PRELIMINARY NANOAVR DL 8-IN 8-OUT HDMI AUDIO PROCESSOR WITH DIRAC LIVE® TECHNOLOGY User Manual PRELIMINARY AND SUBJECT TO CHANGE miniDSP Ltd, Hong Kong / www.minidsp.
PRELIMINARY Revision history Revision 0.1 0.2 Description First version Revised for licensing Date 23 August 2014 28 August 2014 miniDSP Ltd, Hong Kong / www.minidsp.
PRELIMINARY TABLE OF CONTENTS Important Information......................................................................................................................................... 5 System Requirements ...................................................................................................................................... 5 Disclaimer/Warning .........................................................................................................................................
PRELIMINARY 4.2.2 Editing the target curve .............................................................................................................. 28 4.2.3 Guidelines for target curve design .............................................................................................. 29 4.2.4 Saving and loading target curves ................................................................................................. 30 4.3 Generating correction filters...........................................
PRELIMINARY IMPORTANT INFORMATION Please read the following information before use. In case of any questions, please contact miniDSP via the support portal at minidsp.desk.com.
PRELIMINARY Warning: This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection. This equipment generates, uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions, may cause interference to radio communications. However, there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation.
PRELIMINARY 1 PRODUCT OVERVIEW Thank you for purchasing a NanoAVR DL HDMI audio processor powered by Dirac Live®, the world’s premier room correction solution. We are delighted to offer you this software and hardware combination, the fruit of extensive research and development and years of experience in sound system tuning. The nanoAVR DL is a 2-input HDMI 1.4a switch combined with a sophisticated digital audio signal processor (DSP) running the Dirac Live® room correction algorithm.
PRELIMINARY 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 NanoAVR DL 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 NanoAVR DL HDMI audio processor includes Dirac Live®, a premium mixed-phase room correction technology.
PRELIMINARY Dirac Live® accomplishes this using mixed-phase filters – filters that match a desired magnitude response and generate a customized impulse response. This contrasts with the minimum-phase and linear-phase filters that are commonly used in audio applications.
PRELIMINARY 1.3 NANOAVR DL / DIRAC LIVE® CONFIGURATION STEPS The steps for configuring the NanoAVR DL HDMI audio processor with Dirac Live® to optimize your home theater system is summarized as follows: 1. Connect the NanoAVR DL audio processor into your system and install software. See Section 2, Installation and Setup. 2. Run a series of acoustic measurements using the Dirac Live Calibration Tool For miniDSP program, to capture the acoustic behavior of your speakers and room.
PRELIMINARY 2 INSTALLATION AND SETUP 2.1 SOFTWARE INSTALLATION AND LICENSE ACTIVATION PRELIMINARY AND SUBJECT TO CHANGE 2.1.1 Framework installation Prior to installing the software, download and install the following frameworks. You will need to accept the license agreements in order to successfully complete the installation. If you haven’t updated these recently, check that you have the latest versions prior to running the miniDSP install programs. Microsoft .NET framework (version 3.
PRELIMINARY 2.1.3 License activation 1. Start the miniDSP NanoAVR DL utility program. It will appear as shown on the left below. 2. Connect your NanoAVR DL processor to your computer via USB, then click on the Connect button. It will change to a green tick. 3. Click on Get Activation Serial Number. The program will get your unique serial number from the connected nanoAVR DL and display it, as shown on the right below. 4.
PRELIMINARY 2.1.4 License validation Start the Dirac Live Calibration Tool For miniDSP program. It will ask you to validate your software license. Enter the license credentials that you obtained in the above step, and then click on Validate: You will need to be connected to the Internet to validate your license. Any active firewalls will need to have HTTP (normal web traffic) enabled. The Username in the validation screen must be the email address that you used in the activation screen above.
PRELIMINARY 2.2 HARDWARE CONNECTIVITY All connections to the nanoAVR DL are made on the rear panel. 2.2.1 HDMI input and output Two HDMI connections are available for input, and one for output. The input connectors can be connected to any HDMI source such as a Blu-ray or DVD player. Other sources may include media streaming devices, gaming consoles, and computers with an HDMI port†. The output connector will be connected to an HDMI input on an A/V receiver (AVR) or A/V preamplifier (AVP).
PRELIMINARY 2.2.2 DC Power The supplied 5 VDC power supply includes a set of interchangeable power pins. Fit the correct pins for your country. Connect the DC plug to the 5 VDC power socket. HDMI units communicate with a set of “hand-shaking” signals in order to establish the capabilities of each device. It is recommended that for at least the first time the system is powered up with the nanoAVR connected, equipment is powered on in this order: TV, AVR, nanoAVR DL, source/player. 2.2.
PRELIMINARY 3 ACOUSTIC MEASUREMENT The Dirac Live Calibration Tool For miniDSP uses a set of measurements made in your listening room to calculate correction filters for all speaker channels. The measurements are made using the NanoAVR DL HDMI audio processor and the supplied UMIK-1 measurement microphone. No additional hardware or connectivity is required. 3.1 LOUDSPEAKER AND MICROPHONE POSITIONING Prior to performing acoustic measurements, loudspeaker and subwoofer positioning should be optimized.
PRELIMINARY 3.2 CONNECTIONS FOR ACOUSTIC MEASUREMENT The figure below shows a typical connection diagram for performing acoustic measurement. No changes to existing audio connections are needed. Simply: 1. Connect the supplied USB (type A to type B) cable from the nanoAVR DL to a USB port on the computer. 2. Connect the supplied USB (type A to mini type B) cable from the UMIK-1 to a USB port on the computer. Place the UMIK-1 microphone into the microphone stand.
PRELIMINARY 3.3 CONFIGURING FOR MEASUREMENT Start Dirac Live Calibration Tool For miniDSP (if it is not already running). Ensure that no other programs are running that may attempt to communicate with the nanoAVR DL hardware unit, such as the nanoAVR DL utility or the nanoAVR plugin, as this may result in communication conflicts or other errors. Logo and status progress bar This area shows a progress bar with current status when the program is performing calculations.
PRELIMINARY 3.3.1 Sound System tab On the Sound System tab, set the following parameters. Choose system configuration Use the dropdown menu to select your system configuration. For multi-channel use, usually 5.1 or 7.1 will be selected. If you have a system configuration other than 5.1 or 7.1, use the Custom System option (see Custom System configuration below). Test signal playback device Preset to nanoAVR (miniDSP Ltd).
PRELIMINARY 3.3.2 Mic Config tab On the Mic Config tab, set the following parameters. Recording device Preset to the UMIK-1. (If this is not present, ensure that the UMIK-1 is connected securely to the computer via USB, and go back to the Sound System tab and click on Rescan. Then select the “Microphone” item underneath “UMIK-1”, as shown at right.) Recording channel Select 1 from the drop-down menu.
PRELIMINARY 3.3.3 Output & Levels tab On the Output & Levels tab, set Output volume quite low. If you have another volume control “down-stream” of the nanoAVR DL, set it about halfway (or -20 dB if digital) and increase it later if needed. Click on the Test button for the left channel and gradually increase the output volume until it is at a moderate level, such that your voice would have to be raised to converse with someone sitting next to you.
PRELIMINARY 3.5 RUNNING THE MEASUREMENTS Measurements are performed on the Measurements screen. 3.5.1 Listening environment The Dirac Live Calibration Tool For miniDSP presents two different listening environments as a visual guide to positioning the microphone for each measurement: Chair, for a single listening seat, and Sofa, for multiple listening seats. Select a listening environment by clicking on the chosen icon.
PRELIMINARY Note that it is important that measurements are performed over a sufficiently broad area. If the measurement area is too small, the result may be over-correction that will sound dry and dull. If using the Chair listening area, spread the microphone positions over a circle with a diameter of at least a meter (three feet). The microphone should be varied in height from the central position by at least 30 cm (one foot) up and down.
PRELIMINARY 3.5.3 Viewing and redoing measurements Click on the green dot for any completed measurement to display its measured time-domain response graph. After clicking on a green dot, a small red “X” will appear next it. Click on the “X” to delete the measurement. The status bar will indicate that the program is recalculating parameters. To redo a measurement, delete it, move the microphone to the appropriate location, and click on Start.
PRELIMINARY 4 FILTER DESIGN Once the full set of measurements has successfully been taken, Dirac Live Calibration Tool For miniDSP has the acoustical information it needs about your loudspeakers and listening room to create the correction filters. The Filter Design screen shows a number of plots that can individually be turned on and off with the checkboxes near the top of the screen. Avg. spectrum (before) The average of the measured magnitude responses. These plots are shown in light blue. Avg.
PRELIMINARY The graphs showing all nine measurements are useful for seeing how much variation is shown across the listening area: To display the impulse response instead of the magnitude response, click on the Impulse button at the top left of the display. As with the magnitude response, the average measurement can be shown as well as all nine measurements. The predicted responses after correction can be viewed after filters are generated (see Generating correction filters below).
PRELIMINARY To unlink a channel, simply click on its chain icon. It will then be unlinked from the other channels. To link it to another channel or groups of channels, simply drag its tab on top of the channel or group of channels that you want it linked to. Initially, you may wish to link all speaker channels together, as shown at right in the diagram above, as this will make it easier to experiment with target curves.
PRELIMINARY 4.2 DESIGNING YOUR TARGET CURVE The target curve is the desired in-room frequency response with the NanoAVR DL processor performing digital room correction. 4.2.1 The Auto Target When first viewing the Filter Design tab, an estimated target curve suitable for your speakers is shown as the red curve. This calculated target curve can be restored at any time by clicking on the Auto Target button. Note: restoring the auto target will erase the current target curve.
PRELIMINARY To alter the frequency region, drag the grey handles on either side of the graph. Note that you can’t drag these handles over an anchor point, so you may need to move or delete an anchor point that is “in the way.” If channels are linked, the same target curve is used for that group of linked channels. To create a separate target curve for a single channel, unlink it as described above in Working with graphs. 4.2.
PRELIMINARY High-frequency “tilt” The target curve is the desired measured response of loudspeakers in a room, In contrast to measurements made of a loudspeaker during its design under anechoic (measured in free space) conditions.
PRELIMINARY 4.3 GENERATING CORRECTION FILTERS Once you have a target curve set to your satisfaction, click on the Optimize button. The status bar will update with progress of the algorithm. Execution may take some time, depending on the speed of your computer. When the algorithm completes, the predicted average magnitude response will be shown in green. (The predicted impulse response can be viewed by clicking on the Impulse button.
PRELIMINARY 4.4 DOWNLOADING AND MANAGING FILTER SETS The Export screen initially shows four empty “slots” for filter sets (a filter set is one filter for the left channel and one filter for the right channel). Filter sets are managed with a “drag and drop” metaphor: To load the most recently generated filter set into the processor, drag the box at the top left (labeled “Auto target” in the example) and drop it onto an empty slot.
PRELIMINARY 5 USING THE NANOAVR DL HDMI AUDIO PROCESSOR Once the desired correction filters have been downloaded into the NanoAVR DL HDMI audio processor, the computer is not required and can be disconnected. The front panel and/or an infrared remote can be used to control: Filter set selection HDMI input selection Master volume (remote control only) Master mute (remote control only) Dirac Live® filtering bypass(remote control only) 5.
PRELIMINARY 5.3 INFRARED REMOTE CONTROL Many standard and programmable remote control units can be used with the NanoAVR DL processors. Instead of adding another remote to your collection, the processor can “learn” the control codes of your current infrared (IR) remote if it supports one of the following remote control codes: NEC Sony Philips RC6 Apple Remote Learning is done with the nanoAVR DL utility program. After starting the program, click on the Connect button.
PRELIMINARY 6 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION 6.1 SPECIFICATIONS Computer connectivity Driverless USB 2.0 control interface for Windows and Mac OS X Ethernet control (RJ45 / 100Mbps) with ZeroConf support (autoIP/DHCP) HDMI inputs 2 x HDMI 1.4a selectable from software, front panel or IR remote HDMI Outputs 1 x HDMI 1.
PRELIMINARY nanoAVR DL utility program or the nanoAVR plugin. 2 3 4 5 6 7 c. Check that you have the miniDSP version of the software installed, called Dirac Live Calibration Tool For miniDSP. d. Go to the Sound System tab and click the Rescan button. a. Check the Output volume slider. b. Ensure that the NanoAVR DL processor is connected correctly into the audio system. c. Check that the downstream device has the NanoAVR DL processor selected for input. d.
PRELIMINARY not turned down. 8 Cannot install software d. Check that the downstream device has the NanoAVR DL processor selected for input. e. Check that the HDMI output device (AVR or AVP) doesn’t have its volume control set very low or to zero. f. Check that the HDMI output device (AVR or AVP) is not muted. a. Confirm that you downloaded and installed the required frameworks first (see Software Installation). 6.
