On Magic Beans "True Target": Dirac Live 2-Pass Procedure.

Sunset on summer 2026...

Ahhh, fall is coming and can be felt in the air here in Vancouver. At this time of the year, I get the compulsion to make sure I finish discussing topics I had examined in the summer and wrap up loose ends.

A couple of weeks back I discussed the Magic Beans Audio "True Target" app, an interesting program that I think can help improve sound quality for many audiophiles who use DSP in their rooms as a technique for "speaker correction" - that is, a system that flattens the direct sound coming from one's speakers above the modal and transition frequencies while respecting sensitive zones in the speaker response.

I mentioned near the end of the article about a "DLBC (2-pass calibration)" procedure. For completeness, I figure I'd give this a try and discuss in this post.

Magic Beans Audio: True Target. DSP correction fine tuning, concepts, and effects.

In my previous post, I discussed target curves and gave examples of curves you might want to consider when implementing DSP correction in your sound room.

While the use of full-range target curves is not uncommon, as discussed, there are those who advocate against doing so and would insist that only partial corrections in the bass frequencies up to the Modal+Transition Zones should be applied. There are of course some good reasons for this line of thinking which will be addressed.

As you can see in the comments last time, I had a long discussion with Joe Mariano (aka Joe N Tell) of Magic Beans Audio about his product called True Target. I continued my discussions with Joe via E-mail and he provided access for me to the Pro version which allows export of the curves to Room EQ Wizard in order to have a deeper look under the hood at how the system works.

The picture above was taken right before one of my measurement sessions with Magic Beans highlighting some "tools of the trade" used to perform the tuning.

Let's talk about the Magic Beans* True Target app. 

[Standard version regularly priced at US$249 should suffice for the vast majority of users, Pro version US$399 allows up to 128 channels and unlimited daily calibrations.]

Room Target Curves - then, now, and options to try...

Be it resolved that there is no such thing as achieving sonic perfection - technically at least based on objective ideals, but "perfect" can also be a subjective state of mind.

In domestic homes, we're simply not going to be able to achieve near-perfect rooms. Likewise, no sound system will be absolutely transparent although the digital electronics side will get much closer to "perfect" than analogue playback and loudspeakers. Furthermore, beyond what we can say about our domestic playback systems, despite all the care and detail-orientedness put into a recording studio, they're not identical even if they followed published standards (like ITU-R BS.1116, or EBU Tech 3276), and besides, is there ever such a thing as a perfectly engineered recording? Or a perfect performance from our favorite artists for that matter?

While perfection might be out of reach, let's not turn away from the pursuit of what is reasonably accurate which is something we can all do to some extent whether it's choosing better-engineered gear, working on small room acoustics, or using DSP to improve frequency response and/or time-domain performance at our listening position. Regarding the specifics of DSP room correction, let me refer you to previous articles covering various methods here, here, here, here, and here.

The intent of this post is to focus on the topic of Room Target Curves which we define and apply when doing EQ and DSP correction. Let's explore a little history, what they are, what they look like and considerations for what to try at home.

Linn's SPACE Optimisation DSP feature for their DS/DSM digital audio streamers. Does it even work?

Linn Klimax DS/2 streamer getting tested.

A couple months back while evaluating the Linn Klimax DS/DSM streamers, I mentioned that the products have the capability to implement what Linn calls "SPACE Optimisation" (Speaker Placement And Custom Environment, we'll call it SO for short); available since 2015. Because the products are network-connected, they're always online and through the Linn Account webpage, you can check the settings for your streamer and activate the SO function.

I remember being intrigued by this function and the claims of significant room-correction capability. For this post, let's take some time to explore what Linn SO features. To start, here is what their literature says about the intent of the system:

Space Optimisation is a toolset available to all Linn DS/DSM system owners which uses highly sophisticated acoustic modelling to build up a complete picture of how your speakers, their placement, and the unique characteristics of your room interact to affect the sound you hear. Space Optimisation takes account of the characteristics of your speakers, such as the position of each drive unit and the response of bass reflex ports, and of the characteristics of your room, such as room dimensions, construction materials, and features like doors and windows, to accurately model these interactions. It then precisely identifies frequencies that are artificially distorted by your environment, and reduces their energy and decay time, to reveal the music that would otherwise be hidden. It also applies a delay to each speaker to ensure the content from each speaker reaches your ears at the same time.

SUMMER MUSINGS: Room EQ Preferences - Vintage Spendor SA1-like curve, Hang Loose Convolver (HLC), and the increasing relative importance of software.

Getting ready for an evening of digital filter evaluation!

I mentioned a few month back in my Spendor SA1 (1976) review/measurements that I really enjoyed the sound of these classic speakers!

While it would not be possible to exactly replicate their sound - these are complex devices with all kinds of unique properties including distortion idiosyncrasies and unique radiation patterns - to some extent, we can try to replicate the frequency response via DSP.

These days, we have the technology available to modify the sound we hear in the soundroom without great difficulty; the trick is to make sure the sound has improved, at least subjectively, when we add things like EQ or applied other signal processing.

Although some (typically more traditional) audiophiles will speak of maintaining "purity" of sound with minimalistic set-ups, if one is a contemporary technologically astute music lover and audiophile, especially one already using complex streamers, computer gear, networked libraries, I don't believe there should be any fear in going all the way using high-quality DSP to shape and adjust what we hear. In fact, from the frequency response perspective, we can "emulate" almost whatever we might want depending on the flexibility of the software used.