it seems it was discontinued… damn. Looking for a digital-in/digital-out dsp that can compare to the above mentioned minidsp NanoDigi 2x8 DSP.
The intended use is setting a crossover to take out the lows from the speakers, room correction and sub management.
Damn, that sucks. The NanoDigi is a really unique device. I always wanted to try one, just never got around to doing it.
I use the minidsp 2x4 HD in a similar role (crossover, room correct, sub management), but it’s analog RCA out. Essentially it’s the DAC in the signal chain, just with magic DSP capability.
i want to avoid the “dac” part badly, as I plan on running an aune or soncoz dac
minidsp DDRC-88D ?
technically I think?? totally overkill though.
Then i would suggest. Try to find the NanoDigi 2x8 DSP.
It is possible that some retailer might have units in inventory.
There even are units here and few in France (in stock).
Would think someone in US would also have them.
those seem to be the same item, what i may do is try to find a used one from ebay or the buy/sell section of hifiguides
As someone who owns a 4x10 and has also used the dirac series. Dirac is really awesome. Doing the room correction using REW for example doesn’t really come close. So don’t count the DDRC series out.
But yeah, there are still a few nanodigi on ebay. I wouldn’t count on the 2nd market too much. People who buy these things are probably not going to sell them soon since they are so damn cheap
i would just go for the dirac version but it would be like a 3rd of my whole budget vs less than 200 :<
If you have that small of a budget, why are you so bothered with the internal DACs? They are not that bad honestly. You would need to buy 2 separate DACs to use with the nanodigi (one for stereo, one for sub). That will cost you at least 500 bucks if you want an upgrade over the mini dsp DACs.
I would gladly take the DDRC-24 over a nanodigi with seperate (but still budget) DACs. Room correction is going to make a bigger difference than a small upgrade in DACs
i’m weird like that, plus i can scale dacs with the nano digi as i upgrade my setup. i’d rather pay for 2 aune x8’s with different op amps than be stuck with a dac i don’t trust. i also am using a DDC b4 the nano in the chain because i have a beefer gaming pc as the source (rip). this is my setup (nearfield computer desk setup):
Sound Setup Upgrade 1 - PCPartPicker
now that i think about it, i could start with an analog minidsp (dump the cheap dac) and upgrade to a dirac minidsp (using the dual aunes). hmm…
should i use the 2x4 or 2x4HD for the initial setup?
I honestly cannot follow what you are planning to build here. Maybe try and draw a schematic?
Why do you need a DDC? I have a feeling you can skip your DDC and nano digi / dacs and afford a DDRC.
Same here. A schematic or diagram would help.
Same here. Even with the +10 different topics of Rob’s and planning and list’s on PCPartPicker…
Totally lost what is the overall plan and end goal, what gear he has now and what he want’s.
In no offence but’s it’s hard even to try to figure everything going on.
So, correct me if I am wrong but I have been looking at your plan for a while and i can’t seem to understand the need for nanodigi. You plan to run smsl dac and a sub off of it. Wouldn’t it be sufficient to do the same without it. I don’t think it’s necessary in your chain. You would benefit much more of the room correction with the ddrc model as @Joost_Eijkenboom stated before.
@Joost_Eijkenboom @MazeFrame @MadGman @Gliflun
Alright, this will take a moment, (I may just copy paste and possibly edit this reply to the off topic section for future reference because I am a complicated bastard on the outside and actually fairly simple on the inside), seeing as my plans have actually changed throughout this post along with my understanding of the products themselves (the minidsp nanodigi, 2x4 hd, and dirac variants of other minidsp products). Hopefully this will clear up any misunderstandings of my setup and reason for using what I want to use.
It turns out, for what I have decided upon (in terms of setup gear choices), I no longer need a nanodigi. If that’s all you were confused on, stop reading here (I highly recommend reading all of this big-ass text wall). (Ironically, it’s probably way better for my setup that it went out of production. Interesting how things work out, eh?).
Now to begin explaining my chain and choices for picking my gear (full chain will be illustrated below individual parts):
These parts lists do not crossover most parts, they build upon the previous list.
Main Gear:
I decided to use this as a means to serve as a decent dac and way to create crossovers between my sub and speakers. May do a bit of dsp frequency response flattening, but that can be a secondary usage. The remote is so it can be used as the main system volume control.
I need 1 of these to go to the PA3 amp, and 1 to go to the volume knob. Nice black color, high quality, cheap.
Amplifier being used for the speakers in my setup. Very sleek black, simple, and quality sounding.
Simple cheap speaker cables. Black, high quality, 99% ofc. Being used in between the speakers and PA3.
Bookshelf speakers for my setup. Work well on a desk, up against a wall- perfect for my application. Will upgrade when I can pick out the shortcomings (dip in the midrange, dsp will help correct that). Simple, black, cheap, good.
Necessary for my application, as I want to turn up volume for the sub separately from my speakers occasionally when I just want to be bludgeoned with deep bass. will leave sub gain on max, and volume match with knob and mark the place on the knob. Sleek black.
Rca cable that connects the VK to the sub. Cheap, quality, black.
Bass backbone of the setup. Picked for it’s spine crunching 12hz @ -3db frequency response and musical clarity. Black as well.
Other Gear:
Necessary for my use case, as my speakers are going on a desk. Disconnect the speakers from the surface, minimizing desk resonance. Cheap, black.
Used for cleaning up cable clutter.
Gear Chain:
(split at the dsp)
Beefer gaming pc → Minidsp 2x4 HD → RCA cable (1.5m) → pa3 → Amazon SC → speakers
RCA cable (1.5m) → VK → RCA cable (10ft) → subwoofer
Okay, the list for the first upgrade to the setup (list crossover begins, only new parts will the listed, but old and new parts will be listed in the gear chain).
Sound Setup Upgrade 1 - PCPartPicker
Main Gear:
Very pretty/sleek, black. assumed to match or outperform included usb cable from DDC.
USB DDC. hoping this will decease a good amount of EMI from beefer pc. Black, high quality I believe.
dsp for the system. Needed for crossovers, dsp correction, and high level room correction. Black.
Necessary to connect the minidsp to my dacs. Black, high quality.
One for my speakers, one for my sub. Sleek, somewhat match my speaker amp. Can be configured for different equipment (different op amp for speakers vs sub).
One for my amp, one for my VK. Very large upgrade from previous cables. Black.
For the upgraded speakers, very high quality. Much better than the amazon cables, black.
VERY good near field performing speakers. Absolutely better than the price leads to believe. Black, pretty.
upgraded cable for the VK to sub run. Black. Very high quality.
Other Gear:
Used for cable management purposes. High quality assumed (dirt simple).
Gear Chain:
(split at the dsp)
Beefer gaming pc → hifi usb cable - > DDC → BJ coax → dsp → BJ coax → Aune x8 → WBC rca 0.5ft → pa3 → WBC speaker cables → paradigm speakers
BJ coax → Aune x8 → WBC rca 0.5ft → VK → WBC rca 15ft → subwoofer
(includes rca adapters where rca/coax cables are)
Alright, finally finished. Hopefully all this makes some amount of sense, it took around 2 hours to type. There is more standardizing I could do, but I can’t be half assed to honestly. Reply with questions if you have any, thankyou for reading all this and I hope it helps!
Thats quite a list. I can see you are having a lot of fun theory crafting your setup. I can understand how that can be very fun, but I think you are setting yourself up for wasting a lot of money.
If I can give you any advice, focus on the core first, add other stuff in later. Don’t go and buy cables to upgrade them a year later.
In general, focus on your amp, speakers and sub. Put your whole budget in there, add some cheap cables and done. Focus on the other stuff later. 1200 bucks can get you a very very good stereo setup. 250 bucks for your main speakers + amp is far to small part of your 1200 budget imho. You are getting a hypex DSP amp (aka top of the line) for your sub, but working with a mediocre budget amp for your main speakers.
In general, I think you should try a general advice thread and go from there. You clearly did a lot of research, and found a lot of great things (like miniDSP), but you are focussing to much on the things that give your setup the last push, and not enough on the main foundations.
Just my 2 cents 
p.s. I really don’t see the need for a volume knob just for you subwoofer though, think that is a waste of 100 bucks in that setup honestly. You can do that on your sub, or you can create an additional “more bass” preset in your miniDSP (via remote controll). Additionally, your sub also has DSP capabilities by the looks of it.
p.s. What kind of room are you in? I was assuming an office. a 600 dollar 12" is probably overkill, and 50% of your budget…
I started as a car audio guy and got the bass bug. sometimes I wanna just crank it to 11 and enjoy the bass, and that sub is the base line for what im truly satisfied with in that aspect (along with the volume knob to make it easy from my desk, once i get the gear i will figure out if there is a simple way to exclude it). I actually plan on buying these first:
Temp Sound System - PCPartPicker
The room will most likely be a rent house sized bedroom. Like 20 x 20 feet max.
The reason I don’t just add the paradigms in on the first go is because I want to upgrade as I actually find the sound in my current speakers lacking. Once I find enough flaws, I will upgrade. That speaker amp is surprisingly good actually, but I may go ahead and change it when I do the first “upgrade”. It has a lot of power and I really like that idea. (70wpc @8ohms)
The neumi’s are surprisingly good and more than enough for my untrained ears, they aren’t very important compared to the other things for me. I want to focus on a clean source and chain up to the speakers, and change the speakers once they are actually lacking.
The upgrade will be a years-down-the-line near full rebuild for the system.
Update: Looking into better speaker amps for my upgrade list. Possibly smsl “-9” series amp and 2x dac combo instead of the topping/aune mix.
I think looking into better speaker amp is a good idea. SMSL 9 series or maybe a loxjie A30 would fit your build pretty well.
I can understand the need for a sub (although I still think it is overkill), making that a priority is fine. I would still advice you to look into using your mini dsp to alter your bass “level”. You could set up 4 different profiles, first with natural bass. 2nd with thick bass, 3rd with extreme bass and maybe even a 4th with low bass for night time movies or something. Unless you really want to be able to just turn the knob just because you like that idea, you could save money, quality (and a possible headache if you get some kind of ground loops or something).
Good luck!
edit: seems like you are planning on using the internal DAC of your computer? I would advice against that with your budget. Try to get a cheap DAC in there. Also, it seems you have powered speakers so you won’t need a speaker amp. I honestly think an general advice thread for your build would be a good way to start (without using part selector, it doesn’t really work all that well for audio honestly, you can exclude the cables etc). Right now it is still unclear what component is going to do what (for example: I am just assuming U green splitter is going to be used to get sound out of your PC into your amp, but I am not really sure)
For example, if I would explain my system, I would explain it like this:
*Headphones (I have this): *
PC [source]–> SMSL SU9 [DAC] → Singxer SA1 [AMP] → Focal Clear MG [headphones]
Desktop speakers (WIP)
*PC [source]–> SMSL SU9 [DAC] → MiniDSP HD [DSP] → speaker AMP (advice?) → home build speakers *
Active sub also connected to miniDSP (So I can set xover)
That way, people can see what is connected were, and if people don’t know what a singxer SA1 is for example, they don’t have to google it, they will see it is an headphone amp
I’m super tired and dead rn, but I think I can explain myself well. Alright, here goes:
That rythmik is def overkill for normal music but car audio bass songs can get deep into subsonics and can also pound the hell out of a sub that isn’t ready with rapidly changing bass notes.
The first setup I want to go with will be entirely separate from the later setups, it will be using the dd hifi dac, not the internal dac, and will not use speaker amps because as you said, the speakers are powered, the ugreen splitter will split the dac signal so I can run separate lines to sub and speakers in order to high pass the speakers and give the sub a dac signal:
Temp Sound System - PCPartPicker
The temp sound system is what is sounds like, a temporary system to get me started. The “sound system” series comes after, as a direct replacement for everything and a way to start over once i’m ready and can afford a “real audiophile system”.
I will probably order the “sound system” gear without the bass knob first and figure out if I can set settings that I like and do the correct job in the minidsp, and if that works out I will bail on the knob.
I hope this makes sense, I am kind of tripping rn from random issues so i’m going a jillion miles an hour lol.
I’m always happy to answer questions, so ask away
(I will rename things, make descriptions, and move them around to make more sense to other people now)