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The official "Theta" thread - Page 119

post #3541 of 5067
3/21/12 at 5:50pm
So I got my CBIII HD home about 3 weeks ago. At the same time, I also upgraded to a Dreadnaught III, 7-Channel amp, and went 7.1, installing side-surrounds (Paradigm in-ceilings, SA-15R-30 v3) and new speakers all around: Paradigm S8's, C5 center, and the SA-ADP v3 in walls for surrounds.)
Kept my Aerial SW-12 sub. Small room, no room for ANYTHING else.

Last night, my girlfriend walks in and says: "WHAT MOVE ARE YOU LISTENING TO NOW?"



That's how great the new system is sounding!! Spent about 2 weeks breaking it in, and dialing in the levels, delays and bass management. So far, I REALLY think Theta knocked it outta the park with the CBIII HD.
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post #3542 of 5067
3/21/12 at 6:34pm
This may be of some interest to you guys planning on getting the Dirac Live upgrade to the CB-IIIHD or anybody else for that matter somewhat interested in Dirac Live Room Correction.

I received an e-mail this morning from Dirac along with a full working Beta Test Version of the new "Dirac Live Room Correction Suite".
They've just released what I believe is their first consumer version of their software, to be used for listening to your hifi system from a computer.

I thought that maybe, to get a feel of software similar to that which may be in the CB-IIIHD sometime this year, some of you might like to try the free limited trial version that is now available at
http://shop.dirac.se/products/108-di...ted-trial.aspx

This version will allow you to measure and display the frequency response and the impulse response of your room, but it WILL NOT allow you to make an actual Dirac optimization.

I assume that it's very similar to what Theta is going to release for the CB-IIIHD although I've heard that Theta's version is supposed to be even more user friendly then what is currently available from Dirac.
It looks fairly simple and easy to use right now actually, so this is getting very exciting!

I'm unsure as to whether or not I'll actually get it running very well without a decent mic to use, but I wanted to get some experience, see and play with the Dirac Live software I've heard so little about.

BTW, the retail cost of the full working version for a Windows or MAC machine is $650 or $455 with a 25% Early Adopter Discount.
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post #3543 of 5067
3/21/12 at 9:07pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by bigbrother52 View Post

This may be of some interest to you guys planning on getting the Dirac Live upgrade to the CB-IIIHD or anybody else for that matter somewhat interested in Dirac Live Room Correction.

I received an e-mail this morning from Dirac along with a full working Beta Test Version of the new "Dirac Live Room Correction Suite".
They've just released what I believe is their first consumer version of their software, to be used for listening to your hifi system from a computer.

I thought that maybe, to get a feel of software similar to that which may be in the CB-IIIHD sometime this year, some of you might like to try the free limited trial version that is now available at
http://shop.dirac.se/products/108-di...ted-trial.aspx

This version will allow you to measure and display the frequency response and the impulse response of your room, but it WILL NOT allow you to make an actual Dirac optimization.

I assume that it's very similar to what Theta is going to release for the CB-IIIHD although I've heard that Theta's version is supposed to be even more user friendly then what is currently available from Dirac.
It looks fairly simple and easy to use right now actually, so this is getting very exciting!

I'm unsure as to whether or not I'll actually get it running very well without a decent mic to use, but I wanted to get some experience, see and play with the Dirac Live software I've heard so little about.

BTW, the retail cost of the full working version for a Windows or MAC machine is $650 or $455 with a 25% Early Adopter Discount.

From what I have read on the website is that you can use it only if you are playing music from computer. Can you use it to adjust PEQ on an audio processor?
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post #3544 of 5067
3/21/12 at 9:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mani View Post

From what I have read on the website is that you can use it only if you are playing music from computer. Can you use it to adjust PEQ on an audio processor?

I've only had it so far for part of today, but it is my understanding that it's a product for the "Computer Audiophile", and hooked up to a sound system will handle up to 16 channels.

From the website:
"With the Dirac Live Calibration Tool for PC and Mac you can easily measure the acoustic characteristics of your loudspeakers and your room, and then calibrate them accordingly - eliminating unwanted coloration. The suite also includes Dirac Audio Processor which allows you to apply correction to all sound that is played from your computer, regardless your media player."
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post #3545 of 5067
3/21/12 at 9:30pm
Would you like a copy of the manual Mani? The Mani manual?
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post #3546 of 5067
3/21/12 at 9:31pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mani View Post

From what I have read on the website is that you can use it only if you are playing music from computer. Can you use it to adjust PEQ on an audio processor?

Yes, but not easily. It would be the same process I used for the AP-20. If you have the full version, where it creates the correction filters, the correction responses can be measured with REW (or other) via direct line in/out of the sound card (probably will need a second computer since there's two sets of sound cards running?).

Then an external PEQ can be adjusted to fit the curve as desired. If course it will never be the same result as Dirac, but it was a great help to me in tuning my system.

Perhaps the same result would have happened with 8 REW measurements averaged, but somehow I suspect not.
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post #3547 of 5067
3/21/12 at 9:35pm
It's too complicated then . I am not using Mac or PC based music servers anymore as I have switched to Bryston BDP1 and BDA1 feeding my ADA.
I guess I will wait for stand alone Dirac or Trinnov
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post #3548 of 5067
3/22/12 at 5:19am
Roger, you can have two sound cards in a machine even with XP. Having them both active at the same time is another story at least with XP. You have to select one or the other for output. I believe this is somewhat software dependent with recording software being able to handle multiple cards. Any more than that gets over my head.
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post #3549 of 5067
3/22/12 at 7:38am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Roger Dressler View Post

Yes, but not easily. It would be the same process I used for the AP-20. If you have the full version, where it creates the correction filters, the correction responses can be measured with REW (or other) via direct line in/out of the sound card (probably will need a second computer since there's two sets of sound cards running?).

Then an external PEQ can be adjusted to fit the curve as desired. If course it will never be the same result as Dirac, but it was a great help to me in tuning my system.

Perhaps the same result would have happened with 8 REW measurements averaged, but somehow I suspect not.

Room correction on a PC is clearly catering to the 2 channel market. You can do 2.0 using USB out or 2.2 building active filters and use a MCH soundcard. There are other solutions to do this, nost notably acourate http://www.acourate.com/

I looked into this (I knew Dirac was beta testing a PC based version of their system), but anytihing multi channel gets (too) complex in a hurry.
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post #3550 of 5067
3/22/12 at 8:39am
Quote:
Originally Posted by edorr View Post


Room correction on a PC is clearly catering to the 2 channel market. You can do 2.0 using USB out or 2.2 building active filters and use a MCH soundcard. There are other solutions to do this, nost notably acourate http://www.acourate.com/

I looked into this (I knew Dirac was beta testing a PC based version of their system), but anytihing multi channel gets (too) complex in a hurry.

I agree. It's not practical for multichannel. It would work for me with CAPS 2.0 and my current Mcintosh XR200 speakers. The speakers are up a couple of db at 20hz and IMO do not need a sub. I like it because all of the efforts to reduce jitter from a server are preserved with a direct connection to my dac.
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post #3551 of 5067
3/22/12 at 9:01am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bulldogger View Post

I agree. It's not practical for multichannel. It would work for me with CAPS 2.0 and my current Mcintosh XR200 speakers. The speakers are up a couple of db at 20hz and IMO do not need a sub. I like it because all of the efforts to reduce jitter from a server are preserved with a direct connection to my dac.

I even checked with Acourate if you can do 2.2 on a PC and send 2 x 2 channels to two different USB outputs. Apparently this won't work so you need a MCH soundcard for 2.2. If the USB route would have worked I would have considered going down this 2.2 path, forego MCH (I am 90% stereo/music anyway), and saved 5K on my dedicated Trinnov room correction box.
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post #3552 of 5067
3/22/12 at 10:28am
Quote:
Originally Posted by edorr View Post


I even checked with Acourate if you can do 2.2 on a PC and send 2 x 2 channels to two different USB outputs. Apparently this won't work so you need a MCH soundcard for 2.2. If the USB route would have worked I would have considered going down this 2.2 path, forego MCH (I am 90% stereo/music anyway), and saved 5K on my dedicated Trinnov room correction box.

If Trinnov moves to 24/192 processing that would be exciting. This new Dirac Live software does up to 24/96. That is what Theta is doing. The big question that still lingers for me is will the new Digi out card output 24/96 for non-HDMI sourced material. My belief is that it will.
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post #3553 of 5067
3/22/12 at 10:44am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bulldogger View Post

If Trinnov moves to 24/192 processing that would be exciting. This new Dirac Live software does up to 24/96. That is what Theta is doing. The big question that still lingers for me is will the new Digi out card output 24/96 for non-HDMI sourced material. My belief is that it will.

In my personal experience higher resolution makes a big difference with native digital sources (i.e. my 2 channel flac/wav files). However, I do A/D/A conversion in the Trinnov for my analog MCH sources (SACD / BR), and run the Trinnov at 48/24, which sounds just as good as 96/24 to me.

The new card absolutely should do 96/24, especially considering the old digi out card installed in a "non-HD" CBIII already did.
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post #3554 of 5067
3/22/12 at 11:45am
Quote:
Originally Posted by bigbrother52 View Post

BTW, the retail cost of the full working version for a Windows or MAC machine is $650 or $455 with a 25% Early Adopter Discount.

Are you sure those figures are in $$? Amir claims they're in Euros and I'm trying to reconcile the conflicting data.

Thanks!
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post #3555 of 5067
3/22/12 at 12:26pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by RUR View Post

Are you sure those figures are in $$? Amir claims they're in Euros and I'm trying to reconcile the conflicting data.

Thanks!

487.50 euros or 650 U.S. dollars. That's the full price.
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post #3556 of 5067
3/22/12 at 2:03pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bulldogger View Post

487.50 euros or 650 U.S. dollars. That's the full price.

Yes, that's currently the full price with the 25% early adopter discount. Then it goes up to about $850.
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post #3557 of 5067
3/22/12 at 2:22pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bulldogger View Post

487.50 euros or 650 U.S. dollars. That's the full price.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Roger Dressler View Post

Yes, that's currently the full price with the 25% early adopter discount. Then it goes up to about $850.

Thank-you, both!
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post #3558 of 5067
3/22/12 at 3:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by RUR View Post

Are you sure those figures are in $$? Amir claims they're in Euros and I'm trying to reconcile the conflicting data.

Thanks!

Sorry for the confusion and late response but here is the copy & paste off the link I was supplied for the Limited Time Special 25% Early Adopter Discount, it actually was in Euro's and I did not notice!

What shows in my Shopping Cart is actually slightly different as the e-mail I received says to "click on the 'Full Pre-release Version' and perform the purchase at a 30% discount". And that too is Euro's.

Mac version
OS X 10.4-10.7

SKU: SUITE_MAC

€650.00
Your price: €455.00

EDIT:
At todays exchange rate Diracs List Price is

650 euros = 856.8950 US dollars

1 Euro = $1.3183 today
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post #3559 of 5067
3/23/12 at 10:17am
I assume most of this information will also apply to Theta's implementation of Dirac live.

"Dirac Live RCS works with 24/192 and 24/176 files, but it does not create filters for these sampling rates. It creates filters for 44.1, 48. 88.2, and 96 kHz sampling rates so your sound card must support either of these sampling rates. The files are downsampled by the media subsystem on the PC (or the Media player) before being sent to our processing and then to the soundcard.

To clarify, the media file can be any sampling rate, but the soundcard has to be running at 96 kHz or lower," response from Mathias Johansson.
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post #3560 of 5067
3/27/12 at 5:25pm
The acoustical treatments that brought me the most satisfaction are RPG Skyline diffusors. So I asked about the way I have traditionally used them and how Dirac Live would be effected by their presence.

"Diffusors in general are a good thing in themselves and do not impose any problems for Dirac Live. By taking several measurements we are able to determine consistent problems in the room. The diffusors will already have improved the spectrum as well as the structure of the reflections, and Dirac Live will help in minimizing the remaining problems," Mathias.
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post #3561 of 5067
3/27/12 at 8:27pm
When Theta couldn't seem to get out of their own way when attempting to get an HDMI solution to market, I dumped my CB and have been using Integra/Onkyo solutions for home theater. Love the room correction results I get. I used separate (non Integra) two channel hardware.

My goal has been to combine my two channel and HT hardware.

Now that Theta has announced a room correction solution, I am again interested in the possibility of acquiring a CBIII HD. However, as I read some of this thread, it still appears that Theta still has some issues relating to "system crashes/freezes". I have been using these other products with virtually non of that type of issue. I can't imagine how frustrating it would be to have to reboot the CB part way thru a movie?

Are these crashes the norm? That is, does it happen to everyone?
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post #3562 of 5067
3/27/12 at 9:49pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by audioguy View Post

When Theta couldn't seem to get out of their own way when attempting to get an HDMI solution to market, I dumped my CB and have been using Integra/Onkyo solutions for home theater. Love the room correction results I get. I used separate (non Integra) two channel hardware.

My goal has been to combine my two channel and HT hardware.

Now that Theta has announced a room correction solution, I am again interested in the possibility of acquiring a CBIII HD. However, as I read some of this thread, it still appears that Theta still has some issues relating to "system crashes/freezes". I have been using these other products with virtually non of that type of issue. I can't imagine how frustrating it would be to have to reboot the CB part way thru a movie?

Are these crashes the norm? That is, does it happen to everyone?

Such crashes are rare in my system! I can't even think of a blu ray movie where in the middle I had to turn the CB3 HD off and then back on to get audio.
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post #3563 of 5067
3/28/12 at 8:03am
New MSRP list showing expected availability of new amps http://www.thetadigital.com/download...SRP%20book.pdf
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post #3564 of 5067
3/28/12 at 8:10am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve Bruzonsky View Post


Such crashes are rare in my system! I can't even think of a blu ray movie where in the middle I had to turn the CB3 HD off and then back on to get audio.

Mine occasionally crashes with my Comcast cable box. Maybe only once with my Oppo blu ray player. The CBIIIHd is much more stable than the CBIII. I've had min for a little more than a year.
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post #3565 of 5067
3/28/12 at 12:35pm
The only crashes/freezes I've encountered in my short time with the CBIIIhd has been when initially turning on the system.... sometimes I get no audio with the Tivo without restarting the CBIIIhd or sometimes I get audio but a blank screen on my plasma. Much improved over the old CBIII where even changing channels on the Tivo would sometimes lose audio lock.

One thing I've noticed is that at higher volumes I occasionally get a thumping sound in all channels, actually in sync with each button press when increasing and decreasing volume levels on the Theta remote.
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post #3566 of 5067
3/28/12 at 5:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by edorr View Post

Not cheap though. If you want to cut out some of the cost the USB converter is the place to look. I'm planning to doing a shootout between an Offramp 5 with turboclock against the HiFace EVO. Considering that the downstream Trinnov processor is slaved to the USB converter and uses it as its masterclock, spending the $$$ on the offramp 5 may be worth it. Fortunately, Empircal Audio offers 30 day trial on the new Offramp.

In tems of usability JRiver if phenomenal, with plenty of rock solid iPhone 2 way remote apps available.

It looks like the first version of CAPS used the Lynx AES16 sound card. There is newer version of that card out now. It's the card which one seller of the Bryston BDP-1 claimed was the reason for his sale. Ok, that card and the older version have XLR outs so no need for a USB converter at all. They claim ultra-low jitter as well. It's also 16 channels of digital out. I believe you could build a version of CAPS with the Lynx card and use Dirac Live to cover 2 front channels and multiple subs. Of course the Gen VIII does not have a USB input so I would build with the Lynx AES16e. I believe the reason for the switch in sound card in CAPS 2.0 is significant cost savings for a different sound card with USB which is out-weighted because of the additional convertor needed to use the Gen 8. It would be 1/3 of the cost of Trinnov and the CAPS 2.0 with a USB converter. And yes I am aware of all of the modifications need to so this, different case, etc but nothing complicated and building upon the CAPS.
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post #3567 of 5067
3/29/12 at 2:31am
got lots of crashes with the CBII and CBIII. Haven't hooked up the CBIIIHD/GenVIII yet so I can't say.
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post #3568 of 5067
3/29/12 at 6:22am
Just reporting in. My 'BlancaHD had surgery the other day, and is now in recovery. We'll see this week if it was a successful surgery; but John gave early indicators we may have solved my issues. Involved both the processing board and power supply.

Regarding my CBIII. I never had issues with TiVo for many years. I may have had one lockup during entire ownership. Mine was a trade up from 'Nova to CBIII.
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post #3569 of 5067
3/29/12 at 8:29am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bulldogger View Post

It looks like the first version of CAPS used the Lynx AES16 sound card. There is newer version of that card out now. It's the card which one seller of the Bryston BDP-1 claimed was the reason for his sale. Ok, that card and the older version have XLR outs so no need for a USB converter at all. They claim ultra-low jitter as well. It's also 16 channels of digital out. I believe you could build a version of CAPS with the Lynx card and use Dirac Live to cover 2 front channels and multiple subs. Of course the Gen VIII does not have a USB input so I would build with the Lynx AES16e. I believe the reason for the switch in sound card in CAPS 2.0 is significant cost savings for a different sound card with USB which is out-weighted because of the additional convertor needed to use the Gen 8. It would be 1/3 of the cost of Trinnov and the CAPS 2.0 with a USB converter. And yes I am aware of all of the modifications need to so this, different case, etc but nothing complicated and building upon the CAPS.

I am aware of this far cheaper single box music server / cross-over / room correction solution. I explored this with Acourate, and was aware Dirac was beta testing their PC based offering. The reason I went with three boxes (four if you include the external powersupply), at about 4x the cost is some reports that the state of the art in USB converters beats the Lynx card, a preference for Trinnov over Dirac or Acourate, and the ability to use the Trinnov box in 3.1 mode for MCH. Had I gotten the itch to play with Room correction 6 months later, I could have very well gone the Dirac / PC route.
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post #3570 of 5067
3/29/12 at 9:06am
Quote:
Originally Posted by edorr View Post

is some reports that the state of the art in USB converters beats the Lynx card,

I think that's the older AES16 that was compared and not the new AES16e. At any rate, I just use Internet or professional reviews as guide post for investigation.
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AVS › AVS Forum › Display Devices › Ultra Hi-End HT Gear ($20,000+) › The official "Theta" thread