The Perfect Solution for Home Theater Bass Optimization Here!

[gene]

For the past decade I've been on a quest to achieve what seemed to be the impossible in my theater room: state-of-the-art bass reproduction for EVERY seat, not just the sweet spots. Using multi-sub to manipulate room modes in order to reduce destructive interference is part of the solution. The other pivotal part lies in an inexpensive, little black box from a company called MiniDSP. If you want to learn how to achieve perfect bass reproduction for EVERY seat in your home theater and you have the ability to take basic in-room frequency response measurements, this article and our associated YouTube Video are a must read/watch.

Get your bass fixed here!

Read: Bass Optimization for Home Theater with Multi-Sub + mDSP

Be sure to vote in our poll on how you plan on improving the bass in your system.

 

[gene]

 

[Gonzaga_1]

I am so glad you finally posted this video and article. I also own a MiniDSP 2x4 and had the same OCD and satisfying results. What I wish you could have sold more is how affordable it is and how the results can be so amazing. To drive this point home you could have compared how buying the affordable MiniDSP for $115 plus the UMM-6 Dayton Auidio Mic for $90 will save you so much more and in return you can get more by saving. What this means is you could buy one JL Audio e112 for $1900 and have one of the best bass management software systems (MiniDSP) instead of taking the less technical more expensive approach and buy a Fathom f112v2 for $3700!?!? You’re saving $1600 by going with the MiniDSP!! On top of this the mic that comes with the JL Audio certainly doesn’t have as much capabilities as the UMM-6 with REW. To bring home the point of how amazing of a product this is, try comparing it to every company that offers “on-board” EQ (like paradigm for so much $$$ and many more) that does not allow you to run tests or tweak so you are basically praying the results are what you can do yourself and prove to yourself.


Even though this review is about the MiniDSP, pointing out how amazing of a setup this is compared to most out of the box items is critical. For example, most microphones that come with receivers for the Auto-EQ feature don’t go below 200 or above 10k Hz. This is something you can test with the UMM-6 and REW. When I was deciding on what new subwoofer to get I brought my tablet, UMM-6 and REW to my local speaker store and tested them all in the store which gave me side by side comparisons. Naturally I went with the one that performed the best which was slightly more than the one that performed the worst which was slightly cheaper.


Keep doing a wonderful job and post proof of how sound panels can improve your room by showing the REW results. Another great idea is to show a simple step by step video of how to take a REW measurement and run a projected filter to be imported into the MiniDSP. This can be done with simple screenshots but more helpful would be to capture it on video to show how easy of a process it really is.

 

[Stampede]

An inspirational article. Something to strive towards.

Just for clarification, I see the pictures have Dirac Live, but the Minidsp 2x4 doesnt come with Dirac Software. What extra funtionality does the Dirac Live Software add, that the normal Software doesnt do. Hardware seems similar on the Minidsp 10x10 HD and the DDRC-88a.

Thanks for the best AV site on the web!

 

[gene]

I am so glad you finally posted this video and article. I also own a MiniDSP 2x4 and had the same OCD and satisfying results. What I wish you could have sold more is how affordable it is and how the results can be so amazing. To drive this point home you could have compared how buying the affordable MiniDSP for $115 plus the UMM-6 Dayton Auidio Mic for $90 will save you so much more and in return you can get more by saving. What this means is you could buy one JL Audio e112 for $1900 and have one of the best bass management software systems (MiniDSP) instead of taking the less technical more expensive approach and buy a Fathom f112v2 for $3700!?!? You’re saving $1600 by going with the MiniDSP!! On top of this the mic that comes with the JL Audio certainly doesn’t have as much capabilities as the UMM-6 with REW. To bring home the point of how amazing of a product this is, try comparing it to every company that offers “on-board” EQ (like paradigm for so much $$$ and many more) that does not allow you to run tests or tweak so you are basically praying the results are what you can do yourself and prove to yourself.


Even though this review is about the MiniDSP, pointing out how amazing of a setup this is compared to most out of the box items is critical. For example, most microphones that come with receivers for the Auto-EQ feature don’t go below 200 or above 10k Hz. This is something you can test with the UMM-6 and REW. When I was deciding on what new subwoofer to get I brought my tablet, UMM-6 and REW to my local speaker store and tested them all in the store which gave me side by side comparisons. Naturally I went with the one that performed the best which was slightly more than the one that performed the worst which was slightly cheaper.


Keep doing a wonderful job and post proof of how sound panels can improve your room by showing the REW results. Another great idea is to show a simple step by step video of how to take a REW measurement and run a projected filter to be imported into the MiniDSP. This can be done with simple screenshots but more helpful would be to capture it on video to show how easy of a process it really is.

Great suggestions and I will consider doing a video showing the process. thx.

 

[gene]

An inspirational article. Something to strive towards.

Just for clarification, I see the pictures have Dirac Live, but the Minidsp 2x4 doesnt come with Dirac Software. What extra funtionality does the Dirac Live Software add, that the normal Software doesnt do. Hardware seems similar on the Minidsp 10x10 HD and the DDRC-88a.

Thanks for the best AV site on the web!

Yes we used the image of their higher end unit to better showcase the company. Dirac offers an automated process of room correction which obviously the unit I tested doesn't have this and is a manual process. My goal was bass correction only which is the most important EQing you can do in a home theater.

thanks.

 

[Eric Belmont]

Hi Gene,

For the miniDSP, I have 2 sub that have XLR connector input. but to sub that have only RCA input. So do I need to buy 2 miniDSP 1 with balance and 1 unbalance.

thanks

 

[gene]

I'm not sure I understand the question. Are you trying to connect 3 subs? A miniDSP 2x4 will take 2 inputs from your AVR and split them into 4 outputs so you can actually connect 4 subwoofers.

 

[haraldo]

Gene, you're Batman and T-2 at the same time

This is really amazing, and what blew my mind fully away is that when you think about the Status Acoustics 8T that you employ, and still state that the MiniDSP is the most significant upgrade you did.

I also wonder what the dirac live could do... do you also have any plans to play with the dirac live?

 

[Cain Galata]

I have Audyssey MultiEQ. I like what it does to my subwoofer. Would the MiniDSP be any better?

 

[Eric Belmont]

I'm not sure I understand the question. Are you trying to connect 3 subs? A miniDSP 2x4 will take 2 inputs from your AVR and split them into 4 outputs so you can actually connect 4 subwoofers.

 

[Eric Belmont]

Hi I will have the new Anthem av60.
So there 2 sub xlr output. So I have 2 Axiom Ep500 v3 sub that have xlr input so I will use an y xlr to split those 2 sub. Plus I have 2 Klipch SW112 sub that have Rca input. Can I use the miniDSP balance unit to use with those 4 su so that for the Klipsch sub will get xlr to rca cable converter or I need the unbalance version miniDSP for the klipsch sub with the unbalance rca. So 2 miniDSP unit to EQ the 4 sub

 

[haraldo]

MiniDSP really do have an interesting product line, there's also the nanoDIGI 2x8 which is pure digital, in case you don't want to go whith the AD + DA. As far as I know there are some products out there that do have a digital loop (At least I seen this from NAD), in which you can enter a DSP correction 'black box'. I guess the nanoDIGI 2x8 would easily fit into such an application, where the MiniDSP 2 x 4 does not fit.

Interesting also that the nanoDIGI 2x8 can support 2 channels in and 8 channels out

Really comprehensible product line from those guys

 

[JohnnieB]

I have been very happy thus far with my Emotiva gear and I am considering the XMC-1. This comes with Dirac live and can be upgraded to Dirac full. The Emo website states that the XMC-1 handles dual subs. Other than being able to adjust 4 subs, how does the Mini DSP differ from the capabilities of the XMC-1? Would it be a redundency to run the 2x4 behind the XMC-1?

 

[fuzz092888]

I have been very happy thus far with my Emotiva gear and I am considering the XMC-1. This comes with Dirac live and can be upgraded to Dirac full. The Emo website states that the XMC-1 handles dual subs. Other than being able to adjust 4 subs, how does the Mini DSP differ from the capabilities of the XMC-1? Would it be a redundency to run the 2x4 behind the XMC-1?

Depends on your room. The mini-DSP would give you additional filters. It would possibly cost less than upgrading to Dirac full as well.

 

[Defcon]

When I read 'peer reviewed by Floyd Toole' that is usually all one needs to know its going to be excellent.

Thanks for this detailed article, I may be doing this soon. I wish there was a way to add Dirac or some other kind of processing for all speakers without an expensive AVR upgrade.

 

[agarwalro]

I'm seeing many articles regarding the MiniDSP 2x4 (both balanced and unbalanced) having noise floor issues leading to audible hiss when idle. Any feedback on this.

I'm interested in the Balanced 2x4 since it'll be paired with a pro amp, maybe a Crown XLS2002 Drivecore 2.

 

[fuzz092888]

I'm seeing many articles regarding the MiniDSP 2x4 (both balanced and unbalanced) having noise floor issues leading to audible hiss when idle. Any feedback on this.

I'm interested in the Balanced 2x4 since it'll be paired with a pro amp, maybe a Crown XLS2002 Drivecore 2.

I've had a 2x4 for awhile now and a 10x10. No noise floor issues. Both Linkwitz and John K. have endorsed the miniDSP as having an acceptable noise floor. My guess is that people who are having noise floor issues either have them set to the wrong input sensitivity, have other issues in the signal chain, or have a grounding issue. Could also be a defective unit.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I run the subs for my front speakers out to 250Hz for optimal integration with the mid/tweet satellite section while the other powered subs in my setup get crossed over at the typical 80Hz 24dB/octave.

So the XO for the front Velodyne subs is set to 250Hz, while the XO for the other subs is set to 80Hz ?

 

[andy_c]

Glad to see this topic of optimizing multiple subwoofers being discussed.

I've written a freeware program called Multi-Sub Optimizer (MSO) that automates many of the tasks mentioned in this article, and takes what you can do further than what is explored in the article. It supports the miniDSP products using IIR filters, including the 2x4, and has the ability to directly paste the filter coefficients into the "Advanced Biquad Programming" interface of the miniDSP software.

Until very recently, MSO has required an XLR or other analog microphone, along with the loopback timing reference of Room EQ Wizard (REW), because time-synchronized measurements are required. Earlier this week, John Mulcahy, the REW author, released REW 5.15 beta 3, which introduces the "acoustic timing reference" feature, allowing MSO to be used with USB mics. Discussion of the acoustic timing reference feature can be found here.

The MSO program can be downloaded here. There is an extensive tutorial available. Working through the tutorial requires the example files and projects.

I've also described the algorithm in some detail in the MSO reddit thread.