miniDSP 10X10 HD User manual

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miniDSP 10x10 Hd
USER MANUAL
Revision Description Date
V1.0 Initial revision 28-06-2012
V1.1 Volume control configuration 03-08-2012
www.minidsp.com

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Contents
1 Product Introduction.............................................................................................................................................................................................. 3
2 System Connectivity .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 5
2.1 Board connectivity ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 5
Rear View ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 5
2.2 Typical setup.................................................................................................................................................................................................... 5
2.2.1 DC Power connectivity ....................................................................................................................................................................... 6
2.2.2 Audio connectivity .............................................................................................................................................................................. 6
2.3 Front panel control ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 7
3 Software Setup........................................................................................................................................................................................................ 8
4 Plug-in Architecture ............................................................................................................................................................................................... 9
4.1.1 Main Page............................................................................................................................................................................................. 9
4.1.2 Preset Memory selection .................................................................................................................................................................. 10
4.1.3 Input Tab ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 10
4.2 Matrix Tab....................................................................................................................................................................................................... 10
4.3 Output Tab..................................................................................................................................................................................................... 11
4.3.1 Custom Label ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 12
4.3.2 Monitor................................................................................................................................................................................................. 12
4.3.3 Output volume ................................................................................................................................................................................... 12
4.3.4 Crossover............................................................................................................................................................................................. 12
4.3.5 Parametric Equalizer.......................................................................................................................................................................... 13
4.3.6 Compressor /Limiter........................................................................................................................................................................... 14
4.3.7 Master volume control ........................................................................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.
4.4 Load/Save/Restore a configuration .......................................................................................................................................................... 14
4.4.1 Load configuration:........................................................................................................................................................................... 14
4.4.2 Save configuration ............................................................................................................................................................................ 15
4.4.3 Restore Factory default .................................................................................................................................................................... 15
4.4.4 Restore Factory default .................................................................................................................................................................... 15
4.5 Firmware upgrade ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 15
4.6 IR remote learning feature .......................................................................................................................................................................... 15
5 Troubleshooting .................................................................................................................................................................................................... 17

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1 Product Introduction
miniDSP 10x10 is a Digital Audio Signal Processor (DSP) capable of performing a wide range of applications, from filtering, equalization
to time alignment. Typically located between an audio source (CD player/Receiver/Preamp/PC .. etc) and the amplifier, a miniDSP
will provide unparalleled tuning flexibility to improve your audio system’s performance. Using a PC/Mac machine and a USB
connection, you will be able to control your platform from the “plug-in”: an intuitive software application allowing real time
modification to your configuration.
Besides its audio specs, a great part of our product concept lies in its simplicity of use. The sequence of steps required to control a
miniDSP can be summarized as follow:
- Connect the board to your PC/Mac machine using a USB cable
- Launch the plug-in to configure settings as required.
- Click “Connect & Synchronize” your PC to the board
- Once synchronized, any change is real time and does not require any “Synchronization”. All settings are also automatically
saved to both the DSP and the Flash for long term memory.
- Once happy with your configuration, you can disconnect the board from your computer since from this point on, the audio
configuration will run as last modified in on-line mode and recalled following every reboot.
- En oy!
Minimum System Requirements or so tware installation
MiniDSP software requires in a PC/MAC environment with the following minimum requirements:
PC Environment
- PC with 1GHz or higher processor clock speed recommended / Intel® Pentium®/Celeron® family, or AMD K6®/AMD
Athlon®/AMD Duron® family, or compatible processor recommended.
- 512 megabytes (MB) of RAM or higher recommended
- USB 2.0 port
- Keyboard and mouse or compatible pointing device
- Microsoft• ® Windows® Vista® SP1/ XP pro SP2/Win7
- Microsoft• ® .NET framework v3.5
- Adobe AIR environment (latest version)
- Adobe Flash player (latest version)
MAC Environment
- Intel based MAC with 1GHz or higher processor clock speed recommended
- 512 megabytes (MB) of RAM or higher recommended
- USB 2.0 port
- Keyboard and mouse or compatible pointing device
- Mac OSX 10.4 or higher
- Adobe AIR environment (latest version)
- Adobe Flash player (latest version)
Package content
Your miniDSP package includes:
• 1 x miniDSP 10x10 Hd
• 1 x USB cable 1m long
• 1 x 12VDC universal power supply with IEC type plug
• 1 x Step by Step startup guide

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DISCLAIMER / WARNING
An incorrect miniDSP configuration could easily damage your audio system. MiniDSP can not be responsible for any damage that
may result from the improper use of this product. As with any other product, we do recommend that you carefully read the manual
and other technical notes to insure you fully understand how to operate the board.
As a general guideline, you should first configure your miniDSP board before connecting anything to the outputs of the MiniDSP
(loudspeakers/other output sources). Doing so will insure that you have the software correctly configured and won’t cause any
damage to your system. Once again, miniDSP can not be responsible of any damages the board make cause to your system.
Finally, MiniDSP is a very flexible board and 99% of typical questions we receive at the tech support department are already
answered in this user manual. So please take the time to carefully read this user manual. Thanks for your understanding!
WARRANTY TERMS
miniDSP Ltd warrants all our products to be free of from defects in materials and workmanship for a period of one year from the
invoice date. Our warranty terms do not cover failure of the product due to an external trigger, misuse, servicing or usage outside of
the recommended use. With this said, make sure to carefully read the user manual when customizing the board. Any board damage
investigated as failure to follow proper installation may void the warranty. So if in doubt, please make sure to contact us first.

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miniDSP 10x10
Hd
Platform
To Amplifiers of multi-
way speakers or
External processors
Analog/Digital Audio
source (e.g. PC/CD
player/Preamp…)
Display Active
Digital source
Active Preset
IR Receiver
Master volume & Source
/Preset selection
2 S stem Connectivit
2.1 Board connectivity
Front View
Rear View
2.2 Typical setup
The following diagram is a typical connectivity diagram for a basic setup with analog inputs, analog outputs. To prevent any
damage, make sure the board is turned OFF before doing any connection modifications.
MiniUSB
cable
PC/MAC for initial
configuration only – Not
required afterward
INPUTS USB
OUTPUTS
8x Un-balanced
RCA inputs
8 x Balanced
Inputs
8 x Un-Balanced
Outputs
12VDC
Power Input
8 x Balanced
Outputs
Toslink/SPDIF/
AES-EBU Inputs
Toslink + SPDIF +
AES-EBU outputs
USB Control

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Sensitivit Jumpers
ALL OPEN (default): 2Vrms max on unbalanced
ALL CLOSED (unbalanced signal only!): 0.9Vrms max input
Template jumper
configuration per channel
2.2.1 DC Power connectivity
miniDSP 10x10 Hd is provided with a universal 12V DC power supply with IEC power connector. If the IEC cable provided isn’t the
same as your country’s plug, you can easily source/re-use such cable from computer supplies.
Note that we recommend you to plug the Power Supply to the miniDSP enclosure before connecting it to the AC power.
2.2.2 Audio connectivity
miniDSP can accept both balanced and un-balanced audio inputs/outputs. See the below instructions for audio connectivity on
your miniDSP Balanced kit. If a different input/output level is required in order to achieve best gain structure, the enclosure can be
opened in order to configure the internal umpers correctly.
Signal Max input/Max output
Maximum Input signal @ 0dBFS RCA connector: 2Vrms (+8 dBu) or 0.9Vrms depending on input umper position
Phoenix Terminal block: 4Vrms (+14 dBu) with an unbalanced signal, 8Vrms with a
balanced signal (20dBu)
Maximum Output signal @ 0dBFS RCA connector: 2Vrms or 0.9Vrms depending on output DIP switch position
Phoenix Terminal block: 4Vrms (+14 dBu) with an unbalanced signal, 8Vrms
balanced with a signal (20dBu)
Balanced connection (In/Out): Follow connectivity as shown on underside of the board.
o S = > Cable Shield
o + = > Positive cable
o - = > Return cable
Sensitivit Jumpers for unbalanced inputs
A set of umpers is available to modify the input sensitivity (i.e. max input) from 2Vrms to 0.9Vrms for unbalanced inputs onl . Sensitivity
is the maximum signal before an input saturates so if your signal is too small (e.g. MP3 player), you can optimize your “gain structure”
by modifying the input umpers to 0.9Vrms for a “more sensitive” input.
Note that this umper configuration should not be used when a balanced signal is used. Please make sure to carefully
configure your umper accordingly. By default, note that all boards are configured without umpers (i.e. 2Vrms setting) so
both unbalanced and balanced can be used.
Board Layout arrangement for input umper configuration
CH 1
CH 3
CH
5
CH
7
CH 2
CH
4
CH 6
CH
8
CH 2

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Channel
number
UP position (Default)
8Vrms (balanced)
2Vrms (Unbalanced)
DOWN position
4Vrms (balanced)
0.9Vrms (Unbalanced)
Output gain control:
A blue DIP switch control on the output section allows user to control the output gain both the unbalanced and balanced outputs on
a “per channel” basis.
2.3 Front panel control
The miniDSP 10x10 has a rotary front panel for control of 3 elements of the product without requiring any PC connection:
o Master volume control
o Digital source selection
o Active preset (1 out of the 4 preset).
The control is achieved with the rotary encoder with the simple process of Pushing & Rotating. The below flow diagram describes in
details the basic operation of this front panel.

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3 Software Setup
miniDSP platforms are controlled and configured over a USB connection. Our software, so called plug-in, must be purchased from our
online webstore separately. The following section will highlight the steps required to configure the miniDSP plug-in.
In order to familiarize yourself with the software first, do not connect any
amplifiers to your miniDSP outputs until you understand each ob ect.
Get to know the software first, then start playing audio…
1. The first step consists in downloading the following required frameworks:
o Microsoft• ® .NET framework v3.5 or up (PC only)
o Latest version of Adobe AIR environment (Mac/Win)
o Latest version of Adobe Flash player (Mac/Win)
2. Next, go to the User Downloads section of the miniDSP website. The purchased plug-in will be
available for download once logged in with the credentials for your account.
3. Double click on the .air file to install the plug-in. The following dialog box will pop up.
Once the configuration finalized, the plug-in will automatically boot up.
4. You can now connect the miniDSP board to one of the USB 2.0 port of your PC. The device will be recognized as a HID driver
and does not require any driver installation.
5. The next step is to gain control of the board by synchronizing the PC configuration to the board. Please read carefully the
following section to understand how this process works.
By default, all plug-ins start in offline mode, meaning changes made on the user interface do not affect your configuration. It is
designed in such a way that you can visually confirm your configuration before loading it to the MiniDSP kit.
You should also know that plug-ins can only synchronize from PC to board and are not able to “retrieve” a configuration from the kit.
In other words, make sure your favorite configuration is saved on your PC if you ever decide to change the configuration.
6. Once the configuration checked, the next step is to “Connect & Synchronize” by clicking on the Green button on the top
right. Note that this button is ONLY active in an unconnected mode. Once connected, it will disappear since no more
synchronization will be required from there on.
Providing your board is connected to the PC with a USB cable, the following important dialog box pops up with 4 options:
Connect & Synchronize

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a) Synchronize: With this option, the current plug-in configuration will be loaded/flashed to the MiniDSP and your plug-in turned to
“On-line” mode. Warning that it will overwrite whatever configuration was previously loaded on the board. If you’d like to load a
different configuration, click cancel and go to the settings tab to load one of your previously saved configurations.
If you previously installed a different firmware version on your kit, this button will display: Synchronize & Upgrade. Meaning, the MiniDSP
kit firmware will be upgraded to the current plug-in firmware along with the current settings you have.
b) Restore to Default: With this option, the software application resets all settings back to factory default and reload the firmware.
Warning that all current settings will be lost and there are no ways to be able to recover them.
In either synchronization steps, the following dialog box will pop-up. It’s very important that you do not un-plug the board in the
middle of a firmware upgrades or you may corrupt the configuration.
Once the board fully synchronized, a “Successful connection to the board” message pops up. From this point on, all changes to the
configuration will be real time and live, therefore giving you the chance to hear the effect of your equalization, filtering, tuning…
Let’s move on to the architecture of the software to understand how to setup your system.
4 Plug-in Architecture
4.1.1 Main Page
Preset Memory
selection
Main Menu
Connect &
Synchronize
Master Mute
Main Tab
selection
Main control
window

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Main input page for the miniDSP 10x10 plug-in
The main control page can be summarized in few core sections.
• File Access to Load/Save configuration
• Restore: Access to restore the whole system or only the current selected configuration (preset)
• Help: Link to the help file
• Main control tab: Allows selection between input, matrix and output control windows
• Main control window: Contains controls for the selected tab
• Synchronize button: Allows you to go online and gain control of your system
• Master Mute: Mute all inputs & outputs signal
4.1.2 Preset Memory selection
The miniDSP 10x10 Hd allows the user to create up to 4 preset memories for a quick reconfiguration of the processor. Under each
configuration, all settings of the platform are saved.
Placed at the top of the user interface, the use of configurations couldn’t be easier. Simply toggle between configurations by clicking
on the config button. The currently selected configuration
WARNING: By toggling configurations, you may go from a working configuration (i.e. correct volume/setup/Eq) to an unknown
(or improperly configured) configuration. We therefore recommend that you perform a quick configuration offline (without
being connected/synchronized to the processor) to prevent any damage to your equipment.
4.1.3 Input Tab
The first step in configuring your MiniDSP consists in making sure audio is being fed to the input correctly. To do so, click on the button
labeled “inputs”. The RMS meter will quickly indicate the average value of the input signal in dBFS (i.e. relative to the full scale of the
ADC or 24bit I2S signal). Individual faders control the digital gain at the input and per channel mute status.
This meter displays dB full scale (dBFS) values and will saturate at 0dBFS (full scale of the ADC). Do make sure to keep the signal below
0dBFS (red color) and with enough headroom (say 10dB) to prevent saturation during the typical audio peaks of a music source.
.2 Matrix Tab
The matrix DSP ob ect is the DSP ob ect linking inputs to outputs. While very typical on commercial DSP products, it may be new for
some of you. The following section will summarize the basics of configuration.
Matrix switchers work as a “matrix” where:
- Rows are inputs
- Columns are outputs
- And the status(ON/OFF) of the buttons at the crosspoint of rows (inputs) & columns (outputs) will define the routing and
mixing of the audio to one of 8 outputs.
Per channel
mute button
Per channel
Level control
Per channel
monitoring
Per channel
PEQ
button
Custom
Label