TOPIC:

Very happy with my SHD but was disappointed to find that the only way of configuring Dirac is by using a computer connected to the SHD by USB cable.

Before buying the SHD I tested the trial version of Dirac on PC. If the Dirac Live Processor (DLP) was running on the PC that was providing the sound output then any other PC on the same network could run Dirac Live software, connect to the processor and then configure Dirac. I found this useful when setting up different target curves and creating filters after initial measurement.

I've found that it is possible to do this with SHD but it's fiddly. If you connect a PC to the SHD, launch to plugin and then launch Dirac Live then, if you launch Dirac Live on another PC on the same network it will allow you to connect to the SHD.

It would be much easier if the DLP on the SHD could provide a LAN connection without having to connect a PC to the USB port ... and even better if the SHD plugin was built in to the SHD and could be accessed via the LAN interface.

Unfortunately the SHD doesn't really have a LAN connection. The LAN port on the rear is only for the Volumio board. That's why bridges like the Wi-DG are required to bridge LAN to the USB port which the main SHD board does have, I sold my Wi-DG so I can't comment on whether it would do what you want.

Interesting then that, if a PC is connected to SHD and Dirac Live is running then - if you run Dirac Live on another PC on the same network then that can connect to the SHD and upload filters. Maybe it's the PC connected to the SHD that is enabling the DLP on the SHD to be available over the network?

Dirac Live 2 borrows the connection the SHD plugin sets up. There are some behind the scenes executables that actually support the connection between SHD Plugin and Dirac Live. I had no idea Dirac Live apps on different PCs could communicate though. That could get interesting for me, I have two SHDs but normally only one SHD plugin running on a PC at a time.

The older DLCT (Dirac Live 1) communicated directly with the SHD.

I tried this .... where PC1 is connected to SHD by USB and PC2 is not connected to SHD ...

1. PC1 disconnected from LAN - Dirac Live wouldn't work without an internet connection,
2. PC1 connected Internet by using Mobile Phone (so not seen by other PCs on home LAN) - with Dirac Live running on PC1, PC2 cannot see SHD when it runs Dirac Live.
3. PC1 connected to home LAN - SHD can be seen by Dirac Live running on another PC2.

This suggests that it is the PC connected by USB to SHD that is making DLCT available over the network - so it isn't connecting via the SHD LAN port.

I'm sure that's the case from having taken the lid off my SHD to see what's inside and having once started to reverse engineer the software stack to attempt to debug USB issues. As I recall, the various software layers communicate between themselves over network ports even on a single PC, so its not a huge stretch to imagine that communication moving to LAN. Which precise piece of the SHD Plugin / bridge / Dirac Live does that I don't know though.

If you take the lid off, you clearly see the LAN port is on the tiny ARM board in that corner which runs Volumio. All the audio connections (and every other part of the SHD) are on the main SHD board which fills the rest of the box. My understanding is that the only connection between the boards is a digital serial audio signal sent from the Volumio board to the main SHD board. This is why the SHD board itself cannot use the LAN port.

If you have installed ITunes on a PC or use a Mac I believe the SHD gets advertised using Bonjour. I most certainly never have installed ITunes here so your experience probably wouldn't work for me.