Thank you. I'm still waiting to hear from someone... patiently. :)
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That is definitely the thing that I dislike the most about Helix - the sales model. Supposedly, they don't allow "online sales", but obviously that is not really true as people are still buying and selling them "online" - it's just that your choices of who you can buy from online are VERY limited - and you just have to play this silly "hush, hush" game when you do it.
I *really* wish that I could just go to Crutchfield, research the different models and pricing - and just buy the damn equipment quickly and easily - without trying to track certain people down (like in this case).
<end rant>
Thanks for the phone number. Seems a little weird to me to have to call someone from a message board to purchase something from an authorized dealer. Does Jerry work at a shop? Can I simply go to his shop's website?
Yeah, I have to say this is about the strangest thing I've seen in a while. I'm not sure why Helix (or the US distributor, MSC) make it so hard to buy this stuff. I bought my subwoofer, custom-to-order, directly from Fi's website back in 2008 and that was a very smooth process. I don't need to buy from a huge retailer... I just want to get a decent price on a piece of equipment with a warranty without having to jump through hoops or feel like I'm buying something out of the back of a van in an alley.
Again, I don't know what the marketing angle of this is, but all it has done for me is given me time to consider alternatives. I'm actually building my system now and I still don't have the DSP... which I'm going to need to get multiple channels out of a toslink cable.
Problem is, it's only ever local shops MSC seems to deal with. And they aren't going to create a store front for you to buy from online. Maybe large online retailers like Crutchfield want too much profit margin for MSC to agree with.
Have you tried calling MSC? Saying you have no dealers close to you and what can you do to buy one?
I think audiotec fischer and msc think it’s very easy to screw up dsp stuff, theirs is no exception. It also takes a lot to integrate a dsp properly. They want to be able to provide support to those people who purchase their products. By only allowing local sales, you always have support if needed. The few online people, they trust to provide support if needed.
They probably know that this is costing them sales, but also less returns and less issues.
Dont worry about buying from Jerry. He is an honest dealer.
You gotta know the special knock!!!:wink:
Thanks for the input guys. I found a shop about 2 hours drive from me that is an MSC dealer and they say they can order a Helix DSP Mini for $500 + tax... which is quite high for my budget and the features it includes. For example, I don't get a remote or bluetooth control and as mentioned by others it is fairly limited with only 6 output channels. I have no intention of "needing" more channels any time soon, but for the price it's hard to ignore that limitation.
Alternatively, the same shop has Audio Dynamics DSP68 units in stock for $400. Those come with bluetooth and a remote with 8 channels of output and still maintain the 31 band EQ on channels 1-6 and optical input.
The price is still on the high side for me, but considering it would cost nearly $250 for the outrageously priced Helix add-ons just to get similar controls, and that would still have less channels... the AD DSP68 seems like a good value. BUT, the big question is how do they actually compare when it comes to sound quality, reliability and software usability? Features and specs on paper definitely don't tell the whole story.
Has anyone used an Audio Dynamics DSP? How do they compare to Helix, MiniDSP or others?
Also, is it possible to import settings from REW into the Helix or Audio Dynamics software? I just started learning REW and it seems really nice. I bought a calibrated UMIK-1 from CSA and it was delivered yesterday. I'll be using it on all the speakers in my house now. :D