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

[marcl]

Jul 17, 2020 8:11:03 GMT -5 lokyc said:

I have a cross spectrum labs emm6 analog mic and it comes with 0, 45 and 90 deg calibration files.

Shame about the bundled one being poorly calibrated.

Regarding subs, does Dirac not support multiple subs? I have 2 stacked on top of each other, toying with idea of separating them to either side of MLP. For space reasons i sit right against back wall. No sure if that would help anything.

What others observed is as expected.  If you correct two subs separately the combined response will be greater than the sum and not necessarily linear.  The attached PDF is the well-respected research on the subject of multiple sub placement.   The simple answer: if you have two subs place them center of the front/back walls, or center of the left/right walls.  If you have four subs, the center of the four walls are best, but  four corners works well too.

The best way to handle multiple sub correction with Dirac or PEQ is to use a Y cable or miniDSP.

Attachments:

multsubs.pdf (814.85 KB)

[klinemj]

Jul 17, 2020 8:34:16 GMT -5 lokyc said:

Jul 17, 2020 8:19:41 GMT -5 klinemj said:

I wouldn't say the bundled mic is "poorly" calibrated. It's batch calibrated like pretty much every mic provided with almost all pre/pro's and AVR's. But, many prefer the individually calibrated mics - and I am one of them. Since you already appear to have one, you are set.

Mark

Hmm. That's a good point. I was using Acourate PC based DSP until Dolby Vision got me back to pre/pros. Acourate required the mic and output to be the same interface or else a real pain with ASIO64. Looking at the video, it looks like Dirac can use separate interfaces for input and output. Yay! Can keep my mic! (I hope.)

Just realized you mentioned the EMM-6. That's an XLR mic using phantom power - right? Not sure how you get that to input as USB to your PC....maybe someone else knows. If worse came to worse, you could sell it and get a Cross Spectrum UMIK - or just use the mic that comes from Emotiva.

Mark

[thxultra]

I know last night there was a issue with the registration link for dirac. Is it ok to register our processors now? I noticed the link above and it works so want to be sure we can use it before I register mine.

[lokyc]

Jul 17, 2020 8:46:53 GMT -5 klinemj said:

Jul 17, 2020 8:34:16 GMT -5 lokyc said:

Hmm. That's a good point. I was using Acourate PC based DSP until Dolby Vision got me back to pre/pros. Acourate required the mic and output to be the same interface or else a real pain with ASIO64. Looking at the video, it looks like Dirac can use separate interfaces for input and output. Yay! Can keep my mic! (I hope.)

Just realized you mentioned the EMM-6. That's an XLR mic using phantom power - right? Not sure how you get that to input as USB to your PC....maybe someone else knows. If worse came to worse, you could sell it and get a Cross Spectrum UMIK - or just use the mic that comes from Emotiva.

Mark

I have a USB interface. 2 in fact. Would Dirac not just detect that as audio input interface or does it only look form UMIK mics?

[cawgijoe]

Jul 17, 2020 8:19:41 GMT -5 klinemj said:

Jul 17, 2020 8:11:03 GMT -5 lokyc said:

Shame about the bundled one being poorly calibrated.

I wouldn't say the bundled mic is "poorly" calibrated. It's batch calibrated like pretty much every mic provided with almost all pre/pro's and AVR's. But, many prefer the individually calibrated mics - and I am one of them. Since you already appear to have one, you are set.

Mark

The Emotiva mic works well. The impression is that it does not. It does.

I will eventually get a UMIK-1 from CSL just because that's what we audio/videophiles do!

[ttocs]

Jul 17, 2020 8:50:45 GMT -5 lokyc said:

I have a USB interface. 2 in fact. Would Dirac not just detect that as audio input interface or does it only look form UMIK mics?

You can use any mic your computer recognizes using any interface your computer recognizes.

[richb]

Jul 17, 2020 9:02:14 GMT -5 cawgijoe said:

Jul 17, 2020 8:19:41 GMT -5 klinemj said:

I wouldn't say the bundled mic is "poorly" calibrated. It's batch calibrated like pretty much every mic provided with almost all pre/pro's and AVR's. But, many prefer the individually calibrated mics - and I am one of them. Since you already appear to have one, you are set.

Mark

The Emotiva mic works well. The impression is that it does not. It does.

I will eventually get a UMIK-1 from CSL just because that's what we audio/videophiles do!

CSL can also calibrate the Emotiva MIC.

- Rich

[cawgijoe]

Jul 17, 2020 9:25:18 GMT -5 richb said:

Jul 17, 2020 9:02:14 GMT -5 cawgijoe said:

The Emotiva mic works well. The impression is that it does not. It does.

I will eventually get a UMIK-1 from CSL just because that's what we audio/videophiles do!

CSL can also calibrate the Emotiva MIC.

- Rich

Yeah...I'd prefer to buy the UMIK-1.

Another question for those with a UMIK-1....I am now using 2020 Apple Macbook Air. I would like to get a longer cable then the one provided with the UMIK-1. Will the UMIK-1 work with a USB-C to micro USB cable? I do have an adapter to fit/convert the USB-C (thunderbolt) input on the Macbook to USB-A. Nice not to have another link in the chain though.

[AudioHTIT]

Jul 17, 2020 8:19:41 GMT -5 klinemj said:

Jul 17, 2020 8:11:03 GMT -5 lokyc said:

Shame about the bundled one being poorly calibrated.

I wouldn't say the bundled mic is "poorly" calibrated. It's batch calibrated like pretty much every mic provided with almost all pre/pro's and AVR's. But, many prefer the individually calibrated mics - and I am one of them. Since you already appear to have one, you are set.

Mark

Right, there’s always a way to make a product better, and raise the price for everyone, or (as in this case) allow those who want to improve the product, to pay for an improvement.

[Lonnie]

Jul 17, 2020 8:49:33 GMT -5 thxultra said:

I know last night there was a issue with the registration link for dirac. Is it ok to register our processors now? I noticed the link above and it works so want to be sure we can use it before I register mine.

Yes, it is back up and running. Sorry for the hassle.

By the way, just a heads up to everyone. On the page there is a place to log your MAC address, please do not put your home address. . From the registrations we received before it went down, about 50% put in their home address. We need to know your MAC ID.

Thanks,

Lonnie

[bblv]

Jul 17, 2020 9:34:53 GMT -5 cawgijoe said:

Jul 17, 2020 9:25:18 GMT -5 richb said:

CSL can also calibrate the Emotiva MIC.

- Rich

Yeah...I'd prefer to buy the UMIK-1.

Another question for those with a UMIK-1....I am now using 2020 Apple Macbook Air. I would like to get a longer cable then the one provided with the UMIK-1. Will the UMIK-1 work with a USB-C to micro USB cable? I do have an adapter to fit/convert the USB-C (thunderbolt) input on the Macbook to USB-A. Nice not to have another link in the chain though.

I used a powered 100' USB extender cable for my UMIK to reach my living room for Dirac calibration on my MiniDSP. Worked like a charm. A simple USB-C adapter in the chain will be no problem for you.

[AudioHTIT]

Jul 17, 2020 9:34:53 GMT -5 cawgijoe said:

Jul 17, 2020 9:25:18 GMT -5 richb said:

CSL can also calibrate the Emotiva MIC.

- Rich

Yeah...I'd prefer to buy the UMIK-1.

Another question for those with a UMIK-1....I am now using 2020 Apple Macbook Air. I would like to get a longer cable then the one provided with the UMIK-1. Will the UMIK-1 work with a USB-C to micro USB cable? I do have an adapter to fit/convert the USB-C (thunderbolt) input on the Macbook to USB-A. Nice not to have another link in the chain though.

Yes, that does work, most of the time I hook my UMIK-1 to my iPad Pro 11 with a USB-mini to USB-C cable and run AudioTools. It also works into the USB-C inputs of my Mac mini 2018.

[AudioHTIT]

Jul 17, 2020 10:13:29 GMT -5 Lonnie said:

Jul 17, 2020 8:49:33 GMT -5 thxultra said:

I know last night there was a issue with the registration link for dirac. Is it ok to register our processors now? I noticed the link above and it works so want to be sure we can use it before I register mine.

Yes, it is back up and running. Sorry for the hassle.

By the way, just a heads up to everyone. On the page there is a place to log your MAC address, please do not put your home address. . From the registrations we received before it went down, about 50% put in their home address. We need to know your MAC ID.

Thanks,

Lonnie

For those who don’t know where that is, go to Menu > Information > MAC Address > XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX

Here’s what the screen looks like, don’t post your MAC address.

[marcl]

Jul 17, 2020 10:22:23 GMT -5 AudioHTIT said:

Jul 17, 2020 10:13:29 GMT -5 Lonnie said:

Yes, it is back up and running. Sorry for the hassle.

By the way, just a heads up to everyone. On the page there is a place to log your MAC address, please do not put your home address. . From the registrations we received before it went down, about 50% put in their home address. We need to know your MAC ID.

Thanks,

Lonnie

For those who don’t know where that is, go to Menu > Information > MAC Address > XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX

Here’s what the screen looks like, don’t post your MAC address.

This is just for Beta testers, right?   Or have kits started shipping to general population?

[thxultra]

Jul 17, 2020 10:30:04 GMT -5 marcl said:

Jul 17, 2020 10:22:23 GMT -5 AudioHTIT said:

For those who don’t know where that is, go to Menu > Information > MAC Address > XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX

Here’s what the screen looks like, don’t post your MAC address.

This is just for Beta testers, right?   Or have kits started shipping to general population?

This is for everyone, Emotiva is getting ready to ship out the interface boxes but we all have to send our MAC addresses so they can register our processors with DIRAC.

[AudioHTIT]

Jul 17, 2020 10:30:04 GMT -5 marcl said:

Jul 17, 2020 10:22:23 GMT -5 AudioHTIT said:

For those who don’t know where that is, go to Menu > Information > MAC Address > XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX

Here’s what the screen looks like, don’t post your MAC address.

This is just for Beta testers, right?   Or have kits started shipping to general population?

The firmware you see is just for beta (at the moment), but everyone should register, the link is in the second post.

[Lonnie]

Jul 17, 2020 10:30:04 GMT -5 marcl said:

Jul 17, 2020 10:22:23 GMT -5 AudioHTIT said:

For those who don’t know where that is, go to Menu > Information > MAC Address > XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX

Here’s what the screen looks like, don’t post your MAC address.

This is just for Beta testers, right?   Or have kits started shipping to general population?

Kits have not started shipping yet. Registration of your processor is required before it will work. We have to send the info to Dirac. So this is the first step.

Thanks,

Lonnie

[BigE]

Jul 17, 2020 8:34:44 GMT -5 marcl said:

Jul 17, 2020 8:11:03 GMT -5 lokyc said:

I have a cross spectrum labs emm6 analog mic and it comes with 0, 45 and 90 deg calibration files.

Shame about the bundled one being poorly calibrated.

Regarding subs, does Dirac not support multiple subs? I have 2 stacked on top of each other, toying with idea of separating them to either side of MLP. For space reasons i sit right against back wall. No sure if that would help anything.

What others observed is as expected.  If you correct two subs separately the combined response will be greater than the sum and not necessarily linear.  The attached PDF is the well-respected research on the subject of multiple sub placement.   The simple answer: if you have two subs place them center of the front/back walls, or center of the left/right walls.  If you have four subs, the center of the four walls are best, but  four corners works well too.

The best way to handle multiple sub correction with Dirac or PEQ is to use a Y cable or miniDSP.

Any reason I couldn't use pass thru on Monoprice sub to second sub input? I'd presume it would be a full-range pass thru and second sub frequency response is a subset of more expensive Monolith 12".

[BigE]

Would anyone be able to speak to the ability of Dirac live version 3+ being able to work under Windows 8.1 64-bit?
Their website mentions specifically Windows 10 and I was unable to find out if it's backwards compatible.

My old Vista laptop was outfitted w/Win XP exclusively for programming an alarm system for which the manufacturer hasn't updated their software; I doubt it will run Win10. I'm unable tobliad software to company Win10 laptop. My desktop runs 8.1. As it is, I'll need to buy a lengthy USB extension cable for the mic or drag the desktop out of the rack to the media room. Kind of hate to shell out even more money for Windows 10 OS which I really don't want to run.

Every time I've upgraded OSs I've had hardware lose driver support, costing me even more money replacing hardware on top of OS cost and labor to migrate it - far outweighing any presumed benefit.

[AudioHTIT]

Jul 17, 2020 13:39:19 GMT -5 BigE said:

Would anyone be able to speak to the ability of Dirac live version 3+ being able to work under Windows 8.1 64-bit?
Their website mentions specifically Windows 10 and I was unable to find out if it's backwards compatible.

My old Vista laptop was outfitted w/Win XP exclusively for programming an alarm system for which the manufacturer hasn't updated their software; I doubt it will run Win10. I'm unable tobliad software to company Win10 laptop. My desktop runs 8.1. As it is, I'll need to buy a lengthy USB extension cable for the mic or drag the desktop out of the rack to the media room. Kind of hate to shell out even more money for Windows 10 OS which I really don't want to run.

Every time I've upgraded OSs I've had hardware lose driver support, costing me even more money replacing hardware on top of OS cost and labor to migrate it - far outweighing any presumed benefit.

I didn't hear anyone in the Beta group mention using any Windows other than 10. I used a MacBook with Catalina, and they also mention supporting the previous version Mojave, but one tester mentioned getting El Capitan to work (even older). Which is to say 'maybe', but I personally wouldn't be optimistic. You can get a Windows 10 license for about $15 on Amazon, I run Win10 in a VM on my Mac, but I understand that's not the whole issue. Eventually though you'll probably have to bite the bullet.