Just a day or two ago Roon Endpoint was enabled for the Minidsp SHD. For those not familiar with the Minidsp SHD it is a very high quality DAC, DIrac 2.0, can configure up to a 2.2 system. Was hoping they would enable Roon and they have and it seems to work great. With this recent update, it is a Roon RAAT endpoint. There appears to be one caveat, and that is that the volume appears to be a fixed level so volume has to be adjusted via the master volume on the unit. I am using the SHD (which has analog and digital inputs/outputs). I am assuming it is also for the SHD Studio, which does not have a DAC and is just a digitial in/out device. Hopefully volume control will be added soon.
Does it play 24 bit audio? It always did RAAT (uncertified) but couldn’t play anything above 16bit depth without playing loud static. It will be nice if they fixed that.
It worked with roon before this update, but I believe it was via the volumio airplay (not raat) and was limited to 16bit. At least that was my experience. But yes this new update from Minidsp plays hi res audio now which is a very nice change.
Hi
I’ve searched for info on this, but can’t find it mentioned anywhere apart from this thread. Roon bridge is known to work on the Volumio build that MiniDSP uses for the SHD, but only 16bit and not as a Volumio plugin. Plugins will survive upgrades of Volumio, your own installs probably not. I am not saying that what you write is not correct just that I can’t find information on it elsewhere. I have contacted MiniDSP support about it and hope to get a conformation from them.
The SHD units are very interesting with the Dirac RC built in. With Roon bridge and full RAAT support it would simply be killer devices!
Sorry this hasn’t been clear. Volumio is included and installed on the Minidsp as their built in streaming option. There is a web interface for volumio on the SHD/SHD Studio. From there you update the installed volumio on the SHD. When you update volumio from the shd volumio interface (simple as clicking on check for updates/ and installing, the roon endpoint option will appear in the volumio settings. It i literally just a couple of days old so it isn’t surprising there isn’t much talk about it yet. Here is a link to the minidsp forum discussing it:
https://www.minidsp.com/forum/shd-series/16388-volumio-update-is-available-roon-option
For those with a minidsp SHD here are the instructions to enable the raat roon endpoing option.
What I did:
-Access volumio via a web browser from something on you local network. I went to:
minidsp-shd.local/
-Click on the settings icon (top right) and select system
-Under system updtates, select check updates and apply the update
It will then reboot
-After reboot is done, go back into volumio at minidsp-shd.local/ and click on settings again (top right) and select My Music
-Scroll down the page under Functionalities Control you will see Roon Ready, and turn it on
It will then show up in roon under settings>audio for you to enable in roon
This is not limited to 16bit as the roon bridge install was. I have been using it for the past couple of days and have had no issues.
The Minidsp SHD becoming a roon endpoint is a pretty big deal. In one box you get preamp/dac/crossovers/Dirac 2.0 all in one box with pretty darn stellar measurements.
Hopefully this helps.
3 Likes
Thanks for this! The SHD Studio has now advanced to the top of my shopping list!
As further evidence, my Minidsp SHD Studio is playing 192/24 music, bit perfect, through the RAAT protocol. No hiccups or problems ever since I updated to the new firmware.
Thanks again to Darin Davis for pointing this new feature out.
Calen
1 Like
Very welcome. I’m not sure why Minidsp hasn’t announced it yet. I’m guessing they may not want to announce until it gets certified, or maybe until they can get volume control working which would probably require a firmware update. Either way it works great.
I hope MiniDSP/Volumio is in talks with Roon. A distribution can’t use Roon bridge without an agreement. For Roon Ready (which I guess will be needed to get volume control working) Roon labs will need a device for testing and probably access to code. I think both has no cost associated. No license cost anyway. Neither MiniDSP nor Volumio is presently listed on the Roon partner page.
How is 192/24 possible when the SHD internal sample rate is 96khz?
https://www.minidsp.com/products/streaming-hd-series/shd-series
Downsampling…
@ogs that’s what I thought… so was confused by @Papi_Chulo saying it was playing 192/24 bitperfect. Or I guess maybe RAAT still shows as bitperfect because the SHD/Volumio is indeed receiving the signal at 192… even if its downconverting afterwards.
Probably a good idea to check what sounds best - letting Roon do the conversion or using SHD’s
1 Like
That is right. My Meridian speakers cannot accept anything higher than 96/24, so the down converting is a feature for me. But you are correct that bit-perfect ends when the stream finally hits the SHD processor.
It is working great on my SHD Studio. Came up as a ROON endpoint after I restarted it. Thanks!
Just to add a bit more info to this…I contacted Minidsp…
1-They have submitted to Roon for certification
2-Once approved there will be a new firmware which will allow volume control. Volume control via Roon will be adjusted through the master volume control in the minidsp.
3 Likes
Thanks. I’m finding the ability to use the Minidsp remote is the best of both worlds. And since the D&D 8Cs are 96/24 for internal processing it makes it all easy. Sounds great via the SHD AES out.
Which minidsp should we get? I was thinking the ddrc-24 with Dirac. I would continue to use my modi3.
Or just get the shd and use that the minidsp dac instead?
I don’t think the ddrc24 has or will be able to stream roon to directly. I believe it is just the SHD or the SHD Studio. If you only need digital in/out the SHD studio is all you need and output it to your dac. If you want an all in one DAC, Dirac streamer with analog and digital inputs/outputs the the SHD would be the way to go. With the SHD there would be no need for the Modi as the DAC is better.
I already have a MicroRendu. So do I replace that?