Comments on: Digital Direct – the miniDSP Stack

By: John Reekie

John Reekie — Sun, 30 Sep 2012 14:17:12 +0000

Hi Kimmo, thanks for the comment. The miniAMP is not enough power for an open baffle woofer. In my experience it’s better to have more power for an OB woofer than not enough. I would be inclined to perhaps look into amplifier boards from connexelectronic.com for that task as they seem quite well thought of and not expensive. Although there are many others supplying DIY boards at various costs.

By: Kimmo

Kimmo — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 17:23:59 +0000

Hi,

I have read your writings about the miniDSP. I’am planning to build also an open baffle speakers with 2 x Peerless SLS12″ per (stereo) channel. I have a problem to choose amplifiers to my project. After reading this article miniAMP seems perfect except small power output. So what is your opinion? Can miniAMP (2.1 configuration) drive two SLS elements? Have you tried to drive your 4 way open baffles?

By: John Reekie

John Reekie — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 11:43:17 +0000

Hej lukas, I’m not sure how much EQ can help horn “shout” – it could be more complicated than just a frequency response issue. I haven’t had a chance so far to set up a straight (as much as it can be done) amp-amp comparison. With regard to the digital interface, I think it makes a lot of sense to use a miniDIGI from a computer source, my main system does that. However if you also need analog input, with the small board used in the “stack” it’s slightly inconvenient for everyday use to switch between the analogue and digital interfaces as you need the USB interface running and connected – although there is, I now recall, a way to do it with a physical switch as well… OK, that’s described in the miniDIGI manual.

By: lukas

lukas — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 15:17:10 +0000

Hej.
So what about audio quality using the miniAMP? I own some old lowther horns, which are kind of bitchy when it comes to amps. I have been trying lots (on a students budget) and finally settled on an old Yamaha CR-800, which sounds great.
I am wondering if this kind of stack could help me with lot´s of my problems, like bass integration and the drivers “shout” at certain frequencies. Trying to dampen it with passive electronics, i killed the beautiful horn dynamics.
I´m using an iMac with an firewire audio interface and a turntable as audio sources. Would you recommend to get the whole stack: iMacs Toslink > miniDIGI > mini DSP > miniAMP, or only a miniDSP in the pre-out/main-in channel of my trusty old yamaha?

By: John Reekie

John Reekie — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 10:57:57 +0000

Hi Kyle, glad you found it informative. This evening I’m using it for measuring some prototype tweeter mounts. It’s helpful to have a flat on-axis response (by using EQ) so you can see how the response changes as you move off-axis. A few days ago I was using it as a two-way crossover for a new mid-tweeter driver configuration for my dipoles.

By: Kyle

Kyle — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 03:05:17 +0000

Excellent. I have been thinking about ordering one of these and I think I am now going to go for this 3-part kit. Thank you so much for the write-up!!

By: John Reekie

John Reekie — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 08:51:26 +0000

Hi Anand, thanks for your comment – much appreciated! Having to draw the diagram helped me enormously – I’m a strong believer in writing about what we do, it helps me as much as anyone, I think sometimes.

By: Anand

Anand — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 12:44:33 +0000

John,

I can’t thank you enough for tutorials such as this. It’s very well written, as is your minidsp 2.1 tutorial for subwoofer integration you wrote one year ago. The most important diagram for me was your 1st one in this tutorial…i.e. ministack. It’s a powerful all in one integrated platform. Such simplicity for the tinkerers amongst at our fingertips, how exciting! I don’t know how they compare to a typical ‘high end’ system but for experimentation, $200 is a mere pittance for this level of flexibility.