Blodgett Theater Upgrade ~ miniDSP Tide 16 Experience; Front Height To 5.1.4; SofaBaton X1S Control 11Jul26

miniDSP Tide 16... My 15 yr old Integra controller/decoder left things to be desired and the wait was over to buy a miniDSP Tide 16 (FCS was delayed months). I've long gladly used miniDSP gear for measurement and EQ in audio systems and the Tide 16 is their most ambitious offer. It is a 16 channel AV controller/decoder for Dolby, DTS, and PCM streams from HDMI or other digital audio inputs (USB, SPDIF, Toslink, Bluetooth) and includes Dirac Live automatic measurement & correction and/or a myriad of DSP PEQs, impulse adjustments, and more across those 16 channels! What an incredible spec/design.

Import Delays... I bought my device directly from Hong Kong and paid $850 additional for tariffs. It was shipped FedEx but was held up in customs for 2 weeks awaiting correct documentation. I had to become an importer to free it from Nashville. I wasn't easy on folks along the way; this is just a snippet. I finally got it,when even greater challenges began.

Max Beta Boy... I unpacked and installed my Tide 16 ASAP after de-installing the Integra piece. In discussing (often) with Tech Support I learned: "there are many units in the field." I don't know about that ~ my remote didn't work for 10 days; decoding all the way to Dolby Atmos remains elusive; upcoding is amazing from PCM to Dolby or DTS; Dirac did not initially measure and sometimes didn't load the filters; there's much more. Hardware is keen... the 16 channels are all balanced outputs to my fab 7 channel Integra Research RDA-7 amp (and 2 other unbalanced channels to a D-Amp).

5.1.4 Array... To best take advantage of the most modern encodings, one wants some height speakers. Prior I added Paradigm Titans in the rear of the Blodgett Theater but prepping for the Tide 16 I added front height speakers as well. I repurposed some wide throw Bose satellites above and at the rear of my theater cabinet. I drove the 2 drivers/spkr with a Topping MX3s amp also hidden up there. This was perfect to yield a sweet 5.1.4 array. I knew I'd be able to balance and correct it all later with Dirac Live so the choice for front height transducers was fine. I am all about the DSP in the Blodgett Theater these days. Declaring the speaker config properly in the Tide 16 is important ~ the wrong declaration with eliminate some decoding capability. Too, setting bass management correctly for each speaker is time well spent.

Device Console... miniDSP gear has long been controlled from a mac/PC app called "Device Console." Fortunately the Tide 16 is network controllable (vs prior gear needing direct USB connections). I use my macBook Pro running the "Device Console" and on WiFi and it is rock solid. I am able to monitor & control my Tide 16 easily from my mac. I have all the dials and settings at my laptop fingers and mouse. However, who in the world wants to deal with a PC interface, no matter how solid or good, when using an audio theater? After set up (macOS is appreciated for that vs some requiring iOS apps), I want nothing but a click to "Stream Music" or "View Roku" on a simple remote, not booting a PC and connecting it and having it's screen brighten my face in the theater room... but I do want some feedback on status that all's good. We do also have the unit's very informative Panel but it's tiny and 12 feet away. Nonetheless, these are what we have. The remote finally worked after multiple reflashes of the various firmware packages for computers in the Tide 16. Not backlit, and again, the results of a button push are none too evident without Panel viz or Console blaring. Tide 16 should overlay the HDMI out with comprehensive device status. The pic is of my JRiver Media Center spinning FLAC through the Tide 16 USB ~ 2 channel PCM is upcoded to Dolby or DTS, or remains 2.1 native. From my music server I can send 128Kbps/32bit and the Tide 16 sees it but processes everything as 48Kbps/24bit internally (I knew that and am ok with it). 

Dirac Live... I use Dirac Live in the Nest Music Theater and like it's spin on auto-DSP config on my mains there. Getting the same for the entire Blodgett Theater's 10 channels is a boon. Early glitches to get measurements to complete and to get PEQs to load and reload live were overcome with settings and firmware updates. I took a doz measurements across the "listening sofa" in the Blodgett Theater using a miniDSP umic 2 to empower Dirac Live to build filters for every one of the 10 speakers in my array. Raw measurements are corrected to a desired house curve: flatten EQ, adjust dB, assess impulse response, adjust for time delays... all kind-of automatically. My system was pretty clean to start but the adjustments are noticed.

SofaBaton Control... I completely hate multiple remotes dancing to set the next scene. I am willing to "program" the handling of multiple devices into "activities" via IR or WiFi control like "Watch Roku." I have long used integrating universal remotes. I sold the originals to happy buyers; I've use an iPhone; I settled on Logitech Harmony One with Hub long ago and deployed it throughout my many systems. Many neophyte users have used the integrations successfully; it's now 7 years on from "end of life/service" and they are regularly beginning to die in one way or another. The CloudBase is still supported by it's dubious. No one bought the Harmony servers, code and IP. Enter SofaBaton, a Chinese teams with a mocking design. Yep it is fast hardware; yep the coding if obtuse and ill organized; yep you can make if work ultimately. With the new gear and audio -paths in the Blodgett Theater, and the failing of the next Harmony, I bought another X1S and coded up the new BT system. As always, tweaks and finicky IR shit was adjusted. We have a clean launch... Blodgett Theater rocks. From Nebula content, to DTS BluRays, to top FLAC files and YouTube OLECs, to Dolby Atmos movies (almost).