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Active Room Treatment (ART) by Dirac

Perhaps the bass is simply too dry/contained. Whatever the case, I don't enjoy the effect and will continue using BC:
Sure, continue using BC if you enjoy it more - I guess the ART sound is not for everyonge but at least take some measurements first to check if everything works as it should.
 
It's interesting. I recorded a snippet of Kiesza's Hideaway to show the difference in bass, but the two sound virtually indistinguishable on the recording.

Perhaps the bass is simply too dry/contained. Whatever the case, I don't enjoy the effect and will continue using BC:


I listened to the recording, and it seems that ART is functioning properly in your setup, KenMasters.
To my ears, ART sounds much clearer and more rhythmically engaging, but I understand that it doesn’t match your preference.
It’s not that ART’s bass is right or wrong — it just depends on what you value, so I wouldn’t worry about it too much.
 
I listened to the recording, and it seems that ART is functioning properly in your setup, KenMasters.
To my ears, ART sounds much clearer and more rhythmically engaging, but I understand that it doesn’t match your preference.
It’s not that ART’s bass is right or wrong — it just depends on what you value, so I wouldn’t worry about it too much.

I can tell you it sounds very different in room. BC is a broad expanse of bass, ART sounds like someone slapping the drywall behind the TV.

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with ART, I'm sure it's down to the unconventional way I have my subs set up and the higher crossover I'm used to using.
 
It's interesting. I recorded a snippet of Kiesza's Hideaway to show the difference in bass, but the two sound virtually indistinguishable on the recording.

Perhaps the bass is simply too dry/contained. Whatever the case, I don't enjoy the effect and will continue using BC:


ART is missing lower bass below 50Hz. Something is wrong with your system or ART setup or calibration.
 
but the two sound virtually indistinguishable on the recording.
No the difference is clearly audible - even on my bluetooth headphones (Sony XM4).
Perhaps the bass is simply too dry/contained. Whatever the case, I don't enjoy the effect and will continue using BC:
It sounds similar to my setup just a bit more pronounced, what target curve are you using?
 
I made some air recordings comparing BC and ART.
The frequency response graphs look quite similar, but they actually sound very different to my ears.
These recordings were made earlier, with the Infrabass option turned off.

BC Charlie Puth - Patient
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yWwx5Ouup9XqLSvjQ8dFN31uIOB5rqHh/view?usp=drive_link
ART Charlie Puth - Patient
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EiZX2pQ7XkLLYYA53BkwIKr7WQDGT_by/view?usp=drive_link
BC IVE - XOXZ
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1J3XPU2Gv_qLZduKpS9zCP9z9NGuQ1aNx/view?usp=drive_link
ART IVE - XOXZ
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ac5Qnk7omIKADYxJ2nYCyLEIi_8VH4t1/view?usp=drive_link
View attachment 486553
Those recordings capture the difference pretty accurate as well. That's very similar to how the difference sounds in my system when I switch between BC and ART.
 
ART is missing lower bass below 50Hz. Something is wrong with your system or ART setup or calibration.
Here is spectrum of those two files. With ART bass drops below 50Hz, that's not normal.

bc.png

art.png
 
In that case, I do think it's working as it's meant to. I just don't like whatever choices it's making in the upper bass region.

Maybe it's because I can't split out the Buchardt from the Arendals as I'm using a Denon X6800H, but whatever it is, there's something off about the division of labour in that region.
If you have wide speakers, Dirac is aware of a bug associated with wides. I certainly understand if you would prefer the refund of the license rather than wait for the fix!
 
No the difference is clearly audible - even on my bluetooth headphones (Sony XM4).

You're right, I was in a rush this morning, I must have compared the same recording.

ART is missing lower bass below 50Hz. Something is wrong with your system or ART setup or calibration.

Boom, thank you. I checked now and the subs are not engaging at all with ART in place - no wonder!

I'm guessing, as @fzst suggested, remeasurement is necessary in my case for ART to work properly.

I've already put in for a refund though and this brief experience has put me off for the moment. I'll revisit ART down the line after a few updates.
 
I made some air recordings comparing BC and ART.
The frequency response graphs look quite similar, but they actually sound very different to my ears.
These recordings were made earlier, with the Infrabass option turned off.

BC Charlie Puth - Patient
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yWwx5Ouup9XqLSvjQ8dFN31uIOB5rqHh/view?usp=drive_link
ART Charlie Puth - Patient
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EiZX2pQ7XkLLYYA53BkwIKr7WQDGT_by/view?usp=drive_link
BC IVE - XOXZ
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1J3XPU2Gv_qLZduKpS9zCP9z9NGuQ1aNx/view?usp=drive_link
ART IVE - XOXZ
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ac5Qnk7omIKADYxJ2nYCyLEIi_8VH4t1/view?usp=drive_link
These are also good examples of what I was talking about regarding bass in music. In the bass heavy song, I prefer the ART- presentation but the Charlie Puth song sounds way too dry for my taste - at least on the recording, no idea how it sounds live. Frankly even the BC- version sounds extremely dry, are you using a completely flat target curve?
In these recordings, your setup sounds a lot like what I was describing earlier about my setup, the bass is just very aggressive in the upper region and there is not much warmth in the music... How high is the support level you are using?
 
If you have a REW measurement check the decay behaviour. I don't know anything about Dirac, but I noticed in a measurement someone posted a beautiful late bass buildup prevention in the decay graph with Dirac activated.
If you see, that you have below 50 a late buildup without ART and with it the later decays do no longer exceed the first 20 ms timeslice levels, then this could be an indicator of ART doing its job and reducing late buildup problems.
 
I was/still am probably one of the thicker bass heads, and with all the resources at disposal can't say bass is light. There are 6 presets on D&M so I have them set from steep roll-of for late night listening to +10dB shelf. Find that +10dB is more than enough for most movies. If it does not bang at that level, well there is nothing in the signal to bang or one is ready for BEQ.

I don't think it is recommended in ART to tinker with sub gain levels or output levels at AVR/AVP, but if not happy with what I have, I would probably poke around that area to see how much it helps and how much it hurts. If going that route (which as noted is not recommended), people should at least try to match additional gain/trim for different subs so they stay, relative to each other, at the level that was set by ART. This will obviously throw ART a bit off the base, but if doing it gently might not be too bad. Not thinking about +10dB here.
 
If you have a REW measurement check the decay behaviour. I don't know anything about Dirac, but I noticed in a measurement someone posted a beautiful late bass buildup prevention in the decay graph with Dirac activated.
If you see, that you have below 50 a late buildup without ART and with it the later decays do no longer exceed the first 20 ms timeslice levels, then this could be an indicator of ART doing its job and reducing late buildup problems.

I physically checked the drivers of the subs and they are not operating at all with ART engaged, but thanks for the reply.

I'm very happy with my sound as is, it was just something I thought I'd give a try out of curiosity. I don't have the time or inclination to re-measure, pour over REW graphs and make adjustments for hours on end quite at the moment.

I'll revisit ART down the line, maybe the next time they have a discount and I've got a good chunk of alone time on my hands.
 
I physically checked the drivers of the subs and they are not operating at all with ART engaged, but thanks for the reply.

I'm very happy with my sound as is, it was just something I thought I'd give a try out of curiosity. I don't have the time or inclination to re-measure, pour over REW graphs and make adjustments for hours on end quite at the moment.

I'll revisit ART down the line, maybe the next time they have a discount and I've got a good chunk of alone time on my hands.
If nothing has changed with your speaker setup, there’s no need to remeasure. It’s likely something with how you’ve got your Dirac ART parameters set.
 
If nothing has changed with your speaker setup, there’s no need to remeasure. It’s likely something with how you’ve got your Dirac ART parameters set
That's what I keep reading as well but in my case, ART only worked when I did take new measurements. Of course that could have been caused by a number of things...
 
These are also good examples of what I was talking about regarding bass in music. In the bass heavy song, I prefer the ART- presentation but the Charlie Puth song sounds way too dry for my taste - at least on the recording, no idea how it sounds live. Frankly even the BC- version sounds extremely dry, are you using a completely flat target curve?
In these recordings, your setup sounds a lot like what I was describing earlier about my setup, the bass is just very aggressive in the upper region and there is not much warmth in the music... How high is the support level you are using?
For my personal preferences, I enjoy the clarity of Charlie Puth’s vocals in the recording. With the bass boosted by +3dB, the frequency response of BC and ART becomes quite similar. The support level for ART is set to -18, and I’m currently using it with Infrasonic Base on. I think +2dB for the bass would also work well, and the reduction in the dip around 100-200Hz has added a nice thickness to the sound.

With my usual settings, I found that orchestral music, compared to BC, sounded a bit too dry with ART. However, by using a target curve that starts lifting around 200Hz, I was able to retain clarity while adding a pleasing thickness to the sound, which made it an irresistible listening experience.
 
I was/still am probably one of the thicker bass heads, and with all the resources at disposal can't say bass is light. There are 6 presets on D&M so I have them set from steep roll-of for late night listening to +10dB shelf. Find that +10dB is more than enough for most movies. If it does not bang at that level, well there is nothing in the signal to bang or one is ready for BEQ.

I don't think it is recommended in ART to tinker with sub gain levels or output levels at AVR/AVP, but if not happy with what I have, I would probably poke around that area to see how much it helps and how much it hurts. If going that route (which as noted is not recommended), people should at least try to match additional gain/trim for different subs so they stay, relative to each other, at the level that was set by ART. This will obviously throw ART a bit off the base, but if doing it gently might not be too bad. Not thinking about +10dB here.
I always thought BC was great for orchestral music too...
but turns out, after tweaking the target curve,
ART just had to show off and outperformed it in every way!:D
 
If nothing has changed with your speaker setup, there’s no need to remeasure. It’s likely something with how you’ve got your Dirac ART parameters set.

There's no indication that I can see that something is not set correctly:

Dirac.jpg
 
Dirac asks to contact their helpdesk if you get the "Updating Filter Calculations" message every time you open a saved Dirac project.
Select Home Audio here:
I am getting this every time. Does not appear to be fatal, just inconvenient. Reported but funny enough for the Marantz models you get Arcam models to choose at the last screen :facepalm:.
 
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