minidsp shd series

[firedog]

Anyone heard the minidsp shd? It does Dirac, has volume control, and accepts digital/analog inputs, has digital/analog outputs,  plus has a built in streamer. 

I'm not in the market, but it sounds like a nice unit for the price (under $1200). Would be a good centerpiece for a streaming system, without spending too much. 

 

https://www.minidsp.com/products/streaming-hd-series/shd-series

[flak]

Now available the first preamplifier with streaming capabilities, Dirac Live® digital room correction and digital crossovering (up to 48dB/octave) for subwoofer integration or two ways for active speakers:

https://www.minidsp.com/products/shd-series/shd-detail

 

 

Flavio

[flak]

Here indipendent measurements and comments:

https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/review-and-measurements-of-minidsp-shd-dac-dsp-and-streamer.4286/

 

Flavio

[Mike48]

Based on features, this looks like a great unit. An excellent feature set at a lower than usual price for those features.  It would be great if US miniDSP dealers sold it, to make trying it a little simpler for those of us in the US.

 

Would anyone care to comment on how well miniDSP supports its products long-term?  For example, would we expect an update to Dirac for this?  Will the custom version of Volumio be updated regularly?

[jaaptina]

Review by Hans Beekhuyzen!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zr_oqF9jb-8

[jaaptina]

Just received my MiniDSP SHD Studio. I have a quality network player but kept an eye on digital room correction for some time. The SHD Studio is a affordable and flexibel solution compared to buying an amp with room correction. 

Volumio is pre installed on the SHD Studio and recognised Minimstreamer on my NAS immediately. To my relief I can keep on using BubbleUpnp (Andriod) as control point. So no need to use Volumio interface or Volumio library function. 

If all goes as planned I will sell my USB network player. For the moment I have connected both. It's easy to compare the sound quality. Just need to switch inputs on the amp and switch the rendere in Bubbleupnp. Now I have to find the time to set up the room correction. That will take a few days. 

[Tintinabulum]

Actually a quick set up. I didn't find the supplied ps (Meanwell) up to scratch, used another to better effect.

 

[jaaptina]

Interesting. What ps do you use? 

[Mike48]

Please, those who are trying this unit: tell us your impressions of sound quality and usability. It would be great, also, to know what you are comparing the SHD to.

[Tintinabulum]

20 hours ago, jaaptina said:

 What ps do you use?

I has a spare socket on a JS-2.

[Tintinabulum]

20 hours ago, Mike48 said:

impressions of sound quality and usability.

I am using Allo DS through to digital actives. The first impression (measurement/ target curve) is very impressive. More focused soundstage, sharper sound, tighter high end, more ring on cymbals etc. This may reflect tired speakers getting some botox. With the supplied PS, it was going back. The swap was crucial. It may also have revealed a driver problem in the speakers, which I can potentially fix. Meantime, really enjoying the better sound. Also looking forward to playing with the target curves. Using Roon as yet, haven't tried the supplied Volumio player.

[macuniverse]

Is the Dirac Live in this unit ver 1.x or 2.x?

[jaaptina]

Dirac 1.2.33 

It's great and easy to use software. Measurements take a bit of time. After that changing target curves is a breeze. 

[macuniverse]

Thanks Jaaptina, good to hear it's effective. I currently use REW and experiment with rePhase to correct time domain anomalies. 

 

@Dirac people: Is it possible to upgrade it to v2.x in future?

[macuniverse]

On 5/8/2019 at 9:38 AM, macuniverse said:

@Dirac people: Is it possible to upgrade it to v2.x in future?

 

I suppose the answer is, No

[Daekis]

On 5/12/2019 at 1:24 PM, macuniverse said:

 

I suppose the answer is, No

 

It seems dirac 2.2.2 is indeed in the works. I am quite tempted.

 

https://www.minidsp.com/forum/dirac-series-support/13793-dirac-live-2018-2-0-minidsp-support?start=90#42359

[Mike48]

I got an SHD for our small TV-based 2.0 system (I can't call it a home theater). It is easy to use, does what we want it to, and sounds very good to me. The Dirac corrections made a huge difference in the sound, as one of the speakers is just a few inches from a wall.

 

It also allows us to stream music from our DLNA-based server on this system with considerably better fidelity than we got from a Raspberry Pi with HiFiBerry DAC card.  Also, of, course, hugely better fidelity than using the DAC in the TV.

 

I'm quite pleased with the purchase.