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Active Room Treatment (ART) by Dirac

Flak

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Industry Insider
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Nov 18, 2018
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Dirac is demoing Active Room Treatment (ART) at CES and here are two videos about it...



:) Flavio
 
I hope ART gets widely adopted. Maybe someone can twist miniDSP’s arm? :)

My disappointment with DLBC is, it’s not available on enough platforms. But if everyone was really just waiting for ART, fair enough.
 
Hi @Flak and thank you for posting the videos.

- It would be interesting if they took any measurements before vs after on their demo. Do you know if they had any before / after measurements so those than aren't able to attend can get an idea of what issues were fixed?
-Originally, I think that the frequency cutoff was going to be 1khz. If I recall from one of the videos it is going to be 150hz but may get changed to 300hz. Is my understanding correct? Do you think it will evolve upwards and just let users have a curtain to adjust where they want this type of correction to stop?
-I read from Dirac last year about Spatial Room Correction. Did Dirac just choose to change the name to Active Room Correction? It seems like it is just a name change. Is my understanding correct?

I have a StormAudio processor and look forward to trying it out once it is released. If it works as described, it sounds like it could be very effective.
 
During Chistmas holidays I talked to an old friend of mine that was part of the small group of Signal Processing research team in Uppsala in the 1990s that later became Dirac. Interesting development.
 
I wonder if there is a kind of optimal type of speaker (and subwoofer) for which this software may work best.
 
I wonder if there is a kind of optimal type of speaker (and subwoofer) for which this software may work best.
That is another good question. For example is it beneficial to have full range surrounds?
 
Hi @Flak and thank you for posting the videos.

- It would be interesting if they took any measurements before vs after on their demo. Do you know if they had any before / after measurements so those than aren't able to attend can get an idea of what issues were fixed?
-Originally, I think that the frequency cutoff was going to be 1khz. If I recall from one of the videos it is going to be 150hz but may get changed to 300hz. Is my understanding correct? Do you think it will evolve upwards and just let users have a curtain to adjust where they want this type of correction to stop?
-I read from Dirac last year about Spatial Room Correction. Did Dirac just choose to change the name to Active Room Correction? It seems like it is just a name change. Is my understanding correct?

I have a StormAudio processor and look forward to trying it out once it is released. If it works as described, it sounds like it could be very effective.
The version that we are currently beta testing allows the user to decide about the frequency cutoff with a limit of 500 Hz.
And yes, the final name is Active Room Treatment as it's what it is and it's more understandable that it corrects the RT60
And no, I don't know if measurements were saved at CES.
 
That is another good question. For example is it beneficial to have full range surrounds?
I think it is, but the correction applies at higher frequencies also... currently the beta tester can assign a 500 Hz limit.
 
Right… so Storm Audio ($10k ouch) will have exclusive rights until the next hardware vendor releases compatible hardware in Q4 2023.

Dirac has no intention on releasing their own hardware box to do this. Understandable.

The only solution is to implement this for the pc then. There are plenty multi-channel dacs that can process these channels, albeit, you’ll still have to figure out things like Dolby Atmos support for the pc.

Overall, as Sancus said, we need this to cost less than $10k. Right now, it’s just a shiny new toy for the rich.
 
In all fairness this was a similar Situation with DLBC as well. Some vendors had it at launch, some took a while to implement, and some still haven’t. Like DLBC ARC will likely be similar.
 
That is another good question. For example is it beneficial to have full range surrounds?
I guess the general notions such as "flat response on the usable frequency band" and "not too wide dispersion in order to minimize reflections" which are a good starting point for any multichannel system, apply here. But that aside, it would be fair to consider that even if your surrounds are not full range, that can be accomplished with subwoofers and adjusting that interaction itself is what makes the system super interesting.
 
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When I went axpona last year they had a similar product which was connected to the amp or dac. I forget, which, but it was a unit which controls the RT.

I was actually pretty shocked by it, on and off you could definitely hear a difference. It almost seemed like it removed the room entirely or at least things became way more clear almost like being in the room where the performance was taking place.
 
When I went axpona last year they had a similar product which was connected to the amp or dac. I forget, which, but it was a unit which controls the RT.
Can you identify it or provide a link?
 
In all fairness this was a similar Situation with DLBC as well. Some vendors had it at launch, some took a while to implement, and some still haven’t. Like DLBC ARC will likely be similar.

This is not good news at all as even now there are no decent relatively affordable DLBC solutions.
 
This is not good news at all as even now there are no decent relatively affordable DLBC solutions.
We expect to release DLBC for PC/Mac soon and it's possible to beta-test it now by opening a ticket on our HelpDesk with the link at the bottom of this page:
(you'll need to create a dedicated Support account)
 
This is not good news at all as even now there are no decent relatively affordable DLBC solutions.
I disagree. The JBL SDP-55/58 is a very decent unit, and it includes DLBC license at no additional cost. JBL has also promised to include any future Dirac upgrades via firmware. DLBC compatible devices should support ART, so…
 
I disagree. The JBL SDP-55/58 is a very decent unit, and it includes DLBC license at no additional cost. JBL has also promised to include any future Dirac upgrades via firmware. DLBC compatible devices should support ART, so…

And 6500$ For the 55 is really something you call affordable for you?

I should really open a thread asking people what they do for living.
 
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