macuniverse

Not my last 20+year experience. I don't know much about FoxConn and Apple relationship. I have been happy using quality products (iPhone, iPad, laptop) from Apple so I suggested a possible alternative. To each their own.

Is it necessary to have a Windows PC? For audio purposes I have built a number of Windows PCs but I was not happy with the jitter/background noise they generate. I switched to a Mac mini and it's dead silent. One thing Apple normally does well is to design and manufacture quality products. I recently updated my old 2011 Mac mini to the new M2 version. When I turn my power amp to 100% (no music playing of course) I get zero hum/noise from the speakers, even from 10-20 cm. Fan noise is practically zero. Heating is non-issue, it does not even get slightly warm.

This is exactly what I do. Using cut FIR filters I lower my overall output by 8dB and able to get down to 25Hz. I have plenty of headroom anyway as I usually listen to music within 65 to 85dB range. Interesting. Speakers behave differently in different rooms. It would be interesting to know how they do it without knowing room modes.

^ that That's the reason I don't use my MicroRendu anymore. Rather than using another extra device (MicroRendu which cannot do DSP) I just connect a repurposed old Macbook Pro to my DAC directly. For DSP filters (Acourate FIR filters in my case) I use system-wide HLC (Hang Loose Convolver). Remote controlling done via Screen Share from a current Macbook Pro. For local files I use Audirvana (v3.x) and HLC AU plugin which changes sample rates as needed.

I totally agree. I also started with Mitch's book last year. My setup is in the living room with no space/acoustic treatment to play around. So DSP was the only option available. My expectation was moderate; basically fix some sub-bass/bass issues and fill in light frequency response irregularities. Long story short, after countless iterations the SQ I'm getting now is well above my expectations. The whole frequency range is smooth, timing is spot on, sound stage is rock solid. I have tried a number of room correction DSP products (Dirac, REW+rePhase, DRC Designer, etc). None worked as good. Acourate's ability to mix and match DSP functionality is incredible! The more you learn the more ways you discover that you thought it was not possible. I think the user interface and documentation need a re-work. Mitch's book cover some of the functionality but there is so much more to unearth. I also strongly recommend Mitch Barnett's new DSP app "Hang Loose Convolver" to Acourate users as it directly uses filters generated including auto sample rate change (in zip format). However, for me, the most useful function of this app has been the ability to compare different filters on the spot and fine tune them. Well done Mitch!

Thanks for the detailed explanation. I use Reverberate Core for convolution which has true stereo option.

Thanks for the detailed info. Demo files are fun to test! I wonder if there is any relationship between binaural and true stereo?

Thanks, quite interesting.

It's not answering my question but thanks for the info. I was just curious about the measurement process to get true stereo FIR filters.

This is interesting but I'm not sure I understand the measurement process here. How do you get two stereo wav files for this purpose? Do you need a setup with two mic or can you record four mono wav files and combine them as stereo pairs later on?

Do you have a link to these?

I use Audirvana on a Macbook Pro (2019) sending Tidal to two DLNA renderers (Cambridge Audio CXN2 and MicroRendu) over Wi-Fi. I have created my own FIR filters using REW (for measurements and tests) and DRC Designer in wav stereo format. They have 65k taps. The convolution engine I use is Reverberate Core from LiquidSonics. It's a reverb plugin but can be used just as a convolution engine and it's very good at that. For both Mac and Windows. Mind you Audirvana is not totally reliable for DLNA streaming. Only a select number of renderers work properly (MicroRendu is one). CA CXN2 has issues. It's unfortunate that Audirvana doesn't support real time testing of filters. I use a headless Macmini directly connected to my DAC (Qutest) and JRiver to turn filters on/off to listen in real time. A by-product of this is also the ability to test clipping as JRiver tells you if clipping is occurring. I set my gain accordingly in Audirvana if needed to be. Hope this helps

I already reported this issue to Dirac few months back. I was a beta tester of DL2 and early versions supported DLNA/uPnP playback but they dropped it with the official release. I suspect switching from stand-alone Dirac Processor to VST-embedded one caused the issue but I'm not sure. I also had an issue with DL2 needing latest MacOS as my transport (Macmini 2011) does not support Catalina. Again, not sure why Dirac needs to have the latest MacOS. My all other audio apps and plugins work fine with previous OS versions.

Yes, you can actually. There is an option (EQ) to auto generate FR (Frequency Domain) PEQs for L/R speakers individually. You need to define a house target curve yourself (Preferences --> House Curve) to match your room and your speakers. Mind you this is only to fix FR domain anomalies, not to fix TD (Time Domain) issues. The reason I use DRC designer instead of REW to produce EQ filters, DRC Designer: applies mic calibration selects sample rate(s) allows you to customise a target/house curve interactively allows you to select the degree of correction you need (I always stop at SOFT. If stronger it introduces digital side effects in my case) Attempts to fix both FR and TD produces standard format filters that can be used in most audio players provided you have a convolution engine BTW, I also tried REW+rePhase route but I was not happy with the results. Mostly due to my inability to equalise excess phase deviations properly. Sounds like you have a decent enough room to start with. Yes, DSP can be tricky and counter productive in some cases. My speakers are in the family/living room.It's a difficult room. DSP is my only option. I'm lucky that it makes a positive difference. I've attached before/after FR for L+R speakers combined. Top curve room FR, bottom one room+DSP FR. It also fixes some time domain issues too; I get better ETC values after DSP applied. BTW, Var Smoothing applied to both graphs.

Yes, you can do that. I, actually, do it myself. REW+Umik-1 USB mic to measure the room FR & IR, DRC Designer Software (Win) to generate FIR filters. You also need a convolution engine to apply the DRC filters in Audirvana. I use Reverberate Core ($39) for this. Very good plugin. I get easily identifiable significant SQ improvements. However, what you cannot do is your specific channel balance/distance fixes (for example, speaker placement difficulties or if you have some unbalanced L/R hearing issues). JRiver has options to fix these problems (in case Damien is curious).