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Dirac Live 3.1.1 bugs?

Alice of Old Vincennes

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I would like to ask if the Dirac Live 3 or 3,.. for Mac works properly now on OSX 12 or 12.1 Monterey?
I am afraid to update, but my wife needs this Mac Book too. It’s hers…. ;0)
Between Dirac and Wife. For her sake, hope not a close call.
 

Dolor

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Best wife in the world! But…..hihi…..what is the latest and stable version of osx that I could use with Dirac live X.
Or…what osx version+Dirac live x.x works fine for 2.1 on a MacBook Air 2020 ( I5, 1,1GHz )
So I will get the best of both worlds…is there still no way to fall in love with Dirac too?
 

sophie smith

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Looks like Dirac live is on sale until year end for 25% off (deals section of this forum).
Was thinking about getting it for PC. But also realize REW is available and is free.
I run 2 channel music system with PC as my streamer and player (Foobar2000).

Is Dirac live "worth" it over the REW? I know this is very subjective, but.... still.
Also, I do not have much time to play with the software. Something automated and easy to use would be great.

Used REW once, but had to do lots of searching and youtube viewing to run it. At the end, used MathEQ instead. Figured out REW measurements part, but could not get to equalize and save the filter to import to Foobar. I am sure it works with just a bit more effort.

Any personal opinions?

Thanks
 

phoenixdogfan

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Looks like Dirac live is on sale until year end for 25% off (deals section of this forum).
Was thinking about getting it for PC. But also realize REW is available and is free.
I run 2 channel music system with PC as my streamer and player (Foobar2000).

Is Dirac live "worth" it over the REW? I know this is very subjective, but.... still.
Also, I do not have much time to play with the software. Something automated and easy to use would be great.

Used REW once, but had to do lots of searching and youtube viewing to run it. At the end, used MathEQ instead. Figured out REW measurements part, but could not get to equalize and save the filter to import to Foobar. I am sure it works with just a bit more effort.

Any personal opinions?

Thanks
Takes ten minutes, if that, to learn how to use Dirac. How long would it take to learn how to use REW? Don't know. Haven't tried, but I would bet my time is worth more than what I'd save monetarily by opting for it over Dirac.
 

Dolor

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I‘am quite new in the hifi thing (one year). I have this perception:

- Dirac is easyer, more automatic, more expensive
-REW is deeper, cheaper, harder to get common to…

So if there is no time to play with software or learn a lot, then take Dirac because of its “convenience“.
But I call convenience something different. From first install to first working I fellt like bathing a cat…once it was running, it was o.k.
 

f1shb0n3

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Looks like Dirac live is on sale until year end for 25% off (deals section of this forum).
Was thinking about getting it for PC. But also realize REW is available and is free.
I run 2 channel music system with PC as my streamer and player (Foobar2000).

Is Dirac live "worth" it over the REW? I know this is very subjective, but.... still.
Also, I do not have much time to play with the software. Something automated and easy to use would be great.

Used REW once, but had to do lots of searching and youtube viewing to run it. At the end, used MathEQ instead. Figured out REW measurements part, but could not get to equalize and save the filter to import to Foobar. I am sure it works with just a bit more effort.

Any personal opinions?

Thanks
I got much better results with Dirac Live compared to REW, much easier and straightforward also with easy customization of target curve.

Get a trial and check it out.
 

abdo123

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index.php
I updated last night and am I the only one who thinks it sounds completely different?

Can’t tell if it’s in a good way or a bad way (I limit the correction to 250Hz).
 

MickeyBoy

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I’ve tested the included microphone and it wasn’t meaningfully different than my UMIK1 so go with the NAD mic if it’s better for you. I find the NAD microphone more forgiving of the MLP placement. The UMIK1 seems to be more sensitive to placement.

I love Dirac, but the measuring process isn’t very intuitive and is a bit finicky. I would highly recommend following the Hartman or Storm Audio guides to setting up Dirac (https://www.harmanluxuryaudionews.com/2019/07/23/dirac-live-hints-and-tips/).

A couple of mistakes I made when learning:
1. Make sure to not take measurements too close to boundary walls (must be >45 cm away!)
2. The MLP measurement is by far the most important and must be perfectly positioned (I use a laser measure)
3. Each measurement should be >30 cm away from any other measurement
4. The microphone should point up
5. The microphone should have line of sight to the speakers
6. The room should be as quiet as possible
7. Treat volume and mic sensitivity as signal to noise. Increase volume to increase signal, reduce mic sensitivity to reduce noise
8. Try one of the Harman curves at first because they’ll give some bass that you’re likely accustomed to with all the room modes

There‘s an amazing Storm Audio seminar with the Dirac guys on YouTube that’s 1hr:45min that has many nuggets of info on measuring and Dirac, but it’s something you can watch in the future once you have one good set of measurements.

Regarding mistake #1: does this caution apply only to the main speakers? It seems impractical for subs (which should be placed against a wall) and for satellite speakers.
 

nakenergy

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Can someone help me with Dirac? I have UMIK 1 mike, lexicon RV-9 receiver, same as Arcam 850, 5.1 configuration system. After running Dirac all my speaker levels are on the +db side, LEFT at 10 db, RIGHT at 9.5, center at 8, surrounds around 5 while the sub is at 1. In delay, the sub is at 00 ms which is correct as it is the farthest from the seating position. I read somewhere that high positive dbs is really off; I am not sur what I am doing wrong. I went with the sofa - 13 position measurements. I am currently running Dirac 3.1.2 on a Windows laptop. Anything to check before running Dirac?

thanks for all the help.
 
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fcracer

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Regarding mistake #1: does this caution apply only to the main speakers? It seems impractical for subs (which should be placed against a wall) and for satellite speakers.
Hi Mickey, avoiding boundaries is for the microphone, not the speaker placement. Ensure the microphone is placed >45cm away from any walls.
 

jhaider

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Has anyone else had really long delays on 3.1.2/macOS Monterrey?

I started to run a new calibration today as the result of a new sofa and attendant relocation of a new sub. I only ran one point (wanted to confirm trims and optimize signal levels downstream, given that this calibration will hopefully be long-lived. For example, our left and right speakers are equidistant to the first measuring point within a small error tolerance (millimeters), confirmed prior to calibration with a laser measure tool. The center is slightly closer. The previous Dirac cal (sub in previous position, old sofa) set plausible delay values (the imperfect L/R distance match on the heights and sides is accurate - there's a big fireplace on the left).
20211019 Dirac full old cal.png



Tonight, I got this, with insane values, and different delays for speakers at identical distances with the same downstream processor-amp and settings.
20211219 single point calibration - 2.png

Listening it sounded like an incomplete job, which it was (only one measurement). I did not continue the calibration due to these results. Interestingly, I didn't notice any lip-sync issue.

I've opened a ticket with Dirac but I'm curious if anyone else has had this issue.
 

Ata

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There are new Dirac Live versions out in 2022 so far, 3.2.0 and 3.2.1. Has anyone tried them?

I am one of those who were affected by Dirac 3.1.2 issues on Macs.
 

jhaider

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There are new Dirac Live versions out in 2022 so far, 3.2.0 and 3.2.1. Has anyone tried them?

I am one of those who were affected by Dirac 3.1.2 issues on Macs.

According to Dirac support the new versions do not fix the timing/capture issues I noted above. I will be trying again with a completely fresh M1 mini (Monterrey from recovery and Dirac will be the only things on it) to see if that works. Also with a USB-C interface and analog mic instead of the UMIK.
 

Stefan

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There are new Dirac Live versions out in 2022 so far, 3.2.0 and 3.2.1. Has anyone tried them?

I am one of those who were affected by Dirac 3.1.2 issues on Macs.
I did, two days ago. With the following setup:

Speakers Wharfedale Elysian 4
NAD M33 on newest BluOS Firmware 3.16.2
MacBook Pro with latest MacOS Monterey 12.1
UMIK-1 ver.2 attached to the MacBook Pro via USB-C pointed horizontally between speakers (0 deg. correction file)
Dirac Live 3.2.1

Measurement went absolutely smoothly, no bugs apparent.
I now have 3 filters with exact same measurement and settings to compare, DL 3.0.14, DL 3.1.2 and DL 3.2.1.
Listening for about 3 hours since and I am already absolutely shure that ranking is 3.2.1 > 3.0.14 > 3.1.2. With a wide margin between 3.2.1 and 3.0.14. Seems that something was really off with versions 3.1.x then.
Right now, this is the best sound I ever got from my current system and I am very happy with this state.
 
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sharock

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Do you make new measurements each time there's a new DL version? Or just re-apply filters with the new version to the original measurements?
 

Stefan

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Do you make new measurements each time there's a new DL version? Or just re-apply filters with the new version to the original measurements?
I do new measurements. This is important for me, as I have experienced several problems regarding the measurements with DL versions 3.1.x (please refer to my postings before).

Of course several conditions then also apply as possible side effects:

- Since the Elysians are still only about 200hrs "old", there could still be a effect of run-in affecting the next measurement
- A newer BluOS version on the M33 could technically affect the the DL - DAC - amplifier - measurement chain
- The measurement method (0 deg. vs. 90 deg.) and location of the UMIK mic has to be exactly the same for all positions in every measurement

Please take my notes on sound quality always in "absolute" terms. All I can say is that right now I get a better sounding system with the settings above than it has been before and also compared to my system with DL turned OFF. But the effect of DL filter enabled or disabled is a small one, due to my room being acoustically treated (dedicated listening room optimized over several years). I have a huge dip at 35Hz which I can only optimize with DL and also the ability to locate more details and differentiate location of sounds (sound stage) improves marginally with DL.
 

gabo4au

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Very difficult experience with Dirac Live 3.3.3.

I have a miniDSP DDRC-88D 8 in, 8 out all digital device with Dirac.

Setting up Dirac yesterday, I downloaded the latest version of Dirac (3.3.3) and proceeded to run it. I have run this many times, but not with an 8 channel device, only with the 2x4 miniDSP devices. I ran into a number of issues.

1. First, it won't work unless you're logged into your Dirac account. Not sure when this changed, Dirac gets launched from the MiniDSP device so there is really no need to require an online login. Maybe it's done that for a while, this was the first time I tried it in a location without internet access. I eventually had to set up my phone as a "hot spot" as I couldn't figure out any way to get it to run without a login. Arrgh.

2. Took me a while to figure out how to restrict it to only 3 channels. I currently only wanted to correct the main speakers and the sub and nothing else. Turns out you have to assign the speakers you want to correct to a "zone" and the rest of the unused channels to a different zone. That's a user issue, so not a Dirac or MiniDSP issue, just an issue with my understanding. But it certainly could be more clear as to how to set up.

3. The biggest problem came when doing the measurements. First you set the levels, no problem. Then you run the measurements. It would run one measurement correctly. Then I moved the mic and hit run for the 2nd measurement. I would not do a sweep or anything and immediately came up with an error. After a lot of fiddling, I found that if I went back to the level setting screen and redid the levels, it would let me do the 2nd measurement. Then did the same thing on the 3rd measurement. After each measurement, I had to go back and reset the levels again to get it to run the next measurement. Made for a long session to get all the measurements done.

I don't know if this is a special problem just with a DDRC-88D or if it's a problem with 3.3.3. It's such a big problem, I can't image it happening on every device. But at the same time, this is all inside of the Dirac software prior to it downloading anything into the miniDSP, so maybe it's an issue with all the multichannel devices. Although you do have to set the "zones" inside the DDRC-88D and somehow that interacts with the Dirac software. So maybe it's just an issue with the DDRC-88D. That is the "all digital" version of the miniDSP 8x8 device so I'm sure they don't sell a ton of them and might not have been caught in testing.

Whatever it is, it's terrible and needs to be fixed! In a few months, I'll move this entire setup to a different room and will have to run this all over again. Hopefully it's fixed by then.
 
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