GLM Vs Dirac Vs ARC

[Sprint]

Which one is better?

 

[Balle Clorin]

Audiolense is better than all of them, I guess

 

[Hephaestus]

I have GLM, Dirac and Acourate. GLM and Dirac has to be verified with REW and usually they need some fiddling.

Acourate gives the best results at first attempt. Acourate´s problem is the UI which can be a little overwhelming.

Anyways I always recommend verification of the results by REW and extensive listening.

 

[thewas]

I have GLM, Dirac and Acourate. GLM and Dirac has to be verified with REW and usually they need some fiddling.

Acourate gives the best results at first attempt. Acourate´s problem is the UI which can be a little overwhelming.

Anyways I always recommend verification of the results by REW and extensive listening.

I see it similarly, use Acourate and REW had also test versions of Dirac 1.x and 2.x.
Dirac is more plug and play and its predefined settings give faster a successful result, Acourate needs more time to spend, understand, use and customise it, but has more flexibility. Audiolense is according to @mitchco who has tested them all and written a great book about room correction, also great.

 

[q3cpma]

Might be the best thread: what about drc-fir? It seems to use a "classic" single point sweep style measurement, but there's simply nothing else in the open source world; plus, it has a nice command line interface.

 

[detlev24]

Maybe someone can give a quick overview of the main differences, which go beyond the user interfaces?

Dirac Live is offering room correction over a listening area, rather than a single spot, *with highly customizable target curves. Furthermore, it does correct for impulse response and extensive bass management is either already available [for AVR/P_s] or will be released soon, software-only, "for Studio".

Which philosophies do the other contenders follow? I guess this might be the most important aspect to consider, as it probably is not easy to find a global 'winner'.

*edit

 

[jhaider]

Which one is better?

Dirac and ARC Genesis work with multiple speaker brands, so there's that.

ARC is parametric EQ only I believe, while Dirac uses more tricks. I know of least one person I know with great ears and multiple audio patents under his belt who prefers the former, at least when the software is used for room correction rather than speaker power response equalization.

Dirac has more flexible target curve shaping capability. ARC Genesis has possibly more intuitive target curve shaping (bass boost, overall tilt).

ARC Genesis has one towering advantage over any other room correction system to date: you can leverage the equipment and software to take your own measurements for optimization prior to running the software. ARC has had this capability since the first generation. I think it is sad that nobody else has yet duplicated ARC's "Quick Measure" functionality.

For multichannel, ARC does not ship in a product that includes Auro upmixing.

 

[SIY]

Dirac and ARC Genesis work with multiple speaker brands, so there's that.

ARC is parametric EQ only I believe, while Dirac uses more tricks. I know of least one person I know with great ears and multiple audio patents under his belt who prefers the former, at least when the software is used for room correction rather than speaker power response equalization.

Dirac has more flexible target curve shaping capability. ARC Genesis has possibly more intuitive target curve shaping (bass boost, overall tilt).

ARC Genesis has one towering advantage over any other room correction system to date: you can leverage the equipment and software to take your own measurements for optimization prior to running the software. ARC has had this capability since the first generation. I think it is sad that nobody else has yet duplicated ARC's "Quick Measure" functionality.

For multichannel, ARC does not ship in a product that includes Auro upmixing.

Throw Sonarworks into the mix as a contender. Best measurement and setup I’ve experienced from any room correction.

 

[Music1969]

Throw Sonarworks into the mix as a contender. Best measurement and setup I’ve experienced from any room correction.

Which ones have you tried?

And which versions (old or recent)

 

[detlev24]

I use Sonarworks for my individually calibrated headphones + their averaged calibration profiles for a few other headphones. Until Dirac will release their own headphone correction, maybe based on a miniDSP EARS headphone jig, this is the most convenient solution; I think. Unfortunately, the "B&K 1974 optimum Hi-Fi curve" is the only interesting option offered by the software; with very little manual control for customizations. HARMAN did great development, which is still ongoing, based on this original 1974 target curve.

I never considered upgrading to their loudspeaker solution, since they still do not provide correction for impulse response [please correct me, should it have been silently introduced]. I also kept version 3.x of my headphone plugin, as version 4.x brings no audible benefits for headphone users.

Furthermore, their Reference software is not compatible to any USB microphone (due to word clock issues). You have to use phantom powered connections for omnidirectional condenser microphones... However, I do like their method for measurement microphone placement.

 

[SIY]

Which ones have you tried?

And which versions (old or recent)

Sonarworks, ARC 2, and Dirac.

 

[ferrellms]

Which one is better?

I have tried ARC 2, Sonarworks 3 and Sonarworks 4. Sonarworks 4 to me sounds better than ARC2 and is easier to set up than Sonarworks 3. Bear in mind this is for a bedroom studio, not a home theater. I will say that this bedroom studio sounds amazing and I credit Sonarworks as an important component. My recommendation is to use digital room correction of some kind. All of these products have improved sound quality considerably.

 

[Sprint]

Has anyone compared DIRAC Vs GLM? Would be interesting to know which is better?

 

[SIY]

Sonarworks, ARC 2, and Dirac.

I should clarify that I’m talking about measurement and setup process, not the final sound.

 

[Tonygeno]

Has anyone compared DIRAC Vs GLM? Would be interesting to know which is better?

Better in what way? Doesn't better reflect an opinion?

 

[Xyrium]

Slight threadsurrection, but do any/all of these perform timing/step correction in some fashion? I've always worried about subs hanging off of a 2 channel setup (say RME ADI 2 DAC) that don't quite align with the sats from a timing perspective. Not phase, timing. The classic example of a kick drum, and that it produces a high frequency slap along with the low frequency thump. If they arrive at the same time, it's an experience to behold. Some will often describe bass in a speaker as soft or slow, when it doesn't.

 

[onion]

I've tried all of these as well as RoomPerfect.
GLM does phase-correct subs. It allows you to pair subs with each other or any other speaker. Music sounds amazing but that may be more the speakers/ subs than the performance of GLM per se. GLM does calculate time of flight delay which should correct any timing issues. One of my subs is near the listening position but it seamlessly integrates with the front speaker and is not localisable.
Dirac - I used the older version without bass management for multiple subs. Fiddly with results that were good for movies but not stereo music.
ARC - easier to use. I can't really tell the difference between this and Dirac quality-wise. Neither are great for music but that may be down to the AVRs that they come bundled with (Anthem, Arcam)
RoomPerfect - great for movies and music alike and easy to use. So like GLM but targeted at consumers rather than professionals.

 

[Sprint]

I've tried all of these as well as RoomPerfect.
GLM does phase-correct subs. It allows you to pair subs with each other or any other speaker. Music sounds amazing but that may be more the speakers/ subs than the performance of GLM per se. GLM does calculate time of flight delay which should correct any timing issues. One of my subs is near the listening position but it seamlessly integrates with the front speaker and is not localisable.
Dirac - I used the older version without bass management for multiple subs. Fiddly with results that were good for movies but not stereo music.
ARC - easier to use. I can't really tell the difference between this and Dirac quality-wise. Neither are great for music but that may be down to the AVRs that they come bundled with (Anthem, Arcam)
RoomPerfect - great for movies and music alike and easy to use. So like GLM but targeted at consumers rather than professionals.

Which Genelec speakers and Subs did you use at the time of measurement?

 

[onion]

Which Genelec speakers and Subs did you use at the time of measurement?

GLM 8341s with one 7350 sub and one 7360 sub. One corner of the room is more liable to be 'boomy' so pairing the smaller sub with the speaker there, while the bigger sub is in a more open space paired with the other speaker, seems to work well.

 

[Sprint]

GLM 8341s with one 7350 sub and one 7360 sub. One corner of the room is more liable to be 'boomy' so pairing the smaller sub with the speaker there, while the bigger sub is in a more open space paired with the other speaker, seems to work well.

@onion Have you tried other subs with the monitors? Currently I have 8340 * 3 as LCR and 8330 as surrounds with 2 SB 12 NSD subs which are 12". I have a Yamaha RX-V775. I am not so happy with Yamaha Bass Management and integration. So I am currently thinking if I should go for Genelec 7360 subs (but super expensive) or stick to SVS subs and get Denon 3700H which Amirm has measured. Which change will bring more sonic improvement is my question. On the other hand, I am still thinking if 7350 with a bit more volume will equal 7360.

What are your thoughts? - Are Genelec subs better than other subs? Are they worth the price and do their bass integration worth the money compared to AVR bass integration with non-svs subs? And at the last, how different are 7350 to 7360. Would 7350 be sufficient?