Minirig 4 FAQ

General

Q. Will it work with the Minirig 3?
A. Yes, but not via Bluetooth. Unfortunately, they don't talk to each other that way. They are, of course, designed to be 'in phase' which means that they will sound great when connected using cables. The best way is to Bluetooth to the Minirig 4 and then aux out to the Minirig 3. Please see the how to guide for more information.

Q. Will it work with the Minirig Subwoofer 3?
A. Yes! Either in aux-in mode or Bluetooth mode with aux output. Checkout our how to guide for more details.

Q. How do I reset the Minirig 4
A. Manufacturer data = 08020224

Turn the Minirig 4 on
Press and hold the power button for 4-5 seconds
The LEDs will turn off, you may hear a slight pop
Release the power button
Wait for the power LED to illuminate YELLOW
Press the power button once with a SHORT press
The 4 LED bar should display a YELLOW loading cycle. If it does not, go back to step 5)
After around 10 seconds, the Minirig 4 will finish resetting and will turn off.
You can now use it as normal. You will need to pair to the Minirig 4 again.

Manufacturer data = 08280224 onwards

Turn the Minirig 4 on
Press and hold the power button for 6 seconds
The Minirig 4 will start turning off - you will see the LEDs illuminate RED
Release the power button
After a few seconds the power LED will illuminate YELLOW and the 4 LED bar will display with YELLOW loading cycle.
After around 10 seconds, the Minirig 4 will finish resetting and will turn off.
You can now use it as normal. You will need to pair to the Minirig 4 again.

Q. How many Minirig 4s can you link together
A. For the best audio quality you can link two Minirigs together in wireless stereo - where one speaker plays left and the other plays the right channel. Then there is the linkup mode which lets you link as many as you like. You can manually change the balance of left/mono/right and volume on each speaker to create your custom sound stage.

Q. What's the difference between the Minirig 3 and 4?
A. From the outside, it doesn't look much different, but we have been busy over the last few years. Internally, it's a whole new design with new electronics, new software and new features, probably the biggest change since the first Bluetooth version in 2015.

For you, that means some new cool features and generally a product that is easier and more fun to use. Some of the new exciting features are:

More buttons! Volume controls and easier phone, wireless stereo + linkup pairing.
USB-C charging includes fast charging up to 30W with USB-C PD.
USB-C power bank.
More LEDs - Easier to keep track of the battery level, volume level etc.
Accelerometer - This clever device detects movement and orientation- Shake your Minirig to check the battery level and other cool tricks coming soon.
Microphone - You can now use your Minirig for hands-free calls over Bluetooth.
Plus, of course, a sound that is updated, improved and better than ever.

Q. What's the latency difference between the Minirig 3 and 4?
A. It varies from device to device and is hard to measure accurately. It's likely to be similar to the Minirig 3 and other Bluetooth speakers. The Bluetooth audio connection will see a delay between 100 and 300ms, with longer delays possible in stereo or link up modes. With music playback, this isn't an issue. With video playback you may find lip sync issues; fortunately there are now settings to compensate for these delays to synchronise the audio and video.

In aux mode the delay is only around 2ms. This is very short and about the same as placing the Minirig 70cm away from you.

Q. Are there any plans to support AirPlay 2?
A. Sorry the Minirig does not have any wifi capabilities. It's a Bluetooth speaker only. You can, of course, connect it to an airplay receiver with an aux out.

Q. Can I trade in my Minirig 3?
A. The trade-in scheme we offer only applies to the oldest products if we no longer have the parts to fix them. If you have working Minirigs it is best to keep them, so you can link them all up using audio cables.

Charging

Q. How fast does the Minirig 4 charge
A. Using a USB-C to USB-A cable, sometimes known as a “legacy” USB-C cable, the charging current must be limited to 900mA (4.5W) to comply with the USB-C standard. This is to protect unknown USB ports from being overloaded. At this rate it will take around 6 hours to charge.

To charge at a faster rate you need to use a USB-C to USB-C cable which is able to detect and arrange faster charging. Using this and a compatible USB-C PD charger, you can do a full charge in under 1.5hours!

Q. Is the battery life of the Minirig 4 better than the Minirig 3?
A. The Minirig 4 is pushed harder with more power and bass at max volume, which is reflected in the battery life. Typically, you won't be using it at these extreme levels all the time, so in general use, the battery life is similar to the Minirig 3.

Q. When used as a power bank. How much power does it have?
A. 28Wh... Enough for 1 or 2 phone charges depending on the phone.

Sound

Q. Does the Minirig 4 have a high gain/low gain mode?
A. All our previous products didn't have volume buttons so relied on the user controlling the input signal (volume on their phone). However, this did not give enough “range” with the lowest level being too loud still, so we had to implement two volume levels on the Minirig - high gain and low gain, to allow for low and high-volume listening.

With the Minirig 4, we have volume controls! The volume level is also synced with your phone. So you can get the whole range of volume levels directly from your device without touching the Minirig. There are 32 volume steps on the Minirig 4 and normally around 16 on most phones.

Q. Is there any difference in the sound quality compared to the Minirig 3?
A. The Minirig 4 has inherited much of its sound signature from the Minirig 3 but with lots of tweaks and improvements along the way to the DSP and the electronics. The changes are subtle but all combine to produce an overall improved sound.

Bluetooth

Q. Does the Minirig 4 have aptX or LDAC codecs?
A. It does not, but don't worry! aptX is only available with specific Bluetooth hardware chips that we no longer use and, contrary to the large Qualcomm marketing campaign, doesn’t offer much in terms of noticeable sound quality improvements over SBC. We could have licensed LDAC, but through lots of testing, we found it again unnecessary. This codec would only work with some Android devices*, could not be used in any wireless stereo/link-up modes and often drops to a low 330kbps bitrate mode which can sound worse than SBC/AAC, more information can be found in this article.

SBC/AAC got a bad rep from the early days of Bluetooth, but they are now pretty good for general streaming of music with modern devices streaming at over 320kbps these days. If you are worried about your audio codecs, first try increasing the quality on your music app (Spotify etc) as this defaults at just 96kbps. If you do have high-res files then you can use aux mode, but it’s worth considering that an extra ADC-DAC conversion will be taking place here.

Our advice is not to get caught up in codec marketing campaigns - remember that the difference between them is marginal at best and most often imperceivable. The quality of the speaker and its placement is much more important!

* aptX and LDAC are not available on iOS devices

Q. Has the Bluetooth range changed
A. The range for a single speaker is similar to the Minirig 3 and will vary according to the environment and placement. When multiple Minirigs are connected in wireless stereo or linkup mode, you should see improved range with the Minirig 4 due to increased Bluetooth output power levels.

App

Q. Will there be an app?
A. Yes! We've been working hard to develop a totally new app that is simpler and more fun to use. It's available on Google Play (Apple app store very soon) and also through Google Chrome web browsers for your PC and Mac!

Q. Do you plan to add support for other Operating Systems & Browsers (eg Linux)
A. The web app will work with any browser that fully supports the Web Bluetooth API.

To see what browsers are supported, please visit can I use.

Currently, Linux Chrome support is disabled behind a chrome flag "enable-experimental-web-platform-features". Whilst we don't officially support this, it should be possible to get it working:

1. Connect to the Minirig in the OS first.
2. Chrome does not support device search very well, so use the grey button 'request device'
3. Look for MRBT4APP and 'pair' to that (if you are trying to update, then connect to MRBT4 BL).

If you are still having issues, please contact us ensuring you include the App version, browser version, OS, screenshot of problem and what you are trying to do.

Q. How do I check information about my Minirig 4
A. You can check information about your Minirig 4 using the Minirig app.

Turn on your Minirig 4 and open the app
Select your Minirig 4 speaker from the list to connect to it
Press the settings logo in the top right corner.
Scroll down the page

SOFTWARE VERSION - This is the current software version you are running along with the date it was released. 11280224 = Software 11 released on 28nd Feb 2024.

HARDWARE VERSION - This is the hardware version used as a record of the parts used to make your Minirig 4.

PRODUCT CODE - This is the product code which will be MRBT4

MANUFACTURER DATA - This is information about the colour of your Minirig and the (rough) date it was built. 08020224 is a Black Minirig 4 built in early Feb 2024.

BLUETOOTH ADDRESS - This is the Bluetooth address of your Minirig 4. Every Bluetooth product has a unique Bluetooth address.

Q. How do I update my Minirig 4
A. You can check and update your Minirig 4 using the Minirig app.

Turn on your Minirig 4 and open the app
Select your Minirig 4 speaker from the list to connect to it
Press the settings logo in the top right corner
Scroll down the page to find “SOFTWARE VERSION”
Press the “check for updates” box
If there is an update available, press the update button
The Minirig 4 will reset into bootloader mode and display a YELLOW power LED
Search for devices using the app and select “MINIRIG 4 UPDATER”
Connect and read the page for a description of the update
Press the “PROGRAM” button
Wait for the update to complete - it will take 2-3 minutes. Do not leave the app and keep the phone close to your Minirig 4.
When the update is complete, the Minirig 4 will boot up - the 4 LED bar will display a YELLOW loading cycle
After around 10 seconds the Minirig will turn off
It is now ready to turn on and use again. You will need to pair your devices to the Minirig 4 again