Room correction, worthwhile or snake oil?

psycho74

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I am in the market for a decent streamer/dac, has anyone had any positive results with room correction software? Not sure if it's just a gimmick or something that should be a priority for setting up my new system.
 
Having recently acquired a Lyngdorf 2170 with RoomPerfect it is definitely not a gimmick. The question should be - why don't all amps have room correction? It has given me the best integration between my main speakers and sub and tamed some really bad reflections in a less than ideal room. It has a bypass mode to compare before and after so you can check the difference and in my case it is significant. Just working out how I can afford another one for the other hifi.
 
Seems an odd question from someone who owns an amp with room correction?
 
Seems an odd question from someone who owns an amp with room correction?
Do I? If I do I never knew! My Yamaha sounds great but I've never used any room correction with it, if it even has any. My reason for asking is that I'm spending most of my budget on some Falcon Acoustic speakers and a Luxman integrated amp and I need a dac/streamer for about £2000. Should I wait and up the budget a little to get something with room correction software or not, is it a game changer?
 
Well according to the manual it has Yamaha's YPAO system so maybe first stop is to have a play with that & see what you think.

I have Dirac built into an Arcam amp & it's definitely worthwhile but it isn't a total solution. There's only so much that room correction can do & first priority should always be to sort the room, kit & listening positions first. Room correction then enhances this further like fine tuning. If you disregard the room & expect room correction to fix everything then you're likely to be disappointed. But even in that scenario you should get some improvement.

I'd suggest demoing a Lyngdorf TDAI-2170 against an Arcam SR-250 to see what you think. Each have different approaches to the task with Dirac being more of a PITA to set up but also more tuneable. As @larkone said, both products have a simple on/off for the correction to compare before & after.

If I had my time again I'd go Lyngdorf for ease of use. There seems to be whisperings that they may have new kit in the wings.

On the other hand you can implement Dirac with other kit via Mini DSP.
 
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I’d go for the Lyngdorf every time.

The removal of room crud, especially bloated bass modes makes everything sound so much more clean and realistic.

There are two Lyngdorf dealers here who will give you a home demo no problem.

I’d also try it out before you spend on the Luxman. I very much doubt you’ll want it after hearing the Lyngdorf.
 
I’d go for the Lyngdorf every time.

The removal of room crud, especially bloated bass modes makes everything sound so much more clean and realistic.

There are two Lyngdorf dealers here who will give you a home demo no problem.

I’d also try it out before you spend on the Luxman. I very much doubt you’ll want it after hearing the Lyngdorf.
Second and third this. I have the Lyngdorf MP-50 and the correction is amazing, best I have ever heard.
 
No gimmick. The biggest upgrade most people could possibly make.
 
I used room correction on my AVR, was a Denon X4200 with Audyssey xt32 if I remember correctly, it was great, well worth using for surround, the amp sounded awesome with it engaged, though I preferred it completely off for stereo music.

Adam.
 
Lyngdorf's RoomPerfect seems to be the generally preferred room correction because it is easy to setup and the results are more thorough than others without needing a degree in sound engineering. News-What Is Room Correction | Lyngdorf Audio
 
do you think the lyngdorf would be comparable to the Linn Selekt with sound optimisation software?
Whilst largely trying to achieve the same result, different room correction goes about it in different ways. With Lyngdorf you simply connect the mic to the amp, take a base measurement at the MLP & then move the mic around the room until the amp's inbuilt software decides it knows enough about your room to do it's stuff.

With Dirac you do similar but with software & mic connected to a laptop. The software calculations are then done off-site on remote servers & sent back to the laptop. You then load the result into the amp. You can alter the software's calculations to taste as well as choose over what frequency range it corrects. All of this flexibility comes at the cost of increased effort on behalf of the user, a need to learn about the software & the (all too common) possibility of something going wrong.

Linn's offering is different again in that it doesn't use a mic at all. Instead you physically measure the room, speaker & listening position & enter these into the software along with details of the room's construction. The software also has a database of speaker brands/models so again you just select what you have. In this instance everything is calculated based on physics, both the predicted response of your room together with what it knows about the characteristics of your speakers. I believe it also only works on bass frequencies.

So ultimately there will be a best sounding & an easiest to use. How much difference there is between them only your ears in your room will be able to determine.
 
Lyngdorf's rc is the best imo, taking into account ease of use etc.

The 2170 or better yet, the 3400 which is a streamer/dac/amplifier is probably the best system under £10,000 imo. it's a big statement but it's that good.

what fa's did you get? the ls3/a bbc replica's?

what size room are you working with and why is the room not ideal?
 
do you think the lyngdorf would be comparable to the Linn Selekt with sound optimisation software?
No comparison. I am familiar with Linn as I use to have a number of there products so I am a fan.

Space Optimisation does not measure the room it guesses from models and testing of speakers in Linn room not ours. RoomPerfect measures the exact room it is in to build the model of the room acoustics. Plus it integrates the Sub's and Mains as one speaker and not two, which gives a true full range sounds. i upgraded from Linn Arkuate 242's to a MP Sound Sub Sat system and would never go back. Even the Lyngdorf Integrated Amps support Subwoofers.
 
what fa's did you get? the ls3/a bbc replica's?
haven't got them yet but it will be the RAM STUDIO 30'S.
what size room are you working with and why is the room not ideal?
Room is 5.5m x 4m, not sure if it isn't ideal, just wanted to make sure before I buy that RC software should be considered or if it was another snake oil product. Nothing product wise is set in stone I just want a dedicated hifi set up for streaming. (all my CD's are going to charity shop)
 
I find room correction makes my speakers sound muffled in comparison of just letting them and the room do their own thing. As others say though, it does work if your room needs a boost.

I do use it for movies, as the sub needs a helping hand, but for music I tend to leave it well alone. Audyssey can ruin a decent vocalist by the way it muffles the sound and takes the liveliness out of the song.

Obv Audyssey is far from ideal for a stereo setup anyway and not recommended in the slightest by me. I've not used any of the others, though I may well invest in a minidsp in the coming months.
 
better yet, the 3400 which is a streamer/dac/amplifier is probably the best system under £10,000 imo.
Blimey, that is praise indeed!
i have demo'd some NAIM kit alongside the NAD Masters Series kit which cost alot more than the 3400 but i thought maybe a seperates system would perform better as a whole (this is the general rule of thumb) but now it looks like some of these all in one boxes can really punch above there weight!
 
I find room correction makes my speakers sound muffled in comparison of just letting them and the room do their own thing. As others say though, it does work if your room needs a boost.

I do use it for movies, as the sub needs a helping hand, but for music I tend to leave it well alone. Audyssey can ruin a decent vocalist by the way it muffles the sound and takes the liveliness out of the song.

Obv Audyssey is far from ideal for a stereo setup anyway and not recommended in the slightest by me. I've not used any of the others, though I may well invest in a minidsp in the coming months.

I tried Audyssey in stereo a while back, before I tried the DualCore, and I can understand how it would put people off.

Limp and insipid. Not sure what it tried to do, but crap is what it did.

The DualCore on the other hand did a great job of cleaning up below 500hz.

But not as good as DiracLive, which is so good I’d rather use a cheap amp with it than an expensive one without.

And from what I understand the RoomPerfect from Lyngdorf is better again and even more integrative.

I need a 2170.
 
I only have room correction for my sub in the form of a DSPeaker 'Anti-Mode 8033 Cinema'. Does a great job, gave the sub a new lease of life. Cleaned it up nicely.
 
The AntiMode DualCore did the same to mine. It convinced me that, bass at least, always requires room correction.
 
The 3400 is a beast and imo nothing can come close to it. I use Dirac which is also very good but lyngdorfs stuff is on another level.

Really is a no brainier imo
 
I cannot seem to find anywhere that can demo the 3400, a home demo (although ideal) would not be practical as I could only hook it up to my HC speakers which would not give a decent impression compared to some nice floorstanders. Maybe if it as good as everyone seems to think, it might not be much of a gamble to buy blind! :thumbsdow
 
I bought my 2170 blind based on the large number of positive reviews on here and elsewhere, very happy with purchase. Remember that if you buy online you have 14 days to cancel and another 14 days to return an item.

I would ask the question in the Lyngdorf forum as well as there are several dealers active on there Lyngdorf discussion thread.
 
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So I've never listened to anything with room correction but I'm somewhat skeptical. Things like standing waves aren't something that can be corrected for in software as far as i know. Money is probably better spent improving the room than on software. I'm happy to be proven wrong though
 
Same could be said for random room correction though. Unless the room is measured, throwing those fabric panels onto walls/into corners can sometimes do more harm then good.

Somebody posted up a youtube video last week of a audiophile demo room that had thousands spent on room correction, and it actually measured worse by the end of it. They dealt with the bass bloat from the more-money-then-sense speakers but ruined the mids in the process.
 

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