Review - MiniDSP SHD

This is my first product review. In this video, I talk about the MiniDSP SHD and discuss differences between this model and the Studio SHD. For expectations and further deets on how I'll be doing reviews, see my video titled, "Upcoming audio reviews, setting expectations, and should you trust reviews?"
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[@TombstoneTube]

This is a great review, with great insights. Please do more!

[@jgabrieltrevino1348]

Please, more MiniDSP content! This seems like such a deep device with so many potential use cases. Thanks for the info.

[@TheAudioBelle]

J Gabriel Trevino, Thank you for the feedback!! More to come! --Cynthia, The Audio Belle

[@richardatkinson4452]

Thanks, this vid was great. Looking forward to seeing more.

[@MiguelCHUNGSANG]

Some people says "ROOM CORRECTION DOESNT WORKS WITH DIPOLES". Did you make your test with your Magenepans as principal speakers? Please can you do a video showing us how to connect or integrate miniDSP in your system, and how to do measurements using Magnepan. THANKS

[@peterdesmidt8742]

I've been enjoying my SHD for a few years now.

[@sudd3660]

these high end minidsp products need more reviews. i got the shd studio myself, did not like what the dirac did in my system, i can adjust the eq better myself. and yes you need to provide dac and amplification after the minidsp shd studio. the shd can be plugged straight into power amps, since it had dac buildt in. its the biggest change in audio i have heard, i can not go back to normal non eq'ed speaker output again.

[@TheAudioBelle]

@plusthinking, Yep! I learned that a preamp is not necessarily needed with digital audio controls. Something I had no idea about. I’m reviewing the analog side of my system right now with the MiniDSP SHD. DIRAC was able to tame the bass of my subwoofer, but the highs are super screechy. Not sure that I’ll be able to make tweaks to it since it is an automatic process. Still playing with it though. --Cynthia, The Audio Belle

[@Kodiak727]

You forgot to mention it’s also a 2 way crossover

[@TheAudioBelle]

@Kodiak727, You’re right! And actually, it is a 4-way! --Cynthia, The Audio Belle

[@Phloored]

Been using the studio for a while. Was using active speakers do digital outputs were all i needed. I am now using it with a pair of passives do i take the digital out and go straight into a mytek liberty dac and that gives me the analog outputs to run to the amplifiers. I love having three parametric eq and i use the room correction for the low end. The software makes it a very useful piece of gear.

I know this video is a few months old already. As I also play music on LP and I recently acquired an Apt Holman preamp ( cleaned, recaped and fully verified by Audioproz, a specialist shop) because it has 2 excellent phono inputs. as it is an older fully featured preamp, it also has 2 processor loops, among other features. I was hessitant to obtain it because some people over the web had posted comments stating that it was a good prepamp when it came out, but, it was no longer competitive. I must say that, at least the unit I acquired with the updates and upgrades, is more than competitive, it is excellent. Its bass is fuller than my previuos pre and the mid to high is more detailed. Maybe Cynthia should consider getting a fully featured preamp with processor loop, so she can insert the Minidps without the limitations she is having to deal by using the Pass. Maybe even the Apt Holman, it is really excellent. I am wating for a Minidsp 2x4HD to insert it in my stereo setup through the processor loop of my Apt Holam preamp. Best regards.

[@TheAudioBelle]

@JorgeLCintronPabon, The MiniDSP SHD that I reviewed in this video is a preamp, streaming device, 4-way crossover, and DAC. My only issue was that I wanted to use the Pass as a preamp, which would not have been really applicable in my situation, and I could not bypass the MiniDSP SHD's preamp functions to use an external preamp otherwise. That's cool that you are getting the MiniDSP SHD 2x4HD! Let me know how you like it! ---Cynthia, The Audio Belle

[@StevePilgrim2013]

You've answered a lot of the questions I had about the Mini DSP line-up. Thanks. Look forward to hearing more! Would you be comfortable with a pair of high end monoblocks connected the the SHD as a primary system for Maggies?

[@TheAudioBelle]

@StevePilgrim2013, Thank you! Glad that I was able to answer some questions! As far as comfortability with monoblocks and the MiniDSP SHD, I have Emotiva XPA1 Gen-2 monoblocks. I've also tested the Emotiva HC-1 monoblocks. Did you have something else in mind, or what did you mean about the comfortability aspect? ---Cynthia, The Audio Belle

[@StevePilgrim2013]

@@TheAudioBelle I've always worried about not giving Maggies enough "quality" amplification. Costly pre & costly amps have always been "the rule." If the SHD will do the job & a pair of Vidars or Emotivas can power the Maggies, that would seem to be a new, low-price way to get great sound.

[@TheAudioBelle]

@StevePilgrim2013, Indeed, so far the MiniDSP SHD is working beautifully with my Emotiva monoblocks, so no issues there! I am sure Vidars would be fantastic as well, though I do not have any to test. ---Cynthia, The Audio Belle

[@charleskatz2606]

I don't get controlling Roon with Volumio-wouldn't you use Roon instead of Volunio for Tidal,Spotify,Qobuzz etc?

[@TheAudioBelle]

@charleskatz2606, I didn’t really know how Roon worked until recently. Tried it out and I like it best so far. It’s only a way to add Tidal, QoBuz, Volumio, etc. to one control panel (I think that’s what you’re saying in your comment here as well). It’s made it a lot easier to search for music across all platforms. And it is far less buggy than Volumio. But I think it could still use some improvements in how you search for music, as there are some annoyances there. --Cynthia, The Audio Belle

[@charleskatz2606]

Cybthia It's weird to think about how different people look at gear and before they fully figure something out (or get manufacturer support) how they would use it.For me at first glance I would think that the SHD woud go before the preamp to be used as a fixed gain device as oposed to how you first set it up between your pre and your amp.I am considering it to go with my phono pre which has balanced out in,feed my CD in via optical or coax and maybe a streamer or computer and into my preamp. But currently I don't have a pre-amp I have an old school EL34 integrated amp with no preputs so my assumption is I would feed through my tape loop.I am an old school guy who who remembers when pres and Integrateds had not only one but maybe two and maybe a seperate EOL (external processor loop essentially another tape loop).I was wondering why you din't first think of using the tape loop whic I assume the Pass has for hook up?For me I was thinking of a Blusound Node and a couple of REL subs for my system but with this device I would get the streamer function of the $600 Node and by doubling the price get a so so (by other reports) DAC and get a means to correct the subs which seem to need it more than the mains.Some folks will say that full spectrum DSP does not work well above say 150Hrz but bass has more issues with nulls and so forth.Any thoughts????

[@TheAudioBelle]

@charleskatz2606 Not sure about the tape loop! I know it can be used as another input, but I have four other regular inputs. As far as bass and highs, I’m reviewing the analog side of the system connected to the MiniDSP SHD at this very moment. The highs have been pretty screechy so far. With DIRAC being an automatic process, I am not sure there is a way to tweak the highs. The bass though is super tight. There have been a couple of classic rock songs that the DIRAC seems to taper off some lower bass on (I played with turning DIRAC on/off at certain moments in songs to compare). So far it hasn’t been perfect because my room has so many flaws the DIRAC has to correct for. So if I turn it off I hear a lot more on the bottom end, but it’s sloppy and boomy. If I turn it on, the bass I get is tight and quick. In my case, what I’m gaining is better than what I’m losing because it sounds awful without DIRAC or equalization. --Cynthia, The Audio Belle

[@charleskatz2606]

@@TheAudioBelle Yep that's in line with what others have said.A guy I follow Sean at Zero Fidelity say's he hasn't heard much to like in DSP full spectrum saying it usualy does more harm than good but below say 150Hrz in the bas region is does improve things given the nature of bass drivers and nulls and voids etc.Another person to check out about Dirac is my go to guy for all things digital Hans Beekhyzen from Holland. I am not sure why your highs don't sound smoother but beyond adjusting the curves Iin Dirac I think there es a plug in for REW where a lot of folks do tonal adjustments.Keep up the good choices of gear and all the good work

[@TheAudioBelle]

@charleskatz2606, Another viewer also recommended Hans! I checked him out and I like how he gets into the weeds on the technical side of things. That's kind of what I need....to understand what is going on under the hood so that I know where the issues are. Will have to check out Sean's channel! I realized you can make tweaks with Dirac, so that's what I am going to try next. I'm familiar with REW (that's what I had to use with my old equalizer). My husband was mostly the one to nerd out with REW though and different settings. I just knew the basics haha. I appreciate your recommendations. Will hopefully get the highs to smoothen a bit more, and talk about all these adventures in upcoming videos. :) ---Cynthia, The Audio Belle

[@TheFilletingfish]

Nice work Cynthia. I have the SHD and love it. Ya can add a DDC for even better streaming. REW SHD all for studio level room correction. Look into the Surface dial too. You’ll never go back to a button remote control

[@vagomaniac]

Sorry I could not find any info. Does it have an analog lossless pre amp section?

[@patrickmeylemans9627]

Indeed no DSD which is logic, all DSP processing is in PCM format… I use the miniDSP DDR24 on a high resolving system and can tell you that I never switch off Dirac anymore.

[@zackw4941]

First of all, I'm really surprised if the SHD doesn't have a fixed output mode to bypass its own preamp. Are you sure it doesn't? If so, that's how you would hook it up to another pre like your Pass. If not, you're probably better off taking the second pre out of the system. Second, I believe the SHD has a 10 (maybe you can even set more?) band parametric EQ that you can adjust to taste and apply on top of your room correction curve. There's no penalty, since it's all still just happening in the DSP. If you're only keeping the Pass pre because it has more bass, then EQ up the bass in the SHD, if it sounds better otherwise ;) Last point I think, DSD is a totally different animal than PCM. The systems and technology to actually manipulate DSP might be limited to only one company that I know of, which is Sanoma. DSD is basically like PWM for an LED or an electric motor, except that it's an audio format, obviously and it works on the mhz range. There no bits to speak of, it's just density of on/off pulses. More pulses pushes the speaker harder, to a higher amplitude and few pulses less. Frequency is a product of time passing normally. It's practically an analog format that can be stored digitally. As to why it isn't more widely accepted, or why no one is making systems to manipulate it like we can with PCM, I don't know. But that's why miniDSP converts to PCM.

[@TheAudioBelle]

@zackw4941, Unfortunately not. 🙁 I did end up having to take the Pass out of the system. But, as you mentioned with EQ, I was able to get things sounding even better than expected. So I use DIRAC for the main target curve, and make minute adjustments in MiniDSP’s new beta app with the parametric EQ. As far as DSD….yep lol. There do not seem to be a lot of DSD files available to purchase, and very few companies to purchase them from. NativeDSD is the one that comes to mind for me. I guess it will be a slow ramp up. Appreciate the questions and good discussion topics! --Cynthia, The Audio Belle

[@cruise2023]

Hi! Have just started to view vids on the minidsp SHD but have doubt whether I will find my answer. So can ask you this. 2 things.. 1) will the SHD calibrate the crossover for a coaxial driver ? the separate bass unit will be no problem. This will be bi-amped tubes for the top and solid state for the bass. 2) I have an external DAC that I wish to use, is this possible to incorporate or am I left to use the SHD built in ? many thanks.. Alain

[@TheAudioBelle]

@cruise2023, 1. Absolutely! That was something that was similarly done via this speaker plan, which my husband is building: evo2.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Bitches_Brew_Open_Baffle_Live_Edge_Speakers.pdf That talks about the MiniDSP 2x4HD, but the SHD would handle it just the same minus the ability to do FIR. 2. Are you trying to send analog signal to the MiniDSP, or digital signal to a DAC from the MiniDSP? It looks like you can certainly send digital signal from the MiniDSP SHD to a DAC: support.minidsp.com/support/solutions/articles/47000681677-how-do-i-use-an-external-dac- ---Cynthia, The Audio Belle

[@cruise2023]

@@TheAudioBelle Many thanks for your reply, very helpful , will follow the links you have provided, regards.

[@TheAudioBelle]

@@cruise2023 Not a problem at all! Glad that it was helpful. :) Let me know if you have any other questions! ---Cynthia, The Audio Belle

[@cruise2023]

@@TheAudioBelle Thanks Cynthia, I have followed the 2 links and it looks like I am all in 🙂 The Bitches Brew OB, I like it... any chance there will be a KZbin or Facebook sound demo in the future ? Certainly interested, cheers Alain

[@kevinc3427]

Thanks for the review, very good, very thorough. Really appreciate you giving us your test details. So, do you think you will: Get rid of the EQ and Crossover with no SHD? Use only the SHD? Use all of them? I have a LR that was probably designed by a bunch of drunk monkeys and I have notoriously hard to set-up up components.

[@TheAudioBelle]

@kevinc3427, I ended up getting rid of the crossover and the separate equalizer and replaced them with the SHD! I’m doing reviews now for The Absolute Sound, and ended up getting a MiniDSP 2x4 to use for crossover and EQ for when I need to review other preamps though. So far that is working swell too. What is an LR? --Cynthia, The Audio Belle

[@kevinc3427]

@@TheAudioBelle Sorry, Living Room. Thanks for the reply!

[@TheAudioBelle]

@kevinc3427, LOL. You are good. I thought it was a technical acronym that I was having a blonde moment about. I think once you've got the SHD setup and system DIRAC'd, you'll be able to put those drunk monkies to bed. I would love to hear if it helps you out, so let me know! ---Cynthia, The Audio Belle

[@amb3cog]

The studio version is designed to be used as the volume control. So you likely can still use a preamp with it, but it seems that you wouldn’t necessarily have to. If you were only using one digital source. Just something to consider, if you’re looking at buying these. It comes with a remote control, and also can work with universal remotes. Like the Logitech ones. ✌️

[@TheAudioBelle]

@amb3cog, I re-reviewed this after reading your comment, just to make sure I didn't make an incorrect statement. Your comment led me into a world of learning about potentiometers....analog vs. digital volume controls. I am decently familiar with analog volume controls but did not know much about how digital volume controls work. After a few Ask Paul videos and articles, I feel like I've gotten myself into an even deeper rabbit hole that I need to do more reading up on. What I was able to discern though is that the Studio technically is not a preamp as it still needs to connect to a DAC, and then have the signal boosted to line levels via an analog preamp or integrated amp before being converted to speaker levels via amplifier. Since a preamplifier is an analog component, and the SHD Studio is all digital, apparently it is just a processor and streaming device. ---Cynthia, The Audio

[@amb3cog]

@@TheAudioBelle Look at the Mini DSP site. Under the FAQ. They say to use it as the volume control. BTW, no offense to Paul, but he’s far from an expert on all things digital. Hans Beekhuyzen is much more knowledgeable on the subject. Also I’m not trying to claim any expertise either. It’s just that I have an SHD Studio, and was looking some stuff up on their site a couple of days ago by chance. Then I saw this. That being said, you may, or may not be right. I’m not sure. I do however suggest you continue down the rabbit hole further. As you’ve really got a lot to learn on this subject, as do I, and pretty much everyone else in ties hobby too. Unfortunately there’s not that many people that really know what they’re talking about when it comes to digital. Can’t begin to tell you how many arguments I’ve had with people, who were relying upon old information on this subject. The old bits are bits argument. Which has been shown to be utter nonsense. As have many old digital audio tropes. So be careful when researching stuff. If it’s an old article, or video. Take it with a grain of salt. Much has been learned in the past few years, and our knowledge on this changes almost daily. Not to bash people, but be really careful with that ASR site. They’re far from scientific in their methods, and I don’t even think they realize that there is an actual scientific method that needs to be followed, in order to ensure your testing methods are done properly, and repeatedly too. They are very, very closed minded their too. And come off as incredibly intolerant, and quite rude at times. There’s also been scandals on there where the moderators were drinking, and saying too much about the behind the scenes goings on that didn’t paint them in a very good picture. Either was. Good luck on your digital audio knowledge quest. Just be warned. I’ve never found any light at the end of that tunnel. And right, or wrong. Be prepared for the ensuing arguments that will surely come up when you profess any knowledge on this subject. But, it’s a likely a pretty good niche to work on. As I only know of one expert I trust on this subject myself (Hans). Good Luck. ✌️

[@TheAudioBelle]

@amb3cog, Thank you! Will check out Hans and appreciate the recommendation! ---Cynthia, The Audio Belle

[@Vamon_Kinctuarinwhe]

I don't know. I wish you the best, but it's really tough to get through content that has edits between each sentence, or even inside of a sentence. I mean it respectfully, and I hope this is taken as constructive criticism.

[@ZZ-ou7gp]

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