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New second generation Dirac Live


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Hi SteveS1,

 

I'm sorry but I have to confirm that the DiracLiveProcessor requires a newer Mac OSX, maybe you have access to a Windows 10 PC?

Warning: My posts may be biased even if in good faith, I work for Dirac Research :-)

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 7/29/2019 at 5:38 PM, gazza49 said:

I too bought a mac mini to play music,i updated the operating system when prompted,there was no warning from Dirac that there software would no longer work,i have not used dirac now for over a year  was looking forward to version 2, downloaded it and was then told needed a later version of high sierra. so basically my mac as a music player with room correction is now bricked, wont work with version 1 or 2. not happy

 

If you are using the standalone Dirac Live 2.x beta with High Sierra you can try using version 2.2 of the calibration tool, you'll find it here:

https://live.dirac.com/all-released-versions/

If you'll find issues nonetheless please contact us from here: http://helpdesk.dirac.se/

thanks

Warning: My posts may be biased even if in good faith, I work for Dirac Research :-)

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6 hours ago, sound_cycle said:

@flak

 

Hi

 

I continue to be in like with v2.

 

I miss the gain and delay there was on V1.

 

I have an acoustically  horrible room, and find that the image centre is slightly off to one side. I had settled for using the delay slider to try and sort that out. I suppose that was not the best approach.

 

But that kludge/solution is not accessible with the beta. How to sort that out ? 

 

I also have a query about level matching before the measurement. The improvements to the interface make it more intuitive and informative. I find that it difficult to get both channels exactly the same, I suppose that the number presented is the average level, the best match I manage is +/- 0.2 db with the mouse. Does this matter.

 

Finally is this the place to post these or is there another preferred and proper way.

 

GR

 

Hi,

with reference to your image being slightly off to one side did you try lifting a bit the target curve of the channel on the other side leaving the first one untouched?

It will help us if you'll contact us at http://helpdesk.dirac.se/

thanks

Warning: My posts may be biased even if in good faith, I work for Dirac Research :-)

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1 hour ago, macuniverse said:

What's the latest 2.0 DL (Dirac Live) alpha/beta? I have 0.9.23 installed on my Macbook Pro running MacOS 10.14.6.

 

I'm using the standalone version. My input to DL 2.0 is UMIK-1. When I run DiracLiveProcessor and click on "Audio Settings" I only see output selection field.  Input selection (UMIK-1) field is missing. Can I assume that UMIK-1 already selected? MacOS sees UMIK-1 in Audio Midi setup (fix to 48KHz).

 

I select "Create New Filter" tab and click on "Measure" it opens a file selection dialog box. I have no idea what it's looking for as there is no message to guide the user. 

 

I'm stuck and any assistance appreciated.

 

 

Hi,

we will be pleased to assist you if you'll contact us at http://helpdesk.dirac.se/

thanks

Warning: My posts may be biased even if in good faith, I work for Dirac Research :-)

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On 7/30/2019 at 12:21 PM, esbrewer said:

I am pretty sure my Mac mini of the same vintage thatr runs the older standalone Dirac is updated to 10.14.  Why would you be limited bon MacOS when it should update for free?  Am I missing something?  I have not messed around with the new beta yet.  I would like to but am concerned about all the issues people are reporting here and just want my system to work.

 

Hi,

if you'll want to test the standalone Dirac Live 2.x beta with High Sierra you should use version 2.2 from here:

https://live.dirac.com/all-released-versions/

you might find issues.. that's the purpose of beta testing and you may wait for an officially released version,

we have received positive comments though so I think you can try it if you want

Warning: My posts may be biased even if in good faith, I work for Dirac Research :-)

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On 7/31/2019 at 4:06 PM, Gerard said:

Sorry, but as some of you talk about a beta version of Live Processor, is there a download link for registered users? I bought v. 1 some time ago and received an access key by the helpdesk. However, the only download I found was for a specific brand. Is there a standalone desktop version for Mac already?

 

Please advise.

Hi,

we will be pleased to send you the DiracLiveProcessor if you will contact us from here: http://helpdesk.dirac.se/

thanks

Warning: My posts may be biased even if in good faith, I work for Dirac Research :-)

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1 hour ago, macuniverse said:

 

Thanks for the reply. I have logged a report with Dirac. See what comes out of it.

Would you please send me a PM with your ticket number in order to have a look at it?

Thanks

Warning: My posts may be biased even if in good faith, I work for Dirac Research :-)

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Version 2.2.3 of the Dirac Live calibration tool has brought some changes one has to be aware of..

- The mic should not be selected anymore in the Audio Settings of the DiracLiveProcessor, it should be selected in the "Select recording device" page after Dirac Live has been invoked.

- The DiracLiveProcessor will not find Dirac Live in the previous location because it has changed, the first time one clicks "Measure" in the DiracLiveProcessor it's necessary to point it to DiracLive.exe along this path:

C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\Dirac\Live

 

Needless to say these complications will be avoided in the final release,

thanks for your time in testing it

Warning: My posts may be biased even if in good faith, I work for Dirac Research :-)

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17 hours ago, milva said:

Hi Flavio,

 

thank you for notifying the DL processor 0.9.2.3. She discovered the possibility of changing the input signal level. Unlike version 0.9.2.1, the UMIK-1 microphone is not active even if it is present in the settings.

Hi milva,

 

with Dirac Live 2.2.3 the mic should not be selected anymore in the Audio Settings of the DiracLiveProcessor, it should be selected in the "Select recording device" page after Dirac Live has been invoked

Warning: My posts may be biased even if in good faith, I work for Dirac Research :-)

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2 hours ago, milva said:

Hi Flavio

 

after your email I tried to set the microphone in Dirac Live, but in VOLUME CALIBRATION the microphone UMIK-1 is not active (not responding). In SELECT RECORDING DEVICE Dirac Live 2.2.3 is microphone UMIK-1 displayed and selected.

 

I use OSX 10.14.6, DiracProcessor 0.9.23 and Dirac Live 2.2.3 on MacMini 2014.

 

That looks like a bug, please kindly report this issue at http://helpdesk.dirac.se/

thanks

Warning: My posts may be biased even if in good faith, I work for Dirac Research :-)

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  • 2 weeks later...
15 hours ago, whoareyou said:

Hi.  Recently started with the (Windows) PC version of the Beta.  Jriver 25 (64 bit). 5.1 Multichannel. ExaSound DAC

I'm using DLP 9.12 (newest that can be configured with multi-channel per Dirac)

Per guide (from Dirac)  everything needs to be downsampled to 48hz

 

 

Hello,

it's important that you keep in touch with us at http://helpdesk.dirac.se/

because for the DLP (DiracLiveProcessor) we now have builds 0.9.23 for Windows and 0.9.24 for Mac and those can be used for multichannel at 96 KHz.

Also something should be wrong as the difference is clearly audible so please contact us, we will be pleased to support you in making it work.

Thanks, Flavio

 

 

Warning: My posts may be biased even if in good faith, I work for Dirac Research :-)

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On 8/17/2019 at 2:59 PM, Bob Stern said:

Confusion re product name and sales

 

Flavio:  

 

Does the standalone Mac/Windows version (with standalone Processor) have a name to distinguish it from the Dirac Live product that works only with licensed AVRs?

 

It appears you have removed the standalone Mac/Windows version from your web Shop.  Are you offering 30-day trials of either 1.x or the 2.0 beta to new customers?

 

Hi Bob,

the Dirac Live 2.x calibration tool is the same for Dirac enabled AVRs/audio components or use in a standalone setup.

A standalone setup needs an additional component though, the DiracLiveProcessor.

Until it will be officially released we will be pleased to send the latest version to those who ask for it at http://helpdesk.dirac.se/

as well as replace it with a build with a later expiry date when necessary :)

 

Warning: My posts may be biased even if in good faith, I work for Dirac Research :-)

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On 8/14/2019 at 9:48 AM, SteveS1 said:

 

This problem has been resolved with a further version, I've created a chair and Sofa SF filter and they both sound excellent.  I still have some reservations about the user interface, which imo is neither as intuitive or presentationally as good as the earlier Dirac iRC.   Also, with the wide range of loudness levels for CD rips, downloads or vinyl rips - the lack of an easy to use output level/clipping indicator is a major drawback compared to the early software.

 

But there is no doubt the sound quality is a major step forward.  I would like to understand more as whether the new measurement app, or changes to the Dirac Live processor are primarily resonsible, but there is definitely a more refined, smooth and spacious soundstage with plenty of clarity and precision.  More subtle details are revealed on material I know very well indeed.  At no point does additional detail seem 'highlighted' more a case of 'uncovered'.  I'm really looking forward to further listening later.  Bravo.

 

Some info on the clipping would be helpful.  I've tended to back off the vertical level indicator by about 6dB until I can see what's happening.

 

Hi SteveS1,

 

thanks for your kind comments about sound quality, I understand that a clipping indicator should be added as you requested in a future update.

Warning: My posts may be biased even if in good faith, I work for Dirac Research :-)

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On 8/23/2019 at 2:12 AM, esbrewer said:

So I have the link to the 0.9.24 processor for Mac.  But did I see above that the current calibration tool is the same one that I already have for my NAD T758v3 and C658?

 

Ted

Hi esbrewer,

 

the calibration tool is intentionally the same so that future updates will work for all setups but..

it might change because a modified calibration tool is required for the advanced bass management that we are beta testing

Warning: My posts may be biased even if in good faith, I work for Dirac Research :-)

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On 8/26/2019 at 1:35 PM, asdf1000 said:

 

Hi

 

Can you give key differences of what this advanced bass management feature will allow/enable, compared to current Dirac Live?

 

 

Low frequencies are not directional and subs can be connected, measured and corrected as if they were one.
Dirac Live will correct those low frequencies that are output by the subs so that they are aligned with the main speakers.

 

For an ideal correction there were some issues that had to be solved though.. often subs are not located in the same position of the main speakers and the distance from the main listening point is different.
Now it happens that crossovers are not brickwalls so that frequencies in the crossovering region are output by both the sub and the main speaker because they overlap.
As a result the same frequency will reach the main listening point with different delays and phase from those two sources (this can cause phase cancellation at some frequencies)
Consequently the algorithm has to choose a compromise unless an individual channel is available for each sub (one or more), the Dirac Live Bass management solution provides that and optimizes the interaction between the sub/s and the main speakers in the crossovering region.

 

Furthermore when more than one sub is used the application will optimize the response of each sub by individually calibrating them but their combined response would be affected by their respective interferences.
The above can be fully corrected if Dirac Live will have control of each subwoofer with an individual channel as possible with the Bass Management solution, Dirac Live will then also optimize the interaction among multiple subs.
As mentioned above this requires additional channels, for example a four channel audiocard or a multichannel DAC for a state of the art Stereo setup using standalone Dirac Live (this is an example: https://www.minidsp.com/products/usb-audio-interface/u-dac8) or one or more channels when using a Dirac enabled AVR/audio component.

 

Worth noting that this allows positioning the subwoofer/s anywhere in the room without sacrificing performance.

:) Flavio

 

Warning: My posts may be biased even if in good faith, I work for Dirac Research :-)

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3 minutes ago, asdf1000 said:

 

Thanks!

 

And if I have 4 subs, these each sub be able to be individually optimized by Dirac Live?


Or will Dirac Live be limited to 2 subs?

 

 

 

Yes asdf1000,

it will optimize four subs and their combined response provided that one has enough available channels, that's the reason why I mentioned the U-DAC8

Warning: My posts may be biased even if in good faith, I work for Dirac Research :-)

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31 minutes ago, asdf1000 said:

 

In the case of U-DAC8, do you only need one of it's analogue output channels to go to each individual sub?

 

So just need to use LFE input of sub?

 

 

 

If we are discussing a Stereo setup with four subwoofers it will use six of the eight channels of an U-DAC8.. worth noting that Dirac Live will apply the crossovering of the subs

Warning: My posts may be biased even if in good faith, I work for Dirac Research :-)

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  • 3 weeks later...
9 hours ago, milva said:

Hi Flavio,

 

test version Dirac 2.0 has ended. Is it going to be prolonged? I am not able to listen to the Dirac 1.0 anymore. When is the release date of the official Dirac 2.0 version?

 

Sure, please contact us from here: http://helpdesk.dirac.se/

as usual, thanks

Warning: My posts may be biased even if in good faith, I work for Dirac Research :-)

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 9/20/2019 at 6:36 PM, DSD256 said:

Dito...find 2.x much more realistic regarding low end rendering. With 1.x I have had hard times to fix that "too much bass" in the filters.

With 1.x filter I usually went -1 --2db in the low end.

2.x is way more realistic regarding low end rendering.

 

Besides: I found something interesting:

 

Compared to mathaudio RoomEQ I always found that music in Audirvana/Mac always distorted a little or very much by Dirac 2.x.
Interestingly, the audio unit beta of 1.x does the same distortion, although not as big..
If a piece was distorted I always loaded mathaudio RoomEQ into Audirvana and noticed that nothing was distorted here.

 

To deepen the story I opened Reaper (a DAW) and loaded a contemporary compressed track,  into the master I've inserted Dirac Live, Dirac processor and mathaudio RoomEQ as vst or audio-unit. I always play a loop of a region.

 

All three plugins are bypassed at the beginning and therefore Reaper will level out a maximum of 0db at the loop.

mathaudio RoomEQ stays at 0db. Here nothing goes into the range above 0db and therefore there are no distortions to be heard.

 

With Dirac 1.x it distorts, Reaper levels out +3.4 db at the beginning of the region. Something is wrong. That's probably the reason why Audirvana always has distortions.

Also the dirac 2.x with processor 0.94 causes distortions in the loop of the region. Reaper even shows me +4.8 db with a target filter. No wonder that in Audirvana it is distorted like crazy.

Now I'm in Dirac live 2.x again and created a new filter of a project, but I changed the filter in its entirety over -5db down in volume.

When I load this filter into processor 0.94 in the Reaper Project, Reaper now shows me no distortion at all. Reaper levels a maximum of 0db left and right.
This filter is now loaded into Audirvana and now the distortions within Audirvana with dirac2.x processor 0.94 are a thing of the past.

No distortions anymore.

Depending on the music material it seems that obviously the vst/au plugins of 1.x and the processor 0.94 of Dirac 2.x are distorting the audio between +0db to +5db when using a typical target curve for a filter.

 

The measurements were made in Dirac 1.x with the RME Babyface pro and the Audient id14.  The measurement microphones Beyerdynamic MM1 and Umik-1 were used for the measurements.
In Dirac 2.x the measurements were made with the Beyerdynamic MM1/ Umik-1 and the Audient id14.

 

Since replay-gain was almost always activated in Audirvana, noticeable distortion was much less common.
Since I have deactivated replay-gain in the last weeks, since then the distortions became an issue.

 

Finally I suspect that in the processor of diraclive 2.x as well in the vst/au beta of Dirac 1.x
a technique like limiting or normalizing to prevent distortion is missing.


Vid that shows my observations

 

Have similar observations already been made?

 

 

Hi DSD256,

 

thanks for reporting about the above,

we could reproduce here so it has been added as a bug to be fixed.
 
:) Flavio
 

Warning: My posts may be biased even if in good faith, I work for Dirac Research :-)

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On 9/21/2019 at 4:23 AM, macuniverse said:

 

Yes, I have played the same track with Audirvana and JRiver. JRiver has the option to monitor clipping. It shows some clipping with DL2 VST engaged.

 

My trial&error solution is to follow the speakers' natural room response as much as possible and use mostly cut filters.

 

Thanks macuniverse,

 

we are looking into this as well..

Warning: My posts may be biased even if in good faith, I work for Dirac Research :-)

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A beta tester sent the following valuable input:

Level is not automatically reduced by -8db as for Dirac Live 1.x, but when reducing the level by -8db in the VST plugin in JRiver (right hand site level bar in the DiracLiveProcessor) digital clipping should be avoided.

Also the above setting is not saved so that it has to be entered again.

 

I expect that those bugs will be fixed in the new version that we hope to make available within the expiry date of the current DLP builds

Warning: My posts may be biased even if in good faith, I work for Dirac Research :-)

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21 hours ago, whoareyou said:

I have one filter, that when engaged,is very close in level to the non-engaged setting.   Every other filter decreases volume level significantly when engaged.  For the most part, I've been finding the "engaged"  filters to lower volume more than I'd expect.  Anyone have an idea as to why this might happen?

 

Also, I've found the measurement process inconsistent in that I generally need to reboot my machine with microphone attached to complete process successfully.  If I don't do this, I almost always end up with incomplete measurements.

 

And a general question about setting the initial levels; what's the proper procedure?  I generally just try to even out each speaker's volume db reading as much as possible but ....  is there a target db reading (other than it's "green") that I should be achieving?

 

 

Hi whoareyou,

 

every EQ (including Dirac Live) needs headroom in order to be able of boosting those frequencies that require it without incurring in digital clipping, as a result the output level is reduced and that needs to be compensated by the volume control.

With reference to setting levels I suggest the following...

adjust the "Master output" to a “normally loud” listening level, not disturbingly loud but not too low either.
In doing so you might see a red lock that will inhibit increasing the volume further, it's a safety measure that can be unlocked by clicking on it.
Now check if the levels reach the middle of the green, if so proceed with measurements.. if not gradually increase "Mic gain", up to maximum if necessary.
If increasing "Mic gain" to maximum is not sufficient then increase "Master output" as required to reach the green.
This procedure is aimed at optimising the ratio between the volume of test signal and ambient noise for more accurate measurements but if you want to be extra safe you can instead start by adjusting "Mic gain" to maximum to then gradually increase "Master output" until the test signal reaches the green.

:) Flavio

Warning: My posts may be biased even if in good faith, I work for Dirac Research :-)

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@whoareyou

 

we now have a new version of the DiracLiveProcessor that you might check for the headroom adjustment.

The ”Measure” tab has been removed and Dirac Live no longer should be invoked via the processor, instead it can be opened separately and Dirac Live Processor will appear as a device to be selected when Dirac Live will be launched.

Also VU-meters and clipping indicators have been added.

 

Available as usual on request from here: http://helpdesk.dirac.se/

 

Thanks, Flavio

Warning: My posts may be biased even if in good faith, I work for Dirac Research :-)

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We have learnt that a colour blindness of some of our Dirac Live users makes it very difficult for them to use the 2.x calibration tool.
I'm pleased to inform that a dedicated colour scheme will be included in the next release.

 

Flavio

Warning: My posts may be biased even if in good faith, I work for Dirac Research :-)

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