miniDSP - Q3 2014 Newsletter

New products @ CEDIA 2014

Hello Visitor,

We hope you've enjoyed the summer and as we head into the autumn season in many parts of the world we wanted to send out a quick newsletter update and, of course, launch some exciting new products!

Over the past few months, our engineers, writers and production team were busy finalizing the latest additions to our portfolio. From Dirac Live®-powered DSPs to AVB platforms and a brand new Android app, these new announcements are a sign of how we're bringing affordable high quality DSP solutions to an even wider audience. We're really excited to bring these technologies to the community and look forward to seeing them in the field.

On another note, we'll be at CEDIA in Denver in a few weeks to meet with all those who have been so supportive of miniDSP.  We hope to see some of you there and for those who can't make it, we value your feedback and look forward to hearing from you through our community forum.

As always, best regards from Hong Kong and Happy Listening!

7.1 Dirac Live® processing on nanoAVR-DL

It's been several months since we kicked off our great partnership with the team at Dirac Research by launching the DDRC series of 2-channel digital room correction audio processors.  Now we're thrilled to announce the 8-channel version of Dirac Live built into the acclaimed nanoAVR HDMI processor.   The nanoAVR-DL is a 2-input HDMI audio and video switch combined with a high-resolution 8-channel audio processor. Fitting between your HDMI source (BluRay player, PS3, etc.) and the HDMI input of your AV receiver,  upgrading an existing home theater setup with the world's premiere room correction algorithm couldn't be easier. Thanks to the wizard based software, the calibration process is fast and intuitive as you move the UMIK-1 microphone around the room. Once the room's acoustics are analyzed, you have complete control of the performance/response of your AV system with custom target curves and storage for up to 4 filter sets. A no compromise solution for your Home Theater setup! But wait, the good news continues! We're excited to bring to market the most affordable multi-channel Dirac Live DSP product. Two product offerings will make sure the nanoAVR-DL fits your budget: - nanoAVR-DLT with Dirac Live trial @ US$299, limited to 24hours of Dirac Live processed audio. At the expiration of the trial, an upgrade to the full version of Dirac Live is only US$250. - nanoAVR-DLF with full Dirac Live licence @ US$549 for those of you who already know how good Dirac Live is compared to any other solution on the market.  While the nanoAVR-DL is up and running in several beta sites, we'll use the upcoming weeks to finalize app notes, user manuals and the Android control app.  Pre-orders are now being taken from the product page with shipments scheduled to begin in mid-September. For our loyal base of nanoAVR early adopters looking to enjoy the benefits of Dirac Live® powered digital room correction, we're pleased to offer you an upgrade path.  More info on our website in the upcoming weeks.  Never heard of Dirac and wondering what's all the fuss?  Check it out here.

Stop by booth #1372 for some great demos and product giveaways.  

Tony and Andrew will be around to answer any questions or if you'd like to chat a bit more please book a time with us here.

Android App for nanoAVR control

miniDSP Android users, get ready!

In the past few months, we got busy designing a nice Android app. With self discovery, volume control, preset & source selection, the app currently supports the nanoAVR and nanoAVR-DL. The expected release is mid September.

So did we forget the rest of you? ;-) No worries, the upcoming months will also see the release of an update for support of USB based products including the miniDSP 4x10, 10x10, OpenDRC, DDRC and PWR-ICE series.

iPhone users, good news, we're working on something for you as well but will need a bit more time for us to modify the app and get certification. 

Exciting control times are ahead, stay tuned for the upcoming release announcement.

Screenshots of Android App

miniDSP & Audio Video Bridging (AVB)

Back in 2009, our sister company DSP4YOU brought some of the early Audio Video Bridging (AVB) solutions to the market. It's certainly no surprise to see miniDSP following suit. With miniDSP's focus on affordable and innovative solutions, we hope to open up some opportunities for a wider crowd to experience this neat technology. So before going more into the details of our new product line, what's AVB all about?

AVB was started several years ago by the combined efforts of the IEEE and some IT/audio industry heavyweights. For some Pro/Commercial AV manufacturers, AVB has been a perfect alternative to proprietary/licensed network solutions. Technically, AVB is about streaming multiple channels of low latency, uncompressed and tightly synchronized audio over Ethernet networks. Unlike best effort UDP technology (e.g. Youtube, Netflix, Spotify, etc.), AVB is a system solution engineered to allow "end-to-end" control of delivery of time stamped packets.  From custom Ethernet endpoints to dedicated AVB switches monitoring packets to ensure correct streaming, everything is taken into account to provide the highest quality of streaming audio. If you're feeling confused already, that's ok. :-) There is much more to read online on great websites like the AVNU alliance, Wikipedia, IEEE workgroups or tech notes from existing manufacturers already supporting the technology (e.g. Biamp Systems, Harman Group, Avid and XMOS).

Back to real world home applications, an exciting possibility we'd recommend is streaming from Apple products. With full support of the Mac mini, Mac Pro, iMac and the Macbook Pro/Air series (when used with the Thunderbolt Ethernet adapter) running OSX 10.9 and up, miniDSP AVB products are automatically discovered on the network and can be used as an input/output sound card device. Think of AVB as USB audio, but on a network (think longer distances), synchronized audio (think multiple sources) and most important scalable (think big!).

To kickstart miniDSP's AVB line, we bring you no fewer than 3 new product offerings: 

- 8x8 AVB unit based on the miniDSP 8x8 with balanced in/out.
- A low cost AVB switch and endpoint combo, with brand new support for PoE+ support
- PWR-ICE plate amplifier series with AVB support

Simply put, an integrated networked DSP system streaming high quality audio. Stay tuned for many more details in the coming weeks on a dedicated product page and forum section.