TOPIC:

Question for you guys/gals: Several miniDSP units that come with the Dirac Live app state that the Dirac Live functionality is only compatible with the UMIK-1 mike.
Does that mean that I can't use it with my UMIK-2, or does it mean that it is only compatible with UMIK-series mikes?

Jan Didden

I have used UMIK-2 with my SHD; works fine & very happy with the results.  Don't know about any other models.
 

Yes, the people at miniDSP confirmed that the SHD series Dirac Live functionality is compatible with both UMIK 1 and UMIK 2. The product pages on their site should have been updated by now.

Jan Didden

From what I've read, a potential downside of the use of a UMIK-2 for Dirac Live is that it is less omni-directional than the UMIK-1. I only have experience of using the latter though.

Really? I thought the capsule and housing were the same.
They are both omni.
Where did you read that?

Jan

jan.didden wrote:

Really? I thought the capsule and housing were the same.
They are both omni.
Where did you read that?

Jan

Note I said less omni-directional. The UMIK-1 isn't perfectly omni-directional either, or there wouldn't be different calibration files for end on and 90°.

Sorry, I can't quickly remember where I read this, but I'm pretty sure the reason that the UMIK-2 has a lower noise floor is because it uses a larger measuring volume. 

Actually, here you go  :

www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.p...ts-by-minidsp.16927/

I see, yes. Thanks for the heads-up!
Happy New Year BTW.

Jan

jan.didden wrote:

I see, yes. Thanks for the heads-up!
Happy New Year BTW.

Jan

Happy New year to you too  .

Am I right that you have a UMIK-2? We could actually get an idea of the difference if we compare the calibration curves for your microphone to that of a UMIK-1. The responses of my UMIK-1 are shown below, could you perhaps share what the responses of your UMIK-2 look like in the same way? If there is the difference I suggested then we'd expect to see that the end-on and 90° responses for the UMIK-2 start to differ from each other at a lower frequency than the UMIK-1 (where for mine they're basically identical below 1 kHz), and that the differences at higher frequencies would be larger. I'd be interested to see what the differences are.

 

Yes I have a UMIK 2. I have to look for the cal file.
I have done some Dirac testing 2 years ago with my friend Stuart Yaniger, using the Dirac-supplied omni mike. This was one of those mikes with the capsule horizontal. So maybe to use the UMIKs for this, you should point them upwards.
Your curve seems to support that.

Jan

jan.didden wrote:

Yes I have a UMIK 2. I have to look for the cal file.
I have done some Dirac testing 2 years ago with my friend Stuart Yaniger, using the Dirac-supplied omni mike. This was one of those mikes with the capsule horizontal. So maybe to use the UMIKs for this, you should point them upwards.
Your curve seems to support that.
 

I'm not sure what you're referring to in terms of what my graph shows, but I do use the UMIK-1 pointing at the ceiling for Dirac measurements and I and others discussed the merits of this in the following recent thread:

www.minidsp.com/forum/shd-series/19639-m...-calibration?start=0
 

Not sure what I meant at the time, but I intend to use the vertical position. 
For me that's the ultimate omni (at least in the horizontal plane).

Jan

jan.didden wrote:

Not sure what I meant at the time, but I intend to use the vertical position. 
For me that's the ultimate omni (at least in the horizontal plane).

Jan

Have you had chance to dig out your calibration file? I'm happy to produce the graph to post if you just want to upload the calibration file?

I actually just dug out the mike and got them from the cloud, see attached. Appreciate it!

Jan

I looked up the review article Stuart Yaniger did on the NAD10 for AudioXpress, May 2020 issue.
We worked through the Dirac Live functionality together, and this was the measurement mike that was included in the package.
Clearly horizontal capsule orientation.

I wonder whether a small ground plane on the UMIK would not be beneficial, but this area is not my forte.

Edit: here's the article part on Dirac. Please use only for personal study.

Jan