Dirac vs REW or Sonarworks? Moving to RME interface

[txbdan]

Hey all,

I've been super happy with using Dirac Live for room correction in my home studio. I run the plugin hosted in SoundSource on my Mac. The main issue I have with it is that it creates a lot of latency and of course it only applies to my computer as a source. I recently picked up a RME UCX-II which can run a room EQ in its internal DSP. It supports exports from Sonarworks and REW, but not Dirac. Runing the EQ in this device will solve my latency issues and apply to all my sources, great.

I'm running stereo studio monitors (Genelec 8030Cs) and a JBL studio sub.

Does Dirac have any unique "magic" in its filter creation that can't be replicated with a 9 band PEQ?

I plan to try out REW soon since it's free, but how does Sonarworks compare these days? I'd have to buy a mic for it since I only have a UMIK-1 now.

Also, since I have the output channels, can/should I discretely calibrate the sub using REW? Something like Dirac Bass management? Currently my monitor signals just run through the sub on a total of two channels.

 

[Mort]

Does Dirac have any unique "magic" in its filter creation that can't be replicated with a 9 band PEQ?

Probably not. I've used audyssey, Wiim, REW and Dirac. All but Wiim eventually produced about the same result with a single sub. I think Dirac is the easiest but not better.

 

[Miniyouuuu]

the only magic Dirac can provide is FIR filters. The rest of softwares use IIR filters.

 

[txbdan]

the only magic Dirac can provide is FIR filters. The rest of softwares use IIR filters.

Why is that so? What is the practical difference?

 

[Mort]

Why is that so? What is the practical difference?

improvements in phase accuracy and there's no feedback, so they are more 'stable'. It's going to be small but measureable.

 

[Keith_W]

There is no magic with Dirac. Everything it does can be done with REW, including the FIR filters. You just need to know what you are doing.

This @OCA video shows you how to generate FIR filters for REW. DO NOT FOLLOW the procedure for inversion over a target curve shown in this video to generate PEQ's. That's to generate linphase FIR! If you want PEQ's for your MiniDSP, use REW's automatic PEQ generator.

The only "magic" in Dirac is that it removes complexity from the process by doing everything for you. But IMO you can generate a better correction yourself manually, provided you are willing to learn the process.

I don't know if the RME UCX-II has any FIR taps or not. You need to check. Also, bear in mind that you will not be able to load biquads directly into your unit, since biquads need to be generated specifically for hardware. You will have to generate the PEQ's, and then manually type the PEQ's in.

I see that Sonarworks claims to directly support RME interfaces (on their website). REW does not. No matter, it is a small inconvenience.

 

[txbdan]

After reading a bit, I don't think I'd want FIR taps because they'd introduce too much latency. I used RTL to measure interface latency and there was no change enabling the roomEQ function with two channels 9 PEQs each.

I did a quick REW measurement, made correction filters, and implemented them in the RME. Def an improvement over nothing. I need to spend more time optimizing the measurement and filter creation. Thanks!

 

[Keith_W]

After reading a bit, I don't think I'd want FIR taps because they'd introduce too much latency. I used RTL to measure interface latency and there was no change enabling the roomEQ function with two channels 9 PEQs each.

In theory FIR taps introduce latency. In practice, the latency of only 2048 taps at 96kHz is minimal.

You can calculate the latency of FIR taps with: t = (n-1)/2Fs. So 2047/192000 = 0.011 seconds; or 11ms. If you have to delay your main speakers to match your subwoofers, the latency is going to be more than that.

 

[txbdan]

That's too much delay, especially at 48khz, for real time recording and playing guitar through sims and such. Using RTL, im measuring like 3.3ms round trip.