2022 Denon av-receiver models leaked

[beaRA]

Dirac Roadmap for 2022 Denon & Marantz AV Products

In this editorial we discuss a roadmap of Dirac room correction support for ALL Denon and Marantz AV products that are planning support for 2022 and beyond. What version, will there be fees? All discussed.

www.audioholics.com

Did I miss in the article who is being quoted in the interview? I assume a Sound United rep?

 

[panteragstk]

A license key for the limited version will cost $259 and the full-bandwidth version will cost $349. It will be possible to upgrade from the limited to the full-band width version at later stage with additional cost of $99.

 

[dlaloum]

So, to get Dirac bass Control, one will have to wait until 2024. It will cost $750 ($250 for full Dirac + $500 for DLBC multisub option) and this will disable Dynamic EQ and Dynamic Volume, since Dirac does not offer such essential features. Also, only TWO speaker configuration slots are available, so it's either Dirac or Audyssey with one speaker config for each. This is very disappointing..

I don't know about the Denon setup, but typically a "loudness" and "late night" feature are part of the Dolby feature set.... so if using the Dolby Surround mixer, you do have that capability.
(personally I used to think that the Audyssey versions were better.... but I have not had an opportunity to compare them back to back... so that might be imaginary)

 

[jeffca]

Having heard what both Dirac and Audessey can do, I was impressed with both. Possibly, Dirac is a hair better because of its ability to do more custom adjustments.

Again, possibly. I had an active speaker go a bit wobbly and using the Audessey VST plug-in corrected it for mixing and playing back songs on my Mac. I was also using it with iTunes. It was amazing and this was in 2015.

DSP kicks ass!

 

[multisport4me]

"...Dirac Live room correction technology - limited and full bandwidth versions AFTER the firmware update in March 2023. We also plan to support Bass Control upgrade although the integration efforts has not yet started. We expect we should be able to release a new firmware to support Dirac Live Bass Control upgrade sometime in 2024 "

Yikes. This whole lineup and Dirac news leak smacks of a MASSIVE stop the bleeding exercise by Sound United. 2+ years before we can get DBLC? I was super excited when I first heard of these new processors but my god....2+ years? Storm Audio ought to come out with an $8k processor by the end of Q1 2023 to still-born the new SU lineup....seems to me they have plenty of time.

 

[Trebdp83]

Audio outfit selling full priced, half baked goods with the promise of some fantastic new features in a future firmware update? I’m shocked, just shocked.

 

[multisport4me]

Audio outfit selling full priced, half baked goods with the promise of some fantastic new features in a future firmware update? I’m shocked, just shocked.

LOL. Yea....they all do it. But 2+ years is up there with the longest yet. And SU isn't exactly known to be in time with promised upgrades so its probably more like 3 years. I guess the days of a CES announcement followed by us all griping until they finally ship in July (in the same year) are long gone.

 

[lovinthehd]

OTOH first Dirac apps should be available in less than 6 months, and they're indicating firmware can handle future updates rather than new boards....just nice additional features it will have down the line in addition to what is already a good set of options already on board via Audyssey.

 

[panteragstk]

OTOH first Dirac apps should be available in less than 6 months, and they're indicating firmware can handle future updates rather than new boards....just nice additional features it will have down the line in addition to what is already a good set of options already on board via Audyssey.

I do agree that 2 years for the fully featured Dirac sucks, but it's also $500 so it's not like it will just magically appear on our AVRs one day.

In the meantime we still have a fully functioning AVR that has 4 independently controlled sub outs. That's a big deal for me so it'd be worth the upgrade for that alone. I could accomplish the same with a mini DSP, but I need a new AVR for the theater anyway, so why not get something that gives me an already defined update in a couple of years. That will be pretty cool to have a new feature set for a 2 year old device. Doesn't happen a lot anymore.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I do agree that 2 years for the fully featured Dirac sucks, but it's also $500 so it's not like it will just magically appear on our AVRs one day.

In the meantime we still have a fully functioning AVR that has 4 independently controlled sub outs. That's a big deal for me so it'd be worth the upgrade for that alone. I could accomplish the same with a mini DSP, but I need a new AVR for the theater anyway, so why not get something that gives me an already defined update in a couple of years. That will be pretty cool to have a new feature set for a 2 year old device. Doesn't happen a lot anymore.

So in 2 years if you do get DLBC, it would almost be like getting a new AVR for $500?

But for those you want DLBC now, it's 100% understandable that they are disappointed with this news.

 

[Shanman]

Personally, I feel like I dodged a big bullet sending the x3700 back about a month ago! Nothing like a new model with big improvements to create that ever present hifi fomo!!

 

[cbecker33]

Any deals out there for the x3800 or is the $1.7k list price going to be as good as it gets?

 

[ryanosaur]

Any deals out there for the x3800 or is the $1.7k list price going to be as good as it gets?

Ha!
It's barely just available and you want a discount!

Your best bet is making friends with a distributor. You may well be able to get a discount from MSRP that way... but hoping Amazon or WWStereo or some such runs a sale anytime within the next 9-12 mos is a long shot at best.

 

[lovinthehd]

So in 2 years if you do get DLBC, it would almost be like getting a new AVR for $500?

But for those you want DLBC now, it's 100% understandable that they are disappointed with this news.

What can you get with DLBC for four subs now and how much does it cost?

 

[ryanosaur]

I think the JBL and Arcam are the least expensive pending the release of all the newer SU gear. Above that, Storm.
I guess, technically, the Emotiva gear meets that criteria slightly.

It looks like Denon and Marantz may be the first to bring 4-subs down market. Onkyo already did that with Dirac.

 

[dlaloum]

Without Onkyo's release of Dirac into the mainstream market, D&M wouldn't have bothered with Dirac.

If Onkyo comes out with a DLBC capable model at or under the X4800's price - it will put substantial pressure on D&M! One would hope that the Onkyo RZ70 would compete with the X4800 on price - putting Dirac with DLBC up against the default X4800 feature set.

 

[ryanosaur]

Onkyo needs to up their performance levels a little. There more recent gear had a lot of promise, but fell flat when the rubber hit the road.

 

[lovinthehd]

Without Onkyo's release of Dirac into the mainstream market, D&M wouldn't have bothered with Dirac.

If Onkyo comes out with a DLBC capable model at or under the X4800's price - it will put substantial pressure on D&M! One would hope that the Onkyo RZ70 would compete with the X4800 on price - putting Dirac with DLBC up against the default X4800 feature set.

Onkyo had a bit of a leg up with Dirac, too.....Pioneer was already a distributor when Onkyo bought them.....and I would like to see Onkyo thrive again myself, but wonder if they'll be able to financially weather the storm so to speak. Hard to know what D&M was doing....Audyssey isn't exactly expanding their offerings these days in the avr/pre-pro market.

 

[cbecker33]

Ha!
It's barely just available and you want a discount!

Your best bet is making friends with a distributor. You may well be able to get a discount from MSRP that way... but hoping Amazon or WWStereo or some such runs a sale anytime within the next 9-12 mos is a long shot at best.

It never hurts to ask. Any distributors want to be my friend?

 

[dlaloum]

Onkyo had a bit of a leg up with Dirac, too.....Pioneer was already a distributor when Onkyo bought them.....and I would like to see Onkyo thrive again myself, but wonder if they'll be able to financially weather the storm so to speak. Hard to know what D&M was doing....Audyssey isn't exactly expanding their offerings these days in the avr/pre-pro market.

No reason for Audyssey to do more work in the AVR space, as they apparently licenced/sold the patents to D&M - which seems to coincide with Audyssey's disappearance from Onkyo AVR's... and perhaps also the resulting purchase of Pioneer by Onkyo - giving them access to Pioneers deal with Dirac - interesting set of Dominos

But resting on their Audyssey Laurels (by D&M) has left the field open for Dirac... and obviously Audyssey themselves did not care too much, as it was no longer their baby.

Dirac has ongoing R&D efforts working in and in collaboration with university research - Audyssey started out like that, but stopped doing that circa 10 years ago - and that 10 year gap is starting to show.... and will show even more as Dirac moves forward with their newer SRC features.