Active Room Treatment (ART) by Dirac

[patoulol]

I also read these specs of these €6000 passive subs. Did you see the frequency response? It's sensitivity is down to 85dB at 20Hz compared to the 95dB at 66Hz.

Also the EQ recommendation say it all: 19Hz - 2500Hz ±1dB if you add +12dB @20Hz Q=1.8 and shelving -5dB @50Hz (1st order)
and (LPF?) 24 dB/oct @18Hz butterworth.

How many if these units does that dealer have in his system?

2 Cinema SUB
front and 2 Cinema SUB
rear

 

[Oddball]

2 Cinema SUB
front and 2 Cinema SUB
rear

So what that really means? You continue to be vague and not sure what more to say. As I said, some of the members do have systems that are as good as this one if not better.

 

[patoulol]

So what that really means? You continue to be vague and not sure what more to say. As I said, some of the members do have systems that are as good as this one if not better.

I fell into the susceptible fan club ART

 

[Oddball]

I fell into the susceptible fan club ART

Lol, seems like you just want to rant and not really ask the community to help with reproducing the same issue in similarly capable systems - if it exists at all.

But that's OK, just keep on ranting - it's a free world out here.

 

[Frank207be]

So what that really means? You continue to be vague and not sure what more to say. As I said, some of the members do have systems that are as good as this one if not better.

No doubt that these Focal subs will sound very resolving but their design choice needs extra attention. That 18Hz HPF is absolutely necessary to protect the woofers from bottoming out. Focal should at least offer a matching power amp with built in EQ to avoid clicking and popping problems.

My 18yo Focal Scala Utopia also sound awesome but they're only allowed to do 50Hz support.

 

[smygolf]

I also read these specs of these €6000 passive subs. Did you see the frequency response? It's sensitivity is down to 85dB at 20Hz compared to the 95dB at 66Hz.

Also the EQ recommendation say it all: 19Hz - 2500Hz ±1dB if you add +12dB @20Hz Q=1.8 and shelving -5dB @50Hz (1st order)
and (LPF? Edit:HPF) 24 dB/oct @18Hz butterworth.

How many if these units does that dealer have in his system?

Yup i saw it, should be fine to have that eq under normal circumstances.
But only 300w RMS, you have to do as on the pix, plaster them all over the room.
Xmax looks to be kind of low looking at the pix.

 

[Oddball]

No doubt that these Focal subs will sound very resolving but their design choice needs extra attention. That 18Hz HPF is absolutely necessary to protect the woofers from bottoming out. Focal should at least offer a matching power amp with built in EQ to avoid clicking and popping problems.

My 18yo Focal Scala Utopia also sound awesome but they're only allowed to do 50Hz support.

Did not bother much to look at the specs as did not feel as have sufficient info, or motivation given the lack of transparency. I know that my subs have DSP that protects them from even the worst abuse. The total sub level in the worst tests I did was 145dB at 20hz, but subs just refused to go over 130-ish DB. So they were just shaving off the peaks without any audible issues. Just ordinary Arendal and SVS subs. But very fit for the purpose.

 

[patoulol]

No doubt that these Focal subs will sound very resolving but their design choice needs extra attention. That 18Hz HPF is absolutely necessary to protect the woofers from bottoming out. Focal should at least offer a matching power amp with built in EQ to avoid clicking and popping problems.

My 18yo Focal Scala Utopia also sound awesome but they're only allowed to do 50Hz support.

Thank you for this explanation, it's an interesting lead!

It's a change from the fan boys' answers

 

[Frank207be]

Thank you for this explanation, it's an interesting lead!

It's a change from the fan boys' answers

I think you got me wrong. I'm among the biggest Dirac ART fanboys

 

[Oddball]

@Frank207be - you are just being too nice. We love to have you in the club that is based on our mutual experiences, not other people's mistakes that they don't even want to fully disclose.

Troubleshooting two line posts is really like - common - don't really have a crystal ball or time to deal with equivalent guesses .

 

[ban25]

Did not bother much to look at the specs as did not feel as have sufficient info, or motivation given the lack of transparency. I know that my subs have DSP that protects them from even the worst abuse. The total sub level in the worst tests I did was 145dB at 20hz, but subs just refused to go over 130-ish DB. So they were just shaving off the peaks without any audible issues. Just ordinary Arendal and SVS subs. But very fit for the purpose.

I'm getting close to setting up ART, hopefully later this week. I will have to look up some of your posts at that time to see ideal settings for initial configuration.

 

[Oddball]

I'm getting close to setting up ART, hopefully later this week. I will have to look up some of your posts at that time to see ideal settings for initial configuration.

That will really depend on your system. My system is a bit of an oddball. Start with what Dirac suggests and do some thinking around it. Let us know where you need any help - there are many members here with different systems that might be better placed to help.

 

[JRowland]

This noise is a distinct 'pop' or 'clack' occurring on low-frequency content (such as kick drums or bass lines) and is consistently reproducible on specific tracks.

Have you noticed this behavior before, or is this a known issue?

Above 90db average SPL yes a few times with different speakers and a sub. In each occasion backing off support duties and or raising the F support low for that specific speaker solved it. Are you playing all of these systems loud when you are noticing it?

 

[jhaider]

I have auditioned several systems running Dirac Live ART, and I’ve noticed a dry, sharp popping noise in the low frequencies whenever the Active Room Treatment is enabled….Have you noticed this behavior before, or is this a known issue?

Personally, I have not. Admittedly, my recent experience is with a system that has a lot more bass volume displacement and power than what you’re describing. But when I first played with ART it was computer only so had to use a basic and occasional use system that had two smallish standmounts and 2 well designed closed box subs. Also no such issues.

 

[Mort]

Ugh, I'm getting a bug it seems. Sweeps stop at 98% and the program either crashes (Windows 11) or sometimes it'll say Clipping error. I can reproduce this at will. Deleted and reinstalled, logged out, restarted etc... Dirac seems fussy compared to GLM.

 

[smygolf]

Thank you for this explanation, it's an interesting lead!

It's a change from the fan boys' answers

With ART you get a HPF if you not check the infra box.
My own subs will die fast as heck without a HPF at 20hz.

So that bit is covered.

 

[Frank207be]

Th

@Frank207be - you are just being too nice. We love to have you in the club that is based on our mutual experiences, not other people's mistakes that they don't even want to fully disclose.

Troubleshooting two line posts is really like - common - don't really have a crystal ball or time to deal with equivalent guesses .

That's my nature

I'm always curious about such bold statements (partially caused by language interpretation?)

My take is that I learned from this. All the choices that Focal made with these admittedly very expensive subs are the exact opposite that I made with my own 4 XXL DIY sealed subs. I don't need an infrasonic HPF and can feed them 2400W without breaking a sweat. Kick drums with ART never sounded so clean and impactful and turning up the volume gets very addictive. BTW my favourite channel on YouTube these days is Drumeo.

But dealer knowledge varies wildly. The person responsible for audio in my local TV store never heard of ART

 

[patoulol]

Above 90db average SPL yes a few times with different speakers and a sub. In each occasion backing off support duties and or raising the F support low for that specific speaker solved it. Are you playing all of these systems loud when you are noticing it?

Yes, high volume! and especially in music, in cinema it's more complicated to detect

 

[patoulol]

Fully agree. We do have some high SPL systems in this thread and this was never noted.

On my part, I posted before some really tough testing findings at extreme SPL levels that went really smooth, except some (hopefully) temporary hearing damage .

So you're wrong, because J. Rowland has just confirmed the same experiment. An experience you refuse to believe.

 

[smygolf]

So you're wrong, because J. Rowland has just confirmed the same experiment. An experience you refuse to believe.

Some system can be pushed beyond there limit, i do not see something wrong there.
I can play at reference lvl or higher without any issues.

And that is with LCR support down to 30hz @ -18dB

In your first post my thoughts where on digital distortion - not drivers being pushed to hard.