XMC-1 / Dirac / Equalization

[Marcel]

Hi there,

after spending quite a time searching for help in the many threads and postings in this forum I by now gave up and try receive a straight answer by a new topic/thread:

On page 6 of the XMC-1 manual its says that "The Tone Controls and Tone Trims operate independently of each other, and both can be used in conjunction with either Dirac Live or the Manual EQ Presets enabled".

According to that - as far as I understand the above - it should be possible to permanentely alter e.g. bass as well as treble ("Tone Controls") with the Dirac-preset enabled in XMC-1 and not only temporarily ("Tone Trims").

But AFAIK with having the preset "Dirac" enabled you only can alter e.g. bass as well as treble settings via "Menue / Main Zone / Trims / Tone", wich means just for the listening session (compare page 38 of the manual).

In order to access the Tone Control Menue (Menue / Setup / Speakers) for permanent changes of the settings you first have to select a preset - either Dirac or preset 1 or preset 2.
"Equalization" including options to alter bass / treble is a sub-Menue only within preset 1 as well as within preset 2. Within the preset Dirac there is no option for (further) equalization.

Maybe I'm just to stupid to get it but I really wonder why bass / treble adjustments to the Dirac results can only be done temporarily within the menue of XMC-1. I know with the full version of Dirac Live it's possible to alter the curve and adjust the sound in bass as well as in treble from the computer/laptop, but that to my mind is pretty uncomfortable and thus unsatisfying for daily operation.

So if I missed something within the functionality of XMC-1 I'd be really happy to receive support from you guys in here as I'd really like to use the results of Dirac but also would like to give the sound some more punch by tweaking the Dirac results "live" from the couch without having to change the Dirac-curve.

Many thanks in advance for your support.

Kind regards,

Marcel

[Marcel]

Noone?

[bolle]

The manual isn´t 100% clear and your thinking / understanding is a bit off than how it is implemented / supposed to work.

1. You can use either the manual EQ (Presets) or DIRAC. "Or" is an "XOR" here.
2. You can use the tone trims / tone controls (meaning the same) on top. They are only persistent for the current session.
3. You don´t use DIRAC or the manual EQ to continously adjust "live". Both are meant to correct room modes and do one adaption / calibration of the system to the room, which then stays permanent.
4. For "live" adjustments, e.g. depending on the source material, the tone trims are there.

If you don´t have the full version of DIRAC Live, of course you are limitied to the default curve. So you can either get the full version or calibrate manually.

Also imho it is just not a good idea to always fiddle around during daily operation with your EQ and calibration. Take a rainy sunday, calibrate and tweak, listen, retweak and then just keep that setting.

[Marcel]

Hi bolle,

thanks for getting back on my topic. I totally agree with you that it's no good idea to "always" fiddle around during daily operation and that is why I was - referring to the manual - wondering if I simply don't get an important point. Because having to use the tone trims in preset "DIRAC" after every boot IS fiddeling around all the time.

I'd be happy to be able to use DIRAC for correcting the given room modes and add a bit of "punch" to the flat result by DIRAC without need to enter the DIRAC menue and experimenting with the curve. As I know DIRAC from the miniDSP DDRC88 I also own I purchased the DIRAC full version so to say straight with purchasing the XMC-1 unit. So I'm at least a bit familiar with DIRAC and how to "tweak" sound that way.
But it's not only uncomfortable, it's the more the wrong way. As you stated correctly, the job of DIRAC is to correct room modes. It's not meant to tweak the sound. This would be a job for tone controls/trims or - like miniDSP realized it with their DDRC88 - with an extra Bassmangement-Software.

In the end I fear it's the way you stated, the manual isn't clear on that point. And maybe also that EMOTIVA left out an option. As the room compensation by DIRAC as activated preset can be altered temporarily using tone trims I do not see any reason why these changes have to be reset with each reboot. It would have been much more logical as well as user-friendly to my humble point of view if XMC-1 also would give an option for permanent tweaks (tone control) within the preset DIRAC.

So, dear developers at EMOTIVA, if there will be another FW-update of XMC-1, offering tone control to DIRAC would be a great thing to add.

Best wishes,
Marcel

[bolle]

I guess what you like to do is something like a house curve, that´s what could be done with DIRAC full.

I for example purchased DIRAC full because my room is quite optimized acoustically and I don´t want a correction over the full range, also I don´t want to equalize my speakers much below their crossover or at least don´t want to waste amplifier power to force them to play linear below the crossover frequency.

I doubt that there will be much development besides from bug fixes going on for the XMC-1 anymore - so your best bet is either to get DIRAC full or do a manual calibration.

Good luck with either!

[millst]

Just use DIRAC full. It's not just room correction. Plenty of people apply a house curve. The tone controls are just a different set of digital filters that you have less control over.

The tone controls are temporary as they are meant to be applied to specific content, not an input or the whole system.

The XMC-1 firmware isn't changing (definitely not enhancement-wise). It is basically EOL.

[Marcel]

Thanks @both of you.

As I stated I already own a full DIRAC licence and know - to a certain point - how to handle it. In result I already applied a house-curve to XMC-1's DIRAC-preset.

My aim was to understand if I got the quoted info from the manual right. I now see that unfortunately the manual in that very point was more promising than the option XMC-1 offers in real life.

Kind regards,
Marcel