Anyone Tried Integrating Dirac Room Correction?


I have a high-end Dell Windows10 Pro laptop with several really good (quiet) USB ports, one connecting to my PS Audio DirectStream DAC, another connecting to my Mytek Brooklyn DAC, with Roon and Tidal for streaming/playback.  The sound quality is very very good, but I thought I'd see if I could improve it.

I'm interested in exploring the Dirac Live Room Correction Suite, and own a miniDSP calibration microphone.  Has anyone tried integrating Dirac with a music player?  Thoughts?
ejr1953
Well yes, many have. Some swear by it, others not so much. It changes the sound, and once you’re used to it it may be hard to go without. I’ve used a different DSP as I found Dirac support to be pathetic. You’ll need a cal file for the mic for best results. Bear in mind it will try to correct room anomalies only. It cannot make a cheap/poor system sound like an expensive/good one.
Jaybe,
I do have a miniDSP calibration microphone.  Can I ask what DSP you've used?  Do you still use it?
I am one of the “not so much” crowd. I really tried with Dirac. It did weird things to the sound and the “phasing” of the sound. Depending on how aggressive you do the correction, it can have a tendency to make it sound like the music is right at your ears (like headphones) instead of further out in front of you. Bass would sometimes be so overcorrected that it bottomed out the woofers on certain frequencies. In the end, I decided I didn’t like Dirac correction. Some people swear by room correction, so I think it’s entirely personal.
My "man cave" sounded great until I added a pair of subwoofers.  I purchased REW (Room EQ Wizard) and that microphone, and got 10 bass traps positioned as well as I could.  I could probably use two or three more bass traps in that room, but 10 was pushing the "WAF" meter as far as it would go.  I'd say I've got the problems with bass about 95% solved (before installing the bass traps the room resonated one particular note, no matter what the bass player was playing, that's pretty much solved), but sometimes when I'm playing music with lots of low frequency dynamics, it sounds like the room can't handle that much low-frequency energy.
The more people I ask about electronic room correction, the more people I find who say "stay away" from it.
AudioVero Acourate gives users more control over the results than Dirac. You can create your own filter curves to adjust any frequency as you wish. The bass issues mentioned above might be able to be adjusted in Acourate (to some extent, at least). The learning curve is steeper with Acourate, but in the end it is a much more powerful tool than Dirac. Trials are available for Acourate, as with Dirac I believe.

Yes, I have filters in place now for use with JRiver. They are rather mild in effect, by design, for the lower frequencies. When I switch the filters out the room nodes become too much.

Ideally room treatment is preferred, and make up any differences with DSP. In my case the listening area needs to serve as a "living room" as well, so room treatments are not so possible. Therefore, DSP.

I'll bet the people who say "stay away from it" are not users, but users would say the opposite.

The sound quality is very very good, but I thought I'd see if I could improve it.

Have you considered bring in one or more pieces between your PC and your DACs?

If you want very, very added to your already very, very good...that's what I'd explore first.
David,
One of my audio buddies is recommending that I buy a McIntosh MEN220, install it between my preamp and poweramp.  I guess the advantage of that setup would be to apply room correction regardless of the input source.  I have a PS Audio DirectStream DAC and transport; the install of Dirac on the laptop wouldn't correct the response from the PS Audio source components.
Dirac does offer a free trial and if I don't like it, I can always uninstall the product .
I'll see if I have some time after the holidays to play with this.  From the various inputs I've gotten from a number of people, the "jury is out" on whether electronic room correction is good for my situation or not.
DSP room equalization works very well for the lowest frequencies, as with subwoofers and in larger rooms. It will also work quite well a little above this, say up to the Schroeder frequency (somewhere between 100-200 Hz, depending on room size). Above that, there really is no point. This is also why room eq is less successful in small rooms: the room modes are too high to be equalized succesfully. The optimum listening position will be very small, and sound can become dull and lifeless. But to equalize a pair of subs, or just the bottom end of large main speakers, it works a treat. I am very pleased with my Antimode 8033.