Yes sorry I did not point out that, similarly, I have continued to keep Dirac around as an option because the actual filters/algo/sound and ease of use are very good. It’s just a shame that product support/updates are so weak. I do know that alternatives on the windows side may produce better filters (search acourate vs dirac) at a steep cost in ease of use. And it’s not like they are free or very cheap either.
Have installed Dirac 1.2 (OSX 10.9.5) and recalibrated from scratch.
All worked fine with Roon and the DAP although since I’d read the above comment I just ticked the x2 buffer by default and haven’t tested without it. Have only mainly tried redbook and tidal but no issues there.
It remembers (and reconnects to) the selected output device which was my main issue so in that sense I’m happy. 
the added clip indicator for is is helpful too.
not much to report really.
I just noted that Dirac also sells a dedicated hardware box, digital in and digital out (or other options). $900.
Has anybody tried that, or know of any comments?
Might eliminate the integration issues.
Oops, hadn’t noted this is sold by MiniDSP, not by Dirac.
https://www.minidsp.com/products/dirac-series
$900 is very reasonable considering the Dirac software alone costs half of that.
If it works well.
I seriously considered one, but for me the IO options were a bit annoying. I just wanted USB in and USB out, or USB in and AES out. Getting there seemed convoluted and each box seems to come with a lot of unwanted features. AFAIK its also limited to 96K if that matters to you - I know Dirac probably makes more difference compared to sample rate, but still, would be nice to preserve as much as possible and the software can do 192.
At the risk of sounding like a fanboy, you can load an FIR filter into the HQP convolution engine and do room EQ while upsampling or pass-through at any resolution HQP supports, up to DSD 1024 if your DAC can take it.
I need to double-check on a bit more material, but I think I heard a few ‘crackling’ noises during a high-res file playback (DSD downsamled by Roon to 172 or something). Is that what the ‘static’ sounds like - it was reminiscent of the appalling Devialet AIR.
I have the power of 2 buffer activated.
Yes it is intermittent crackling that can vary from track to track, that once frequent enough sounds like constant breakup of the sound. Try turning power of 2 off for a moment and you will hear what it sounds like full blown.
This solution doesnt work with a RME Babyface Audio Interface and Dac.
And with an Oppo 105 Dac the static noise comes back again after a couple of minutes, when playing.dsf files.
Both used with a Mac Powerbook.
This solution doesn’t work for me either. Tried Dirac 1.2 with Audirvana without any problems. Somethings wrong with Roon/Dirac. So for me Roon is at this stage unusable and for me, I cannot miss Dirac.
Come on Roon, solve this problem.
Yes Dirac 1.2 has made the problem even worse such that on some systems even the power of 2 buffer setting doesn’t fully mitigate the issue. I would guess that Roon will fix this pretty quickly - right?
Hey @nquery @hifi_swlon (and anyone else experiencing this issue) – we are going to do some testing in house to see if we can get a sense of what’s going on here, and whether there’s something we can do on the Roon side.
@vova and I will report back about how the testing goes. It would be great if everyone experiencing this issue could let us know:
- Your audio settings in Roon (like the screenshots shown here)
- Whether this happens only with certain types of media or content, or with everything you try to play
- Any relevant settings in Dirac we might need to match your setup as closely as possible
Thanks guys! We’re on it.
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see attached settings for Dirac Audio Processor 1.2 running on Mac Mini.
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Dirac 1.1 + Roon 1.2 - no issues afaik.
Dirac 1.2 + Roon 1.2 + “power-of-2” disabled - completely unusable across all content
Dirac 1.2 + Roon 1.2 + “power-of-2” enabled - works for most content, but occurs on occasion. Have not noticed any correlation with sample rate. -
Dirac Settings - Maybe the most important thing to note is that this occurs even with Dirac Filtering turned off in the Dirac Audio Processor. i.e. it’s not the Dirac filters but just sending the audio via the Dirac Driver in and of itself. See attached.
Dirac audio processor - latest - OS X 10.9.5
RoonServer, latest.
Not used it much but have tried unchecking power 2 buffer and it’s unusable as mentioned above. With it checked I haven’t noticed any issues with tidal or redbook but it’s only been setup since weekend.
Pretty sure settings are same as above.
Thanks for having a look.
(Ps miles Davis isn’t my usual listen but it does get an outing sometimes, tonight over dinner - hope that’s not sacrilege)
Hello guys,
So we did some tests and we can’t reproduce the reported issue. We were using the following setup: MacBook Pro with OSX 10.11.4 + Dirac 1.2. As an output device we tried built-in speakers and several DACs (Meridian Explorer, iFi iDSD). During our test we tried to playback all file formats / sampling rates through Dirac virtual sound card with and without Dirac filter.
More info from @Cantodea and @miklats about their setup might help us to reproduce this issue.
Thanks
I use a Macbook with the latest Operating System as an endpoint. Roonserver is a Windows PC setup, some distance away.
I use Dirac 1.2 with a RME Babyface Soundcard and DAC setup or an Oppo 105 as DAC.
I didnt have any static noise problems with Roon 1.1 and Dirac 1.1 on both Dac.
The Rme Babyface with Roon 1.2 and Dirac 1.2 produces only digital noise, doesnt matter which setup option I choose.
Roon 1.2 with the RME Babyface alone works perfect.
When I use the Oppo as DAC noise problems with PCM files are fixed with the solution provided here. Static noise problems came up when I switched listening to .dsf files. Roon converts the .dsf files to pcm. Here after 2 minutes or so static noise appeares… Not as severe as with the RME Babyface, still clearly audible. When the Oppo is used without Dirac there is no static noise problem.
Hope this helps.
The better solution would be allowing the use of AU plugins so you could use Dirac AU plugin directly. I’ve followed the discussion on that and noted that there are issues regarding the AU architecture and needing to open a GUI, and that this would be a problem for headless “devices” running Roon/Dirac. But if my understanding of what I read is correct it wouldn’t be an issue for single machines running both server and playback (i.e. not using multiple zones), and personally I’d be happy to use AU plugins in this scenario and accept the limitations that would impose.
I use a mid 2011 Imac with the latest OSX. Latest Roon is in use and Dirac 1.2. My DAC is an Audioengine Wireless D2. Before the upgrade To latest Roon there were no problems. Sometimes the systems plays good for a few hours. Then sometimes it begins after a few minutes. The problems occurs with my own music and with Tidal content. It does’t matter if it is Hi-res or not. With same setup I tried Audirvana, Itunes and Jriver no problems here.
Any progress with Roon 1.2 build 142? Someone tried it already?