The Official Dirac Live Thread: Start w/1,2,3 🙋‍♂️

[novisnick]

How long till I turn off my RMC-1 as it seems to have locked up starting after latest FW installation?

[jbrunwa]

Oct 2, 2021 15:41:11 GMT -5 novisnick said:

Oct 2, 2021 15:35:23 GMT -5 ttocs said:

Hmm, all of my sliders are at 100%, Do I need to move my master slider down?

I seem to recall that you just want to be about 30 dB over the noise floor, and it doesn’t hurt for subwoofer to be a little louder than the other speakers. Im sure someone will correct me if I’m wrong

[BigE]

Oct 2, 2021 11:34:56 GMT -5 geebo said:

Oct 2, 2021 11:15:18 GMT -5 t3x3l said:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLJYPuwKRmg

The video mentions disabling unused inputs (2 mins 32 seconds in) before running correction. I cant seem to find where to do this.

Anyone know?

Not inputs but channels. For each preset set any channels/speakers to None if you have no speakers connected to that channel. So for example if you have no rear speakers, set them to None in Setup > Speakers > Preset > Size > Rears.

Raises a good question. When I rerun Dirac with my tactile transducer, how do I set it? Dirac won't hear it, so it will fault when running; 🤔 I cannot just add an unmanaged channel to Dirac after the fact can I? It works now, seems like that's what I did. I could use a y splitter to join center sub output and right sub output to same sub and then re-connect tactile to center output afterwards.

[novisnick]

Thanks for the help, this is what I tried.
Master volume set at -25 and each slider at -2.5

I’ve not noticed my subs being bumped up as I’ve read elsewhere. Well, okay. Just a little bit! Hahahahahaha

[fbczar]

Oct 2, 2021 16:26:59 GMT -5 BigE said:

Oct 2, 2021 11:34:56 GMT -5 geebo said:

Not inputs but channels. For each preset set any channels/speakers to None if you have no speakers connected to that channel. So for example if you have no rear speakers, set them to None in Setup > Speakers > Preset > Size > Rears.

Raises a good question. When I rerun Dirac with my tactile transducer, how do I set it? Dirac won't hear it, so it will fault when running; 🤔 I cannot just add an unmanaged channel to Dirac after the fact can I? It works now, seems like that's what I did. I could use a y splitter to join center sub output and right sub output to same sub and then re-connect tactile to center output afterwards.

Do your subs allow you to daisy chain one sub to another? If so, disconnect the tactile transducer, run Dirac, and then after Dirac is all set reconnect the tactile transducer to the sub. Connecting the tactile transducer to the center output of an XMC-2 would be ideal if Emotiva would enable a way to add back the center sub output after Dirac measurements are done. Maybe one day…

[ttocs]

Oct 2, 2021 15:41:11 GMT -5 novisnick said:

Oct 2, 2021 15:35:23 GMT -5 ttocs said:

With the last few updates the Volume Calibration has gotten away from the "green" zone stuff. I guess it has to do with so many variables in systems, plus it depends on which mic is used, etc.

You just need to test for your system, basically.

When I have tested the EMM-1 mic, it seems to be more picky about how the Volume Calibration is setup vs when Dirac gets to Measurements. Start low, do just one mic position to test the outcome, then after success you can adjust as you would like and use more mic positions like you should.

With the UMIK-1, it's much easier because the sensitivity is set higher by default (but this is adjustable should one want to measure higher outputs).

With that said, this 3.1.2 version is different, but more of the same. There's still a big difference between how loud the pink noise plays in Volume Calibration and the sweeps play in Measurement, but it's not really different like it was a year ago.

To get Measurement to play sweeps at about 85dB, I set the mic to 100%, and set the speaker channels to play at -22dB, but I increase the subwoofer channels in Vol Cal to -15dB so they play at the same level as the speakers in Measurement (within a dB). This makes everything play loud enough to get good results but not so loud that it hurts anything.

Bottom line is that I suggest keeping the mic at 100%. Then adjust as you like and as the results direct.

The Dirac runs I've done today are mainly just to see what happens. I adjusted the Speaker/Subwoofer Channels higher each time I ran Dirac. 

Hmm, all of my sliders are at 100%, Do I need to move my master slider down?
How long does the FW install take? I think its stuck as its been doing nothing for well over 5 minutes (states that its starting that is)

You mean, FirmWare? I was talking about the Dirac updates. But firmware updates for the G3P takes about 7 minutes until the reboot which takes another 2-3 minutes.

Here's what I do. I keep the Mic at 100%, then move the Master down a bit so each channel will play the pink noise at a tolerable level, then, with all the channel sliders at 0.0dB, press Play for each channel for a few seconds until the meter stops moving at whatever level it settles at, and after every channel has been played, look for the one that has the lowest level - that's the one to pay attention to. Now, move the Master slider up until that channel's level is where you want it and stop. You don't need to play pink noise for this. Once the first channel is set, then move the other channel sliders down so that they all match the first one, except the subwoofers, which I make about 6-7dB louder.

This takes me about 90 seconds.

Play pink noise on each speaker channel and the sweep noise on each subwoofer channel once.
Adjust Master until the weakest channel is where you want it.
Adjust all other speaker channel sliders down to match the weakest one.
Adjust the subwoofer channels about 6dB higher.
Done with Volume Calibration.

[ttocs]

Oct 2, 2021 16:26:59 GMT -5 BigE said:

Oct 2, 2021 11:34:56 GMT -5 geebo said:

Not inputs but channels. For each preset set any channels/speakers to None if you have no speakers connected to that channel. So for example if you have no rear speakers, set them to None in Setup > Speakers > Preset > Size > Rears.

Raises a good question. When I rerun Dirac with my tactile transducer, how do I set it? Dirac won't hear it, so it will fault when running; 🤔 I cannot just add an unmanaged channel to Dirac after the fact can I? It works now, seems like that's what I did. I could use a y splitter to join center sub output and right sub output to same sub and then re-connect tactile to center output afterwards.

Disable the channels that are for the "tactile transducer(s)", then run Dirac, then enable them after running Dirac.

[novisnick]

Oct 2, 2021 23:04:38 GMT -5 ttocs said:

Oct 2, 2021 15:41:11 GMT -5 novisnick said:

Hmm, all of my sliders are at 100%, Do I need to move my master slider down?
How long does the FW install take? I think its stuck as its been doing nothing for well over 5 minutes (states that its starting that is)

You mean, FirmWare? I was talking about the Dirac updates. But firmware updates for the G3P takes about 7 minutes until the reboot which takes another 2-3 minutes.

Here's what I do. I keep the Mic at 100%, then move the Master down a bit so each channel will play the pink noise at a tolerable level, then, with all the channel sliders at 0.0dB, press Play for each channel for a few seconds until the meter stops moving at whatever level it settles at, and after every channel has been played, look for the one that has the lowest level - that's the one to pay attention to. Now, move the Master slider up until that channel's level is where you want it and stop. You don't need to play pink noise for this. Once the first channel is set, then move the other channel sliders down so that they all match the first one, except the subwoofers, which I make about 6-7dB louder.

This takes me about 90 seconds.

Play pink noise on each speaker channel and the sweep noise on each subwoofer channel once.
Adjust Master until the weakest channel is where you want it.
Adjust all other speaker channel sliders down to match the weakest one.
Adjust the subwoofer channels about 6dB higher.
Done with Volume Calibration.

Thanks so much, I’ll have to wait till next week to give it a try. I don’t recall any meters but I’ll look again. 
Is there a way to delay the start of a sweep? I don’t have enough time to move out of the way. Laying face down on a chair in front of my computer just isn’t optional. 😳

[klinemj]

Oct 2, 2021 23:13:19 GMT -5 novisnick said:

Oct 2, 2021 23:04:38 GMT -5 ttocs said:

You mean, FirmWare? I was talking about the Dirac updates. But firmware updates for the G3P takes about 7 minutes until the reboot which takes another 2-3 minutes.

Here's what I do. I keep the Mic at 100%, then move the Master down a bit so each channel will play the pink noise at a tolerable level, then, with all the channel sliders at 0.0dB, press Play for each channel for a few seconds until the meter stops moving at whatever level it settles at, and after every channel has been played, look for the one that has the lowest level - that's the one to pay attention to. Now, move the Master slider up until that channel's level is where you want it and stop. You don't need to play pink noise for this. Once the first channel is set, then move the other channel sliders down so that they all match the first one, except the subwoofers, which I make about 6-7dB louder.

This takes me about 90 seconds.

Play pink noise on each speaker channel and the sweep noise on each subwoofer channel once.
Adjust Master until the weakest channel is where you want it.
Adjust all other speaker channel sliders down to match the weakest one.
Adjust the subwoofer channels about 6dB higher.
Done with Volume Calibration.

Thanks so much, I’ll have to wait till next week to give it a try. I don’t recall any meters but I’ll look again. 
Is there a way to delay the start of a sweep? I don’t have enough time to move out of the way. Laying face down on a chair in front of my computer just isn’t optional. 😳

I have a wireless keyboard on the PC I use for Dirac. So, I can "hide" myself, then initiate the sweep, and I'm not in the way at all. Mine was cheap...like...$20 or so? It's a Logitech. Easy solution.

Mark

[novisnick]

Anybody use the phone app for DiracLive?

[ttocs]

Oct 2, 2021 23:13:19 GMT -5 novisnick said:

Oct 2, 2021 23:04:38 GMT -5 ttocs said:

You mean, FirmWare? I was talking about the Dirac updates. But firmware updates for the G3P takes about 7 minutes until the reboot which takes another 2-3 minutes.

Here's what I do. I keep the Mic at 100%, then move the Master down a bit so each channel will play the pink noise at a tolerable level, then, with all the channel sliders at 0.0dB, press Play for each channel for a few seconds until the meter stops moving at whatever level it settles at, and after every channel has been played, look for the one that has the lowest level - that's the one to pay attention to. Now, move the Master slider up until that channel's level is where you want it and stop. You don't need to play pink noise for this. Once the first channel is set, then move the other channel sliders down so that they all match the first one, except the subwoofers, which I make about 6-7dB louder.

This takes me about 90 seconds.

Play pink noise on each speaker channel and the sweep noise on each subwoofer channel once.
Adjust Master until the weakest channel is where you want it.
Adjust all other speaker channel sliders down to match the weakest one.
Adjust the subwoofer channels about 6dB higher.
Done with Volume Calibration.

Thanks so much, I’ll have to wait till next week to give it a try. I don’t recall any meters but I’ll look again. 
Is there a way to delay the start of a sweep? I don’t have enough time to move out of the way. Laying face down on a chair in front of my computer just isn’t optional. 😳

Here are a couple screenshots from Dirac 3.1.2 on my Mac mini using a UMIK-1 mic. The Mac mini is connected to the XMC-2 and shows on the tv display.
The first one is after playing the noise on every channel. You can see that the weakest channel is the Left Surround by looking at the meters showing the dB levels. The Left Surround meter shows -23.5dB.


This second screenshot shows that I moved the Master slider up until the Left Surround showed -22dB, which is what I have determined works well for my system, then moved all the other speaker sliders down to match except the two subwoofer channels which I adjusted for -15dB.

[novisnick]

Oct 2, 2021 23:46:06 GMT -5 ttocs said:

Oct 2, 2021 23:13:19 GMT -5 novisnick said:

Thanks so much, I’ll have to wait till next week to give it a try. I don’t recall any meters but I’ll look again. 
Is there a way to delay the start of a sweep? I don’t have enough time to move out of the way. Laying face down on a chair in front of my computer just isn’t optional. 😳

Here are a couple screenshots from Dirac 3.1.2 on my Mac mini using a UMIK-1 mic. The Mac mini is connected to the XMC-2 and shows on the tv display.
The first one is after playing the noise on every channel. You can see that the weakest channel is the Left Surround by looking at the meters showing the dB levels. The Left Surround meter shows -23.5dB.
View Attachment

This second screenshot shows that I moved the Master slider up until the Left Surround showed -22dB, which is what I have determined works well for my system, then moved all the other speaker sliders down to match except the two subwoofer channels which I adjusted for -15dB.
View Attachment

I must have missed that. I’ll try again with more knowledge thanks to you. I lucked out as my system really sounds good.

[leonski]

I misunderstand? IF you are going to be IN the room when the mucic / movie is playing, why SHOULDN"T you be in the room for the referencing / calibration?

You are part of the audio environment. Just hold still, maybe? And don't you need to be there for ALL positions tested?

[ttocs]

Oct 3, 2021 2:35:02 GMT -5 leonski said:

I misunderstand? IF you are going to be IN the room when the mucic / movie is playing, why SHOULDN"T you be in the room for the referencing / calibration?

You are part of the audio environment. Just hold still, maybe? And don't you need to be there for ALL positions tested?

I'm in the room, just not sitting in the MLP. Some mic positions need to be where a body would be, like right in the middle of my head if I were sitting in the MLP. So I sit in a seat left of the MLP and make lots of noise!! (not) And because I use the mini with wireless mouse and keyboard, I can sit anywhere I want and still see the app on the tv display. Where I sit is not in the line of sight between the surround speaker and mic.

[ttocs]

And as an FYI, regarding that recommendation by Dirac and others for setting the channel sliders about 30dB more than the room noise floor . . . . you can see that the channels were mostly set at 20dB higher than the noise floor in Volume Calibration, but the Measurement sweeps play louder than that by about 18dB, so there's plenty of signal to noise happening. With the settings I use the sweeps play at 85dB SPL.


If I had to guess as to why the sweeps play so much louder than the Volume Calibration, it would be because setting up can take some time for some folks and hearing pink noise that loud would be more of a problem in some households.

[tngiloy]

All this confusion about the proper setup for running Dirac - especially the mic gain/master volume/ speaker volume settings- could be cleared up with a new Emotiva instruction video on proper setup with the most recent Dirac version. Just sayin'.

[foggy1956]

Oct 2, 2021 23:13:19 GMT -5 novisnick said:

Oct 2, 2021 23:04:38 GMT -5 ttocs said:

You mean, FirmWare? I was talking about the Dirac updates. But firmware updates for the G3P takes about 7 minutes until the reboot which takes another 2-3 minutes.

Here's what I do. I keep the Mic at 100%, then move the Master down a bit so each channel will play the pink noise at a tolerable level, then, with all the channel sliders at 0.0dB, press Play for each channel for a few seconds until the meter stops moving at whatever level it settles at, and after every channel has been played, look for the one that has the lowest level - that's the one to pay attention to. Now, move the Master slider up until that channel's level is where you want it and stop. You don't need to play pink noise for this. Once the first channel is set, then move the other channel sliders down so that they all match the first one, except the subwoofers, which I make about 6-7dB louder.

This takes me about 90 seconds.

Play pink noise on each speaker channel and the sweep noise on each subwoofer channel once.
Adjust Master until the weakest channel is where you want it.
Adjust all other speaker channel sliders down to match the weakest one.
Adjust the subwoofer channels about 6dB higher.
Done with Volume Calibration.

Thanks so much, I’ll have to wait till next week to give it a try. I don’t recall any meters but I’ll look again. 
Is there a way to delay the start of a sweep? I don’t have enough time to move out of the way. Laying face down on a chair in front of my computer just isn’t optional. 😳

I believe there is an icon at center, bottom to adjust time delay. Going from memory, apologies.

[klinemj]

Oct 3, 2021 6:23:39 GMT -5 tngiloy said:

All this confusion about the proper setup for running Dirac - especially the mic gain/master volume/ speaker volume settings- could be cleared up with a new Emotiva instruction video on proper setup with the most recent Dirac version. Just sayin'.

This is handy and it comes directly from the source - DIRAC.

-->CLICK HERE for DIRAC 3 User Manual<--

Mark

[novisnick]

Oct 3, 2021 6:23:39 GMT -5 tngiloy said:

All this confusion about the proper setup for running Dirac - especially the mic gain/master volume/ speaker volume settings- could be cleared up with a new Emotiva instruction video on proper setup with the most recent Dirac version. Just sayin'.

Yes, I agree. All of the videos are a year old. As a service to all Emotiva processor owners I think its time to update the videos to help take the guessing out of running Dirac Live.  I’ve used Dirac back when I got my XMC-1 long ago and have used it with my RMC-1 but I don’t use Dirac often enough to be so familiar that I recall how to use it properly. Im sure it has more power and abilities that Ive never learned and wish there was an even more detailed video on advanced abilities. 
How does one implement a Harmon Curve? Take measurements and lay it over? I haven’t a clue. I do realize videos take time and resources but the overall satisfaction and experience with any Emotiva processor would be money well spent for the customer. 
how to help a sick betta

[klinemj]

Oct 3, 2021 11:44:57 GMT -5 novisnick said:

Oct 3, 2021 6:23:39 GMT -5 tngiloy said:

All this confusion about the proper setup for running Dirac - especially the mic gain/master volume/ speaker volume settings- could be cleared up with a new Emotiva instruction video on proper setup with the most recent Dirac version. Just sayin'.

Yes, I agree. All of the videos are a year old. As a service to all Emotiva processor owners I think its time to update the videos to help take the guessing out of running Dirac Live.

Or - just see the DIRAC Manual I posted.

Mark