YCH
New Head-Fier
- Joined
- May 10, 2006
- Posts
- 42
- Likes
- 10
Quote:
I think one reason some of the headphiles don't take well to the Realiser is that it involves tons of DSP processing to the audio signal. To some, having any DSP processing corrupts and makes the signal less pure, and necessarily reduce quality, so they ignore it.
I was messaging with jazzfan and he mentioned that he was surprised at how little interest there is with the Realiser not just among audiophiles, but even among headphone enthusiasts. WE get it, that;s why we own them, but why doesn't anyone else seem to be interested?
I don't understand it. Maybe people just don't get it. But with all the experienced people on Head-Fi, I would think a majority of the headphone enthusiasts would want one. Or maybe it's viewed as a novelty item, like Dolby Headphone or some other systems which work marginally at best. I am thinking everyone lumps the Realiser in with all the other headphone/surround processors. Or it's viewed as a binaural recording simulator.
Whatever the case, one would think that Smyth would market more heavily to the consumer market, but they don't. All their sales are to pro audio engineers, not consumers.
Another major factor is having to do the measurements. If you don't have access to any high end audio systems to measure, the box is basically useless. Yes, you can use other people's PRIR's, but for someone considering buying one, they're not going to spend the money on the hope that they will be able to use other people's PRIR's. Seems like that could be a big turn off for spending $3K.
I have also never seen a negative review of the Realiser or even a review that says it doesn't work that well. All the reviews rave about it and say it really works.
I have been doing a lot of PRIR's at various locations and so far I have only had ONE person show any interest in doing a PRIR for them. I did one for him and hew was very impressed. (I did do one PRIR session where everyone did a PRIR, but that was set up as a demo with Lorr, so all of the people who came, came specifically for the Realiser demo.) Other than that, everyone who has watched me do a PRIR has not shown any interest in doing one for themselves to demo when I am right there with everything hooked up an ready to go!
The most common reaction is, "Oh I don't like headphones, so I am not interested." What?! That's the WHOLE point! If you like listening to speakers instead of headphones, this is for you. Even when I tell them that at the push of a button they can A/B/C/D compare completely different systems AND rooms, they don't seem interested.
Oh well, at least we know what they're missing!
-Darin
I think one reason some of the headphiles don't take well to the Realiser is that it involves tons of DSP processing to the audio signal. To some, having any DSP processing corrupts and makes the signal less pure, and necessarily reduce quality, so they ignore it.