Dirac Live

amirm

Banned
Apr 2, 2010
15,813
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0
Seattle, WA
Understood. I say measure them again and let's see where you stand. And what is your audio chain? Will the input be analog or digital?
 

edorr

WBF Founding Member
May 10, 2010
3,139
14
36
Smyrna, GA
Understood. I say measure them again and let's see where you stand. And what is your audio chain? Will the input be analog or digital?

I am 80% 2 channel music, 10% movies and 10% multi channel music (sacd). All 2 channel is computer based. Digital into the trinnov using the brand new offramp 5 USB converter with battery power supply, trinnov digital out into my Perfectwave mkii dac for mains. The trinnov dacs feed my subs. For multi channel I am using a marantz ud9004, volume controlled with a theta six shooter, analog into the trinnov (a/d converted). It works very well, but it is very complex.

Once I have the mm3's I may try some other things to simplify my setup - may be run Dirac on a pc and lose the trinnov. May be get an ADA Mach 4 and take out the ud9004 + cbIII + six shooter. As i am thinking through configurations i am finding the world needs a high grade dac with HT bypass. First priority is getting the mm3's to sing though.
 

amirm

Banned
Apr 2, 2010
15,813
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Seattle, WA
Cool. Wish there was an evaluation version though. Hate to spend $850 only to find out I don't like it.
 

Justus

New Member
Dec 12, 2012
27
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CT, USA
www.purestmusic.com
I have not compared Dirac to Audyssey. But I have compared Audyssey Pro to others and I rarely find it effective. Its tools are rather limited even in pro configuration.

BTW, I just got my SDEC-4500 and am unboxing it this weekend! Don't have all the bits to configure it out but it is definitely "play time." :)

hey Amir,which version of audyssey?

justus
 

audioguy

WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
2,794
73
1,635
Near Atlanta, GA but not too near!
MultEQ XT and Realizer (their Pro box). Not played with the XT32 version yet.
XT32 is a totally different animal than even a combination of XT plus the their sub EQ. You still may not like it (my guess is you won't).

An easily audible (and measurable) improvement is the reduction in bass ringing. First use your ears and then use XTZ and is it real clear. Couple that with some tricks of adjusting Audyssey selected sub distances and you can greatly improve main/sub integration.

You can see the huge dip that existed with the Audyssey selected sub distance (I have multiple subs and I don't know if this issue exists with a single sub) versus modifying it. (This methodology was given to me by Mark Seaton). The audibility of this improvement was quite spectacular. There are a number of things you can do to Audyssey to get better sound that what it provides out of the box.

Is it Dirac Live? Probably not!


 

NorthStar

Member
Feb 8, 2011
24,305
1,323
435
Vancouver Island, B.C. Canada
-- Interesting.

* BTW, Audyssey MultEQ XT32 selected 12 feet as the distance for my two subs.
It just happened that they are exactly at twelve feet each from my listening position! :b
{Measured from the inside dust cap of each driver.}

Everything else was perfectly adjusted manually by me (balance volume levels, or gains, phases, low and hi-pass filters),
from a test disc for subwoofer's integration with the mains, and for all those parameters.

_______________

I did not take any measurements, only levels from a RS SPL meter, and final test with my ears' acceptance.
 

amirm

Banned
Apr 2, 2010
15,813
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0
Seattle, WA
I certainly believe the higher resolution filters in XT32 do a better job in bass.

BTW, you are on the money on modifying the sub distance to fill in the cross over. In one of my most data laden articles I have written for WSR magazine, coming out in January, I go over the JBL ARCOS computer optimization of that. It will actually analyze all the values across multiple seats to arrive at the optimal delay. It will also do that in the context of multiple subs. All in all, it sorts through 304 *million* permutations! Needless to say, no human comes remotely close. With bass frequencies being impacted by room the most, any optimization we can get is real and will be nicely audible as you say.
 

edorr

WBF Founding Member
May 10, 2010
3,139
14
36
Smyrna, GA
I'm considering getting DiracLive software for my music server. Anyone tried it? Since I am now an all digital music guy, this seems like a great way to go!

I am planning to do the same thing. Currently running my server into trinnov over aes/ebu with USB converter,using trinnov as a volume control as well. With new dac with volume control I can run Dirac live on my server, USB into my dac. Shorter signal path, less cost/ hardware. I'll set this up in a week or three.
 

Nyal Mellor

Industry Expert
Jul 14, 2010
590
4
330
SF Bay Area, CA, USA
With the advances to JRiver I am seeing if I can get a mixed use music and HT PC up and running. The recent versions of JRiver basically allow you to replace your pre-processor with a PC. It does bass management, upmixing, volume control...all the major functions one uses in a pre-pro.

I have some reservations based on my past experience with trying to run hi-rez with DSP (dropouts, pops, clicks, etc) inside a computer but I may be more successful this time.

To maximize chances of success I am putting together a completely new PC using an four core i7 processor and a ton of RAM. I will also use a Lynx AES card inside the computer to minimize the chance of USB or FW flaking out when trying to run 12 channels at 24/96. Then out to a DEQX HDP-4 for the L/R bi-amped speakers and a Metric Halo LIO8 for the other 8 channels.

I also want to try Real Sound Labs Coneq, Audiolense, Acourate, etc. This year is the year of the demo room and the year of testing out a ton of DSP algorithms...and measuring them all to see what the hell they are doing :)
 

Nyal Mellor

Industry Expert
Jul 14, 2010
590
4
330
SF Bay Area, CA, USA
Sounds like a neat project Nyal. Please report back with what you find out.

Don't worry I will do! Many blog articles will be written I think on this subject!
 

Nyal Mellor

Industry Expert
Jul 14, 2010
590
4
330
SF Bay Area, CA, USA

edorr

WBF Founding Member
May 10, 2010
3,139
14
36
Smyrna, GA
Simple practical question. To set up Dirac live on a my CAPS 2.0 server, I need a microphone / soundcard. I am planning on using my Trinnov microphone (as good as any I presume), which is battery powered and has ASE/EBU connectors. How can I connect an AES/EBU microphone to my CAPS 2.0 server (presumably using USB)?
 

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