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Post by mv on Nov 2, 2018 7:54:07 GMT -5
Hello All,
I was just wanting to get some real world feedback on Dirac implementation. Was it a "whoa" moment? Could you tell a significant difference going from Audyssey, YPAO, ARC, etc? I am asking because I have a dedicated theater using emo in-walls and I was just wondering if implementing a Dirac solution (either XMC-1 or MiniDSP) if it is going to get me that extra mile. I currently use a Fusion 8100 as my processor, with an XPA-3 powering my front soundstage. I use the EmoQ to equalize the room, but every time I run the software it gives me different readings...so I am a little suspicious of its accuracy. Any thoughts or opinions are appreciated.
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Post by wilburthegoose on Nov 2, 2018 8:28:26 GMT -5
Yes. Definitely yes.
I had been running Audyssey on a Denon with an XPA-5 amp.
Got an XMC-1. The sound native was certainly better, but Dirac was absolutely a "whoa" moment.
Audyssey, to me, was like a 3rd grade paper on how I spent my summer vacation. Dirac was like a Masters thesis.
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Post by creimes on Nov 2, 2018 8:29:10 GMT -5
Dirac was a big step up for my room compared to EmoQ from owning both a UMC-1 and XMC-1 in the past, once the RMC-1 is released there should be more used XMC-1's on the market.
Chad
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Post by macromicroman on Nov 2, 2018 10:51:02 GMT -5
I've read some pretty terrible Master's Theses.
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Post by emofrmcgy on Nov 2, 2018 10:51:37 GMT -5
If you spend the time to learn how to use Dirac, it is AWESOME. Huge step above emo-q and audyssey xt32. The full version gives enough adjustability to get yourself into some real trouble or to tweak to your hearts delight.
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Post by musicfan on Nov 2, 2018 11:00:45 GMT -5
for me...it was very nice however
not enough to lose ATMOS (i went from atmos to XMC-1 with dirac...but quickly went back as ATMOS is more of a difference maker than DIRAC is) but now thats a mott point for the xmc-1 (well soon hopfully anyways)
I then spent 1000$ on a mini dsp unit for dirac to use WITH ATMOS and my denon 7200. but after a few months and A/B ing with audyssey...it was in no way a $1000 improvement.
just my opinion on this matter
that all said...i will be trying out whatever is economically feasable dirac/atmos unit emotiva comes out with.....as long as its bug free
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Post by emofrmcgy on Nov 2, 2018 11:32:25 GMT -5
musicfan Have you considered a Nad unit ? Atmos and Dirac.
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Post by LuisV on Nov 2, 2018 11:44:03 GMT -5
musicfan Have you considered a Nad unit ? Atmos and Dirac. Yes, to my ears, DIRAC sounded better that what I've used in the past; however, I haven't tried ARC and I wasn't happy at all with YPAO. On a different note, now that I'm in the planing phases of building a dedicated room with Atmos / DTS:X in mind, if the Emotiva board isn't ready by the time I'm ready to install electronics, I might have to swap out my XMC-1 and look to other systems that already have DIRAC with Atmos / DTS:X implemented. Simply trying to indicate that if I need to swap out the XMC-1, I favor DIRAC over what I've tried in the past. |
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Post by emofrmcgy on Nov 2, 2018 12:47:53 GMT -5
musicfan Have you considered a Nad unit ? Atmos and Dirac. Yes, to my ears, DIRAC sounded better that what I've used in the past; however, I haven't tried ARC and I wasn't happy at all with YPAO. On a different note, now that I'm in the planing phases of building a dedicated room with Atmos / DTS:X in mind, if the Emotiva board isn't ready by the time I'm ready to install electronics, I might have to swap out my XMC-1 and look to other systems that already have DIRAC with Atmos / DTS:X implemented. Simply trying to indicate that if I need to swap out the XMC-1, I favor DIRAC over what I've tried in the past. I prefer arc to Dirac lite, I think for fully automatic systems arc is better. I LOVE the control Dirac full allows but still think arc did a better job blending in the crossover areas. And personally I believe Dirac is $1000 better than xt32 in my room. |
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Post by notanotherusername on May 6, 2019 11:20:47 GMT -5
Has anyone calibrated and found that the subwoofer is now outputting dialogue? I added some bass traps last week and re-ran Dirac. I had the low-pass filter (SVS PB-10 sub) cranked all the way up to permit Dirac to work its magic. The first 2 times I ran Dirac and lived with the results for a few months, I never had anything close to this. I had to adjust the low-pass filter directly to compensate, but I fear I might be missing some frequency between 30-80 hrz. I also had trouble getting the initial sweeps completed (kept getting clipping error and then missing samples error) and had to keep adjusting the sub level down even though there was no audible test tone.
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Post by creimes on May 6, 2019 12:57:16 GMT -5
Has anyone calibrated and found that the subwoofer is now outputting dialogue? I added some bass traps last week and re-ran Dirac. I had the low-pass filter (SVS PB-10 sub) cranked all the way up to permit Dirac to work its magic. The first 2 times I ran Dirac and lived with the results for a few months, I never had anything close to this. I had to adjust the low-pass filter directly to compensate, but I fear I might be missing some frequency between 30-80 hrz. I also had trouble getting the initial sweeps completed (kept getting clipping error and then missing samples error) and had to keep adjusting the sub level down even though there was no audible test tone. You may have a faulty MIC ?? is it a Emotiva mic that came with the XMC-1 ?? I used to have a Mini DSP umik mic but sold it, not sure if it is superior to the Emotiva supplied mic but I myself am thinking to grab one again. |
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Post by donh50 on May 6, 2019 13:37:46 GMT -5
Dirac Live does not handle the crossovers so make sure they are set properly. You can also adjust the curve to rolloff more steeply or not correct over the crossover frequency. Sub integration is one of the things some Dirac Live implementations don't seem to do as well as Audyssey but it is somewhat dependent upon the manufacturer's implementation (per DL support).
I have had various flavors of MCACC, Audyssey, and YPAO. Dirac Live was a step up in sound compared to them though after tweaking MCACC it was pretty close sonically and measured. I didn't really care for YPAO (older version), and do not have Audyssey XT32 so don't really have good comparisons of the latest gear. I also have a heavily treated room, so manually tweaking MCACC yielded pretty good results, but the MCACC version I had did not really touch the subs and that was a problem in my room. Dirac Live makes it easy to tweak, a mixed blessing, and out of the box the target curve worked well for me (though naturally I tweaked it anyway). At that time Audyssey Pro was an expensive upgrade; not sure if the current version's app allows as much flexibility as Dirac Live.
I suspect all the modern room correction systems work pretty well and it might be hard to tell among them without carefully-controlled tests.
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Post by ÈlTwo on May 6, 2019 17:26:01 GMT -5
Yes, I did.
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geebo
Emo VIPs 
"Too bad that all the people who know how to run the country are driving taxicabs and cutting hair"
Posts: 24,181
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Post by geebo on May 7, 2019 7:03:25 GMT -5
So did I.
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Post by notanotherusername on May 7, 2019 8:49:26 GMT -5
Has anyone calibrated and found that the subwoofer is now outputting dialogue? I added some bass traps last week and re-ran Dirac. I had the low-pass filter (SVS PB-10 sub) cranked all the way up to permit Dirac to work its magic. The first 2 times I ran Dirac and lived with the results for a few months, I never had anything close to this. I had to adjust the low-pass filter directly to compensate, but I fear I might be missing some frequency between 30-80 hrz. I also had trouble getting the initial sweeps completed (kept getting clipping error and then missing samples error) and had to keep adjusting the sub level down even though there was no audible test tone. You may have a faulty MIC ?? is it a Emotiva mic that came with the XMC-1 ?? I used to have a Mini DSP umik mic but sold it, not sure if it is superior to the Emotiva supplied mic but I myself am thinking to grab one again. It's the mic that came with the XMC-1. How would I figure out of the mic is bad? |
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Post by garbulky on May 7, 2019 9:01:09 GMT -5
I did notice a noticeable difference. But I found myself preferring no dirac for music. (Note: this was based on a very brief listening). Keep in mind that I haven't come across a room correction system that I would consider using. So, you may have a very different experience
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Post by monkumonku on May 7, 2019 10:07:36 GMT -5
I was using Hsu bookshelf speakers when I got the XMC-1 and Dirac made quite a difference. Soon after that I replaced the Hsu's with what I have now, Ascend Sierra 2's and running Dirac resulted in only a very subtle change. With the Hsu's, it brought up the treble quite a bit. That's not surprising, given that these speakers have a more laid back character on the top end. With the Sierra 2's, it very slightly recessed the mids. I don't use Dirac for two channel listening since I don't use the XMC-1 for that. But for HT, which is through the XMC-1, Dirac is switched on.
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KeithL
Administrator 
Posts: 9,929
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Post by KeithL on May 7, 2019 10:28:48 GMT -5
The microphone is a relatively normal USB microphone. Therefore, it will show up as an input device on your computer, and you can record something with it, then play it back and listen to it. (That will tell you very quickly if the microphone is flat out dead or sounds really muffled or otherwise odd.)
Since the microphones are tested and calibrated, if one is going to fail, the most likely way would be for a wire to fall off inside - in which case you would get no output at all. (Otherwise, if it isn't obviously dented or or beat up, the microphone capsule isn't pushed up into the end, and you get audio, then the microphone is probably OK.)
You may have a faulty MIC ?? is it a Emotiva mic that came with the XMC-1 ?? I used to have a Mini DSP umik mic but sold it, not sure if it is superior to the Emotiva supplied mic but I myself am thinking to grab one again. It's the mic that came with the XMC-1. How would I figure out of the mic is bad? |
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