[sander99]

OK, but if we assume that the stronger signal is the main and maybe the only reason why A16 will have that balanced mode, can we please continue your expertise in the direction where maybe no changes on the side of the original cable would be needed. I mean, if we merge signals from both A and B 1/4" sockets into the third 1/4" socket (which is the part of the external adapter, together with the two 1/4" plugs on the A16 side), then we can have that stronger signal without having to replace original cable with the XLR cable or without having to cut original cable's plug and replace it with two plugs. Am I right?
And why would I want to avoid changing the original cable on my HD600? Because I have negative experience with my earlier HD589SE. I put the 'upgrade' cable and got different headphone. Not better, but worse.

I erased the post not because it would be total BS, that was just a joke, but because there are some subtle issues with the aspect of cancelled out noise. Very general: Things like the type of cable, and whether there are balanced electronics on the other end of the cable instead of headphone drivers, etc. But that is all complicated, not at all relevant for headphones, and beyond my expertise. However, there really is no common ground [Edit: common ground is maybe a bad choice of words, I just now learned it has or can have a very different meaning, I just meant there is no common null contact for the two headphone drivers (no null contact at all)] when the A16 is in balanced mode. There are really 4 different voltages on the 4 wires (left normal, left inverted, right normal, right inverted), so you really can not join any 2 of them together You really need 4 different contacts all the way from the A16 to your headphones. (Just for completeness: I think in theory a trick with transformers could be applied such that you can transform two balanced signals over 4 wires to 2 unbalanced signals over 3 wires, but that is just more complicated and I guess it would degrade sound quality.)

Edit: I'll put back a part of what I erased from my earlier post here, and this is no BS:
Quote from https://www.kickstarter.com/project...al-3d-audio-headphone-processor/posts/1950248 :

In balanced mode an amplifier is connected to each side of the headphone transducer, one in anti-phase to the other, thereby doubling the maximum voltage difference across it for any gain setting.

You can conclude that also from the wiring diagram:
https://www.kickstarter.com/project...al-3d-audio-headphone-processor/posts/1952155

In the case of the A16 the only aim is to have more power. The bridged/balanced amp is symply an amp with different properties - most important the increased power - than the individual single ended amps.
I guess the reason why Smyth offers the bridged/balanced mode is simple: there are 2 stereo headphone amplifiers on board anyway - although they had to change to 2 identical amps - and it is easy to do it so why not offer this extra option?

 

[Got the Shakes]

Well I got impatient waiting for the A16 to launch and ended up preordering the new Samsung/Harman Kardon 7.1.4 soundbar and wireless sub and rear speaker setup. Won’t ship until the week of September 16th so hopefully we’ll have a clearer picture of when the A16 will launch and I can decide whether to keep the order. Figure with my luck I’ll have the soundbar just long enough to be outside the return period when Smyth announces a ship date lol.

I don’t feel like the the soundbar and Realiser will be totally redundant. I’m sure there will be times when I don’t want to be wearing headphones when gaming or watching a movie, but I feel like if I knew for sure that the Realiser would ship by the holiday season that I probably would have held off. I just got impatient as I have a huge backlog of stuff I want to watch but wanted to wait until I could do so with surround sound.

 

[Dixter]

some are awaiting the Yarra soundbar.... that soundbar is demo'd with the A8 and might actually be limited if the A16 doesn't show up...

 

[Got the Shakes]

some are awaiting the Yarra soundbar.... that soundbar is demo'd with the A8 and might actually be limited if the A16 doesn't show up...

I hadn’t really considered a soundbar at all once I preordered the A16 because I thought would cover my uses and also thought I’d have it in hand by now. I went with the Samsung one I ordered because the wireless sub and rear speakers make setup so much easier and it does both Atmos and DTS:X. It also has upfiring and sidefiring speakers so the Atmos effect and 7.1 effect are supposed to be much better than that of systems that use VSS solutions to do positional audio.

I still expect the A16 to get used most of the time I’m watching something alone, I could see the soubdbar setup being used whenever watching with another person. Ultimately I probably wouldn’t have even considered the soundbar route had the A16 been delivered already or if we had a solid ship date that we’d have them by the end of the year (I still have hopes for this to actually happen, but I feel like if we make it through September with no mention of a firm ship date then we’re looking at 2019).

 

[MichaelJames99]

I hadn’t really considered a soundbar at all once I preordered the A16 because I thought would cover my uses and also thought I’d have it in hand by now. I went with the Samsung one I ordered because the wireless sub and rear speakers make setup so much easier and it does both Atmos and DTS:X. It also has upfiring and sidefiring speakers so the Atmos effect and 7.1 effect are supposed to be much better than that of systems that use VSS solutions to do positional audio.

I still expect the A16 to get used most of the time I’m watching something alone, I could see the soubdbar setup being used whenever watching with another person. Ultimately I probably wouldn’t have even considered the soundbar route had the A16 been delivered already or if we had a solid ship date that we’d have them by the end of the year (I still have hopes for this to actually happen, but I feel like if we make it through September with no mention of a firm ship date then we’re looking at 2019).

Im in the same boat as you. We are building a new house and my wife absolutely did not want me putting my 7.1 speaker setup in. Even with in wall speakers. I think I will be getting a soundbar as well if she watches movies, TV or sporting events with me. Yarra was defiantly in consideration. I cant have any other physical speakers so I think a lot of these will be out of consideration. Having a sound bar up on the mantle or mounted under the TV which is on an articulating wall mount makes the most sense. I have 12 foot ceilings..Im not sure bouncing off the ceiling will work due to height and layout. TV is a 4K 65". Feeding the Yarra with the A16 sounded pretty promising.

 

[Got the Shakes]

Im in the same boat as you. We are building a new house and my wife absolutely did not want me putting my 7.1 speaker setup in. Even with in wall speakers. I think I will be getting a soundbar as well if she watches movies, TV or sporting events with me. Yarra was defiantly in consideration. I cant have any other physical speakers so I think a lot of these will be out of consideration. Having a sound bar up on the mantle or mounted under the TV which is on an articulating wall mount makes the most sense. I have 12 foot ceilings..Im not sure bouncing off the ceiling will work due to height and layout. TV is a 4K 65". Feeding the Yarra with the A16 sounded pretty promising.

Luckily for me the room I converted into my movie watching/gaming space is an unused bedroom at my house so it only has standard 8’ ceilings. Also the rear speakers with a set of up firing drivers and the sub are all wireless. It was the only route I could go with my setup and still end up with actual surround sound since there wouldn’t be any way for my to wire up tradition speakers for a surround setup.

 

[wink]

 

[MichaelJames99]

What other sound bars are people considering? Which ones could you use with or without the A16? Sennheiser Ambeo I think has one coming out besides the Yarra

 

[musicday]

September is tomorrow at least in this part of the world, hopefully some progress been made and hopefully we get a real shipping day.

 

[AppleheadMay]

What other sound bars are people considering? Which ones could you use with or without the A16? Sennheiser Ambeo I think has one coming out besides the Yarra

Yarra and Ambeo here as well. Anyone with more info on the Ambeo than we had beginning of this year?

 

[AppleheadMay]

Well, isn't that a coincidence, just got this in my mailbox: https://en-uk.sennheiser.com/ambeo-soundbar?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email

 

[phoenixdogfan]

Im in the same boat as you. We are building a new house and my wife absolutely did not want me putting my 7.1 speaker setup in. Even with in wall speakers. I think I will be getting a soundbar as well if she watches movies, TV or sporting events with me. Yarra was defiantly in consideration. I cant have any other physical speakers so I think a lot of these will be out of consideration. Having a sound bar up on the mantle or mounted under the TV which is on an articulating wall mount makes the most sense. I have 12 foot ceilings..Im not sure bouncing off the ceiling will work due to height and layout. TV is a 4K 65". Feeding the Yarra with the A16 sounded pretty promising.

If I buy an A16, I'm not about to replace my LS50s with a Yarra soundbar. Rather, I think I'd use the A16 as a Home Theatre preamp in addition to providing binaural room/speaker simulation. To that end, I'd probably just buy a pair of cheap powered studio monitors (JBL LSR 305s, anyone) and use them as surrounds, for 4.1 surround.

 

[J.Villain]

September is tomorrow at least in this part of the world, hopefully some progress been made and hopefully we get a real shipping day.

Hey they made a separate thread so your talking about the A16 wouldn't get in the way of their discussion about the Yarra and sound bars.

 

[raband]

Anyone want to start a pool for when we'll get the next "monthly update"?

I'm going for 5th October

Bonus points if you guess correctly whether or not the units will be ready for certification "in a few weeks" in the update.

I'm saying they will be.

 

[mbyrnes]

If I buy an A16, I'm not about to replace my LS50s with a Yarra soundbar. Rather, I think I'd use the A16 as a Home Theatre preamp in addition to providing binaural room/speaker simulation. To that end, I'd probably just buy a pair of cheap powered studio monitors (JBL LSR 305s, anyone) and use them as surrounds, for 4.1 surround.

I just run a 2 channel system for TV viewing. I have no desire to attempt surround sound again. That's what the A16 is for. I prefer higher end speakers and gear for most of my listening. Speaker budgets are much better when you only need 2 speakers versus, (6) speakers for 5.1. I'd need 10 for a 5.4.2 channel system, because I won't go halfway. The price would be crazy with modest speakers and AVR/Amps to drive it all. I don't have the desire for all that right now. The A16 should be awesome and do what I need, to scratch the Home Theater sound system bug. I miss the sound, not the setup.