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Second generation Dirac Live Room EQ coming

Sal1950

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I haven't used Audyssey in recent incarnations as results earlier were so poor. Maybe it has improved. I hope so. Many people used the earlier version and said they didn't like room correction based upon their experience with Audyssey.
I don't have experience with any other systems to compare, but overall I'm quite pleased with the improvement in sound, specially the low/mid bass range with Audyssey here. And my Marantz AV7701 doesn't have the latest, most powerful version, just MultiEQ XT
 

andrew

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Yes, the XMC-1 has two independent subwoofer outputs. A major PITA is that DL does not know anything about the crossovers in the pre/pro so most folk are adding a miniDSP or something similar to handle multiple subs. I am not but am sort of a special case and getting everything to play well together took some work. Would be much easier if the processing chain was fixed so subs and mains were properly integrated. Kal may know but I do not recall where blame was laid, DL or Emotiva.

Don - So even though Dirac processing in the XMC-1 is done after bass management the settings are set based on full range sweeps before bass management. Is that the problem to which you're referring with the XMC-1? And, if so, then how did you get around the problem?
 

DonH56

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Yes. Most people use a single sub output and miniDSP to handle multiple subs. Or maybe you could just adjust the curve, or maybe it will work OK with a single sub, I am not sure. Some people have liked the results as-is but I think they only have one sub and it may work OK in that case (even if the flow seems odd to me). I have two pairs and used the two sub outputs in mono so the XMC-1 sets the delays, sort-of, then used the gain and phase controls on the subs along with setting Dirac Live's target curve to emulate the right rolloff and iterated until everything played together. I also tried limiting the correction to the crossover point, not quite sure how I finally left it (was over a year ago now). The results are good but it was vexingly long and painful doing it the manual way. I may still get a miniDSP and try that especially if I have to set them up again.
 

jhaider

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Not Emotiva, but I recently explored Dirac live on Bryston's SP4 with a battery of measurements of how the system works in our living room. (If anyone has recommendations for acoustic measurements that could help illuminate some aspect of AVR or SSP performance to add to the battery in that review, I'm all ears. Acoustic because I'm not going to buy an Audio Precision. Electronics just aren't my interest, except room correction)
https://hometheaterhifi.com/reviews...ton-sp4-16-channel-surround-processor-review/

The SP4's bass management is the best I have seen on an AVR or SSP. Dirac corrects to whatever endpoints the user selects with the curtains. The automatic target curves correctly imply that correction should be broad: up to 500Hz for the sub for example. The crossover is the user's responsibility, but the processor gives a skilled calibrator all the tools she needs: adjustable slope, delays, separate filters for each channel, etc.

The challenge is, getting a really good satellite-subwoofer blend places steep requirements on the speakers and subwoofers. The main speakers need smooth response down about an octave below the crossover, and the subwoofers to have smooth, clean, resonance-free response an octave above the crossover!
 

Sal1950

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The challenge is, getting a really good satellite-subwoofer blend places steep requirements on the speakers and subwoofers. The main speakers need smooth response down about an octave below the crossover,
By design or post DSP?
 

jhaider

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By design or post DSP?

My guess is mostly post DSP. Mostly because if the mains have enough displacement to be EQed flattish and then not sound strained after a steep* filter, that’s probably fine. But there are a lot of subwoofers with serious bandwidth limitations due to their motor designs or electronics limitations. I avoid them.

*one side note: the conventional wisdom is to use steep even order filters. Andrew Jones makes a compelling argument that subs should be in phase quadrature instead, because power response is what matters. His EA101EQ-G integrated DAC amp uses 5th order filters.
 

Sal1950

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My guess is mostly post DSP. Mostly because if the mains have enough displacement to be EQed flattish and then not sound strained after a steep* filter, that’s probably fine
Thanks for the reply. I'm fairly satisfied with my current dual sub system, the new Audyssey XT32 + the Editor app has allowed me to get things in decent order. It does EQ both subs separately plus allow a big range of adjustablity that was never available before. I've got a number of limitations, the worst of which is the open architecture room that allows little in the way of room tuning, sharing the space with the kitchen, dining room and a hallway to the rest of the house. :facepalm:
There remains a bit of boomyness that I need to address in time.
Never will understand how I got most everything I wanted to, done, before my retirement. Now that I'm retired there never seems to be enough time for anything. LOL
 

andrew

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What I meant was the typical AVR or SSP bass management with a 2nd order highpass and 4th order lowpass.

Is this still the case with the latest Marantz AVR : Pre-Pro? And, if so, then how do you deal with this with your 7704? (The reason for the question is that my speakers are more or less flat to 25hz in room so a proper high pass is needed.)
 
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