# Need Help with DIRAC on my PC



## RTS100x5 (Sep 12, 2009)

Well I was very excited to learn that a trial version of DIRAC LIVE with multichannel support was available..

SO in short Im trying for several days now to get it setup and work with JRIVER MC 18 . I understand there is no official support but here goes nothing.. I also have a ASUS HDAV 1.3 deluxe sound card w the latest driver ...
and I use the 5.1 analog output exclusively. 

SO I finally got the setup configured and got through the setup of DIRAC CALIBRATION with my Dayton UMM-6 USB microphone .... This was headache to get the correct channel to test tone configured . The ASIO driver / and DIRAC apparently having some communication conflicts for lack of a better description... SO I did fiinally end up with a calibrated sample file to use with DIRAC ROOM EQ...

Using the DIRAC driver in my JRIVER MC though produced several crashes and no supported errors - though I use JRIVER all the time to upsample from 2 to 6 channel surround @96khz ... Im thinking the DIRAC is limited to a lower sample rate - this may be the main issue Im running into ....

Any Knowledgeable help plz chime in....


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## RTS100x5 (Sep 12, 2009)

uuhg this is frustrating


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## RTS100x5 (Sep 12, 2009)

UPDATE - after searching FAQ's I found something about disabling additional sound apps and drivers - IE if you have an AMD HDMI video card you'll most likely have an AMD WMD driver in your device manager...Disable that

I was also trying to use ASIO4ALL as my main ASIO driver with no sucess - keeps getting an error from DIRAC saying " DIRAC FAILED TO OPEN ASIO4ALL using 8 channels" so i dropped that concentrating on JRIVER and DIRAC / Windows7 settings ....

After an hour of poking I finally tried this setting in JRIVER >TOOLS>AUDIO OUTPUT>WASAPI.

Now when I played my first trak the DIRAC STREAMING light came on / AND I can adjust the levels in the DIRAC FILTER settings- the initial filter apparently didnt like my subs as the setting was completely set to -19db as low as it could go ......

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH

WOW the sound in my room has been tamed !! a very coherent type of sound - NOW that Im certain that it's working properly .......... got fooled a couple of times until I noticed the tiny status light at the top right saying "DISCONNECTED" :foottap:

NOW the question is "Do I cough up the $739 for the software " ?????????????? :spend::hissyfit::rant::hissyfit:


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## kemist (Feb 27, 2008)

RTS100x5 said:


> UPDATE - after searching FAQ's I found something about disabling additional sound apps and drivers - IE if you have an AMD HDMI video card you'll most likely have an AMD WMD driver in your device manager...Disable that
> 
> I was also trying to use ASIO4ALL as my main ASIO driver with no sucess - keeps getting an error from DIRAC saying " DIRAC FAILED TO OPEN ASIO4ALL using 8 channels" so i dropped that concentrating on JRIVER and DIRAC / Windows7 settings ....
> 
> ...


I'm using Dirac with an Asus card, i will take a look on how i have it set up. There are a few ways you can configure Jriver to get it to work. I know that depending on how i have set it up changing the setting in Jriver has at times resulted in me having to uninstall and reinstall either Dirac or the sound card drivers (can't remember which at the moment) in order to get the sound working right again which is a real pain. When it's working it makes a big difference however.


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## RTS100x5 (Sep 12, 2009)

Ya it is now working like a CHAMP !

I had to use the WASAPI AUDIO OUT in JRIVER... I dont understand how it's working that way yet but my SQ just went up a whole other level ... The sound is very balanced and coherent ... i get that DIRAC is using discrete gain on 6 channels and a time delay as well.... MUCH improvement over my Pioneer Elite Room EQ > but to be fair the ELITE Room EQ is never in use when input is MULTI CH IN ANALOG......

So Now I have 5.1 Channels at 96k running through DIRAC.....WOOOOOOOOT :sn:

UPDATE - I even bumped up the sampling to 192k - WOAH


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## bkeeler10 (Mar 26, 2008)

What room correction, if any, were you using before? If you had one, particularly if it was Audyssey, how do the two compare to each other?

I am quite interested in Dirac and, since I do not have an HTPC, I am intrigued by the various boxes from miniDSP that implement Dirac processing. Next thing we need is a processor (or HTPC) that can decode Atmos/DTS:X and apply Dirac to all channels.


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## kemist (Feb 27, 2008)

bkeeler10 said:


> What room correction, if any, were you using before? If you had one, particularly if it was Audyssey, how do the two compare to each other?
> 
> I am quite interested in Dirac and, since I do not have an HTPC, I am intrigued by the various boxes from miniDSP that implement Dirac processing. Next thing we need is a processor (or HTPC) that can decode Atmos/DTS:X and apply Dirac to all channels.


I set up dirac on a system that was previously calibrated with MultEQ XT (not MultEQ XT32), in my experience dirac made a much bigger difference to quality and clarity, this was visually verified in the measured impulse response with dirac turned on/off.

I didn't take screenshots at the time with that system, however, i do have some screenshots of dirac on/off on a different system that did not have any prior room correction on it. I'm sure the improvement with the MultEQ XT system was not quite as drastic as the attached but it gives you an idea of how much of an improvement it can make.


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## kemist (Feb 27, 2008)

RTS100x5 said:


> Ya it is now working like a CHAMP !
> 
> I had to use the WASAPI AUDIO OUT in JRIVER... I dont understand how it's working that way yet but my SQ just went up a whole other level ... The sound is very balanced and coherent ... i get that DIRAC is using discrete gain on 6 channels and a time delay as well.... MUCH improvement over my Pioneer Elite Room EQ > but to be fair the ELITE Room EQ is never in use when input is MULTI CH IN ANALOG......
> 
> ...


About my comment earlier, and my experience with JRiver and Dirac, I don't use exclusive mode (wasapi/asio) as I ran into many more problems using it than in shared mode i.e. output mode Direct Sound in JRiver. 

Every time I tried using exclusive mode I ran into issues where one program or another did not properly drop control of Dirac and I would get no sound when switching to a different program. 

Additionally, bass redirection doesn't work in exclusive mode for me -- since i'm using ext. in to the receiver bypassing the receivers controls, and for some reason wasapi/asio mode blocks bass redirection in the Asus drivers and I believe in Jriver as well.

I would verify that your bass redirection is still working if that is important to you, if not I would suggest trying the direct mode in JRiver.

Additionally, for the longest time I had an issue where I received occasional pops/clicks that would not go away no matter what I tweaked. I finally reached out to the Dirac support and they suggested the following:



> There is a possibility to setting the framesize hard, this may sometime alleviate this kinds of problems, but there's no guarantees and it requires a bit of experimenting. Anyway, in the diracap.settings you can add a row that looks like:
> 
> <VALUE name="FrameSize" val="X"/>
> 
> ...


I added this value and set it to 5 which alleviated the intermittent clicking on both of my systems.


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## RTS100x5 (Sep 12, 2009)

As I was saying earlier , I did have a issue with DIRAC not using the same channel assignments as the XONAR ASIO driver . To correct this I went to Windows>Playback Devices > selct DIRAC and ran the Configuration for speaker setup / manually switching analog cables until I had the correct cable/speaker assignment...

I ahve not had and issue with bass redirect as you speak of as of yet ... I am definitely getting an xover in JRIVER OUTPUT of below 80 or so hz with WASAPI AUDIO OUT...

As to the signal quality and enhancement DIRAC vs AUDESSY or MCACC , I have really noticed the difference with the DIRAC - its a very perceivable clarity - balanced timbre and frequency response. 

Here are some screen shots of before and after calibration using my Dayton UMM-6 USB mic.
the screenshots are FRONT L/R, CC, SUB, REAR L/R
average spectrum before and after
Impulse responses before and after


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## RTS100x5 (Sep 12, 2009)

As you can see its REALLY flattening out the response curve - the response curve can also be customized....

Next is to try to ungroup L/R's


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## kemist (Feb 27, 2008)

RTS100x5 said:


> As I was saying earlier , I did have a issue with DIRAC not using the same channel assignments as the XONAR ASIO driver . To correct this I went to Windows>Playback Devices > selct DIRAC and ran the Configuration for speaker setup / manually switching analog cables until I had the correct cable/speaker assignment...
> 
> I ahve not had and issue with bass redirect as you speak of as of yet ... I am definitely getting an xover in JRIVER OUTPUT of below 80 or so hz with WASAPI AUDIO OUT...
> 
> ...



Glad you aren't having bass mgmt issues. While I really like Dirac, I wouldn't take the graphs from it as gospel. That's one FR at one point in time with the filters calculated against it, while its technically correct, its not what you will experience if you move your head an inch. If you have the means, Omnimic (which is what I used for the attached graphs) or REW would be a better option to see the real life impact.


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## mastertee31 (Dec 19, 2011)

RTS100x5 said:


> UPDATE - after searching FAQ's I found something about disabling additional sound apps and drivers - IE if you have an AMD HDMI video card you'll most likely have an AMD WMD driver in your device manager...Disable that
> 
> I was also trying to use ASIO4ALL as my main ASIO driver with no sucess - keeps getting an error from DIRAC saying " DIRAC FAILED TO OPEN ASIO4ALL using 8 channels" so i dropped that concentrating on JRIVER and DIRAC / Windows7 settings ....
> 
> ...



I'm in the exact same boat, just downloaded the trial today.Trying to tweak my new diy line arrays that don't quite sound the way i want them to. Im going from my HTPC with 24/192 flac files through jriver, then Dirac live out to my Arcam rdac (Which only does 24/96 through usb, but 192 trough coax  ) output to analog into my onkyo txsr800. Hdmi inputs have recently died otherwise i'd be going htpc hdmi straight into the avr with 192.

I have to agree about audyssey xt, dirac definitely makes a bigger improvement. I don't know if i can justify 1000$ on software though. Especially if an additional 1000$ can get me an xmc-1 with dirac... (Anyone know if this is a stripped down version? Will the included dirac with xmc-1 do 192 filtering?)

Oh btw WASAPI through jriver seems to create less crashes for me.


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## mastertee31 (Dec 19, 2011)

kemist said:


> About my comment earlier, and my experience with JRiver and Dirac, I don't use exclusive mode (wasapi/asio) as I ran into many more problems using it than in shared mode i.e. output mode Direct Sound in JRiver.
> 
> Every time I tried using exclusive mode I ran into issues where one program or another did not properly drop control of Dirac and I would get no sound when switching to a different program.
> 
> ...


Could you possibly elaborate on what you did exactly? I'm getting the random clicks and pops too. Where exactly are these files located and how did you modify.


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## RTS100x5 (Sep 12, 2009)

mastertee31 said:


> Could you possibly elaborate on what you did exactly? I'm getting the random clicks and pops too. Where exactly are these files located and how did you modify.


Here are my settings that work / starting w Win 7 sound properties

then Jriver settings


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## RTS100x5 (Sep 12, 2009)

kemist said:


> Glad you aren't having bass mgmt issues. While I really like Dirac, I wouldn't take the graphs from it as gospel. That's one FR at one point in time with the filters calculated against it, while its technically correct, its not what you will experience if you move your head an inch. If you have the means, Omnimic (which is what I used for the attached graphs) or REW would be a better option to see the real life impact.


I find REW very un user friendly - I have made measurements , but for me I want a program that can optimize my system based on the measurements it takes with a calibrated mic.... so far I haven't seen that function in REW...maybe Im just missing it..:sneeky:


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## Flak (Nov 15, 2013)

Dirac Live graphs are quite consistent with measurements taken with dedicated applications like REW, Fuzzmeasure or others...

Markus767 from AVS forum has taken advantage of the possibility of forcing Dirac Live to use one single measurement for a single point in space... this often will not produce the best listening results but it is a way of double checking how accurate Dirac Live's graphs are by comparing a single point REW measurement with the Dirac computed graph in a single point.
He has tested a test subwoofer and posted the following REW and Dirac Live images for validation purposes:



















I'd say that those Dirac's graphs are quite consistent with REW both before and after correction
Other measurements from markus767 like the relative "before" and "after" waterfalls as well as full range measurements with different methods including one with MMM (moving mic measurement) have been posted here: http://www.avsforum.com/forum/90-re...nel-ai-ao-dirac-live-box-17.html#post30611106

A WBF forumer, Michael Lowe, has used Fuzzmeasure instead with his Mac and a reference Earthworks M23 microphone to validate the full range results.
This is the image he has posted of the two channels as shown by Dirac Live BEFORE and AFTER correction:










This instead is his image of the eighteen averaged measurements (both channels combined, 1/24 octave smoothing) by Fuzzmeasure BEFORE Dirac Live correction:










while this is the image of the 18 measurements by Fuzzmeasure AFTER Dirac Live correction:










Again by comparing them we can see that the Dirac Live's graphs are quite consistent.
The full thread is here: http://www.whatsbestforum.com/showthread.php?15212-Dirac-validation

As outlined by Kemist common frequency response graphs show the frequency response in one single point in space... this literally means one point in space where the mic is placed, but measurements are different in different positions... even a few centimeters make a difference up to the point that what we measure at one ear is different from the other one.
So we want to correct the common behaviour of the different curves at different measurement positions as we do not listen with one ear only in a rigidly fixed single point in space.

Here we see a forumer's nine curves of the left channel in the nine points that define the listening area together with the curve (the lighter one) that represents the average.

The individual curves are shown only in the full Dirac Live version for PC/MACs while the Stereo version shows the one that is most practically useful as a user tool to modify the target, the lighter curve in this image... this is the behaviour relative to the Left channel BEFORE correction:










while this is the Left channel AFTER correction:










(actually Dirac Live does NOT average the nine measurements for correction but uses them to determine what changes with position and what can be corrected and what not... but that's another story)

Ciao, Flavio


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## RTS100x5 (Sep 12, 2009)

thanks for the info Flak ....


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## kemist (Feb 27, 2008)

mastertee31 said:


> Could you possibly elaborate on what you did exactly? I'm getting the random clicks and pops too. Where exactly are these files located and how did you modify.


Mastertee do the following:

First make sure the Dirac Audio processor is not running then use the windows search to find diracap.settings, or I believe it should be visible in the dirac audio processor folder in your program files folder.

From there right click the file and open it with notepad. 

copy and paste the following into the file and save:

<VALUE name="FrameSize" val="5"/>

Let me know if you need more in depth instructions.

Also you may have to change the 5 to a different value that works for your system. 5 happened to work on both the systems that I had which had the clicking issue.


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## kemist (Feb 27, 2008)

RTS100x5 said:


> I find REW very un user friendly - I have made measurements , but for me I want a program that can optimize my system based on the measurements it takes with a calibrated mic.... so far I haven't seen that function in REW...maybe Im just missing it..:sneeky:


I wasn't saying to add room correction with REW instead of Dirac, I meant REW or an omnimic would display the improvement dirac is making at the listening point which will be different than what is displayed in the dirac program due to the items Flak mentioned


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## kemist (Feb 27, 2008)

Flak said:


> Dirac Live graphs are quite consistent with measurements taken with dedicated applications like REW, Fuzzmeasure or others...
> 
> snip
> 
> Ciao, Flavio


I wasn't saying that Dirac isn't performing the corrections that it claims its performing, but that real life results won't quite be the same since its correcting over a wide listening area and not just at those single points that were measured.


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## RTS100x5 (Sep 12, 2009)

kemist said:


> Mastertee do the following:
> 
> First make sure the Dirac Audio processor is not running then use the windows search to find diracap.settings, or I believe it should be visible in the dirac audio processor folder in your program files folder.
> 
> ...


Are you certain that its not just signal clipping ??? try to adjust the GAIN input down in DIRAC - the clipping LED is at the top right ....


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## kemist (Feb 27, 2008)

RTS100x5 said:


> Are you certain that its not just signal clipping ??? try to adjust the GAIN input down in DIRAC - the clipping LED is at the top right ....


Its not signal clipping, its completely random in occurrence and appeared to be related to dpc latency on the computer. The tweak above fixed it immediately.


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## RTS100x5 (Sep 12, 2009)

Got it... Im not knowlegable on what this frame size value is changing exactly but Im very impressed so far with the sound improvement overall...

Do you guys think this software is worth the $740... ????


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## mastertee31 (Dec 19, 2011)

It's really hard to say, i'm using it to make my line arrays sound good. Before Dirac they sounded decent but something was definitely off, with Dirac they undoubtedly sound much better. But not sure if its 749$ better.

Dirac puts you in a tough position, the product is good but the price is bloated in my opinion. I have multiple systems I want to use this in but not at that price tag. My home theatre room, office, living room and even my car. Am I really expected to shell out 2000$ in software?! The 916$ version Canadian gets you registration for 2 pcs... I need 4 lol


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## kemist (Feb 27, 2008)

mastertee31 said:


> Could you possibly elaborate on what you did exactly? I'm getting the random clicks and pops too. Where exactly are these files located and how did you modify.


I spoke too soon in my previous post (at least about where the file was located). If you used windows search you may have found it but the diracap.settings file is in the folder:

c:\Users\*your username*\AppData\Roaming

From there open the file in Notepad. My settings are as follows though you only want to add that last line with FrameSize



> <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
> 
> <PROPERTIES>
> <VALUE name="LogLevel" val="ERROR"/>
> ...


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## mastertee31 (Dec 19, 2011)

^^^ Trying it now, let you know.


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## mastertee31 (Dec 19, 2011)

RTS100x5 said:


> Are you certain that its not just signal clipping ??? try to adjust the GAIN input down in DIRAC - the clipping LED is at the top right ....


It's definitely not clipping, i have the gain all the way down.


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## kemist (Feb 27, 2008)

kemist said:


> I set up dirac on a system that was previously calibrated with MultEQ XT (not MultEQ XT32), in my experience dirac made a much bigger difference to quality and clarity, this was visually verified in the measured impulse response with dirac turned on/off.
> 
> I didn't take screenshots at the time with that system, however, i do have some screenshots of dirac on/off on a different system that did not have any prior room correction on it. I'm sure the improvement with the MultEQ XT system was not quite as drastic as the attached but it gives you an idea of how much of an improvement it can make.
> 
> View attachment 80690


Also not sure if I'm coming off as negative towards Dirac in my posts or with the FR before/after that I attached earlier. If so that is not my intent, while the FR in the attachment was still a bit lumpy the Impulse Response was vastly improved which made a huge difference in sound quality in my opinion. Additionally, as I have already mentioned I felt it was a large improvement over MultEQ XT. As to whether its worth the asking price, that is up to each individual to decide, however, I have purchased the product so I am definitely a supporter.


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## kemist (Feb 27, 2008)

RTS100x5 said:


> Got it... Im not knowlegable on what this frame size value is changing exactly but Im very impressed so far with the sound improvement overall...
> 
> Do you guys think this software is worth the $740... ????


My understanding regarding the frame size is that altering it may help keep the sound card's buffers full thereby preventing the clicking.


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## RTS100x5 (Sep 12, 2009)

mastertee31 said:


> It's really hard to say, i'm using it to make my line arrays sound good. Before Dirac they sounded decent but something was definitely off, with Dirac they undoubtedly sound much better. But not sure if its 749$ better.
> 
> Dirac puts you in tough position, the product is good but the price is bloated in my opinion. I have multiple systems I want to use this in but not at that price tag. My home theatre room, office, living room and even my car. Am I really expected to shell out 2000$ in software?! The 916$ version Canadian gets you registration for 2 pcs... I need 4 lol


whats in your line arrays ??


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## RTS100x5 (Sep 12, 2009)

So I've watched a couple of movies using DIRAC processing - and wow it's mad a believer out of me ... I will be purchasing the software ASAP ......:yes::spend:


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## kemist (Feb 27, 2008)

mastertee31 said:


> ^^^ Trying it now, let you know.


Did you give the framesize tweak a shot? Did it fix your clicking?


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## mastertee31 (Dec 19, 2011)

Sorry for the late reply, i did give it a try but it didn't work. I tried playing with the values with no results as well. However i got it fixed, I did a few things with a ton of time invested researching... 

I narrowed it down to windows 7 itself, a google search came up with disabling/uninstalling my antivirus and then trying it again. (Didn't work) I then tried multiple players (J'river, itunes, vlc etc.) all had the same issue. This led me to windows being the problem.

*What I did:*

First I turned off "Turbo boost" and "C-state" in my bios for windows 7 64bit (apparently this is problematic for some audio devices) then i went into device manager and disabled all of the "allow the computer to turn off this device to save power" settings for all of the "usb root hubs" under power management settings. I also went into hardware and sound, power options, balanced, advanced, set hard disks to never turn off as well as display.

I don't know what fixed it exactly, but it's one of the above!


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## mastertee31 (Dec 19, 2011)

RTS100x5 said:


> So I've watched a couple of movies using DIRAC processing - and wow it's mad a believer out of me ... I will be purchasing the software ASAP ......:yes::spend:


After many hours tweaking i've come to the conclusion that dirac can't save everything. It definitely made my speakers sound better but you can't boost something that wasn't there to start with. (if you try it'll just clip constantly) the key word is that you can "tweak" the sound not re-master it lol. Overall i was left a little disappointed on what it did to music.

HOWEVER!!! I watched a couple of movies to evaluate dirac... It sounded phenomenal, the difference it made was drastic. I have to say "oblivion" with my own tweaked filter just took my system to a whole new level. Dialogue intelligibility was amazing, the musical score was profoundly good. Chest thumping even without my subs. (Mains, center, surrounds, all set to fullband)

After tonight I've made up my mind, i'm ordering an xmc-1 with dirac.


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## mastertee31 (Dec 19, 2011)

RTS100x5 said:


> whats in your line arrays ??


I don't want to hijack your thread, but since you asked :bigsmile:

Please excuse the mess: 



I bought the drivers from Jam Industries (I know someone that services the audio gear for them) he sold me 42 6.5" mid/woofers of unknown brand and 22 unknown dome tweeters. At the time I didn't know what i was buying or what i wanted to do as a project, but he had the right amount of drivers for a line array and then some. The woofers were already truncated for smaller spacing, they had phase plugs, rubber surround, and a decent sized magnet. The tweeters were a complete mystery though. Also the price was very right (120$ for the lot) When I got them home I ran every single one through measurement software. Bass was very respectable based on graphs, tweeters were questionable but i took a chance anyhow. There are 2 10" side firing dayton ultimax subs, and the whole rig is tri-amped with passive crossovers. (I've wired it so i can go active one day with minidsp as well) I had "Solen" in montreal, supply all the crossover parts and design them based on measurements. I had a friend with a cnc machine cutout the front baffles on all 7 speakers. I assembled everything myself over the past year with 1" mdf. (The mains currently stand at 7 feet tall)


Anyhow i'll be posting a buildlog in the future and don't want to derail the thread... To some it up i was looking at dirac to correct the deficiencies in the mediocre tweeters. It did, but not well enough, or at least didnt live up to what i expected it to be. I have have a pair of altec valencias w/811-B horn bodies i'm thinking of frankensteining to get the sound i want, then we'll see what dirac can do...


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## |Tch0rT| (May 2, 2013)

mastertee31 said:


> After tonight I've made up my mind, i'm ordering an xmc-1 with dirac.


While I'm 100% up to date on the XMC-1's version of Dirac so you should do some research regarding this as I could be wrong but last I heard users were unable to edit the target curve on the XMC-1 so you're stuck to the default curve, just something you should be aware of if you weren't already. Personally I'd go with a miniDSP DDRC-88A or nanoAVR-DL over the XMC-1 just due to that limitation.


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## RTS100x5 (Sep 12, 2009)

My trial ver expired last night and I was really having withdrawl symptoms today.... I have decided to pull the triggger on the software ... Even though it seems that the updates to the DL are only good for 1 year....

Any other subjective opinions as to the overall product please speak up.. 

What sold me was the very audible difference it made in my system ... As some have said it's a little hard to describe... Its like going from 1024x768 to 1920x1080 in video resolution ...Its a much more coherent and immersive audio experience....especially with music but I definately appreciated the SQ of the movies I was watching as well....
It definitely improved the spatial quality of the sound in movies...

$739 though - jeeez this is gonna hurt ...the possible good news is that it comes with 2 licences so I may be able to split the cost with my #1 client who is also very interested in it....:whistling:


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## mastertee31 (Dec 19, 2011)

|Tch0rT| said:


> While I'm 100% up to date on the XMC-1's version of Dirac so you should do some research regarding this as I could be wrong but last I heard users were unable to edit the target curve on the XMC-1 so you're stuck to the default curve, just something you should be aware of if you weren't already. Personally I'd go with a miniDSP DDRC-88A or nanoAVR-DL over the XMC-1 just due to that limitation.


That's unfortunate about the xmc-1 and dirac (That's a deal breaker for me). The problem with the miniDSP DDRC-88A is that it doesnt even support 24/96 or higher. The specs say it samples at 48khz. The nanoAVR-DL with dirac seems like the best solution so far but it only accepts LPCM, that would then mean upgrading my bluray player to an oppo perhaps... and figuring out how to feed the unit from my htpc (I don't think it can output lpcm, and if it can i'm almost certain I can't decode master audio etc.) The issue is that i'm in the market for a new processor as the hdmi's have died on my onkyo. The xmc-1 would have been a perfect solution... I guess i have more research ahead of me.


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## Kal Rubinson (Aug 3, 2006)

|Tch0rT| said:


> While I'm 100% up to date on the XMC-1's version of Dirac so you should do some research regarding this as I could be wrong but last I heard users were unable to edit the target curve on the XMC-1 so you're stuck to the default curve, just something you should be aware of if you weren't already.


That is true but Emotiva has promised that a configurable version upgrade is immiment. 



mastertee31 said:


> That's unfortunate about the xmc-1 and dirac (That's a deal breaker for me). The problem with the miniDSP DDRC-88A is that it doesnt even support 24/96 or higher. The specs say it samples at 48khz. The nanoAVR-DL with dirac seems like the best solution so far but it only accepts LPCM, that would then mean upgrading my bluray player to an oppo perhaps... and figuring out how to feed the unit from my htpc (I don't think it can output lpcm, and if it can i'm almost certain I can't decode master audio etc.) The issue is that i'm in the market for a new processor as the hdmi's have died on my onkyo. The xmc-1 would have been a perfect solution... I guess i have more research ahead of me.


All Dirac implementations demand PCM and most BD players will do that automatically if the HDMI handshake indicates that the DAC/processor requires it.


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## RTS100x5 (Sep 12, 2009)

For alot less money than the XMC-1 I have an excellent 7.1 analog sound card with upgraded premium OPamps and Im adding DIRAC LIVE and DIRAC PROCESSOR all for about $1300.... as well my PC serves as an excellent movie server / et all ...Obviously if were talking about investing in the XMC-1, I would need the XPA5 as an amp / around $3000 worth of gear....
As Ive tested on my system with DIARC LIVE - Im getting 5.1 ouput @ 192khz / 24bit ... Along with the extremely open sound quality of the BURSON Opamps - Im getting a sound field and audio quality that is way beyond what I would get with just a receiver running AUDESSEY or MCACCP....


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## |Tch0rT| (May 2, 2013)

mastertee31 said:


> That's unfortunate about the xmc-1 and dirac (That's a deal breaker for me). The problem with the miniDSP DDRC-88A is that it doesnt even support 24/96 or higher. The specs say it samples at 48khz. The nanoAVR-DL with dirac seems like the best solution so far but it only accepts LPCM, that would then mean upgrading my bluray player to an oppo perhaps... and figuring out how to feed the unit from my htpc (I don't think it can output lpcm, and if it can i'm almost certain I can't decode master audio etc.) The issue is that i'm in the market for a new processor as the hdmi's have died on my onkyo. The xmc-1 would have been a perfect solution... I guess i have more research ahead of me.


Both the DDRC-88A and nanoAVR-DL sample at 48kHz. According to some user reports over on AVSforum this is a non issue unless you buy into the high res movement (I do not personally). If you use HDMI out from you HTPC you can output 7.1 LPCM if you have the right software like JRiver (it does require a .dll for DTS-MA but if you're sleuthy enough on the intra webz you can find it) but alas your HDMI's have died. :/ If you have a separate power amp miniDSP will be releasing a nanoAVR-DLA which has HDMI in (still requires LPCM) and 8 channel analog out, if your HTPC is your only source and you have some software like JRiver you no longer would need a AVR or pre/pro.



Kal Rubinson said:


> That is true but Emotiva has promised that a configurable version upgrade is immiment.


Good news for owners and potential owners of the XMC-1!


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