Room Correction / Dirac Live
Answered
Hi!
Sonos now offers room correction with TruePlay. It would be very nice if Bluesound would also offer a room correction or even Dirac Live in the future.
Considering that Bluesound is a premium product I would even expect this for the 3rd generation of Bluesound devices. Even better would be a software update for some of the old devices.
Nothing improves the sound as much as a good room correction...
For Dirac Live I would also accept a considerable surcharge.
Best regards =)
-
Official comment
Hello Maximillian,
Thank you for taking the time to provide your feedback. Recently Bluesound's sister brand NAD has been implementing Dirac Live room correction in their latest products. With that being said, it is not outside the realm of possibility that this feature may find its way into future Bluesound players. With that being said, I will pass your feedback along to our Quality Assurance team for their consideration to see if some form of room correction could be implemented into Bluesound in the future.Regards,
Wesley P. -
I have found success using the MiniDSP DDRC-22. It is all in the digital domain and inserts in between my Node 2i and my DAC. Of course, if you want to use the DAC in the Node, this might not work.
I have been very happy with this implementation. Of course, it is added cost, added interconnects, etc. and would prefer to have it on board the Node, but it does allow for a good implementation of Dirac Live.
4 -
+1 for Dirac Live on Bluesound Products. Would love it for my Node 2i, even if we had to pay a small amount for the software upgrade.
3 -
I am pretty sure the hardware in Gen 2i can support Dirac Live since the NAD products seem to work on the same Arm processors. You could offer it as an optional feature for additional cost for those that need it and I am certain a lot of us would happily pay for it since the room acoustics are the biggest influence on sound. It would add value to bluesound as an audiophile brand compared to Sonos and other competitors who already offer this feature. I would appreciate an official response if this is a possibility in the near future. Thanks
3 -
Understandable - but still a bit sad.
The C 658 is indeed a swiss army knife - and great for those who want an "all-in-one" product.
But as far as I know there is currently no "simple streamer" with digital out and Dirac Live from NAD - for those os us who basically want a Bluesound Node with Room Correction.
So those who appreciate the Bluesound platform and would like to hang on their DAC and amp... Well, they are basically out of luck :-(
Fingers crossed for a product in the future.
Best regards
Martin2 -
It is a great pity that Bluesound does not want to offer any room correction.
For me, the NAD products are not a real alternative and this is less a question of money than a question of space.Especially in the kitchen or the bathroom, a room correction would be very useful, because it is difficult to optimize the rooms acoustically, because here really other priorities are set. In my living room is anyway a NAD AV receiver with Dirac on board. For most other rooms you want small all-in-one solutions.
A solution with a Node + miniDSP + active speakers is just too many devices in one pile for me.At least a decent EQ could be integrated in the foreseeable future, but maybe a switch to Sonos is the best solution for me in the end. NAD AV receiver with BluOS or not.
2 -
Time to poke the bear with a stick again - please please please - it’s 2022 - you have a great product that is leading edge in its price category - keep it that way and add Dirac live as an option (happy to pay extra to subscribe via my node 130) - keep your loyal customers happy give us Dirac ❤️🙏
2 -
Hi, I strongly second that. I think room correction is a key feature now. Especially since competing products Like Sonos and Elac with their streaming amp provide some form of room correction using a phone app.It would be terrific if you can provide it through the bluos app or Dirac for the powernode 2i in future firmware update.
1 -
+1 on room eq. If not Dirac Live, at the very least a parametric EQ (7+ bands) in lieu of the Treble and Bass adjustments.
1 -
I can only confirm what Maximilian and my predecessors have already said (by using a NAD with Dirac Live).
So please, dear Bluesound, go ahead and offer this crucial piece of functionality for your Streaming-Devices!
Best regards
1 -
Thank you all,
I am currently using the DAC integrated in my amp - and I am quite pleased with it.
I would definitely like a Node-sized streamer with Dirac Live onboard - and keep the output digital.
That being said I am considering the C 658, as reviews have been favorable - but I will also look into the MiniDSP.
Thanks again.1 -
The filtering must happen with the digital analog conversion to ensure the correct analog signal.
That argument fits the node but not the power node.The reason i guess why most people would like to have it is the size not the money.
Therefore i just can recommend to overthink the pricing policy for power nodes or to introduce a kind of upgrade policy for them.
1 -
Dear Tony,
Please think of all new systems with Active powered speakers.
I have DYNAUDIO XEO 30 active speakers (I want to stay in digital domain as input to speakers)
To have Dirac:
1) miniDSP SHD with analog input (turntable) and digital out to speakers (Volumio included)
- 1300 Euros
- I prefer BLUOS app to Volumio
2) Node 2i digital out to miniDSP DDR-2 digital in. Digital out from miniDSP to Speakers Digital in.
- I connect the turntable to the node 2i analog input
- 400 euros + 950 Euros: 1350 euros
3) MiniDSP SHD Studio (Volumio included) + New Phono Amp with USB out
- 1099 + 200: 1300 Euros
- I prefer BLUOS app to Volumio
So I would be willing to have a Node with Dirac and pay 750 Euros (500 + Dirac license) and have only one device for my needs.
NAD C658 does not help me due to missing digital out to the speakers.
Thanks,
Nuno
1 -
Hey Tony, can you disclose the business reason to not add DIRAC to Bluesound products this year?
Just curious - DIRAC is universally recognized as the best room correction solution on the market, and we are all willing to pay for it (if it's too expensive to devote engineering time to it for Bluesound, why not upcharge us to $1000 per license and you take the margin that doesn't go to dirac?).
Just another customer saying we want this, name your price. Thanks!1 -
Totally agree. The Node 2i module MDC2 BlueOS for the NAD amplifiers now have also Dirac Live in the same module so I wonder why a Node N130 from 2021 as a stand alone product does not have this. I am really considering buying a Arcam with Dirac. Please help us.
1 -
Hey Tony,
I am also ready to purchase an additional license for Dirac Live (Node 2 N130). Have you yet investigated whether this is technically possible at all? Unfortunately, a larger DAC than the Node 2 is not an option for me. I drive my active speakers (stereo 2.1) directly with the Node. In terms of size, this is the perfect set for my listening space.And by the way, sorry for my poor English :)
1 -
Dear all,
after I read about the quadcore processor in the node I really think that Dirac would be possible. Thus I like to request a reevaluation if you are willing to add the opportunity of Dirac Live to the Bluesound Node. Of cause it does not need to be part of the standard scope of delivery, I am and others too are willing to purchase the Dirac license on their website/ shop. I guess you can negotiate a nice commission agreement with them.
For my impression without a proper room correction (and Dirac is state of the art) Bluesound will be easily replaceable by products from other brands in future.
I would highly appreciate a reply from Bluesound team.
Best regards and stay safe and healthy!
1 -
Hi all,
Cannot agree more: while it is understandable that Powernode cannot get room correction for free, I'm more than sure a large number of us would be perfectly happy to pay for it.
Mentioned on other posts but more/better EQ options should be doable at a relatively limited cost for Bluesound and would be highly (highly) appreciated by the vast majority of their users who have selected Bluesound gears for the Hi-fi/Better than Sonos approach.
Many thanks for considering this
1 -
Agreed. And something like Sonos does with Trueplay and the mic of an IOS device should be more than fine if dirac is not an option.
1 -
We just need to read between the lines here. Bluesound is a subsidiary of NAD. It is not that they don’t have the ability. They just won’t - probably due to (fear of) creating too much overlap/competition to NAD by also adding Dirac functionality to Bluesound products. We have to upgrade to more expensive NAD products to get it. I believe this is a mistake, and ofcourse e.g. Sonos could become a more serious alternative by offering Trueplay, and also being cheaper. I am currently a happy Powernode-owner, and have previously owned NAD products which I have loved. I believe NAD is oversaturating their number of products/tiers, and complicate things unecessarily for consumers. (E.g. choosing between the Powernode, NAD D3045, C368, C700 and C389?). In the end I don’t think it is the right strategy, even though the marketing department might be able to find new ‘slots’ for products to fill in between models/lines + the offering of BluOS modules for certain models. Either how, I would love to see some kind of room correction for the Powernode one day.
Dirac will probably trickle down to Bluesound eventually.. in a few years.1 -
I strongly agree with all the other commenters on this thread. I really also need Dirac Live because the sound image distorts a lot without it. What alternatives do we have other than buying the NAD M10 or NAD C658 which are totally unnecessary? I have a much better amplifier already, why should I buy an overpriced amplifier with music streaming just to get Dirac Live? I would like to just buy my own license of Dirac Live and use with whatever hardware box I want including the Bluesound.
1 -
I mean this is missing in the current software. But there is no need for hardware changes to add delay and EQ options.
Bluesound should offer this features. For example just for integrating a sub which has delay from the build in amp or room correction. Now there is no option to delay the main speakers. Same for EQ.
1 -
@michel
Yes. I don't think that will happen, unfortunately.
1 -
Hi, I hereby support the Dirac proposal. Yesterday I assisted a friend with the setup of his NAD 3050 and was quite surprised about the Dirac integration. I would also like to have THAT for my NODE - it doesn't even have to be free. Best regards from Germany
1 -
Well...
After one issue too many, I gave up on Bluesound and opted for a competing product with support for a broad range of services and parametric EQ onboard. (Which I'll use for basic Room Correction with HouseCurve or REW).
It cost less me than a third of a Bluesound Node for a device that has bit-perfect output and is about the size of an Apple TV.
So I find that others now check most of the boxes that I had hoped Bluesound would eventually do.I should mention that the issues I experienced with Bluesound were all with their early generation products. It's quite possible that they have improved their firmware, software, enclosure, and component quality over the years.
However, I can't help but feel that Lenbrook may have backed themselves into a corner with their need to differentiate their Bluesound and NAD Classic/Master products.
Of course, "Master" products should perform better than entry-level BlueSound and offer a superior feature set - and the BlueSound platform IS great, and worth paying for.But, it seems that competing streamers and standalone DACs now offer superior DAC implementations and decent streaming platforms at a lower price.
So, I still hope that Bluesound will implement Dirac or other "kick-ass" features to differentiate their products from competitors.
Best regards,
Martin1 -
Hi Martin,
Thank you for your post and your support to better sound processing into Bluesound idea. Totally understandable to turn to an alternative IMO given how critical decent EQ is to good listening and how ignored that request was by Bluesound for years (esp. when alternatives offer so much more features and support reactivity for so much less money). Maybe Bluesound will eventually do something but no one knows if and when. Fortunately competition is moving fast in the meantime
1 -
Hi JG.B.
It would be nice. However, as others have mentioned, it's probably not likely to happen.
Lenbrook does have a broad range of BluOS products, and it's probably not feasible for them to accommodate our every desire for mix-and-match components.In my case, I stream digitally to a Gato DIA-400s Amp with a decent built-in DAC.
Lenbrook would probably prefer me purchasing a brand new NAD M33 rather than adding a cheap BlueSound streamer to my existing system.Aside from the whole "cannibalization" issue, there would likely be technical/licensing problems with MQA and Dirac in the digital domain.
(As far as I know, only Roon has been allowed to mess with DSP for MQA and still pass an "authenticated" stream to an MQA capable DAC?)Personally, I would be okay with a "light" Room Correction, just a step up from Sonos, for Bluesound (and losing final MQA rendering in external DAC). For example: Add a basic 4-6 point parametric EQ for sub 500Hz correction, partner up with someone like HouseCurve or REW and integrate basic measurement and curve editing on mobile devices.
In my opinion, that would be a killer feature for BlueSound - and not in conflict with their higher-end products.
Best regards,
Martin1 -
1+ Dirac for the powernode 2i
0 -
Hello I would like to have the dirac please on the Bluenode 2i because the equalizer of the bluenode 2i doesn't work very good, is it possible to pourchase it paying an upgrade ?
0 -
Any news about this? Considering TDAI 1120, but is a stretch budgetary.
0
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Comments
56 comments