(July 24, 2026) McIntosh’s new MX124 arrives as the company’s latest play for premium home theater, combining high channel count immersive audio, modern HDMI support, Hi-Res streaming, and advanced room correction in a single luxury processor. It’s built around a 13.4-channel platform, allowing owners enough flexibility for immersive layouts such as 7.4.6 or 9.4.4. Just as important, those four subwoofer outputs double the count found on the previous model, giving larger theaters and bass-heavy systems more room to evenly distribute low-frequency energy across multiple seats.
On the video side, the MX124 keeps pace with current display and source demands. McIntosh lists seven HDMI inputs and three HDMI outputs, including eARC/ARC support, with 8K/60Hz and 4K/120Hz pass-through. Dolby Vision, HDR10+, HLG, IMAX Enhanced, and advanced features like Auto Low Latency and Variable Refresh Rate are all part of the HDMI package. For audio formats, the processor supports Dolby Atmos, DTS:X Pro, Sony 360 Reality Audio, and MPEG-H Audio, while music playback is supported through AirPlay, Bluetooth, Qobuz Connect, Spotify Connect, TIDAL Connect, and Roon Ready compatibility.
The more interesting story, though, is what happens once the MX124 meets a real room. That’s where Dirac enters the picture. Today, the Swedish digital audio company confirmed that the MX124 will include both Dirac Live Room Correction and Dirac Live Bass Control, giving McIntosh owners access to two highly respected acoustic tools.
Dirac Live Room Correction is designed to address problems introduced by the listening environment. Every room changes sound. Walls, floors, ceilings, furniture, seating positions, speaker placement, and subwoofer locations all affect what ultimately reaches your ears. Dirac Live analyzes those interactions and applies correction to improve tonal balance, imaging, clarity, bass response, and spatial accuracy. Unlike basic equalization, Dirac also addresses time-domain behavior, including phase-related issues that can smear detail and weaken imaging.
Dirac Live Bass Control goes a step further by focusing specifically on low-frequency performance. Bass is often the hardest part of a theater system to get right because subwoofers interact heavily with the room, and what sounds balanced in one seat can sound boomy, thin, or uneven in another. Bass Control manages the relationship between subs, the room, and seating positions, optimizing low-frequency output across the listening area rather than treating each sub as an isolated source.
That’s especially relevant for home theaters using multiple subs, which is becoming increasingly common in serious rooms. More subwoofers can produce smoother bass, greater output, and better seat-to-seat consistency, but only if they’re integrated correctly. Without proper calibration, additional subs can just as easily create new peaks, nulls, and timing problems. Dirac reduces that guesswork by coordinating subs and speakers as part of a larger system, tightening bass performance while helping avoid the uneven low-frequency behavior that can make a theater sound powerful in one seat and disappointing in the next.
“In high-performance home cinema, the room is part of the system, and achieving reference-level playback requires more than premium components alone,” said Rikard Hellerfelt, Dirac Vice President and Head of BA Consumer Electronics. “With Dirac Live Room Correction and Dirac Live Bass Control integrated into the McIntosh MX124, listeners gain a more precise foundation for immersive sound. McIntosh has built its reputation on uncompromising audio performance, and the MX124 gives customers the acoustic precision needed to fully realize that performance in any room, regardless of its acoustic complexities.”
McIntosh says all Dirac Live Room Correction and Dirac Live Bass Control licenses are included with the MX124, which is notable given how often advanced room correction and bass management features can require separate upgrades. The processor also includes Audyssey MultEQ XT32, giving owners and installers a choice between two room correction platforms.
The McIntosh MX124 A/V Processor is available through authorized McIntosh dealers for $15,000.
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