TOPIC:

Hello
A worthwhile feature request in my opinion would be a variable loudness control. When setting up dirac curves etc you get your sound correct really at 1 volume level. If you like to listen at different volumes it presents some challenges. I could create a few different presets for this but a much better solution would be a variable loudness control that boosts/cuts frequencies based on the volume. I have uploaded the McIntosh variable loudness curves which is based on the percent the loudness knob was turned. Not sure if it is helpful or useful or not. To me it would be one of the most important features and it adjusts frequencies based on human hearing (Fletcher-Munson). The SHD is a fantastic unit but I think this is one feature that could improve day to day music listening a great deal.

Maybe you need to move this to Forum->General->Suggestion Box. There are several requests about this already in there. I hope the devs will see that the community prefer this feature to be implemented

Appreciate the suggestion. After posting wasn't sure where best to post it. It would seem to be a feature that could be implemented in many of their current and future products. This product, in particular, aimed at the audiophile market, would seem to make the most senses. Customers that want to hear music properly at whatever volume you feel like would be a welcome feature. Many may not have heard a true variable loudness control before as the feature has been removed from many current products. If you haven't ever heard a component with variable loudness control(not a simple loudness button) you really should. It is included still on most of the Yamaha Integrated Amps and stereo amps or on McIntosh Preamps (older ones). Or in current home theater units there is Dolby Volume or Audissey Dynamic EQ. Hopefully this can be implemented in the future because the Minidsp SHD is a fantastic product-great preamp, room correct, crossovers etc. Really enjoy mine.

I agree. IIRC the devs wrote something about implementing dynamic loudness, but it will use a lot of DSP resources thus it is quite hard to implement. I suggested what if they make a SHD unit that has multiple SHARC units to achieve whatever we (users) want/need. They can increase the price but the flexibility is there, it is real... Hopefully this thread is seen by the devs... Dynamic loudness is in demand !!!

The RME ADI-2 DAC has DSP variable loudness control, also a 42 bit volume control. It uses the same AKM DAC chip as the SHD but a lower spec I/V op amp (OPA1602, not 1612) that's biased to operate mostly in class A. I haven't compared the sound quality of the SHD to an SHD Studio → RME combination.

If it wasn't possible to have loudness controlled dynamically based on the master volume, a user adjustable loudness control similar to the McIntosh would still be welcome. Where there is a virtual knob or slider, and you manually set the level of loudness control you would like for your particular listening volume. In some ways I like this better than a dynamic loudness control, because if it is just an on/off and linked to the master volume, there is no way to change it. You either like how it is or you don't. If users can set how much loudness compensation they want, I think there may be a better chance it will be more useful to more people ( and possibly easier to implement).