How I Got My Best Dirac Calibration Results For ATMOS 3D Bubble And Soundstage For FREE!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 22 พ.ย. 2023
- If you are a home theater geek like me, you might have Dirac Room Correction in your setup. You also might have a Dolby Atmos speaker arrangement and want to get the most effect you can. Once you get through the physical room placement of you and your speakers, one thing left to alter is the mic placement positions during dirac calibration for your room. This was a multi-week project testing dozens of variations of patterns, number of points in them, different arrangements and combinations, along with some dirac software options like curtains limits. I already had great results from my previous dirac calibration, but some dolby atmos effects I knew were there, were not perfect in my room. In the end I found an easy, repeatable pattern that took my 3D ATMOS effects to the max! Give it a shot yourself and please leave feedback about your room, gear and what you found as your own results!
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Demo material used:
Dolby Shattered Demo
Ready Player One Race (Coins)
Gravity Opening (ATMOS Version)
Baby Driver Bank Robbery Opening
Yoshi Horikawa - Bubbles (first Min)
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You are about the only personI see talking about these effects. This needs to spread. I'm convinced a lot of people dont experience this level of immersion. Otherwise they would be talking about it.
Finally an answer to my question of listen the objects around! seems many atmos rigs only have sound sticked to sides no objects! i need to nailed it! thanks for sharing your findings
I also gave this a try yesterday and i can hear a clear difference but cant say i like it better. I watched Edge of Tomorrow with it today and it sounds just like i’m cupping my ears. Its a very similar effect. I can make the effect go in and out by rocking forward 10-12 inches. It’s pretty wild. Im going to run it again but be 2-3” back. So more of a 5” from headrest then apply the 8” rule. But yeah its very similar to cupping my ears as if you do when youre trying to better hear whats in front of you. Thats the best way i can explain it. Thanks for the inspiration to try new ways to calibrate
What kinda guy talks to me for 30+ minutes smoking a nice cigar and NEVER ONCE asks if I'd care for one? People these days...
Happy Holidays to you and thanks for the video!
I know right where’s the 💨 😂
lol I even forgot to keep puffing! Gobble gobble to you too!
Thanks David for sharing. I followed your settings for my 325ES & made some minor adjustments for my Stewart StudioTek 130. The results are stunning.
So, tested your pattern and tried a few more in similar style. The one that ended up working well for me was 6 inches from the back of the seat and about an inch above the head rest (just enough to have a line of sight to the tweeters of my back surrounds) for position 1, then keeping it at same mic height as you suggested and doing 6 total measurements, but instead of spacing out at eight inch intervals, I liked a 12 inch interval between positions best in my room. Thanks again for sharing your observations and test results for the benefit of others!
Awesome!
Will be giving this a try soon. Thanks!
Have fun!
Was a bit like 'yeah right' when i saw your video, but i did the 'flat 6' measurement like you said, and it does give a significant better sound/bubble. More precise, more defined, e.g. when listening to 5.1 or 7.1 music (Nirvana unplugged, kraftwerk minimum maximum, alice in chains unplugged etc) it gives a much wider and deeper soundstage, and also the surround effects seem farther away and more separated. Very cool! I don't even have atmos speakers, just a 5.1 system (Arcam AVR850, KEF reference model 4 as fronts, model 2 as rears, 200c as center and a Velodyne DD15 sub).
This is such a great video. I was also very confused with Dirac's guidelines regarding the mic positions and asked myself the same questions. Who has such a low couch? Why should you place the microphone on a table? Should I also place the microphone in the lower area of the couch's backrest, where there is no direct line of sight even to the rear height speakers? I actually wanted to follow StormAudio's instructions, but they seem to be very complicated and not intended for single-seat use. So here are finally some credible tips, thank you. It's actually shameful that the manufacturers can't do it.
Great video, I will definitely give it a try :) So the first main measuring position is where the nose is and not between the ears? Did I understand that correctly?
Hi, I'm from Florida too, I have to say your advice gave me the best atmos bubble ever. I wanna thank you. I have Arcam avr30 7.2.4 configuration 🎉
Great to hear!
Hi, I want to tell you how to improve even more the bubble you won't believe how good dolby atmos is even with movies that are not that good, I live in Miami I'll be able to get you there if you're interested let me know,dirac live get us close but not perfect , provide an email so we can get in contact,I'm not charging any money, only see your face when you can hear what I'm hearing right now would be enough for me ,I know you're are like 4 hours from not a problem for me, if you like the new calibration you can update this video 😉
I do have a system pretty much the same as you arcam avr30 + polk speakers
I know yours is a jbl but they used same operating system
Ah. You do some thing similar to what I've been doing for a few years now. One day I decided to do my final two measurements where ears would be (basically about 6" to the left and right of the initial measurement) and the resulting soundstage was extraordinary. Ever since then I always do that as my final two measurments.
Thanks for sharing your findings, CO Guy. Question: when you take the measurement 8" directly in front of measurement #1, which circle are you marking/selecting in the software to indicate where you are measuring? There is a front right and front left circle, but not a "front middle" option. I understand where to put the mic for that measurement, I'm confused about what circle to select for that measurement. Hope this makes sense.
The circles are meaningless it’s just an illustration. The positions mean nothing other than the first one
@@COGuyStuff Thank you! Makes things much easier. Looking forward to following your recommendations.
I also did just a straight line for Audyssey and now Dirac. I tried some of the height variation once and found that Dirac then created a big dip in my Sub Frequency measurement when checking with REW in the MLP.
Edit: on a different note...that Ready Player One scene you mentioned also has a nice Overhead effect, when he closes the doors after collecting the coins. He hits the switch with his fist, and that Sound should be coming from pretty much directly overhead. Problem with Ready Player One is, that it's a static Atmos mix, so don't expect any accurate overhead panning Sounds.
There is a decent test for Subwoofers as well, towards the end of the Movie when the virtual world is "reset".
Thanks for doing this testing. If you use DLBC, do you find you have to change the crossovers Dirac picks or does it get it right without intervention?
I have the JBL too and the same frustrations with Dirac exports freezing. I went back and forth with support and discovered that if you have any smart home or IP control systems connected to the SDP, it interferes with Dirac uploads. I disabled mine and haven't had any issues uploading filters since.
I dont have any ip control of the jbl, just ir. I went over xovers in the vid. . Dirac doesn’t calculate them, you must test yourself through trial and error.
@@COGuyStuffDLBC does choose crossovers initially, that's part of the benefit over standard Dirac.
No, it doesn't calculate them. It just sets to the lowest possible point it thinks will work for each group. None of them are actually tried based on effect and response. I have a new vid going up showing it in a min.
I gave this a try and ran Dirac as you described, it made a pretty big difference. This is the best my system has ever sounded so thanks!
Glad it helped!
You can get the center sounding flot even with 2 channel. Time delay does it. For music the speakers disappear and the sound is floating in the center. That is great to get it in Atmos. Is there enough content that makes it worth doing? I have not found it so, as of yet :-) I use 5.2 now. I do get the effect of the front to rear and acrosss. I should try the Dolby demo sound. The space size may have a lot to do with it also.
That wasn't the point, it was simply to verify the effect is still there after filter creation. Sometimes it's not.
Did you happen to load in a pre-made house curve in your calibration like a Harman Curve +6 or something like that or did you start from a blank slate?
I like the 6 curve, yes, but the curve is all personal preference.
Interesting, I just got DLBC and have been struggling with where to measure from. I have a large room with two recliners in the middle and trying to follow the diagram for mic placement doesn't really work with my setup. Measuring with my seats reclined as they are while watching a movie makes some of their placements impossible. I'm going to give this a try with not changing height and see if i get better results. Thanks for the content.
Let us know how it turns out either way!
@@COGuyStuff So it didn't work out for me. I believe the difference is likely because your seats are against the back wall and mine are in the middle of the room with rear surrounds behind in a 7.2.4 setup. BTW if you can get a hold of it the dolby leaf atmos demo is my favorite for testing atmos effects and whether I can localize the sound to a specific speaker. It has a seed/leaf thing that starts in front of you and then spins around 360 degrees in the room. Thanks for the work you put in to it, I'm sure it will help those with similar rooms.
It was worth a shot! Others with normal rooms have reported good results though, so the wall proximity alone isn’t a dealbreaker. Yes I have all the Dolby demos :)
Do you do any post Dirac adjustments like level matching or impulse response?
I have an older version of Dirac so I’m wondering about your custom patterns. What plotted measurement points on the screen do you select since your actually measurement points don’t match?
No. That’s the whole point of Dirac. If you have to do that, either something is wrong or you probably didn’t need to do it. As I said in the vid, the points on the screen mean nothing. Use any you wish in any order, past the first one.
A little caveat there...
I just got my first AVR with Dirac a few days ago, an Onkyo RZ70, and I found that it set my Subs WAY too high. When checking levels in the Onkyo menu after running Dirac on the PC, there is actually a littlr text being displayed when checking Subwoofer Levels, that say "if you have two subs, lower their Volume by 4.5db". This turned out to be exactly the right amount to dial in the bass.
Contrary to that, many Denon Owners with Dirac seem to be complaining about too little Bass. So maybe the implementation of Dirac on these AVRs is still a bit lacking.
Very interesting. I have a Pioneer with Dirac and have been looking for more than the basic how to run Dirac videos on getting the best out of my system. Could you post a link to the info on the avsfourm?
This is by far the best guide so far, all the info on the thousand+ pages of the Dirac thread boiled down ;) docs.google.com/document/d/1Fxp26c4oXgrr3rwLqL00Nb2iOc22-Eum/edit?usp=drive_link&ouid=113645576429475849506&rtpof=true&sd=true
@@COGuyStuff Thanks. I’ll take a look at that.
Hi. Very nice video. I am also going to try this. One question. Do you take into account that your microphone boom will give you alot of reflection in your measurements? Those big screws wont make it less reflective. When I measure drivers for diy projects its important to get the stand and cable out of sight or you get quite big peaks in different regions depending on distance to stand. Thanks for your research and have a nice day!
I always make sure it’s out of direct line to any speaker. Never had an issue.
@@COGuyStuff Ok good. Iam also having listening position close to wall and was wondering how to have the boom to not disturb the measurments. But maybe it doesnt do any difference at all.
It helps to keep the stand low and angle the boom up
Thanks for the video, man! What is the best way to implement Dirac into my home theater? I'm looking at some new receivers that say they include Dirac Live built in. Are these worth getting? I want my next receiver to have pre outs for all channels because I already have a big Emotiva 2 channel amp, could just add another amp for the other channels. But I also want Dirac next! Also... What watch are you wearing?
The only thing I would suggest overall, is that you make sure whatever unit you get has dlbc available or included, not just the basic Dirac. That’s the game changer for using subs. Other than that it’s all about what other features you need. You get what you pay for, happens to,be true with processors. It’s a Hamilton Intramatic and colareb band
@@COGuyStuff Thanks for the reply! I'll look into dlbc.
Excuse my ignorance but how do you set custom patterns in the dirac software? I can only choose between 3 presets (9 points, 13 points and another with more).
Those are not patterns. As I went over, beyond the first point they mean nothing. You don't follow that screen whatsoever as far as number or placement.
@@COGuyStuff Ok, I assumed the position it expects matters because it will calculate the results based on it. During measurment I have to select the points to measure. So you just selected a random point and measure it regardless of the expected position?
Correct. Dirac has no idea nor cares where any point other than the first, is.
Can you show us about choosing the right crossovers
Yeah I can do a short vid on that. It'll take a while to film, the steps take time.
@@COGuyStuff can you show it in rew also
th-cam.com/video/84vkErXC_Cw/w-d-xo.html
It has nothing to do with REW
@@COGuyStuff so rew won't let you see the correct crossovers to choose
I gave it a shot and it didn't work well for me. I run the max number of measuring points covering 3 seating positions. I have a 9.3.6 system. I lost a ton of bass and all sorts of gaps in the bass response with your focused measurement. The atmos soundstage wasn't much different, with the biggest difference being that massive loss of bass response even with tweaking bass control. It was worth a shot however.
It was worth a shot! I wonder if your mlp is just in a null though. If so, it’ll never sound good only doing a single area.
Yeah I’m off to the side, wait you already know this you setup my home theater 😅
Great video !! I’ve always measured ear level left front,right front,left and right at same plane as mlp and left right slightly behind.That works great.Did the demo tests that you mentioned and it sounds just like you explained.Also 2 channel music is fantastic too !!
I just added a Marantz Cinema 30 and Dirac Live with Bass Control. I will give this a try this week and let you know how it turns out. Are there any good resources to find target curves that people have liked? So far I ran a 13 point wide calibration and exported the results as is. Even without tweaking it already sounds better than Audyssey.
www.jblsynthesis.com/on/demandware.static/-/Sites-masterCatalog_Harman/default/dwb9592294/pdfs/MicQuickStartTargetFilesAndCalFiles.zip
Thank you