TOPIC:

Hi Team,
Just to begin, I'm a very happy owner of a miniDSP Flex (rca version) since January. So far it has performed fantastically, and the few minor issues I had early on were quickly and helpfully resolved by the miniDSP team.

That said, after 6 months of use I have some suggestions that would make it even better. Firstly, some changes to software that (hopefully) could be implemented in the current versions. Secondly, some changes to hardware that naturally would only be possible for the next version (assuming there is one).

Software:
- Ability to rename presets and inputs. I.e. instead of "Preset 1", "Preset 2", if I could call them "Classical", "Rock", "Movie"... that would make much more sense. Similarly, I may know what SPDIF and TOSLINK mean, but the other members of my family don't. If I could rename them "Streaming" and "TV" that would make it much more usable to non-techies.
- Ability to change the functionality of the knob/button. If I use a separate amp to control volume, then the main way I interact with the Flex is to choose a source. But currently I need to press the button twice to get to source selection screen. It would be nice if there were an option for this to be the default action. Similarly, I never mute through the Flex but if I want to turn the Flex off into standby mode I need a very long press which is annoying.
- Continuously variable loudness, a la Fletcher Munson or similar, as an option for the volume control.
- Some kind of signal detect auto on/off, and programmable signal-detect auto input switching based on a hierarchy (if possible in software).
- Not sure if this is possible to "program" the analogue input to be a phono stage. I.e. if the ADC is clean enough, to apply a much higher gain and RIAA equalisation in DSP.

Hardware:
- 12v trigger in & out for standby
- HDMI input with eARC/CEC. I.e. if I turn my TV on, the Flex turns on and the TV volume controller adjusts Flex volume.
- Headphone jack (a la SHD Studio)
- Ability to transmit bluetooth, e.g. to bluetooth headphones
- Please add some more physical controls! I really can't stand the trend to massively overloaded single knob/button interfaces requiring multiple presses and long holds. At the very least separate buttons/knobs for: standby, source selection, volume. Personally I would prefer individual buttons for each source, like Rotel do, but that's me.
- Ideally one or two more analogue inputs and toslink inputs.

Once again, very happy with the Flex, but if these changes were made I would immediately buy the updated version and be a very very happy camper!
 

Some great ideas there.

Also loving my FLEX. I would add that the feature I most desire is the ability to hide source inputs that I am no using--really I just want to switch back and forth between Analog and TOSLINK and it would be really nice not to cycle through the rest.

For hardware, what I really want is a simple source button on the device (with the ability to hide unused sources).

While I would love the ability to set the Analog input level relative to digital, I have found that using a powerful $99 headphone preamp (Schiit Magni Heresey) in front of the ADC lets me get them pretty close.

Also note for the original poster, there are lots of good solutions for combining multiple inputs upstream of the ADC or TOSLINK. These can do signal detect auto switching or passive mixing. I use this auto switcher for digital:
www.tindie.com/products/beni_skate/autom...calrca-audio-switch/
And this passive mixer for analog:
www.zzounds.com/item--RLLMX42
 

Totally agreed brpcarter!

And yes, I have the same toslink auto selector, which is excellent, but it wouldn't hurt to have such functionality in the Flex.

I would buy immediately if there was at least 1 digital input (coax/optical) and at least 6 balanced outputs (any shape).
And a volume control and room correction.

As far as I can tell, no product in the miniDSP range has this combination.