Dirac Live Pro

[DanDan]

I have been using Dirac Live standalone app in my small but Pro studio SoundSound for many years.
I have also helped (or annoyed) my friends at Dirac with Beta and Manual suggestions.
I used it every day to apply a B&K like Target Curve (regular Eq's cannot create such curved slopes), and to tame the lowest mode which is beyond the reach of the extensive treatment, 35Hz.
It is the most stable software I have seen.
Just now they have released a 'Pro' version. I haven't tried it yet due to OS issues. Years back I asked for a more Pro version, more manual rather than auto. Now it is here.
I believe it will be of great use, and warmly recommend a trial/demo. It is geared towards DAW and Pro work, but the AU version should work in high end apple playback and streaming apps.
https://live.dirac.com/pro-audio/

www.irishacoustics.com

 

[JStewart]

@DanDan is it because the Dirac audio processor is now a plugin that makes it “pro”?
Looks at though the filters are created with the Dirac 2.x application. Building a response curve is essentially unchanged. Dirac 2.x filters with phase matching of the mains is a benefit though.

I installed the new audio processor plugin but found it won’t use my current license for Dirac 1.x. Sent Dirac an email asking if it’s a free upgrade (as it was for my NAD) or if they’ll want current owners to pay for all or part of this new version.
Ultimately the new version will be required before Dirac bass management with multi sub integration can be used.
Perhaps @Flak may know the answer to the upgrade cost if any.

 

[DanDan]

I am in the midst of OS upping in an attempt to run Pro. It will end up as a plug-in running in a DAW or Play/Stream software.
I believe it would be wise to call it Pro rather than Processor to create clear blue water between it and the Standalone OS based Dirac Live.
That DL is well into V2 now afaik. Again I have not yet run it due to OS issues. My computers are all a bit old, DL2 and DLPro require Mojave or later.
I expect Flavio is rather busy at the moment! But at a guess I see nothing on the websites to suggest a charge for DL V2. However, again reading the website, Bass Management does appear to be a new add on facility, but then my V1 is multichannel...... The 'branded' DL used by NAD, ARCAM, etc. etc. does appear to have a new paid upgrade called Full Frequency. Clearly, pun intended, a complex scenario. Jakob explains a bit on the website. Obviously OS changes are causing impediments. But my original software continues to be work perfectly without a glitch since I first installed it. So onwards and upwards, and I would suggest some moves on the names to delineate the various versions of the product. I mean Mobile and Automotive are a bit close. Off the top of my head, DL Pocket, DL Vehicle, DL Home, DL Pro.

 

[DanDan]

OK, Doh, or Daw....... Unfortunately I cannot get the DL Processor to run. My old Minimac is running Mojave albeit not on the Apple supported list.
But the icon for DLP has a big ? on it. However I am beginning to understand, I hope.
For now I believe DL Live is the Measurement and Filter generating side, and does not really have the 'manual' aspects I would like. So it is just Dirac Live V2, with a new GUI and under the bonnet improvements, and structure in place to allow add on specific Sub/Bass Management and other future stuff.
The Processor can be standalone OS wide as before, but sort of pretending to be a 'device'. For us Pro Studio users, it will appear as a plug in within a DAW or other playing system which accommodates plugs. Internally, I would consider the duo as DL Measure, and DL Play.
I will happily accept donates towards my research fund. I will need a new MacPro......baseline model 7K, fully loaded 52K!

 

[JStewart]

OK, Doh, or Daw....... Unfortunately I cannot get the DL Processor to run. My old Minimac is running Mojave albeit not on the Apple supported list.
But the icon for DLP has a big ? on it. However I am beginning to understand, I hope.
For now I believe DL Live is the Measurement and Filter generating side, and does not really have the 'manual' aspects I would like. So it is just Dirac Live V2, with a new GUI and under the bonnet improvements, and structure in place to allow add on specific Sub/Bass Management and other future stuff.
The Processor can be standalone OS wide as before, but sort of pretending to be a 'device'. For us Pro Studio users, it will appear as a plug in within a DAW or other playing system which accommodates plugs. Internally, I would consider the duo as DL Measure, and DL Play.

That’s how I also understand it at this point.
Where you looking for a better tool to adjust the response too?
You can still create/edit response curves with a text editor in V2 “DL Measure”.

 

[DanDan]

As a Mix and Mastering engineer I enjoy DL V1 every day. But the forte here is that I can draw a Target Response in a curved manner by using way points. So I have my B&K and it works. Even though my CR is very dead, the balance of tone I hear in there translates very well to the outside world, almost irrespective of how much room tone they are hearing. The 'Pro' features I would like are more to do with my work as an Acoustician. Generally the 'auto' Eq algorithms of DL seem to be best in class, and the filters seem superior in at least one aspect, grabbing the lowest mode. But I would like to see better the actual filter parameters and have a say over whether or not, or how much. One friend Mastering engineer did experience mid range ringing due to an inappropriate boost. One can override such by trickery, i.e. draw a dip into the Target response to fool DL into not boosting.

 

[JStewart]

I’ve not paid Much attention to the impulse response shown in Dirac. Would it show that pre-ringing? Or would you need to be able to filter by band to better focus on the frequency with the pre-ringing?

 

[DanDan]

I didn't hear it myself. A Mastering Engineer friend did. He is quite technical and logical so I have no doubt. It was lingering, notes ringing on, just like a resonance at a live gig. So I would guess the post IR of a narrow boost filter.
I put him in touch with Dirac who were intrigued, obviously the software should not be applying narrow midrange boosts, even if a dip is detected. But I didn't hear what happened afterwards. I don't think he ever really believed in such systems though, and subsequently sold it on.

 

[Flak]

@DanDan is it because the Dirac audio processor is now a plugin that makes it “pro”?
Looks at though the filters are created with the Dirac 2.x application. Building a response curve is essentially unchanged. Dirac 2.x filters with phase matching of the mains is a benefit though.

I installed the new audio processor plugin but found it won’t use my current license for Dirac 1.x. Sent Dirac an email asking if it’s a free upgrade (as it was for my NAD) or if they’ll want current owners to pay for all or part of this new version.
Ultimately the new version will be required before Dirac bass management with multi sub integration can be used.
Perhaps @Flak may know the answer to the upgrade cost if any.

Owners of a standalone Dirac Live 1.x license can get the upgrade with a license of the Dirac Live Processor, which is necessary for using Dirac Live 2.x in a standalone configuration, free of charge.
The Dirac Live Processor costs $349: https://live.dirac.com/pro-audio/
Licenses for the Full NAD license at $99 are different, they enable full-bandwidth correction for those NAD components that are already licensed for the Limited version.

 

[Randy L]

Hi guys. Dirac 'Processor' Beta tester here... Just spent the last 2 years or so offering up feedback to Dirac concerning the new Standalone plugin. It's been a long and rocky road of setbacks and improvements. But finally the Processor is available for sale on their website as Flavio and others have pointed out.

I use the Processor in Jriver as a VST2 plugin along with Jriver's WDM driver which allows all Windows sounds to be routed through the plugin... The new phase algorithms make a significant difference in sound stage. The results are truly unbelievable and surreal!

Like all good things worth waiting for, Dirac is not without it's growing pains. The Processor is not yet completely stable in Jriver with WDM activated. Although there has been an update already to address this issue, it unfortunately didn't work for my installation of Jriver. I can use the Processor, but I cannot switch between filters without Jriver crashing.

I'm sure after the holidays Dirac will find a solution to this issue as they always do. Their hardworking team(s) always seem to pull through... Dirac room correction is one of the best sounding in the business, and now it is available to any Windows\Mac user for pro or daily computing use and at a most affordable price! Less than the cost of their previous version! ... Personally I cannot listen to music without it... (I never turn Audyssey XT32 on anymore, ever!)

 

[JStewart]

Like all good things worth waiting for, Dirac is not without it's growing pains. The Processor is not yet completely stable in Jriver with WDM activated. Although there has been an update already to address this issue, it unfortunately didn't work for my installation of Jriver. I can use the Processor, but I cannot switch between filters without Jriver crashing.

Would you mind posting when that’s resolved? I also used it with JRiver for the beta which sadly has now expired, but never ran into that problem.

Personally I cannot listen to music without it.

Same here. Once you’ve heard what Dirac can do everything thing else sounds less than.

Owners of a standalone Dirac Live 1.x license can get the upgrade with a license of the Dirac Live Processor, which is necessary for using Dirac Live 2.x in a standalone configuration, free of charge.
The Dirac Live Processor costs $349: https://live.dirac.com/pro-audio/

Oh well... I was kind of hoping Dirac would substitute the new Dirac plug in (the Processor) for the old Dirac virtual audio device (can’t recall Dirac’s name for it at the moment). A discounted price would be welcome too!

 

[Randy L]

Would you mind posting when that’s resolved? I also used it with JRiver for the beta which sadly has now expired, but never ran into that problem.



Same here. Once you’ve heard what Dirac can do everything thing else sounds less than.



Oh well... I was kind of hoping Dirac would substitute the new Dirac plug in (the Processor) for the old Dirac virtual audio device (can’t recall Dirac’s name for it at the moment). A discounted price would be welcome too!

Sure, I'd be glad to post when the Processor is stable in Jriver... As far as being stable in the Beta, yes, the processor was always stable throughout the Beta process in Jriver. It was only in the last Beta version (and now) that the instability showed up. It seemed to happen around the time the gain slider was added which happened toward the end of the Beta.

I went ahead and purchased the final Processor anyway in good faith that Dirac will eventually get it stable. Actually the Processor still works in Jriver (which was the most important thing to me as discussed I cannot listen to music without it) I just can't change filters quickly on the fly without Jriver crashing... Which is mostly ok because once you get the right calibration (which is almost always the case on the first try) there is really not much need to be switching filters...Still, would be nice to have a fully functioning program... Dirac changed everything for me.

 

[DanDan]

"Oh well... I was kind of hoping Dirac would substitute the new Dirac plug in (the Processor) for the old Dirac virtual audio device (can’t recall Dirac’s name for it at the moment)."
As best as I can understand it, the old DAP Dirac Audio Processor has been updated and upgraded to Dirac Live Processor. To be honest I reckon DAP2 would have made this clearer. More importantly, again as best I can follow, it is a free upgrade. Perhaps Flavio will confirm that or correct me?

 

[Randy L]

Yes, that's the way it reads to me too. I think you're right, the new Dirac Live software 2.0 (which is downloadable for free to anyone because it's unusable without the new processor or an AVR with Dirac installed) replaces the old standalone 'Dirac Live Studio 1.x' Windows\Mac software (which installed it's own 'virtual device' into the Window's system)... Users of that earlier software are now permitted to upgrade to the new and separate VST plugin (The Processor) for free that now must be used in a host program such as Jriver. -Confused yet?

As a side note, Jriver has a special driver called WDM which when activated allows all Windows sounds to be directed through Jriver and the Dirac Processor VST thus making the end result the same as the earlier 1.x version. All Windows sound gets passed through the Dirac room correction filters... And that's a good thing!

 

[DanDan]

Clearly.....:-) it is difficult to understand the system parts. Perhaps not surprising given that it addresses third party hardware, two computer OSs, and three Plug In Formats. I am not fully sure but as I understand it now the new DLProcessor behaves as a virtual device. Just like a NAD or whatever It holds the filters and passes audio through them. But as it is virtual it can pass OS Audio as a standalone 'filter player'' OR get it stream from the DAW via the plug components.
If my understanding is correct, Dirac appear to have covered all the present requirements, plus added Plug ins for Professional users, in the fewest simplest number of devices. i.e. An Analyser and a 'Filter Player'.

 

[JStewart]

Users of that earlier software are now permitted to upgrade to the new and separate VST plugin (The Processor) for free that now must be used in a host program such as Jriver. -Confused yet?

Yes, confused. With the plugin (Dirac Live Processor) installed in JRiver, Dirac 2.x sees both the plugin and my NAD AVR. When choosing the Dirac Live Processor as the device to create filters for, there is an error message that says it’s unlicensed. The license for the stereo pc version does not work when tried and only the license for Dirac full range for NAD shows up in my Dirac Live on line account.
So if it is a free upgrade then it appears Dirac will need to provide an activation license in order to use it.
I will send another email after the holidays if I haven’t received a response to the first one.

 

[Randy L]

I'm not sure how that would work. I'm thinking that if you already have the NAD full licence than you don't really need the PC licence since all AVR inputs will receive internal Dirac calibration... I did notice that if I sign out of my account, then back in to the Calibration Tool 2.0 that I gained access to the two processors in my setup. But I use 2 different PC's on my network and no NAD AVR... Try signing out then back in.

 

[JStewart]

I did notice that if I sign out of my account, then back in to the Calibration Tool 2.0 that I gained access to the two processors in my setup. But I use 2 different PC's on my network and no NAD AVR... Try signing out then back in.

Thanks for the suggestion. I’ll give it a try this coming weekend when I’m back home.

 

[DanDan]

If you have a licenced NAD or other hardware device, why would you want the DLProcessor?

 

[JStewart]

If you have a licenced NAD or other hardware device, why would you want the DLProcessor?

Different room.

 

[DanDan]

Aah, the plot thickens.....
Happy DRC

 

[Randy L]

Would you mind posting when that’s resolved? I also used it with JRiver for the beta which sadly has now expired, but never ran into that problem.



Same here. Once you’ve heard what Dirac can do everything thing else sounds less than.



Oh well... I was kind of hoping Dirac would substitute the new Dirac plug in (the Processor) for the old Dirac virtual audio device (can’t recall Dirac’s name for it at the moment). A discounted price would be welcome too!

JStewart... So as promised I've come back here to inform you that the new Processor from Dirac has been fixed for Jriver! ... But wait a few days before you download it because they haven't actually posted this working version on their site yet. (I'm using an unnoffical beta given to me for testing. And it works!) - It works all the way up to 24\192 using the WDM driver without crashing!

P.S. There is also a new released version to the main Dirac Live software as well. It came out yesterday. 2/7/20