Minidsp experts.

[charbug]

I am in the process of setting up a 2 channel plus subwoofer audio setup. Primary use is music. The speakers are Klipsch Jubilees which are two way horn loaded speakers with a bass bins that will cross around 450hz. I also have a Klipsch kpt-1802 subwoofer which is a large horn loaded sub with a single 18" driver. Worked with George at Deer Creek audio on buying minidsp products to allow me to set all of this up. Now I'm realizing there are so many ways of doing this and I'm trying to figure all of this out. Little history, until now I always bought speakers with passive crossovers and life was simple. Well George sold me a minidsp SHD to use on the front main speakers. I will use this to set crossover and PEQ and then he sold me a minidsp 4x10 HD to dial in the subwoofer. I have 2 pass labs amps to use on the Jubilees and a crown pro amp for the subs. I am hoping someone will read this that is very familiar with these two minidsp products and can make a recommendation on the best way to integrate all of this. I'm hoping to dial all of this in and then Run Dirac and let it do it's thing. This is all new to me and I have too much to learn. I'm near Chattanooga TN and called Atlanta and Nashville hoping to pay someone good at this to help... But had no luck... I'm open to any comments and advice anyone has.

 

[alanhuth]

Maybe I’m missing something, but I think George sold you an extra piece of hardware. With the SHD, you have 2 x 4 channels. The way I think of it is that the 2 is for left and right from your inputs. So you have 4 possible outputs, forgetting left and right for the moment. The first output channel is for your tweeters. The second is for your woofers, and the third is for your subwoofer. You should have an extra output channel left over without the 4x10HD. I may be missing something important, so If so, I apologize to you and George. IMHO, If you can do everything inside the SHD, it will be much simpler and cheaper.

 

[alanhuth]

I just re-thought this. Should have done that before posting. Forget everything I said above. George is right. Your bi-amped speakers will take all 4 of the SHD outputs. SORRY. There are only 4 total outputs on the SHD, not 8. So two of your outputs will be for your tweeters and two will be or your woofers in the Jubilees. I’m not sure why you couldn’t have used a 2x4 for $100 for the subwoofer, but maybe there’s a good reason for that too. My understanding is that the subwoofer doesn’t even need the HD version of the MiniDSPs.

 

[perceval]

I'm not sure how the 4x10 HD fits in all of this.

Trying to understand...
Are you using the SHD as a music streamer?
Is it only sending digital outs to the 4x10 HD to handle your XOs?

If so, that's a bit overkill.
A cheaper PC or even Raspberry Pi could have done the same thing.

Did you toss the passive XO of the Jubilees out?
Is there a reason why you don't want to use that passive XO?

If you stay passive with the Jubilee (which I would suggest), then you can use the SHD to send the main signal to the Jubilees, and the bass signal to the sub(s).
Then, you don't need the 4x10 HD.

The SHD will handle phase and EQ corrections with both the Jubilees and the sub, and make sure they mesh well.

 

[Andrew Bayly]

Hi Charbug. I Don't know why the previous posters were responding to your query when neither were even sure why you want to use that equipment! ...And particularly with a thread entitled Minidsp Experts!

Clearly you want the SHD for its Dirac capabilities and the 4x10 HD to give you the required number of output channels for your setup.

I have been running my system (which consists of a pair of Funktion One Res 2s and two different pairs of home made subs) using a Minidsp 2x4 HD and a 4x10 HD. I am using the 2x4 HD for the Dirac Live calibration only and just using two of its outputs to feed the 4x10 HD. I use the 4x10 to do all of the PEQs, crossovers and delays such that I can have them all on the one GUI. Once I have dialed it in to the best of my ability using the 4x10, I will then run the Dirac calibratiopn using the 2x4 HD ...and the result is sweet! Unlike you, I am stuck with an analogue link between the two DSPs because the 2x4HD doesn't have a digital out.

I guess you could utilise two of the SHDs analogue outputs, which have the higher quality DACs on them, and run the other two outputs digitaly to the 4x10 to get the required number of chanels. The disadvantage of this is that you would need to work with two separate GUIs (Minidsp programs) to set up your system which can be a bit tedious. I can't comment as to whether or not it would be worth the inconvenience, this is something that you could experiment with.

All the best with your setup.
Cheers
Andrew