I am looking for a Dirac Live! enabled piece of equipment and was looking at the miniDSP SHD studio.
But I'm not sure about one of the interfaces: the bidirectional USB interface.
What does that mean? Does it allow outputting the signal to a USB DAC?
Jan
But I'm not sure about one of the interfaces: the bidirectional USB interface.
What does that mean? Does it allow outputting the signal to a USB DAC?
Jan
Hmm - I hink any off-the-shelf USB soundcard works bi-directional, streaming sound in and out at the same time through USB
From the specifications -
- Bidirectional audio / 2ch playback (PC to SHD), 4ch recording post processing (SHD to PC)
Jan if it’s the same as my SHD it outputs 4 channels with all processing features intact over USB
Yes, but it is not mentioned with the 'digital outputs', so I'm a bit suspicious.
Bob, that's a good pointer. Thanks!
Jan
Bob, that's a good pointer. Thanks!
Jan
Wow, I have an SHD and I didn't know it could do that.
Jan, you absolutely want Dirac Live; it's transformative. But get the UMIK-2 mic, not the older UMIK-1. In my subjective opinion the cals I got with the -2 were much better.
Jan, you absolutely want Dirac Live; it's transformative. But get the UMIK-2 mic, not the older UMIK-1. In my subjective opinion the cals I got with the -2 were much better.
Yes I have been doing some Dirac Live! testing 2 years ago for an article, love it!
I have the Umik 2, but get conflicting recommendations as the Umik 2 appears to be less perfect omnidirectional than the Umik 1.
In my earlier test of an NAD with Dirac Live! the package included an omni mike that was supposed to be pointing upwards. I will try that, eventually, also with the Umik.
Carl have you tried to use the USB out to external DAC configuration yet?
Jan
I have the Umik 2, but get conflicting recommendations as the Umik 2 appears to be less perfect omnidirectional than the Umik 1.
In my earlier test of an NAD with Dirac Live! the package included an omni mike that was supposed to be pointing upwards. I will try that, eventually, also with the Umik.
Carl have you tried to use the USB out to external DAC configuration yet?
Jan
No Jan, I haven't. I can't really think of a use for it in my setup.
Dirac cals (if I remember the manual right) are always made with the mic pointing straight up at the ceiling. I had a UMIK-1 for over a year and then got a -2. I am convinced the -2 gives me more 'musically delightful' results 🙂.
Dirac cals (if I remember the manual right) are always made with the mic pointing straight up at the ceiling. I had a UMIK-1 for over a year and then got a -2. I am convinced the -2 gives me more 'musically delightful' results 🙂.
They say that isn't possible... https://support.minidsp.com/support/solutions/articles/47000681687-how-do-i-connect-my-usb-dac-
The USB Host port is for playing files off of a USB stick or WiFi adapter.
Last edited:
Well, someone just made me aware of this posting in a miniDSP support forum. That kills it I guess.
Edit: I see theAnonymous1 beat me to it ...
Still doesn't explain what they mean by bi-directional USB audio though.
Jan
Edit: I see theAnonymous1 beat me to it ...
Still doesn't explain what they mean by bi-directional USB audio though.
Jan
Last edited:
It is a USB peripheral. Can only connect to a host making it bidirectional between it and a PC or, presumably, any other host. Note that it has the same connector for USB audio as a dac. Can't go from peripheral to peripheral.
Yeah, I saw that in the manual too. The SHD has 2 different USB ports on the back, not sure we're all talking about the same one?
The more I look into it your gonna need a usb dac with built in drivers to be able to do it standalone (without running it back through a computer) like maybe M-Audio or something of that nature? It’s all above my pay grade……it seems possible if you absolutely must but will it improve SQ ?
OK I just did a quick try with my SHD.
I have a laptop connected to the USB port for the control app and streaming from the PC. I just tried to play from the SHD via USB into the laptop and it did not work.
Strangely I did find it as an available input in Windows (see post 12 above), but no joy.
I have a laptop connected to the USB port for the control app and streaming from the PC. I just tried to play from the SHD via USB into the laptop and it did not work.
Strangely I did find it as an available input in Windows (see post 12 above), but no joy.
I’ve used the bidirectional USB of the DDRC-24 as well as the SHD Studio to send a Dirac processed signal to another USB DAC. It requires something to act as USB host and redirect the signal but this can be done with a Raspberry Pi running CamillaDSP for little investment. The only issue is that I have been unable to use the USB input in such a configuration but the other inputs work fine. I posted a little bit about it when I first figured it out here -> https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-x-4-hds-usb-port-as-output.19976/post-851178. Also should mention that latency is pretty high as both Dirac and CamillaDSP add latency.
Michael
Michael
Thanks Simon; tough it is a bit more involved than I want to get into.
It does confirm that 'out of the box' you can't extract USB audio from an SHD to feed a USB DAC.
Jan
It does confirm that 'out of the box' you can't extract USB audio from an SHD to feed a USB DAC.
Jan