Minidsp Flex Eight!

[EJ3]

AD24QS - Audio Analog-Digital-Wandler 24 Bit / 192 kHz

Wow, I was born in Austria and my German has gotten rusty. But i muddled my way through that and all I can say is wow! That is like a dream come true.
I will be definitely investigating that more.
I can hardly wait until next January (when I can retire and do these things that I need to do for me).
Thank you for putting that out.

 

[EJ3]

This one perhaps?


View attachment 223853

Yes a snack (& a coffee maker would be nice, too)

 

[Bergarth]

So help my brain- can this be used with RCA from AVR or I have to get converter.

 

[rvsixer]

So help my brain- can this be used with RCA from AVR or I have to get converter.

A bit vague, as an RCA connector output can be either analog or digital. To get either into the Flex Eight:
1) If your are trying to use RCA analog from an AVR, you would first need to convert to digital
2) If you are trying to use RCA SPDIF digital from your AVR, no converter needed

 

[Bergarth]

A bit vague, as an RCA connector output can be either analog or digital. To get either into the Flex Eight:
1) If your are trying to use RCA analog from an AVR, you would first need to convert to digital
2) If you are trying to use RCA SPDIF digital from your AVR, no converter needed

Sorry lol my brain is broken tonight,. Yes I want to go from AVR Sub out- my current 2x4HD is failing and I need a DSP for 8 subwoofers. Is there a recommended converter that is not priced only for the rich.

 

[rvsixer]

Sorry lol my brain is broken tonight,. Yes I want to go from AVR Sub out- my current 2x4HD is failing and I need a DSP for 8 subwoofers. Is there a recommended converter that is not priced only for the rich.

Hah no wonder the 2x4HD is failing..it can't support eight individual subs .

For sub use any cheapo convertor should do they are around $15 USD. Just be aware the miniDSP SHD has a significant DSP delay of 25-26ms which an AVR might not be able to compensate for, I have no idea if the Flex has this same kind of delay but might be worth checking into with miniDSP devteam.

 

[Bergarth]

I did them as pairs lol they were right next to each other so could be done as one but each had their own amp channel. Yea miniDSP SHD is not for me- was thinking of another 2x4hd and just do what im doing but id much rather eq each sub. Not sure why they made flex 8 no analog that is dumb

 

[rvsixer]

Yea miniDSP SHD is not for me- was thinking of another 2x4hd and just do what im doing but id much rather eq each sub. Not sure why they made flex 8 no analog that is dumb

Of course the SHD is not the correct choice, I simply pointed out if the Flex Eight has the same kind of processing delay it's not the right choice either (can your AVR handle another 26ms of delay on all remaining channels to sync with the subs)?. Regarding no analog in, I think this product is targeted towards the digital/active speaker crowd, so not too surprised its gone.

 

[wgh52]

Hello Flex Eight fans!

I'm in the decision phase for the Flex Eight as a 4-Way DSP xover successor of my aging (and failing) DEQX PDC-2.6p. The only feature I'm really missing in the Flex Eight is an analog input, so I'm able to listen to my LP records.

There are pictures of the inside of the Flex Eight on the web showing a "good amount of space". So, I arrived at the idea to sacrifice the Toslink or the bluetooth input to have an analog input integrated into the unit and found a suitable ~50€ board for this project.

If there are other people interested in this project or could provide technical input to it I would start a thread about it here at ASR forum.

Greetings,
Winfried

 

[dziemian]

Hello Flex Eight fans!

I'm in the decision phase for the Flex Eight as a 4-Way DSP xover successor of my aging (and failing) DEQX PDC-2.6p. The only feature I'm really missing in the Flex Eight is an analog input, so I'm able to listen to my LP records.

There are pictures of the inside of the Flex Eight on the web showing a "good amount of space". So, I arrived at the idea to sacrifice the Toslink or the bluetooth input to have an analog input integrated into the unit and found a suitable ~50€ board for this project.

If there are other people interested in this project or could provide technical input to it I would start a thread about it here at ASR forum.

Greetings,
Winfried

I am pretty sure there would be intrest in adding analog input to Flex 8 . I would love to do the same ie use my LP.

 

[dualazmak]

I am pretty sure there would be intrest in adding analog input to Flex 8 . I would love to do the same ie use my LP.

My posts here and here would be of your interest and reference, I assume.

- Revival of analog LP player (MC cartridge) in my DSP multichannel multi-driver multi-amplifier fully active stereo system for real time on-the-fly vinyl LP listening (and digital recording, if needed): #688

- Inside of Audio-Technica AT-PEQ30 phono preamplifier, and successful DIY suppression of inaudible EMF (electro-magnetic field) interference noise: #697

 

[Paul Ebert]

Hello Flex Eight fans!

I'm in the decision phase for the Flex Eight as a 4-Way DSP xover successor of my aging (and failing) DEQX PDC-2.6p. The only feature I'm really missing in the Flex Eight is an analog input, so I'm able to listen to my LP records.

There are pictures of the inside of the Flex Eight on the web showing a "good amount of space". So, I arrived at the idea to sacrifice the Toslink or the bluetooth input to have an analog input integrated into the unit and found a suitable ~50€ board for this project.

If there are other people interested in this project or could provide technical input to it I would start a thread about it here at ASR forum.

Greetings,
Winfried

I'd be very interested.

 

[wgh52]

Hello Paul,

thanks a lot for your interest! In the mean time I've done a lot of thinking about the project and moved on to a different set up: The Flex Eight does not provide many FIR Taps, but I want to use Acourate for overall equalization, also found a way to DIY an external ADC and integrate it into my digital system chain. To address the FIR Taps I will use the miniDSP openDRC with 6144 Taps (vs 2048 of the Flex) and as x-over I have purchased a miniDSP nanoDIGI feeding 2 Tone boards per Box for 4-Way. A system schematic is here. This set up reduces eight long analog cables to four digital cables as well. Yes, in total this looks more complex, conceeded, but suits my need and plans better than the compact Flex Eight, but at comparable cost.

Greetings,
Winfried

 

[Paul Ebert]

I'm considering using one of these and running it into a Buckeye multi-channel NCXXXMP amp which has balanced inputs. Has anyone connected a Flex 8 to balanced inputs and if so, how did you do it?

 

[jeffbook]

I'm considering using one of these and running it into a Buckeye multi-channel NCXXXMP amp which has balanced inputs. Has anyone connected a Flex 8 to balanced inputs and if so, how did you do it?

This component combination works really well. I run the analog outputs from a miniDSP 2x4HD to a multichannel NC252MP amp from Nord for my Linkwitz LXmini system. I can see no reason why the Flex 8 would work any differently as far as RCA to XLR cables are concerned. What you will need are multiple cables with RCA male to LXR mail terminations on the cable ends. These must be properly wired. There is a Rane website which illustrates the proper connections.

Sound System Interconnection

RaneNote 110 explains the cause and prevention of ground loops and how to interface balanced and unbalanced gear with proper connections and wiring.

www.ranecommercial.com

There are some commercially available cables from vendors such as Amazon, but I can't vouch as to whether they are properly constructed. I built my own cables from two conductor with shield microphone cable per the illustrations from the Rane article referenced above. They work perfectly.

 

[Paul Ebert]

Thanks for the reply and link. So, the gain mismatch hasn't been a problem? I'm considering building a DIY interface using a set of eight SparkFun THAT 1646 breakouts, but that would end up being a non-negligible cost (cheaper than transformers, though).

 

[jeffbook]

Thanks for the reply and link. So, the gain mismatch hasn't been a problem? I'm considering building a DIY interface using a set of eight SparkFun THAT 1646 breakouts, but that would end up being a non-negligible cost (cheaper than transformers, though).

The miniDSP units in my system do crossover and speaker EQ for the LXmini. I have had no problem with gain structure between the miniDSP and the Hypex amp modules. I am not familiar with the SparkFun units.

 

[Paul Ebert]

I finally got around to building a cable and being able to try it. I'm getting hum that's about as loud as the signal. I made the cable using this diagram:
This is configuration 17 from the Rane link, which seems correct to me.

Any suggestions?

 

[rvsixer]

I finally got around to building a cable and being able to try it. I'm getting hum that's about as loud as the signal. I made the cable using this diagram:
This is configuration 17 from the Rane link, which seems correct to me.

Any suggestions?

View attachment 291647

Did you verify the cable after building it? Especially RCA sleeve is not tied to both pins 1&3 XLR?

 

[JLGF1]

Probably yes. Most reasonable way of implementing long FIR filters (more than 100k taps is not problem) is PC with dedicated software.
I have used Equalizer APO, for low frequency correction in 20 Hz range with 100k taps, what means about 1,6 seconds delay in processing. But it have still some dB error in low frequencies.