I have been looking for a solid, performant processor for years. My criteria has been:
* Reasonable cost (<2K for at least 5 satellite, 2 independent sub)
* Low noise floor (and preferably low distortion)
* IP control/programatic
* Compact
* Multi-HDMI out (I have a monitor and a projector)
* Balanced outputs
Previous attempts:
* Ancient Integra Receiver (no IP control, highish noise floor, only one sub-out)
* Emotiva MC700 (sluggish, no IP control, essentially broken PEQ)
* Emotiva XMC1 (Actually quite good, but unfortunately was sluggish over IP and wouldn't let me set delays/crossovers/peq over IP)
Current attempt:
Existing equipment:
* Vero4K+ for movie and music playback (Kodi/linux, supports bitstream and decoding)
New equipment:
* MiniDSP Flex HTx
* MT Viki 4x4 HDMI switcher/matrix
* Ezcoo HDMI eARC extractor
There are a number of different architectures that I can use with this equipment. I considered:
* HTx as a DAC only, Vero4K+ running CamillaDSP.
* Vero4K+ to HDMI matrix input 1, HDMI matrix output 1 to Ezcoo, Ezcoo eARC-> MiniDSP, Ezcoo HDMI out to HDMI matrix input 2, HDMI matrix output 2, 3, 4 from HDMI matrix input 2. This would have the benefit of allowing more than one HDMI source, however this also has far more HDMI hops that could lead to handshake issues. I don't intend to add any others sources, so I decided not to over-architect.
What I ended up with:
* Vero4K to Ezcoo, Ezcoo eARC -> MiniDSP, Ezcoo out to HDMI matrix input 1, HDMI output 1, 2, 3, 4 from HDMI matrix input 1. MiniDSP handles all the DSP.
* Vero4K running minidsp-rs. This allows me to control the MiniDSP using Device Console from any computer in the house, and allows me to build my own web apps to interact with the MiniDSP.
So far, this setup is rock solid. There have been no HDMI eARC glitches. The HDMI switching and replication is incredibly fast and robust compared to any AV receiver I've owned. It literally "just works" (albeit with substantial setup...the MiniDSP makes it easy if you know what you are doing, but you get the best out of it with REW+MSO and it really helps to have esoteric knowledge like the LFE being mixed 10db low and what that implies for bass management).
Downsides:
* HDMI 1.4 for Video (not a big deal for me, I don't watch 4k/HDR)
* No Atmos (no big deal for me, I only have 5 satellites and 2 subs, and I don't have 4k Blurays)
Next steps:
* Develop a custom web app to control MiniDSP. See https://github.com/danielhstahl/xmc-1-rest-api for a similar one I created for the XMC; I plan to fork this.
* Add full FlexHTx support to the minidsp-rs. I'd particularly like to see the HDMI information (# of channels, bit rate, sample rate) available directly through minidsp-rs. I've made a couple initial PRs to get feedback on my approach: https://github.com/mrene/minidsp-rs/pull/664
* Reasonable cost (<2K for at least 5 satellite, 2 independent sub)
* Low noise floor (and preferably low distortion)
* IP control/programatic
* Compact
* Multi-HDMI out (I have a monitor and a projector)
* Balanced outputs
Previous attempts:
* Ancient Integra Receiver (no IP control, highish noise floor, only one sub-out)
* Emotiva MC700 (sluggish, no IP control, essentially broken PEQ)
* Emotiva XMC1 (Actually quite good, but unfortunately was sluggish over IP and wouldn't let me set delays/crossovers/peq over IP)
Current attempt:
Existing equipment:
* Vero4K+ for movie and music playback (Kodi/linux, supports bitstream and decoding)
New equipment:
* MiniDSP Flex HTx
* MT Viki 4x4 HDMI switcher/matrix
* Ezcoo HDMI eARC extractor
There are a number of different architectures that I can use with this equipment. I considered:
* HTx as a DAC only, Vero4K+ running CamillaDSP.
* Vero4K+ to HDMI matrix input 1, HDMI matrix output 1 to Ezcoo, Ezcoo eARC-> MiniDSP, Ezcoo HDMI out to HDMI matrix input 2, HDMI matrix output 2, 3, 4 from HDMI matrix input 2. This would have the benefit of allowing more than one HDMI source, however this also has far more HDMI hops that could lead to handshake issues. I don't intend to add any others sources, so I decided not to over-architect.
What I ended up with:
* Vero4K to Ezcoo, Ezcoo eARC -> MiniDSP, Ezcoo out to HDMI matrix input 1, HDMI output 1, 2, 3, 4 from HDMI matrix input 1. MiniDSP handles all the DSP.
* Vero4K running minidsp-rs. This allows me to control the MiniDSP using Device Console from any computer in the house, and allows me to build my own web apps to interact with the MiniDSP.
So far, this setup is rock solid. There have been no HDMI eARC glitches. The HDMI switching and replication is incredibly fast and robust compared to any AV receiver I've owned. It literally "just works" (albeit with substantial setup...the MiniDSP makes it easy if you know what you are doing, but you get the best out of it with REW+MSO and it really helps to have esoteric knowledge like the LFE being mixed 10db low and what that implies for bass management).
Downsides:
* HDMI 1.4 for Video (not a big deal for me, I don't watch 4k/HDR)
* No Atmos (no big deal for me, I only have 5 satellites and 2 subs, and I don't have 4k Blurays)
Next steps:
* Develop a custom web app to control MiniDSP. See https://github.com/danielhstahl/xmc-1-rest-api for a similar one I created for the XMC; I plan to fork this.
* Add full FlexHTx support to the minidsp-rs. I'd particularly like to see the HDMI information (# of channels, bit rate, sample rate) available directly through minidsp-rs. I've made a couple initial PRs to get feedback on my approach: https://github.com/mrene/minidsp-rs/pull/664
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