User manual

PRELIMINARY AND SUBJECT TO CHANGE
miniDSP Ltd, Hong Kong / www.minidsp.com / Features and specifications subject to change without prior notice 8
In sound reinforcement applications, the DDRC-88A is typically connected between a mixing console and power
amplification, as shown below. Individual channels can be set for either full-range or subwoofer operation.
Computer connectivity is used to perform acoustic measurements and generate digital room correction filters.
Up to four sets of correction filters can be stored on the DDRC-88A processor and recalled from the front panel
or via an infrared remote. Once the processor is fully configured, the computer is no longer needed.
1.2 HOW DIRAC LIVE® WORKS
The miniDSP DDRC-88A audio processor includes Dirac Live®, a premium mixed-phase room correction
technology. This technology is used not only in home stereo and home theater systems but also in cinemas,
recording studios, and luxury cars.
As with any room correction system, Dirac Live® corrects the system’s magnitude response (often referred to
imprecisely as “frequency response”). In contrast to fully automated systems, Dirac Live® corrects the
magnitude response towards a user-adjustable target response. The target response takes account of the
natural frequency range of the loudspeaker system and the normal effects of loudspeaker dispersion on the
measured in-room magnitude response.
In addition, Dirac Live® corrects the system’s impulse response, which reflects how the system responds to a
sharp transient such as a drumbeat. Reflections, diffraction, resonances, misaligned drivers, and so on, all
combine to smear out the transient. An ideal loudspeaker has none of these, so correcting the impulse response
makes the speaker in the room behave much more like that ideal loudspeaker. The impulse response is a critical
factor for accurate sound-staging, clarity and bass reproduction. Dirac Live® employs a sophisticated analysis
algorithm to make the optimal correction across the whole listening area, not just at a single point.