sander99
Headphoneus Supremus
Aaaahhh, that I didn't think of suggesting this simplests of tests. If there is no red light coming out of the output then you know it does nothing...
Smyth Research Realiser A16
Has the 6dB error in the L-ear microphone gain setting during PRIR and HPEQ measurements been fixed? As your report is not posted yet, does that mean “no news, good news”?
zdjh22
Head-Fier
Sorry to be a bit slow. So far I've only done HPEQ measurements. So far, so good. The set I did this evening with my HD800s phones were done with quite a bit of care, as I had heard elsewhere that there might still be up to a few dB gain issue. I used pink noise and verified that my mics were within 0.2 dB of each other, so no gain adjustment was used. I then did autoEQ measurements. I did both listening and REW measurements. To my ears, listening to C, L+R, Ls+Rs, etc., the factory BBC PRIR was back in balance again, as were the 3D Sound Shop "Omega" PRIRs. My own 2.15 PRIR was now quite noticeably shifted to the right, and I verified that my old 2.15 HPEQ brought the sound closer to centered.
As regards the REW measurements, I attach below graphs of the BBC sound room center channel output as measured on the left and right inputs (that is, I set REW to output channel 3, and measured separately channels 1 and 2). The top graph is with my old 2.15 HPEQ, and you can see that there is a substantial shift left vs right, as much as 8 dB. The bottom graph is with my new 2.17 HPEQ, and you can see a noticeable improvment.
Tomorrow I'll do PRIR measurements.
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Thanks for your prompt response. Out of curiosity, do you use the miniDSP EARS measurement rig for your REW measurements?
zdjh22
Head-Fier
You are very welcome.
No, I just use REW with the Windows ASIO driver that allows up to 16 output channels to the A16 (one at a time only, unfortunately) and 2 input channels, all via USB. So I'm just measuring what the A16 sends to the left and right ear pieces when I have the A16 render the center channel, although it is prior to the conversion to analog.
I will note that you need to be careful with this measurement. Earlier today I had head tracking on, and that was giving me incorrect results. HT has to be disabled. Also, just judging the sound field from the center channel is not as revealing as using, say, L+C+R or just L+R, but I haven't figured out how to do that in REW.
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zdjh22
Head-Fier
Here is the graph for the BBC PRIR using my new 2.17-measured HPEQ, but the flatEQ version not the autoEQ. Notice that there is a smaller shift between left and right (again, having the A16 render a sweep from REW to the center channel, measuring the binaural output). So some of the shift in the autoEQ curve posted a few messages above is a result of the BBC PRIR.
When I tried it again today it mysteriously worked instantly. Maybe it had to be booted up with the opt cable already plugged in.
However, over optical out I only seem to have two-channel audio, is that a restriction?
You can't get more than 2ch PCM out of any optical output. That's the way optical/toslink/spdif is.When I tried it again today it mysteriously worked instantly. Maybe it had to be booted up with the opt cable already plugged in.
However, over optical out I only seem to have two-channel audio, is that a restriction?
audiohobbit
500+ Head-Fier
The digital outputs (optical or coax) provide only the SVS-processed headphone signal, which is of course always 2ch.
What did you expect to get there? You're feeding a 2ch headphone DAC/AMP with it, so perfect match I'd say...
Decoded multichannel signals (Dolby, DTS, Auro, NO SVS processing) are only output on the 16ch analog outputs, which are in pairs of two at the 3,5 mm jacks on the back available in AV mode.
What did you expect to get there? You're feeding a 2ch headphone DAC/AMP with it, so perfect match I'd say...
Decoded multichannel signals (Dolby, DTS, Auro, NO SVS processing) are only output on the 16ch analog outputs, which are in pairs of two at the 3,5 mm jacks on the back available in AV mode.
I did not know about that. People told me the surround experience would be improved if a better DAC is used for the A16, which would always be connected via optical/coax. Also, generally speaking, optical is able to transmit 5.1 audio signals, so I expected at least that. Well thanks for clearing it up.
Optical is able to transmit lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 or DTS signals on supporting hardware. Almost no Hi-Fi DACs support these. Lossless, you only get 2ch PCM.
zdjh22
Head-Fier
Exactly. The A16’s binaural output is available on the coax or optical outputs, so with a good linear external DAC headphone listening - assuming it’s the headphone you employed to produce the HPEQ in use - should result in a good virtual surround experience. And, you shouldn’t expect anything special if your external DAC is used as the input to drive speakers.
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audiohobbit
500+ Head-Fier
The sound in general may be improved by a better DAC (I doubt that with my wooden ears I'd hear a difference though...), but the "surround experience" from the Realiser is created via the SVS-processing (as Smyth calls it) in the Realiser, that processes a multichannel surround signal using the PRIR and HPEQ into a 2ch headphone signal that sounds like the real speaker setup that was used to create the PRIR for the listener.
So a better DAC and Amp may improve things like clarity, noise, general fidelity etc. but usually not the localisation (perceived position, distance and size) of a virtual speaker nor its general sound (timbre, etc.)
Btw. just saw that you're in Germany. May I ask how you aquired the A16? And you can also PM me in german (if german is your native language, of course)
I'm sorry for the confusion, my problem was a misconfiguration on the source, it only sent 2 channel audio, so I heard only from the two front speakers in the virtual room. Of course the output through the DAC can only have 2 channels. I meant audible virtual speakers.
I bought my A16 used on Ebay.
I bought my A16 used on Ebay.
audiohobbit
500+ Head-Fier
No worries. AV-devices are already complicated enough, and the Realiser is an even more complicated beast to master.
(however, anyone that also has or knew the A8 will likely find the A16 a lot easier to handle. At least I do. With the A8 You couldn't do anything without the manual except for switching on and off, and change the volume...)
(however, anyone that also has or knew the A8 will likely find the A16 a lot easier to handle. At least I do. With the A8 You couldn't do anything without the manual except for switching on and off, and change the volume...)
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