the features they promoted at shows and on their website, I find this disappointing.
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The Tide16 is now available for order :

FYI, Tide16 is now live for purchase on the product page. https://www.minidsp.com/products/ht-series/tide16
We plan to start shipments in the coming week and half.
As a confirmation for some wondering, Dirac Live/DLBC/ART licenses are enabled by default and Tide16 is indeed fully Dirac certified out of the box.
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STOCK UPDATE(05/05/2026): Great news — the Tide16 is now available for purchase! We’re still QC’ing units, building up stock, and flashing everything with the latest firmware. Since this is our most complex platform yet, we’re taking extra time with QC and burn‑in. We expect to start shipping orders in chronological sequence around mid‑month. Thanks again for your patience and for sharing our excitement.
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