Dirac has a new CEO, new (DLBC) pricing, and some other Dirac rumors

[PHD]

As you may or may not heard. Single sub DLBC license was discontinued since DLBC cannot do much with a single subwoofer because it cannot use the speakers for optimization (they're saving this feature exclusively for the ART license).

Both Durac full and DLBC prices were lowered and if you bought DLBC single sub, you're entitled to a free multi-sub license. Not sure if you'll get a refund in case you paid for single to multiple sub upgrades.

Also, Dirac has appointed Andrew Storm (any relation to Storm Audio?) as CEO:

Tech Industry Veteran Anders Storm Named Chief Executive Officer of Dirac Research AB - Dirac

Tech Industry Veteran Anders Storm Named CEO of Dirac Research AB

www.dirac.com

I also hear that at some point when all supported hardware becomes compatible with ART, DLBC will be discontinued and those who seek optimum bass management will be forced to buy an ART license. Dirac lite (up to 500Hz) is also going to be discontinued. This would leave users with only two options to choose from,irac full and ART.

Denon AVR-X4800H / AVC-X4800H – Dirac

DIRAC LIVE FOR Denon AVR-X4800H / AVC-X4800H Get your license

www.dirac.com

Bundle offer: Dirac Full + DLBC multi sub now costs $600 instead of $800.

ART for D&M is expected to be available by mid-2025. DLBC owners may get a special upgrade discount.

 

[kyuu]

Hm, wonder if I should purchase Dirac Limited before it's discontinued. Was planning to wait for a sale, but who knows if that will even be a thing anymore...

 

[dlaloum]

It is also interesting to read about the new CEO's background, which is in custom chip development....
The area where Dirac earn the most income is auto... and their area of growth is likely to be in integrated audio electronics components, with Dirac tightly integrated at the chip level... at a guess, we are talking soundbars, streamers, and cars.

Dirac for stereo and AVR's is still not an unsubstantial source of income (over 30%) - but I doubt it will be the highest priority given the CEO's background, and the current market sources of income.

On the other hand, tight chip level integration, we could potentially see some AVR chipsets launched with tighter integration and more economical AVR's with Dirac "out of the box" - less work needed by the AVR manufacturer....

I guess those of us with an interest will continue to watch this space

 

[Vacceo]

It is also interesting to read about the new CEO's background, which is in custom chip development....
The area where Dirac earn the most income is auto... and their area of growth is likely to be in integrated audio electronics components, with Dirac tightly integrated at the chip level... at a guess, we are talking soundbars, streamers, and cars.

Dirac for stereo and AVR's is still not an unsubstantial source of income (over 30%) - but I doubt it will be the highest priority given the CEO's background, and the current market sources of income.

On the other hand, tight chip level integration, we could potentially see some AVR chipsets launched with tighter integration and more economical AVR's with Dirac "out of the box" - less work needed by the AVR manufacturer....

I guess those of us with an interest will continue to watch this space

Perhaps, we may see active speakers...

 

[dlaloum]

Perhaps, we may see active speakers...

Yes I think that is a possibility, but we also need the active speakers to integrate with each other within a room... ideally wirelessly

 

[Vacceo]

Yes I think that is a possibility, but we also need the active speakers to integrate with each other within a room... ideally wirelessly

Last year I remember something about Dolby and a TV system to add multiple speakers.

To be honest, I'd love the LS actives to be able to include something like that chip and expand to multichannel, but between Dirac being a "audio nerd" (niche product if you want to be nicer) solution and the small rate of multichannel systems in general, it may take a while to take off.

 

[dlaloum]

Last year I remember something about Dolby and a TV system to add multiple speakers.

To be honest, I'd love the LS actives to be able to include something like that chip and expand to multichannel, but between Dirac being a "audio nerd" (niche product if you want to be nicer) solution and the small rate of multichannel systems in general, it may take a while to take off.

B&O had (have) a room EQ system integrated into their TOTL speakers.... with a little mic that sticks out of the speaker to take measurements and then retracts. - The current Beolab-90's have it too (without the retracting mic theatre...)

Something like that, but more mass market, would be very appealing

edit: stereophile review of the Beolab-90's
A mass market version of this would interest a lot of people

 

[Vacceo]

I'm super curious about an aftermarket car amp that includes Dirac for correction. Volvo had it implemented but I have never experienced it.

Proliferation is a good thing, as incremental adoption of nice EQ systems is a benefit for anything audio-related.

 

[dlaloum]

I'm super curious about an aftermarket car amp that includes Dirac for correction. Volvo had it implemented but I have never experienced it.

Proliferation is a good thing, as incremental adoption of nice EQ systems is a benefit for anything audio-related.

I think their car marketplace is all OEM.... where the speaker and furniture locations are fixed, and everything can then be pre-calculated and programmed.... I don't think any of it is aimed at aftermarket!

 

[pogo]

Perhaps, we may see active speakers...

Like Dynaudio 10/30/50

 

[holdingpants01]

please just release Dirac ART already (on a consumer priced gear, or as a standalone unit), I don't care about anything else as there are plenty of alternatives anyway

 

[Vacceo]

Like Dynaudio 10/30/50

Indeed!

Wider adoption is also key to develop a user-friendly approach.

 

[win]

now if only the new CEO could fix my low signal to noise error that I can't for the life of me troubleshoot

 

[pogo]

However, this is not due to Dirac, but rather to incorrect gain tuning. If you have the opportunity, borrow a NAD M66 and your problem should be solved.

 

[Gadgety]

please just release Dirac ART already (on a consumer priced gear, or as a standalone unit), I don't care about anything else as there are plenty of alternatives anyway

Yes I agree, ART is exciting compared to just about everything else out there. So, please Dirac, release the VST PC-version which has already been developed. That said, it took 10 years to develop and release ART, which is the consumer version of the automotive industry Unison concept, and in the meantime my hearing has deteriorated quite a bit from aging. I hope they release the ART VST commercially before I'm deaf.

 

[AudioJester]

Yes I agree, ART is exciting compared to just about everything else out there. So, please Dirac, release the VST PC-version which has already been developed. That said, it took 10 years to develop and release ART, which is the consumer version of the automotive industry Unison concept, and in the meantime my hearing has deteriorated quite a bit from aging. I hope they release the ART VST commercially before I'm deaf.

Room Shaper VST from HAF will do a similar thing and has been around for a while now.

 

[Keith_W]

Room Shaper VST from HAF will do a similar thing and has been around for a while now.

Not quite. Dirac ART = MSO. Room Shaper VST works by shortening bass notes and reducing bass reverb as a result. Very clever.

 

[AudioJester]

Not quite. Dirac ART = MSO. Room Shaper VST works by shortening bass notes and reducing bass reverb as a result. Very clever.

They both target long bass resonances, Room Shaper is great for stereo applications from pc. Iam not sure you are correct in how it does this, like ART it uses "cancellation" signals, rather than shortening notes??

But you are correct, that like MSO - ART will even bass response across a wide area by using multiple bass sources, but again also using "cancellation" (sorry, dont know the correct terminology for this).

My understanding was that MSO saturates a room, more like waveforming, rather than what ART or Room Shaper does.

 

[Keith_W]

They both target long bass resonances, Room Shaper is great for stereo applications from pc. Iam not sure you are correct in how it does this, like ART it uses "cancellation" signals, rather than shortening notes??

Thierry posted here explaining how Room Shaper works. He also says that a standard sine wave sweep will not show the effect of Room Shaper (although I wonder whether you might see a difference in the spectrogram or waterfall). He explains it much better than I can.

 

[jhaider]

Not quite. Dirac ART = MSO. Room Shaper VST works by shortening bass notes and reducing bass reverb as a result. Very clever.

No. MSO and DLBC attempt the same task, but using different approaches. Both are essentially mono bass optimizers.

ART is an approach to optimizing each channel individually, not just subwoofers, currently up to 150Hz, by basically using a noise cancellation approach - signals from other speakers to cancel out room resonances caused by one speaker in its location. That's an oversimplification but directionally accurate enough to understand the concept.