30% was 2 years ago. Last year was 20% off.
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Dirac ART is now running on beta FW for Denon Xx800H AVRs!
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masterhw
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then in three years time it shall cost 10% extra!
Future Dirac products may cost literal arms and legs!
David_Alexander
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Ah, yes it was two years ago I bought the x4800. They had 30% of Dirac Live and then later offered DBLC at an introductory offer at 30% discount, as they missed the BF window when they launched it.
David_Alexander
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Was it 20% for the bundle offers as well? They are currently discounted at between 8-20% over single licence prices.
I'm in for Dirac ART, already having the Live and DLBC but all discounts help
Mister.Mole
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It is indeed 20% off.
David_Alexander
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Nothing is sure but...
From what I understand, if your unit is damaged beyond repair and it gets substituted with the same model, you can transfer the license, contacting support.
If you want to upgrade, you can transfer the license to a different user, in case of a second hand sale. If you don't sell, the licenses go with the unit and are lost. Again, for this you need to contact support.
David_Alexander
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It's always been the sales model that the license is tied to the unit. Same with my Arcam SR250. It's just that the license cost was included in the sale price of the unit with the Arcam, not de-coupled as it is now. If the unit fails, I can transfer the license to a similar unit, but not to a different model.
In my case I'm not looking to upgrade from the x4800, but if it fails within a few years and that leaves me having to source a 2nd hand x4800, then yes, that would be a pain. Hopefully, as I'm using the unit purely in pre-amp mode it'll be less prone to failure.
In my case I'm not looking to upgrade from the x4800, but if it fails within a few years and that leaves me having to source a 2nd hand x4800, then yes, that would be a pain. Hopefully, as I'm using the unit purely in pre-amp mode it'll be less prone to failure.
Hi all,
Just wanted to report back on this.
Recap:
ART already transformed my 5.1.4 system. The single Arendal 1S sub integrated extremely well with the Arendal towers, bass became much tighter, better defined and hit harder. Although in hindsight it was also a bit clinical/analytical.
With the sub placed front right, bass arrived from the front first and then enveloped the MLP. Completely non-localizable but it did feel like a solid wall of bass hitting you from the front of the room..
After adding a second 1S sub in the left rear, four major changes stood out:
1. Much deeper low-bass impact
The increase in deep bass was far greater than expected. It honestly feels like adding a large ported sub. There is much more weight and pressure in the lowest frequencies. People often say dual subs are “not about more bass”, but the deep fundamental is clearly stronger and more present.
2. Significantly more slam and physical impact
Bass hits harder and feels more physical. Transients like explosions, gunshots and impacts build pressure faster and deliver real chest slam, without sounding louder or exaggerated.
3. From a ‘wall of bass’ to being immersed inside bass
Instead of being hit by bass from the front, I now sit in the middle of a bass-filled room. Low frequencies are surrounding me rather than coming from a direction. This massively increases immersion and realism.
4. Less clinical, more natural and relaxed presentation
This was unexpected but very noticeable. The system sounds less analytical and more natural. The bass foundation is more continuous, which makes the entire soundstage feel warmer, calmer and more believable — without losing control or precision. ART clearly prevents the added fullness from turning into muddiness.
Bass with ART in 5.1.4 was already excellent and probably enough for many people, but adding the second sub is a clear and meaningful step up.
Watching the final Vecna battle in Stranger Things was pure joy. There is massive bass in that scene and it all sounded perfectly controlled. The jeep gun in particular delivered huge chest slam — absolutely grin-inducing.
For my living room, 5.2.4 with ART is the sweet spot. Clean, controlled, immersive, and honestly ridiculous performance for a non-dedicated space.
Happy listening and Merry Christmas!
Last edited:
Talisman
Major Contributor
And here we are.
After a few months of hesitations using only the Audissey XT32, in a fit of rage I bought the Dirac package with ART (I had to buy everything, I didn't have any Dirac levels).
My setup is 5.1.4 with 4 subwoofers.
The front speakers are KEF R3s.
I fiddled with the settings a bit, but not too much; on the second try I already found the right balance.
I set up 5 groups:
- front speakers (2)
- center speakers (1)
- surround speakers (2)
- Atmos speakers (4)
- Subwoofer speakers (4)
The sub group supports everyone; the Atmos and surround groups don't support anyone (only themselves starting at 80Hz).
The front speakers support themselves and the center speaker from 80Hz, and vice versa.
My first impression with a flat curve was that the bass was too dry and anemic, so I set the sub group curve to +9dB.
After a few minutes of getting used to the lack of many resonances that, willingly or not, I had become accustomed to, I started to enjoy it, and I felt the need to turn the volume up, then again, and again... I was having a lot of fun, but the lack of distortion and the clean bass made me want to turn it up even more. At the highest volumes, the bass was literally a gunshot to the chest; it felt like a well-tuned professional club system, with dry, powerful bass.
I didn't touch the support level; I left the default setting at 18 dB, as the software suggested.
Can anyone with more experience give me some pointers or suggestions for optimizing ART?
After a few months of hesitations using only the Audissey XT32, in a fit of rage I bought the Dirac package with ART (I had to buy everything, I didn't have any Dirac levels).
My setup is 5.1.4 with 4 subwoofers.
The front speakers are KEF R3s.
I fiddled with the settings a bit, but not too much; on the second try I already found the right balance.
I set up 5 groups:
- front speakers (2)
- center speakers (1)
- surround speakers (2)
- Atmos speakers (4)
- Subwoofer speakers (4)
The sub group supports everyone; the Atmos and surround groups don't support anyone (only themselves starting at 80Hz).
The front speakers support themselves and the center speaker from 80Hz, and vice versa.
My first impression with a flat curve was that the bass was too dry and anemic, so I set the sub group curve to +9dB.
After a few minutes of getting used to the lack of many resonances that, willingly or not, I had become accustomed to, I started to enjoy it, and I felt the need to turn the volume up, then again, and again... I was having a lot of fun, but the lack of distortion and the clean bass made me want to turn it up even more. At the highest volumes, the bass was literally a gunshot to the chest; it felt like a well-tuned professional club system, with dry, powerful bass.
I didn't touch the support level; I left the default setting at 18 dB, as the software suggested.
Can anyone with more experience give me some pointers or suggestions for optimizing ART?
Lol, welcome to the club. We like when people join to experience the ART enhancements. If senior members like you, it will only help to persuade the oldest members to join. Takes a bit of a push as most are still questioning the ART benefits.
Based on the prior ART experience, it looks like you got a standard ART improvement. ART has many parameters to tweak but at the end of the day, it might not mean that your will get hugely better results. This is not Audy. ART gets serious results right off the bat. Especially with 4 subs that ART will be very eager to use.
If you scroll through this thread you will see a lots of suggestions for the best setup coming from different angles that are all valid. But your base case is strong and would not expect that you would be able to improve by a significant margin.
Based on the prior ART experience, it looks like you got a standard ART improvement. ART has many parameters to tweak but at the end of the day, it might not mean that your will get hugely better results. This is not Audy. ART gets serious results right off the bat. Especially with 4 subs that ART will be very eager to use.
If you scroll through this thread you will see a lots of suggestions for the best setup coming from different angles that are all valid. But your base case is strong and would not expect that you would be able to improve by a significant margin.
Are you talking about the LFE channel here? If you mean L, R and C, you should boost the targets for these. The subs would then contribute more if they are set up as support.
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Does this mean that all the surround speakers do not help in the bass region at all? Isn’t that the main benefit of ART?
Alice of Old Vincennes
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He is obviously describing his sub. ART has removed resonances and probably nulls by directing lower frequencies to all the speakers.
Alice of Old Vincennes
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Dry is a good description for clean or whatever noun, pronoun, verb or adverb you want to use.
They can help if you set them as support and have the range. The question is if they will provide any benefit and that simply depends on the room/setup. If e.g. they are the only ones that can due to positioning fill a narrow dip at 110-120hz, then it would make sense to engage their support. If spread is tight enough without them, perhaps LCR plus subs don't need their support.
It's kind of Edge of Tomorrow. Experiment until you reach your goal. There are lots of possible combinations, so might take a while if you want to check it all. Grouping, than cross support for the groups, then support ranges and levels, looking at ART filters, measuring with REW, analyzing. Rinse and repeat.
Just to close the loop on a question I asked a while ago regarding: number of cross terms available on D/M machines per configuration...
I've seen a couple of other reports of folks reporting 92 cross terms available on 15 channel capable AVR/AVPs. All were running 9.4.6 configurations, as am I. So I think it's pretty definitive that maximizing channel count on these systems reduces the number of cross terms available. I don't know why Dirac couldn't confirm this when I asked them, but whatever.
As for me, I'm enjoying the post ART world of no more tweaking, just enjoying. It's a blessed relief.
I've seen a couple of other reports of folks reporting 92 cross terms available on 15 channel capable AVR/AVPs. All were running 9.4.6 configurations, as am I. So I think it's pretty definitive that maximizing channel count on these systems reduces the number of cross terms available. I don't know why Dirac couldn't confirm this when I asked them, but whatever.
As for me, I'm enjoying the post ART world of no more tweaking, just enjoying. It's a blessed relief.
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