My Kingdom For A Remote Volume Knob! can this be made?

[Mort]

I bought one and it was a mistake.

The KD-1 requires USB for power (no batteries) There isn't any firmware out yet.

Support sent me a link to get firmware for the Device Console. 1.23 beta.

No Bluetooth upgrade yet; to update the MiniDsp Flex's Bluetooth (when the upgrade comes out) you have to load the firmware files onto an android device and then (using MiniDSp Bluetooth) transfer the firmware to the DSP.

So I have a $260.,00 (175 + 60 tariffs + 25 shipping from China) paper weight.

The policy is absolutely no refunds or exchanges

Read the fine print !!

Ouch. Did you ever get it to work?

 

[Richx200]

Ouch. Did you ever get it to work?

Yes, only after 3 weeks of emails trying to get them to understand the problem. I got permanently banned from the forum for "spamming" so I couldn't complain or ask questions. It was clear they weren't ready for the release of this product, and I don't think they liked it when I pointed it out.

The entire problem could have been avoided if only MiniDSP followed their policy of placing the need firmware/software files in the KD-1 folder, which is available to those who purchase the product. (if anyone needs the files, post a note)

As for the outcome of this story, I now have a $260.00 paper weight (not going to run a USB wire to the couch to power the device) and lesson learned.

 

[Mort]

Yes, only after 3 weeks of emails trying to get them to understand the problem. I got permanently banned from the forum for "spamming" so I couldn't complain or ask questions. It was clear they weren't ready for the release of this product, and I don't think they liked it when I pointed it out.

The entire problem could have been avoided if only MiniDSP followed their policy of placing the need firmware/software files in the KD-1 folder, which is available to those who purchase the product. (if anyone needs the files, post a note)

As for the outcome of this story, I now have a $260.00 paper weight (not going to run a USB wire to the couch to power the device) and lesson learned.

Ouch. thanks for the update.

 

[raymondvanmil]

I built this Arduino-based IR volume knob for my desktop setup. It may seem unnecessary, but I'm just too lazy to reach the knob on the amp, especially if I'm reclined on a chair.
The roughly made plywood body was supposed to be a temporary solution until I come up with something nicer. I've been using it like this for 4 years now.
The 350mAh battery lasts a month, which is fine for me, considering I can plug it in and continue using it while it's charging.

View attachment 272848
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you build a perfect minimalist solution and it got ignored and no explanation? anyway would love to build something similar. Any info or code? The blaster is just a blaster soldered and controled by the arduini pico? I will figure it out eventually but some info would be great!

 

[Paul Webster]

That Waveshare ESP32 Knob now has an implementation for Roon, Lyrion (LMS) and HQPlayer done by muness with AI help.
You can see the controller at

GitHub - muness/roon-knob: Custom firmware to turn a Waveshare ESP32-S3 Knob into a dedicated Hifi controller

Custom firmware to turn a Waveshare ESP32-S3 Knob into a dedicated Hifi controller - muness/roon-knob

github.com

and a partner server component at

GitHub - open-horizon-labs/unified-hifi-control: Source-agnostic hi-fi control bridge

Source-agnostic hi-fi control bridge. Contribute to open-horizon-labs/unified-hifi-control development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

Very new and going through rapid development.
I saw the demo and bought the Waveshare device - and it is working well here with Lyrion.
There are some things that I would like to see changed - but already usable.

 

[mglobe]

Because my Flex is directly connected to the computer hosting the MiniDSP-rs control software I can send instructions to the Flex without worrying about the the IP address. However, I know from fiddling with the minidsp-rs daemon that it is possible to specify an IP. Default port is 5380 for MiniDSP. It’s probably configurable but I’ve not looked into that. Can’t speak to the node. Minidsp-rs includes a daemon and also a command line interface. I couldn’t figure out how to do incremental volume changes with the daemon, but the command line can do it. I used BTT to send command line instructions, and to interface between the keystrokes that the Quick Keys sends. Hopefully I’m explaining the accurately. There was a fair amount of trial and error in addition to eventually reading the manual after everything else failed.

Last year I went from my MiniDSP Flex to a Trinnov Nova. The API for the NOVA is not yet published, but I was able to find some resources that gave clues to how to communicate to it. Today I collaborated with Claude.ai and “we” were able to create a python script that allows me to control volume, mute, select inputs, and also presets with the Xencelabs Quick Keys. I’ve also integrated the Quick Keys with Roon using the Roon api. So with this one device I also have the ability to play/pause Roon, and go to next or previous track. I’ve gone full nerd. Working with Claude was very interesting to say the least.

 

[anotherhobby]

In order to conduct experiments with Dirac ART and a 4.4.4 setup, I recently swapped a Denon X4800H into my office in place of my trusty miniDSP Flex. The ART results were so good that I'm keeping this way, but that AVR is obviously not sitting on my desk, nor is it handy. It has a remote, but it's really awkward using it to adjust volume, and it's also hard to see the display from my desk. I think the miniDSP Flex is really excellent for desktop use, and having the control knob and display right there near my keyboard for the last 4.5 years has spoiled me.

Here is what I came up with:

Using an M5Dial ESP32 rotary encoder as my hardware, I built a Denon AVR desktop remote in CircuitPython with a touch screen state display and a rotary encoder that adjusts the volume. It syncs to the AVR over the network (detects external changes) and is quite responsive. I can switch all three Dirac ART filter slots with one touch buttons, switch inputs in a menu, and tap the upper half of the display to mute it. When it's muted, it turns blue and the volume number slowly pulses:

I put a lot of work into tuning the behaviors, optimizing memory on the tiny thing, and getting to to respond and feel like a nice product. I'm a software developer and AI has taken over our world, and in my career I drive Claude all day to write pretty much all my code now. This is the first time I've used Claude on one of my embedded device projects, and man was it fun and FAST. Here is how the interface works:

This little thing is going to allow me to move the Denon physically out of my small office and plumb the wiring thru the walls into the adjacent storage space. I'm still playing with some ideas for a nice stand to hold it on my desk, but I'm quite thrilled the end result.

In case anybody wants to play with it: https://github.com/anotherhobby/deloop

 

[MattHooper]

In order to conduct experiments with Dirac ART and a 4.4.4 setup, I recently swapped a Denon X4800H into my office in place of my trusty miniDSP Flex. The ART results were so good that I'm keeping this way, but that AVR is obviously not sitting on my desk, nor is it handy. It has a remote, but it's really awkward using it to adjust volume, and it's also hard to see the display from my desk. I think the miniDSP Flex is really excellent for desktop use, and having the control knob and display right there near my keyboard for the last 4.5 years has spoiled me.

Here is what I came up with:

View attachment 547582

Using an M5Dial ESP32 rotary encoder as my hardware, I built a Denon AVR desktop remote in CircuitPython with a touch screen state display and a rotary encoder that adjusts the volume. It syncs to the AVR over the network (detects external changes) and is quite responsive. I can switch all three Dirac ART filter slots with one touch buttons, switch inputs in a menu, and tap the upper half of the display to mute it. When it's muted, it turns blue and the volume number slowly pulses:

View attachment 547584

I put a lot of work into tuning the behaviors, optimizing memory on the tiny thing, and getting to to respond and feel like a nice product. I'm a software developer and AI has taken over our world, and in my career I drive Claude all day to write pretty much all my code now. This is the first time I've used Claude on one of my embedded device projects, and man was it fun and FAST. Here is how the interface works:

View attachment 547583

This little thing is going to allow me to move the Denon physically out of my small office and plumb the wiring thru the walls into the adjacent storage space. I'm still playing with some ideas for a nice stand to hold it on my desk, but I'm quite thrilled the end result.

In case anybody wants to play with it: https://github.com/anotherhobby/deloop

 

[MattHooper]

Still really loving my remote:

 

[Blew]

In order to conduct experiments with Dirac ART and a 4.4.4 setup, I recently swapped a Denon X4800H into my office in place of my trusty miniDSP Flex. The ART results were so good that I'm keeping this way, but that AVR is obviously not sitting on my desk, nor is it handy. It has a remote, but it's really awkward using it to adjust volume, and it's also hard to see the display from my desk. I think the miniDSP Flex is really excellent for desktop use, and having the control knob and display right there near my keyboard for the last 4.5 years has spoiled me.

Here is what I came up with:

View attachment 547582

This is awesome! I can think of many different use cases where this would be an excellent option for controlling the audio output, especially for the MiniDSP devices that don't have their own display panels, such as the 2x4HD. How easily do you think this could be adapted to MiniDSP devices using minidsp-rs?

 

[anotherhobby]

This is awesome! I can think of many different use cases where this would be an excellent option for controlling the audio output, especially for the MiniDSP devices that don't have their own display panels, such as the 2x4HD. How easily do you think this could be adapted to MiniDSP devices using minidsp-rs?

Thanks! So I just did a review on minidsp-rs, and it would not be too hard to adapt/fork this to work with it, or maybe even to just add support for multiple device types. I made the denon device interface modular, so it would mostly be a matter of writing a minidsp-rs device interface and making provisions to modularize devices in the project officialy. There are a few UI hooks that I'd need to shore up, like power on/off not being a thing on miniDSP, but that's pretty trivial and would likely just involve a map of what devices support what features. Things like direct tap on config presets should work great, and I do have a miniDSP 2x4HD and also a Flex, so I do have the available hardware to test it as well. This would break the stand-alone device philosophy and insert a requirement for a host machine running the minidsp-rs package (external dependency), but I think that's a fair trade off for what you'd get.

The problem is, I have no use for this. The other problem is, I like problems and I think it would be fun. I'm gonna let this simmer and see if it eats me up. I might just do it.

 

[anotherhobby]

Still really loving my remote:

View attachment 547586

View attachment 547587

I still think this remote is awesome.

 

[MattHooper]

I still think this remote is awesome.

I’d love a read out of information like you have, on top of the knob. Though I don’t think my remote set up is quite as complicated as yours.

I find the knob, once you’ve lived with it, gives a good tactile sense of how far to turn up to get the volume I want or how far back down.

One thing I really like is the “dim” function from my benchmark preamplifier, which instead of muting turns the sound down by about 20 DB to quiet background levels.
I activate that with a light press down of the knob. I prefer it to a full mute.

 

[pablolie]

I'd sell my kingdom for a bit more than a volume control gadget, honestly. Unless it includes Detroit. :-D (kidding, don't mean to offend anyone!)

I do have an amp with an app and also a simple remote. But honestly, I prefer to leave the amp volume at a fixed volume level, and control the music sound level via the Lyrion app on a tablet dedicated to controlling everything multimedia. I am perfectly aware that using digital volume control can reduce resolution, but with 24 or even 32 bits... I have never ever noticed a decrease in hearable resolution, honestly.

I am a believer in having a minimum of devices dedicated to a task, especially devices that require regular charging to work... we have way too many these days imo.

 

[mglobe]

Thanks! So I just did a review on minidsp-rs, and it would not be too hard to adapt/fork this to work with it, or maybe even to just add support for multiple device types. I made the denon device interface modular, so it would mostly be a matter of writing a minidsp-rs device interface and making provisions to modularize devices in the project officialy. There are a few UI hooks that I'd need to shore up, like power on/off not being a thing on miniDSP, but that's pretty trivial and would likely just involve a map of what devices support what features. Things like direct tap on config presets should work great, and I do have a miniDSP 2x4HD and also a Flex, so I do have the available hardware to test it as well. This would break the stand-alone device philosophy and insert a requirement for a host machine running the minidsp-rs package (external dependency), but I think that's a fair trade off for what you'd get.

The problem is, I have no use for this. The other problem is, I like problems and I think it would be fun. I'm gonna let this simmer and see if it eats me up. I might just do it.

It would make sense to set your system up so that you could plug in API's for other devices. I have no idea how easy or difficult that is. I'd just have Claude do it for m.

 

[anotherhobby]

It would make sense to set your system up so that you could plug in API's for other devices. I have no idea how easy or difficult that is. I'd just have Claude do it for m.

Turned out not to be hard (claude does most of the work these days), and I did indeed make the backed device drivers modular. What motivated me is the lack of effort involved since I still have a miniDSP Flex still sitting on my desk right in front of me. Since it has a display, I didn't even need to hook it up to anything but USB to play around. But the big payoff would be for a 2x4HD user as you mentioned, as this opens it up for much cleaner desktop use. I recorded a little video with the miniDSP screen next to it so you can see how it responds. It's only been tested on the Flex, but as long as minidsp-rs has consistent responses across devices, it should work with anything minidsp-rs does.

 

[Blew]

Turned out not to be hard (claude does most of the work these days), and I did indeed make the backed device drivers modular. What motivated me is the lack of effort involved since I still have a miniDSP Flex still sitting on my desk right in front of me. Since it has a display, I didn't even need to hook it up to anything but USB to play around. But the big payoff would be for a 2x4HD user as you mentioned, as this opens it up for much cleaner desktop use. I recorded a little video with the miniDSP screen next to it so you can see how it responds. It's only been tested on the Flex, but as long as minidsp-rs has consistent responses across devices, it should work with anything minidsp-rs does.

Wow that's excellent! It looks great and solves the major drawback of the MiniDSP 2x4HD, for me at least. I'm going to buy a m5stack immediately!

I use the 2x4HD with a Raspberry Pi for streaming audio using piCorePlayer and already run minidsp-rs for remote management anyway. I'm sure there are many others out there using it similarly, but minidsp-rs runs on Windows and Mac too.

I started an attempt at writing a Jivelite app to do a similar function as this but piCorePlayer limitations complicated things, so decided to rebuild with a more standard OS before continuing. Now I'm somewhat demotivated to do that

Thanks again for creating this!

 

[Count Arthur]

You are all spoiled.

I remember the first VCR we had when I was a teenager. It came without a remote, but you could buy an optional, wired remote, which my father being a cheapskate, didn't.

 

[anotherhobby]

You are all spoiled.

I remember the first VCR we had when I was a teenager. It came without a remote, but you could buy an optional, wired remote, which my father being a cheapskate, didn't.

Back then, WE were the remote.

 

[Reddoc]

Back then, WE were the remote.

"Channel 7, thanks, Dave"