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  1. #1
    Member
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
    Location
    Houston, TX
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    49

    NAD M17 V2 w/ Dirac Live - WOW!

    My NAD M17 SSP died in mid-August due to a bad PS. While in for repairs, I decided to upgrade the audio and video boards to V2 status. This also changed the room correction from Audyssey to Dirac Live.

    I was finally able to complete the Dirac Live calibration yesterday (Saturday) afternoon, and it was not easy. I originally tried on Friday for more than 4 hours using my iPad, and the calibration kept bombing with only 3 of the 17 required locations remaining. I started again from scratch Saturday morning with the same results. The program bombed with 3 locations remaining. So after another 3 hours into this, I called my dealer (Timbre...outstanding dealer, BTW). He stated that there was a known bug with the iOS and this has been reported to NAD. Great!

    So I started for a third time with a laptop, carefully measuring each location because I did not want to do this again. I loaded the calculated curve into the M17, took a shower and sat down to watch a movie.

    Holy cow...I was gobsmacked! I frankly didn't expect anything that different form the Audyssey calibration, and I was so wrong. Dirac Live completely changed my HT. Everything was smoother, better balanced and with significantly improved dialogue intelligibility. Perhaps I just got lucky, or had a really poor Audyssey calibration, but this Dirac Live has so far impressed me beyond words.

    Also, since the M17 was out of the loop during the repairs, I had to run a BetterCables HDMI directly from my Xfinity box to the non-4K TV (60" Pioneer Elite). I now have the WireWorld Silver Starlight 7's back in the loop (Xfinity to NAD/NAD to TV). Another holy cow experience! Highly recommended.
    Amps: Devialet E440's
    Sources: Innuos Zenith Mk III (Roon Core), Innuos PhoenixNET
    Speakers: Magnepan 3.7i's
    Power: Shunyata Triton V3
    Cabling: Shunyata Power, Cardas Speaker, Sablon Audio USB, Nordost & Wireworld Enet, DH Labs HDMI's
    Racks/Footers: Box Furniture Co Custom Rack, Symposium RollerBlocks, Voodoo Iso-Pods, Herbie's Audio Lab (many)
    Replaced HT Gear with a Devialet Dione

  2. #2
    Super Moderator
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Location
    NY
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    18,726

    Re: NAD M17 V2 w/ Dirac Live - WOW!

    Congratulations, great news. I’m curious about some of the new offerings from NAD. I guess software is a quirky but I’d love to hear them.
    Fleetwood Deville by Oswald Mills Audio, Vienna Acoustics Haydn Jubilee, Wharfedale Linton w/ stands, Klipsch RB-75, Klipsch RP-160M.

    Job INTegrated. Luxman L-595aSE

    NAD C 658 streamer.

    First Watt SIT-3, Job 250 Monos, NuForce STA200, AkitikA GT-102 amp, ASL Wave monos, Dennis Had 45 monos. Absolute Audio Labs PCF 25 amp (improved First Watt F7 super clone)

    Topping D90, RME Audio ADI-2 DAC FS, ModWright Ultimate Sony XA-5400ES.

    Burmester 948, McIntosh MCLK12, Kimber Kable, Siltech, Cardas, Avanti Audio cables.

  3. #3
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2018
    Location
    San Jose, CA
    Posts
    455

    Re: NAD M17 V2 w/ Dirac Live - WOW!

    My understanding is that Audyssey measures the frequency response over a time window (to account for the room) and then applies PEQ filters.

    Dirac does that but also measures the delays of individual frequencies within a single channel, in order to align them (i.e. compensate for the speaker crossover and drivers). This is the impulse response correction you see in the Dirac measurements/results graph. Your Devialet Expert 440 Pro Dual does this too with SAM, but to a lesser degree as it only focuses on the bass driver time alignment while Dirac does a full-spectrum time alignment.

    As a result, you get a significant improvement in clarity throughout the entire frequency range.

    You didn't have a poor Audyssey calibration. Dirac is simply a better product and better solution. Trinnov further exceeds Dirac, especially if you use active crossovers, but it costs a whole lot more.
    Neko Audio
    Authorized Dealer: AC Infinity, APC, Audeze, Bryston, Devialet, Elite HTS, Fortress Seating, JMF Audio, JVC, Kaleidescape, LG, LUMIN, Magico, Ortofon, RME, Samsung, Soulution, STAX, Trinnov, Vivid Audio, Weiss & more.

  4. #4

    Re: NAD M17 V2 w/ Dirac Live - WOW!

    Quote Originally Posted by NekoAudio View Post
    My understanding is that Audyssey measures the frequency response over a time window (to account for the room) and then applies PEQ filters.

    Dirac does that but also measures the delays of individual frequencies within a single channel, in order to align them (i.e. compensate for the speaker crossover and drivers). This is the impulse response correction you see in the Dirac measurements/results graph. Your Devialet Expert 440 Pro Dual does this too with SAM, but to a lesser degree as it only focuses on the bass driver time alignment while Dirac does a full-spectrum time alignment.

    As a result, you get a significant improvement in clarity throughout the entire frequency range.

    You didn't have a poor Audyssey calibration. Dirac is simply a better product and better solution. Trinnov further exceeds Dirac, especially if you use active crossovers, but it costs a whole lot more.
    Agree that Dirac and Trinnov are at a different level than Audyssey (and Anthem's ARC for that matter). To paraphrase the old car commercial, the new DSP processors are not like "your father's Oldsmobile". With Dirac, Trinnov, and a few other state-of-the-art DSPs that can adjust time and frequency domains, for a mere fraction of the cost one can accomplish much more than randomly applying room treatments or using expensive cables and interconnects.

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NAD M17 V2 w/ Dirac Live - WOW!

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