Vacceo
Major Contributor
- Joined
- Mar 9, 2022
- Messages
- 3,242
- Likes
- 3,501
Mac had included Dirac on their latest AVR. What surprises me is the lack of information in it's capacity to use DLBC. That is a limitation also shared by Primate and to be fair, it makes no sense to not allow the user to get the full software.The whole discussion was more of a small talk, while he was setting up Altitude at my place. If I remember correctly, customer [super VIP for them] wanted to have only blue VU meters so they opted for McIntosh Processor.
He was not complaining about the measurements as such, which I assume is pretty straightforward, but about how hard and time consuming is to get proper results, as Room Perfect is pretty automated and has only limited options for calibrator/end user to really influence the final result. So it ended with plebeian MiniDsp getting better results than Lyngdorf in managing multi-subs and helping Lyngdorf to sound acceptable for HT purposes. In his opinion it is more a lifestyle product for design conscious customers that works best in living rooms etc, but not for serious dedicated HT's.
How much dynamic range is lost? I guess it depends on device and software, but any examples of numbers you have tested?Those special functions impact performance. These products have a chain of signal processing components. Each work independently which means each needs its own digital headroom to avoid overflow. The net result is that you loose good bit of dynamic range relative to a simple DAC.
When I first started testing these products, I rated them the same as 2-channel products. If I had continued, they would all get poor to fair results. In other words, someone looking for an excellent solution wouldn't find any and differentiation would get lost among the products. By creating their own category, they compete among each other. Should one of them at some point become competitive with 2-channel products, they would stand out and get the recognition they deserve.
Do any of them reach at least CD quality once room correction has been applied?