Help quickly came in the form of setup utilities that required no knowledge of acoustics—only a willingness to position a microphone for a series of measurements and let the system…
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Adoption of DSP-based speaker-and-room correction in home theater—a parallel universe to audiophilia—is almost universal. It's easy to understand why. Home theater matured in the digital age. Its fans were expected to install several loudspeakers in a full-range setup that included at least one speaker—the subwoofer(s)—that functioned exclusively in the problematic bass region. Setup issues were intimidating.
Select some music and, while it is playing, download and install Dirac Live. Start the Dirac Live program, and it opens with a big Dirac Live 3 logo (yeah, I know). The software then verifies your Dirac account (with account information you provided at purchase) and scans the system for your Dirac Processor. Click on it—most users will have only one—and proceed to the subsequent menu options.
Select Recording Device: Select a microphone and load its correction file. Any USB measurement mike will do as long as it comes with a correction curve file, preferably for a vertical (90°)…
Sidebar 1: Dirac Live Bass Control
With Dirac implementations in AVRs or pre-pros, bass management has long been the responsibility of the host device; it was not included in Dirac—until now, or anyway, soon. Dirac Live Bass Control (DLBC) is an important new feature, providing bass management with potential to better integrate subwoofers with each other and with the main speakers. DLBC has already been implemented in a few AVRs, and Dirac sent me a beta version for Windows. I added three SVS subs—two SB-3000s and an SB-2000 Pro—to create a 5.3 system. Because that configuration isn't…
Sidebar 2: Specifications
Description: Dirac Live Processor for Windows or Mac. Version 1.4.0. Enables Dirac Live processing without dedicated hardware. Supported plug-in formats: AU, VST, VST3, and AAX. Dirac Live Calibration Tool for Windows or Mac. Version 3.0.14. Includes Enhanced Phase Correction algorithm for improved stereo reproduction. Supported platforms: Windows 10, MacOS Mojave, Catalina, and Big Sur.
Price: Dirac Live processor, $349 (stereo license), $499 (multichannel license). Dirac Live Calibration Tool: free. Purchase and download from live.dirac.com/download.
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Sidebar 3: Associated Equipment
Digital sources: Oppo Digital UDP-105 universal disc player, custom Baetis Prodigy-X4i music server running JRiver Media Center v28 and Roon 1.8, exaSound s88 streaming DAC and Okto DAC8 Pro D/A processors. QNAP TVS-873 NAS.
Preamplifiers: 3 Topping Pre90 for gain/buffer. Coleman Audio 7.1SW for source switching.
Power amplifiers: Benchmark AHB2, NAD C 298.
Loudspeakers: Revel Ultima2 Studio with IsoAcoustics Gaia I isolation feet. Revel Performa3 f206 for surrounds. Two SVS SB-3000 and one SVS SB-2000 Pro subwoofers.
Cables: Digital cables…
Various Artists: Kimbrough
Fred Hersch, Helen Sung, Craig Taborn, Dan Tepfer, Gary Versace, piano; Ben Allison, Jay Anderson, Rufus Reid, bass; Steve Cardenas, Ben Monder, guitar; Ted Nash, Joe Lovano, Danny McCaslin, Scott Robinson, Alexa Tarantino, Immanuel Wilkins, reeds; Dave Douglas, Kirk Knuffke, trumpets; Ryan Keberle, trombone; Olivia Chindamo, vocals; Billy Drummond, Clarence Penn, Matt Wilson, drums; 44 others.
Newvelle/Bandcamp. Elan Mehler, prod.; Marc Urselli, eng.
Performance ****½
Sonics ****
Fred Hersch, Helen Sung, Craig Taborn, Dan Tepfer, Gary Versace, piano; Ben Allison, Jay Anderson, Rufus Reid, bass; Steve Cardenas, Ben Monder, guitar; Ted Nash, Joe Lovano, Danny McCaslin, Scott Robinson, Alexa Tarantino, Immanuel Wilkins, reeds; Dave Douglas, Kirk Knuffke, trumpets; Ryan Keberle, trombone; Olivia Chindamo, vocals; Billy Drummond, Clarence Penn, Matt Wilson, drums; 44 others.
Newvelle/Bandcamp. Elan Mehler, prod.; Marc Urselli, eng.
Performance ****½
Sonics ****
Frank Kimbrough was one of the most beloved figures in jazz and…
In May of 2019, I heard about a promising jazz vinyl and hi-fi estate sale happening on New York's Upper East Side. Little did I know then what treasures the dig would yield.
Jazz Record Center's Fred Cohen had called from the UES apartment, the former residence of late CBS Records and Sony Entertainment mastering engineer Harry N. Fein. Fred said, "The records are kind of beat, but the apartment is jammed with tape decks, turntables, cartridges, tubes, midcentury modern furniture—get up here."
I called NYC turntable technician Mike Trei, who's always up for a dig. Upon picking…
Geist believes that today's often bass-dense music formats are better reproduced with acoustic suspension speakers. "Today, recordings are ... not restricted below 50Hz," he proffered. "Bass-reflex designs really struggle with anything below the tuning frequency of the port. Their output falls off a cliff, and the system becomes unstable. The acoustic suspension design ... [relies] on the air spring the sealed enclosure provides. This air spring is never compromised, so the system output is more stable throughout the low-frequency spectrum."
Listening
In my system, an 8' pair of…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Three-way, acoustic suspension, standmount loudspeaker with three-position Mid-HF attenuation switch and included metal-frame slant-riser base. Driver complement: 1" aluminum-dome tweeter; 4" pulp-paper cone midrange driver; 10" pulp-paper cone woofer. Crossover frequencies: 380Hz and 2850Hz (both 2nd-order). Frequency response: 42Hz–20kHz ±3dB. Low-frequency extension: –10dB at 32Hz. In-room sensitivity: 90.5dB/2.83V/m. Free-field sensitivity: 87.5dB/2.83V/m. Power handling: 200W, 800W peak. Recommended amplification: 20–200W. In-room maximum SPL:…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog sources: Kuzma Stabi R turntable with 4Point tonearm, Denon DL-103 phono cartridge.
Preamplification: Tavish Audio Design Adagio phono.
Integrated amplifiers: Ayre EX-8 2.0, Parasound Hint 6 Halo, Schiit Audio Ragnarok 2.
Power amplifiers: LKV Research Veros PWR+.
Loudspeakers: DeVore Fidelity O/96, Spendor BC1.
Cables: Interconnect: Shindo Laboratory, Triode Laboratory Spirit II. Speaker: 8' pair AudioQuest Robin Hood. Digital: AudioQuest Forest USB. AC: Triode Wire Labs Obsession NCF, manufacturers' own.
Accessories: Pro-…