Active Room Treatment (ART) by Dirac

[Richard G]

Monoprice’s HTP-1

I had some expectation/ hope that it would be a good option. Not after reading Amit’s test

Monoprice HTP-1 Home Theater Processor Review

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Monolith Monoprice HTP-1 16-channel AV Processor. A kind member ordered it and had it drop shipped to me. The HTP-1 has recently started shipping and costs US $4,000 from the company direct. I can't say I am a fan of the industry design of the...

audiosciencereview.com

 

[markus]

Monoprice’s HTP-1

I had some expectation/ hope that it would be a good option. Not after reading Amit’s test

Monoprice HTP-1 Home Theater Processor Review

This is a review and detailed measurements of the Monolith Monoprice HTP-1 16-channel AV Processor. A kind member ordered it and had it drop shipped to me. The HTP-1 has recently started shipping and costs US $4,000 from the company direct. I can't say I am a fan of the industry design of the...

audiosciencereview.com

Amir made a couple of mistakes in this review. Corrected it later. Unfortunately not in the initial review itself.

 

[AudioJester]

Amir made a couple of mistakes in this review. Corrected it later. Unfortunately not in the initial review itself.

Is it a viable alternative (does ir work) to DM offerigs?

 

[Richard G]

See here: Link
DM = Denon Marantz
Two channel system --> NAD M66

Much appreciated. (I thought DM might have been an upcoming electronics show!)

Amir made a couple of mistakes in this review. Corrected it later. Unfortunately not in the initial review itself.

Thank you pointing that out After corrections what was his conclusion about its sound quality?

 

[jhaider]

Is it a viable alternative (does ir work) to DM offerigs?

IR as in remote? Why would anyone think otherwise?

Given the insane pricing of the not-quite-equivalent from Marantz, IMO the larger question is whether DM is a viable alternative. They really effed themselves with current pricing IMO - a lot more than the arguably superior HTP-1 and not much distance to the next tier up from Lyngdorf or StormAudio.

 

[AudioJester]

IR as in remote? Why would anyone think otherwise?

Given the insane pricing of the not-quite-equivalent from Marantz, IMO the larger question is whether DM is a viable alternative. They really effed themselves with current pricing IMO - a lot more than the arguably superior HTP-1 and not much distance to the next tier up from Lyngdorf or StormAudio.

Understood.
But you can use a 3800 purely as a pre with ART (when released) and trust it will just work.
Does the Monoprice have that same reliability or is it still buggy and will drive you nuts?

 

[jhaider]

Understood.
But you can use a 3800 purely as a pre with ART (when released) and trust it will just work.
Does the Monoprice have that same reliability or is it still buggy and will drive you nuts?

Our two don’t drive us nuts and have no real usability bugs. Not since the July 2021 (?) boot loop issue at least.

 

[tjcinnamon]

Talked to some Masimo guys at Axpona today. They met with Dirac guys yesterday (Dirac was not an exhibitor at Axpona). Apparently, Dirac is focusing on making it more consumer friendly (presumably reliable) because apparently the Storm results were inconsistent (i.e. took multiple runs). So sometime in 2024 but not in the immediate future.

 

[Great Sun Jester]

Talked to some Masimo guys at Axpona today. They met with Dirac guys yesterday (Dirac was not an exhibitor at Axpona). Apparently, Dirac is focusing on making it more consumer friendly (presumably reliable) because apparently the Storm results were inconsistent (i.e. took multiple runs). So sometime in 2024 but not in the immediate future.

That's unfortunate. Perhaps the contractual roll out for the other manufacturers has a hitch in the giddyup.

 

[KaMatthi]

Hi,

I am wondering what process makes most sense using REW for subwoofer (2 subs diagonal installed) prior to Dirac ART. Or should I leave Dirac correct all its own? According to REW I do have some huge nulls.

 

[Dj7675]

Hi,

I am wondering what process makes most sense using REW for subwoofer (2 subs diagonal installed) prior to Dirac ART. Or should I leave Dirac correct all its own? According to REW I do have some huge nulls.

Let ART do it on its own. Then verify with both listening and post ART REW Measurements.

 

[Niro750]

Not sure why you would use 100Hz? I use all speakers up to 150Hz and both subs (front/rear) 100Hz. And that 100Hz sub limit is only because LFE, for music I would use 150Hz also for subs. I will experiment more with this and change rear sub (sub2) to 250Hz lowpass and 150Hz ART support.

When Dirac detects that sub's usable range drops too much, it doesn't correct it above that point and sets curtain there (or you can set it manually). So in my case Dirac stops correcting subs above 100Hz and uses ART support from other speakers to cover that range.

Hi. I'm new here and I'm just musing over Dirac Art as I see an amp with it in my future but also I find the tech really interesting.

Anyway, you seem to be pretty clear on how it works so I'll run something I was thinking by you in the hopes it is of interest or you can comment? Thanks.

I recently started work on a modest man cave (small garden in Scotland so it's an outdoor room with internal size about 3.3m x 4.1m- a little small, a little square but not much I can do and partly why Im keen on room correction as I know I'll have bass issues). I purchased a full set of 2nd hand m&k IW300, S300T and IC95 speakersto go in the room, I've lusted after s150's for years but the 300 came up cheap ish as trade ins. I also have an svs pb16 ultra to go with.

After buying the above speakers I find out about dirac ART and how full range speakers may be better for the job of active correction and I'm thinking... Are mine going to do well enough (Some are only good down to 70 ot 80Hz which is ok in a typical system but if they are not great for ART what options do I have to improve the situation...

Well one option that sprung to mind is using the speaker terminals of some of the speaker chanels as smaller sub inputs (as you would on stereo systems not using LFE channel) rather than the LFE channel it's self to in effect add lower range to that speaker. (Dirac sees is as having a large dynamic range) Stupid idea? Crossover issues etc? I am Not sure myself, I am only begining my journey beyond a basic Atmos living room set up but I do know mixing sub sizes never seems like a good idea. Anyway I read your comments about Dirac ART and how it uses LFE channels which seems to use one sub as a main and others just support it. Does this mean that it could be fine to have one large sub like I have then add maybe a couple smaller subs elsewhere to help with correcting the room. Or did I get that all wrong?

Thanks!

 

[TimoJ]

Hi. I'm new here and I'm just musing over Dirac Art as I see an amp with it in my future but also I find the tech really interesting.

Anyway, you seem to be pretty clear on how it works so I'll run something I was thinking by you in the hopes it is of interest or you can comment? Thanks.

I recently started work on a modest man cave (small garden in Scotland so it's an outdoor room with internal size about 3.3m x 4.1m- a little small, a little square but not much I can do and partly why Im keen on room correction as I know I'll have bass issues). I purchased a full set of 2nd hand m&k IW300, S300T and IC95 speakersto go in the room, I've lusted after s150's for years but the 300 came up cheap ish as trade ins. I also have an svs pb16 ultra to go with.

After buying the above speakers I find out about dirac ART and how full range speakers may be better for the job of active correction and I'm thinking... Are mine going to do well enough (Some are only good down to 70 ot 80Hz which is ok in a typical system but if they are not great for ART what options do I have to improve the situation...

Well one option that sprung to mind is using the speaker terminals of some of the speaker chanels as smaller sub inputs (as you would on stereo systems not using LFE channel) rather than the LFE channel it's self to in effect add lower range to that speaker. (Dirac sees is as having a large dynamic range) Stupid idea? Crossover issues etc? I am Not sure myself, I am only begining my journey beyond a basic Atmos living room set up but I do know mixing sub sizes never seems like a good idea. Anyway I read your comments about Dirac ART and how it uses LFE channels which seems to use one sub as a main and others just support it. Does this mean that it could be fine to have one large sub like I have then add maybe a couple smaller subs elsewhere to help with correcting the room. Or did I get that all wrong?

Thanks!

Using speaker terminals to connect extra subs could work (since Dirac probably could EQ it), but you need to add passive high bass filter for that speaker. Otherwise it will badly overload while the parallel connected subwoofer still plays fine.
Better option is to connect couple smaller subs directly to an AVR/AVP that supports ART with 3-4 subwoofers. Since you can adjust each speaker/sub's ART support level and frequency range, with little tinkering it should work fine. You just need to find best places for the subs so that they can best cancel lower room modes in your room. SVS in front and two smaller subs in back corners could work.

 

[Niro750]

Using speaker terminals to connect extra subs could work (since Dirac probably could EQ it), but you need to add passive high bass filter for that speaker. Otherwise it will badly overload while the parallel connected subwoofer still plays fine.
Better option is to connect couple smaller subs directly to an AVR/AVP that supports ART with 3-4 subwoofers. Since you can adjust each speaker/sub's ART support level and frequency range, with little tinkering it should work fine. You just need to find best places for the subs so that they can best cancel lower room modes in your room. SVS in front and two smaller subs in back corners could work.

Absolutely the filter crossed my mind. Mini DSP or something but then it's more complex for the user.

If I get an amp that can sort the subs out it's self (I will be looking at ones with 4 discreet outputs) then it simplifies everything provided the subs don't have some sort of negative effects due to being a different size with different port tunes

 

[Frank207be]

I'm going to try out my Crown XLS1002 with it's built in LPF and HPF crossovers set to 150Hz to add woofers to my surround channels. I'll use REW to check the response and will set the gain controls to get the best possible result before running Dirac.

 

[napfkuchen]

I do this, if this is what you mean…
I use Roon which is sending 2 channel stereo to my Stormaudio MK2. I can select native, and it will play stereo (no upmixing). And it will use the other speakers and/or subs for cancellation. Sounds great.

Which speaker are you using?

 

[Dj7675]

Which speaker are you using?

9 JBL 6332/LSR32 speakers for bed layer and 7 JBL SCL-8 ceiling speakers. The 6332/lsr32’s are 3 way speakers with 1 inch done, 5 inch midrange, and 12inch woofer (ported).

 

[pogo]

How does the result at a single seat compare if you only use two JBL speakers under ART for stereo, i.e. if you use a pure stereo setup?

 

[dlaloum]

After buying the above speakers I find out about dirac ART and how full range speakers may be better for the job of active correction and I'm thinking... Are mine going to do well enough (Some are only good down to 70 ot 80Hz which is ok in a typical system but if they are not great for ART what options do I have to improve the situation...

Typically "full range" speakers have decent output down to below 40Hz (within +/- 3db)

Speakers that are limited to 70 or 80Hz are designed to be paired with a sub, and have never been considered "full range" - there are 2 full musical octaves between 80Hz and 20Hz... although the bottom one is seldom used in Music outside of synths and pipe organs....

My main speakers (Gallo Nucleus Ref 3.2) are rated down to 35Hz as standard, and down to 24Hz if BiAmped via the 2nd voice coil connection...

I also have a pair of B&O Penta's that are rated down to 39Hz

Both the Gallo's and the B&O Penta's are "Full range"

Their primary constraints in the bass registers, is that their max SPL, is designed to be on a par with the SPL's of the rest of the frequency range.

For movies, and LFE use, the LFE channel is required to provide +10db over the rest of the frequency range... although from memory the Dolby standard only required the LFE channel to go down to 30Hz to be compliant

 

[napfkuchen]

9 JBL 6332/LSR32 speakers for bed layer and 7 JBL SCL-8 ceiling speakers. The 6332/lsr32’s are 3 way speakers with 1 inch done, 5 inch midrange, and 12inch woofer (ported).

I think this solution would literally blow up my living room. I just want to replace the two rear speakers and make them ART-capable. Was thinking of a pair of Kef R3s to be attached to the wall, and then a subwoofer underneath each (two more SVS SB 1000s). The bass output of two speakers and subwoofers at the front is completely sufficient for me, i.e. the subwoofers at the back could concentrate solely on the ART support. Would that be possible as well?