The first question is, of course, what is Dirac correct? Very simply, Dirac software is that you use the acoustic representation in a room so that your music and film sound better. A module has already been announced: Live Bass Management. The software is so completely functional and useful for the end user. The module approach sounds special, but you do not need those extra parts to get started with Dirac Live. That is nice, but at least as important is that Dirac now gets a new architecture so that in the future it can easily be expanded and improved with new modules that do something specific. What is immediately noticeable is that the interface is fully adapted. Why do we now dedicate a longer piece to Dirac again? Because the software now has a substantial update to Dirac Live 2. Both in the form of a background piece about what Dirac is and in the margin of tests of AV receivers as the Arcam AVR-550 and NAD T 758 v3. We have already written about this software of Swedish origin that is built into more and more audio products but that can also run separately on a PC. In this article we look at the new version of Dirac, Dirac Live 2, for home use, Dirac Live 2.x. It is of course also usable with existing Dirac partners, such as miniDSP and Storm Audio. Arcam, NAD and Rotel, among others, recently embrace the new Dirac software, Dirac Live 2. That’s good, because at the same time more surround and stereo devices with Dirac appear on board. A thoroughly reworked version now makes the software more accessible to a larger audience. Arcam's reasoning for not building-in HDMI 2.1 is that not all buyers will want it but it would put the AVR5's retail price up for all.Dirac was already one of the best room correction solutions available. This upgrade will need to be performed by an authorised Arcam service centre, and the price is yet to be announced. Somewhat surprisingly, the AVR5 doesn't ship with HDMI 2.1 support – it will instead require the same upgrade that's due to be offered to the rest of the HDA range by the end of 2021.

The ARV5’s HDMI sockets allow for 4K HDR passthrough (HDR10, HLG and Dolby Vision are all supported), with eARC support for lossless audio thrown in to boot. There are only seven-channels of amplification, though, so taking advantage of those extra channels of processing will require the use of a separate power amplifier. These include the ability to natively decode 12 channels of Dolby Atmos audio (with upmixing from Dolby Surround), along with DTS-X (with upmixing from DTS:Neural:X).

At £1999 / $2000, the AVR5 is now the HDA range’s entry-level receiver, with plenty of features for users to sink their teeth into.

Dirac live discount