Smyth SVS Realiser - PRIR Exchange Thread - Page 8

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kiritz 

Does anyone know who posted the Spharon Excalibur PRIRs?  There are some changes which make the 2.0 and 5.1 unreadable by the Realiser -- error messages.  So if anyone has the original files and they work, it would be great to have them re-uploaded.  The 7.0 is quite good to my ears.

That was HDman which is now banned. Are you sure its been modified ? I had put a copy  from a few months ago on my dropbox but it has the same modified time 5/20/2012.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BoogieWoogie 

That was HDman which is now banned. Are you sure its been modified ? I had put a copy  from a few months ago on my dropbox but it has the same modified time 5/20/2012.

Interesting that he was banned?  Why was that? 

Maybe he changed the files himself.  Does your copy work?  Lorr Kramer from Smyth checked the files I sent him and said they were both incorrectly modified so that they are not playable.

Also, Boogie Woogie, I don't see your name on a folder on dropbox?  Are your Sphaeron files the ones on top?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kiritz 

Interesting that he was banned?  Why was that? 

 

Maybe he changed the files himself.  Does your copy work?  Lorr Kramer from Smyth checked the files I sent him and said they were both incorrectly modified so that they are not playable.

Also, Boogie Woogie, I don't see your name on a folder on dropbox?  Are your Sphaeron files the ones on top?

For selling unreliable DIY kit for profit I believe. I don't have the Smyth, so no.

That would be a low blow.. but Isn't just your files that became corrupted ? Dropbox modified date is from 2 months ago.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BoogieWoogie 

For selling unreliable DIY kit for profit I believe. I don't have the Smyth, so no.

That would be a low blow.. but Isn't just your files that became corrupted ? Dropbox modified date is from 2 months ago.

Several of us have tried these files, both the ones on top of the dropbox in the folder marked Sphaeron...and from Hoax's folder.  So it isn't just my files that are corrupted.

Lorr from Smyth checked them out and the 2.0 and 5.1 have both been modified incorrectly by someone. The 7.0 seems OK. 

I finally received my Realiser, but I have been so busy I really haven't had a chance to play with it too much.

I did manage to do a measurement on my 2 channel system and uploaded it to Dropbox.

Here's the details of my system:

Cello Palette Preamp
Cello Encore 50 Mono Block Amplifiers
Cello Stradivarius Premiere Speakers

Recorded in my very bright living room: Hardwood floors, plain walls, and lots of windows/glass

Speakers were 30 degrees left and right.

I have found that for 2 channel at least, my PRIR sounds so much better than any of few others I have tried. Of course that makes sense. Although some of the others do locate the speakers properly, the sound is somewhat muddy and missing high end detail. Maybe I am just used to my bright sounding room...

In the coming months, I will be going to a high end hi fi store to do a 2 channel measurement, a couple of different private homes with dedicated home theater rooms, and hopefully AIX. No time do do all that driving right now, but at least I have solid offers from these people so far to let me do a calibration at their locations.

-Darin
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by darinf 

I finally received my Realiser, but I have been so busy I really haven't had a chance to play with it too much.

 

I did manage to do a measurement on my 2 channel system and uploaded it to Dropbox.

 

Here's the details of my system:

Cello Palette Preamp
Cello Encore 50 Mono Block Amplifiers
Cello Stradivarius Premiere Speakers

Recorded in my very bright living room: Hardwood floors, plain walls, and lots of windows/glass

Speakers were 30 degrees left and right.

 

I have found that for 2 channel at least, my PRIR sounds so much better than any of few others I have tried. Of course that makes sense. Although some of the others do locate the speakers properly, the sound is somewhat muddy and missing high end detail. Maybe I am just used to my bright sounding room...

 

In the coming months, I will be going to a high end hi fi store to do a 2 channel measurement, a couple of different private homes with dedicated home theater rooms, and hopefully AIX. No time do do all that driving right now, but at least I have solid offers from these people so far to let me do a calibration at their locations.

 

-Darin
 

Terrific!  I plan to try your system PRIR out at the end of the week, and any more will be welcome.  I am going to be uploading several new PRIRs soon, made at a high end store in New York, however I was a bit disappointed in the results.  Several of other people's PRIRs sound better to me than the New York version.  So far the Peak system from Audio High in Mountain View, CA is my best, though it is just a 2.0.

I uploaded a couple more PRIR's using the same Cello 2 channel system.

One is just an update where I used multiple 12 second sweeps to see if the accuracy is better. To me it sounds pretty close. Maybe a little bit better.

The other PRIR is 5.0 using my 2.0 system and just facing the back of the room to simulate surround channels. This worked surprisingly well. The only issue I had is that my speakers are too close together and I can't move them any further apart in the room. The net result is that to position myself for the "surround" measurements, I end up being too close to the speakers to get them to be sort of to the side of me instead of directly behind me. does that make sense?

So in the PRIR, the surround speakers are really close to your ears. Not ideal for the "surround" channels.

I guess I should try using one speaker and to a 5.0 or 7.0 PRIR that way. Seems like getting the angles right would be tricky.

I should be able to do a calibration session with a local hi-fi shop next week. He is going to set up a pair of $35,000 speakers and a $30,000 tube amp. (He only sells 2 channel systems, but I will try to do a pseudo 5.0 PRIR.) We'll see how it goes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by darinf 

I uploaded a couple more PRIR's using the same Cello 2 channel system.

 

One is just an update where I used multiple 12 second sweeps to see if the accuracy is better. To me it sounds pretty close. Maybe a little bit better.

 

The other PRIR is 5.0 using my 2.0 system and just facing the back of the room to simulate surround channels. This worked surprisingly well. The only issue I had is that my speakers are too close together and I can't move them any further apart in the room. The net result is that to position myself for the "surround" measurements, I end up being too close to the speakers to get them to be sort of to the side of me instead of directly behind me. does that make sense?

 

So in the PRIR, the surround speakers are really close to your ears. Not ideal for the "surround" channels.

 

I guess I should try using one speaker and to a 5.0 or 7.0 PRIR that way. Seems like getting the angles right would be tricky.

 

I should be able to do a calibration session with a local hi-fi shop next week. He is going to set up a pair of $35,000 speakers and a $30,000 tube amp. (He only sells 2 channel systems, but I will try to do a pseudo 5.0 PRIR.) We'll see how it goes.

I plan to try out your PRIRs this weekend.  Surround is interesting.  Sometimes it adds a level of realism to the listening experience.  Other times the effects are not all that natural sounding but still are pleasing.  So I'm sure your 5.0 will be worth experimenting with.  Let us know what the system is at the hi fi shop.  Regarding 3 vs. 12 seconds, I expected there to be more difference.  In my case, there simply is not a big difference at all.  I've tried both with several excellent setups, and they mostly sound the same.

Now for something a bit different...

Just uploaded a PRIR taken of my 2.0 Mini Maggie Desktop Speaker System.  To my knowledge, this is the first "near-field" in-home speaker PRIR shared in this thread.  Because the Mini Maggie is designed to be used as desktop speaker, these measurements were taken "near-field", and as a result, much of what I hear with this PRIR is the ambiance and acoustics of the recording, and less of the room acoustics influencing the sound from these speakers.   If this PRIR works for you, you'll have a sense of the wonderful detail and soundstaging abilities of the Mini Maggie.

If you have this recording, try this at home...
Head-Fi and HDtracks presents Open Your Ears - Track 9 - Percussion Imaging Test

Equipment:
Magnepan Mini Maggie Desktop Speaker System w/Hsu Research STF-2 Subwoofer (the sub is required, IMO)
Benchmark Media DAC1 PRE
Yamaha MX-1000 Stereo Amp (Vintage)
Yamaha Q2031A Stereo 31-Band Graphic Equalizer (also required)

Speaker Placement:
Separation: 5 ft.
Distance from the mid-point between the speakers to the listening position:  3 ft.
Toe-in: 28%
Tweeter Position: Inside edge
Additional Notes: No special room acoustic treatments

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by jazzfan 

Now for something a bit different...

Just uploaded a PRIR taken of my 2.0 Mini Maggie Desktop Speaker System.  


 

Thanks, jazzfan.  The system sounds quite good to me via your PRIR.  When compared to PRIRs from larger ones, of course, it does not have the bass, heft, or refinement.  But considering these are little guys, they are really very nice, clean, great articulation.

I just uploaded another PRIR in the Darinf folder.

I had the opportunity to go to the Acoustic Zen factory today to do a PRIR with their demo system. The owner, Robert Lee was so nice. He said I could stay there as long as I wanted and come by any time.

Here's a link to some show reports about their demo system with photos:

http://audiofederation.com/blog/archives/996
http://www.audioreference.co.nz/news/totally-tubular-triodes-all-new-trx-m845-se-mono-blocks-ces-2012
http://acousticzen.com/news.html

When I showed up, one of the partners of the company was there and he said, "Cool, I'm glad you came because I have my Realiser here so you can help me do a PRIR on my system." This was the first time I met anyone who had actually heard of the Realiser let alone actually owned one! He had bought it at least 6 months ago, but never had time to really play with it.

Needless to say, their 2.0 channel demo system is amazing! The room was not the best, but it had some acoustic wall treatments. It still sounded unbelievable though.

Anyway, I was very interested to hear what the manufacturer thought of the accuracy of the Realiser. Clearly he is VERY familiar with the sound of his speakers. His reaction was positive, but he said it's not an exact simulation. He wanted to spend more time comparing before giving his real opinion. I think he was impressed overall, but it's no substitute for the real thing. These speakers/amps output some pretty serious bass, so I can certainly see that with the bass missing, the sound is definitely not going to be the same.

Interestingly head had some AKG 701's, I think, that he used in addition to the STAX 2050 system. He said that the STAX were far superior to the AKG's.

Maybe my PRIR might work for you. It sounds amazing to me, as it should. When I was doing my comparison to the real thing, I thought it matched really well.

-Darin

Has any one tried hooking the smyth to a sub ? I'm curious if the outcome would be any similar to the real speakers.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BoogieWoogie 

Has any one tried hooking the smyth to a sub ? I'm curious if the outcome would be any similar to the real speakers.

I have a cheap sub, HSU STF-1, in my office and I just tried hooking it up to the Realiser.

It definitely helps by shaking the ground and my chair a little. It does reinforce the bass perception. However, I think there's no way my little sub could compete with the bass output of a pair of $16,000 full range speakers.

If you had a better sub-woofer, it might work better.

For movies, though, I think a sub could help a lot. Just to feel the vibrations from explosions, etc. seems like it would work really well. Although shaking the house while watching a movie when everyone else is sleeping kind of defeats the purpose of headphone listening.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kiritz 

Thanks, jazzfan.  The system sounds quite good to me via your PRIR.  When compared to PRIRs from larger ones, of course, it does not have the bass, heft, or refinement.  But considering these are little guys, they are really very nice, clean, great articulation.

You're welcome.  I'm glad the PRIR is usable for you.  For a little bass try Angel by Massive Attack.

Quote:

Originally Posted by darinf 

I just uploaded another PRIR in the Darinf folder.

 

Just tried your Acoustic Zen PRIR and it sounds surprisingly good.  There's just a bit of reverberance (much less so than with other PRIRs I've tried), but otherwise the tonality is very good and the overall presentation is detailed.  Soundstaging is good as well.  Very nice.  Thank you for sharing.

@everyone

If it hasn't been done already, I think it's about time we officially add "PRIR rolling" to the Head-Fi vernacular. ;)