MiniDSP and Crown XLS 2500

Hello, fellow audio junkies! I have a newbie question. Currently, i'm an assistant to a friend/avs member who's building two 24' cubes to house my JL Audio 10W7's that i've had lying around for the past 10 years. I would like to think that we'd be done by christmas and want to buy the appropriate MiniDSP for my setup. I'm a bit confused about which one to get and what plugins

Here's my setup:

Processor: Onkyo PR-SC885
AMP: Crown XLS 2500
Sub: Soon to be two JL Audio 10W7's!
I also have a Samson S-Convert at my disposal.

What I'm trying to accomplish with the MiniDSP:

-I want it for a HPF at ~20HZ and to be able to eventually eq from ~20HZ - 120HZ.

Here's the two scenarios that i'm contemplating:

1. Onkyo PR-SC885 (unbalanced lfe out) > Unbalanced MiniDSP in a box > (Unbalanced in) Samson S-Convert (Balanced out) > Crown XLS 2500

2. Onkyo PR-SC885 (balanced lfe out) > Balanced MiniDSP in a box > Crown XLS 2500

Info:

-Many people believe that the Onkyo doesn't have a TRUE balance connection.

-When connecting my Onkyo to the Crown with either Unbalanced or Balanced connections there was no difference in output and I could hear that my crown amp wasn't operating to its full potential as I had to bump the gains up significantly to get decent output. Once I connected the S-Convert it was a night and day difference.


Concerns:

-I'm not sure if the Balanced MiniDSP will have enough output to drive my crown amp to its fullest as I've read some mixed things in the MiniDSP thread which is why I'm thinking about the first scenario as I know the S-Convert works fine as I'm using it now.

Some Info for Equipment Being Used:

Crown XLS Specs at the bottom: http://www.crownaudio.com/usa/xls-drivecore.html

Onkyo PR-SC885: http://www.onkyopro.com/model.cfm?m=PR-SC885P&p=s&class=Preamplifier

Samson S-Convert: http://www.samsontech.com/samson/products/processors/s-class-mini/sconvert/


If someone could give me the info that I need so that I need so that could order the correct DSP and Plug-ins that would be great!

Thank you for anybody that helps me!

So I just saw in their manual (who would've figured ) and a website that I could use the balanced version with RCA inputs if needed so that settles that.

http://seriousaudioblog.blogspot.com/2012/06/easy-rca-inputs-and-outputs-for-2x4.html#!/2012/06/easy-rca-inputs-and-outputs-for-2x4.html

As I'm totaly new to this whole DIY stuff I'm a little confused at which plug-in to get as they all seem to be $10...

http://www.minidsp.com/onlinestore/browse/19-minidsp-2x4-kitbox-platforms?sef=hc

Please someone help me get the plug-in that I need so that I can get ordering and have my Credit Card company call me asking about a fraudulent foreign transaction!

Ok, so I just got the balanced MiniDSP and just want to make sure that I buy the correct plug-in as I've never used anything like this before. If I plan on using the Mini-DSP for only sub duty would the two way advanced crossover be the appropriate plug-in to get? I plan on only using one of the outputs for now with the intention of using the other one for another sub amp down the road.

Thank you for any help that you may provide!

BTW, once MiniDSP shipped out the package in HK it came to my house in NJ 2 DAYS LATER!!!

That was the comment that I was looking for the whole time. There's no emulation for the MiniDSP plug-ins so I didn't understand how the interface for MiniDSP worked until I got it my balanced MiniDSP and bought the Advanced 2-way plug-in. The box itself looks real crude but the product as a whole works very nicely. I don't know why MiniDSP doesn't have emulation software on their website so that you can see exactly how their product works. If you go to several different manufacturers websites for routers they'll have an emulator on their site for that router so that you can see all the features and layout that their router has. MiniDSP should incorporate something like that on their website. It would be less confusing for new people (like me) trying to understand exactly how their product works.


stereodude, thank you for the comment as my research lead me to believe that the Advanced 2-way was the correct plug-in for what I wanted to accomplish. I bought it a day before you posted but was nice confirmation that I made the correct purchase as $10 to me is something that I can't afford to lose out on as I'm unemployed and trying to make my way through college while still trying to make my bills.

Humm... I never thought about that. There isn't a whole lot of information explaining how it works. There's a lot of talking about the MiniDSP but nothing specific as what you just stated. I originally thought that the plug-in somehow gets installed into the MiniDSP (kind of like the firmware of a router) and you need the MiniDSP in order to operate the plug-in. In actuality, the plug-in is more of a software that runs on your computer that connects to the MiniDSP which then will upload the settings from the computer to the device as you change them.

For the most part I understand all the settings in the advanced 2-way plugin but I'm not exactly sure about a few things (mostly the peq). I'm assuming that this is what I'm going to use to eq the subs. Here's a few questions that I have regarding the MiniDSP:

1. There's an input peq and an output peq. Which one do I use to eq the subs and what's the difference between the two? I'm assuming that since I'm using the MiniDSP for only sub duty that I could use either one to accomplish the same thing.

2. What does Q mean in the peq settings?

3. Under filter type what's the difference between peak, low-shelf, and high-shelf?

4. In the output section how do I know if I'll need to apply delay or invert the polarity (phase)?


Theresa, thanks for your help and yes it seems like it'll work well once I get my sub boxes done.