Smyth Research Realiser A16

[GeorgeA]

Hi @jacobacci,

As at your link to discogs page there’s the following note: “Height information of 2222+ Recording is captured during the recording process then folded into a standard 5.1 Surround PCM carrier from which any device featuring the Auro-decoder can extract the original 2222+ Recording (8.0 Auro-3D®)”, I think that it might be interesting if you could extract a sample out of the 5.1 PCM stream. Thanks for your time.

 

[jacobacci]

Hi @jacobacci,

As at your link to discogs page there’s the following note: “Height information of 2222+ Recording is captured during the recording process then folded into a standard 5.1 Surround PCM carrier from which any device featuring the Auro-decoder can extract the original 2222+ Recording (8.0 Auro-3D®)”, I think that it might be interesting if you could extract a sample out of the 5.1 PCM stream. Thanks for your time.

AFAIK a dedicated Auro 3D decoder is needed to do the extraction. The A16 can extract the Auro 3D audio from the Polarity disc, but not from the Diabolo disc.

 

[Litlgi74]

I have extracted some streams from Diabolo and Polarity here.
The Diabolo Files are listed on the disc as PCM2.0 / DTSHD5.1 / MDG222 / Auro 8.0
The Polarity is Auro 13.1
Mediainfo doesn't seem to detect Auro 3D streams, or has that changed since the linked post?

I am experiencing the same or similar results... Tried with both my Zidoo Z9X and Oppo (Clone) 203.

FYI... Native Auro-3D has difficulty locking the decoder with FW2.17. I've mentioned it to the Smyths.

 

[UseThe4s]

Hello guys, I am about to pull the trigger on the A16. Any idea what is presently the waiting time for a 2U unit (if there is one)?

 

[shmau]

Hello guys, I am about to pull the trigger on the A16. Any idea what is presently the waiting time for a 2U unit (if there is one)?

Usually they can ship out within maybe 2 weeks. Just send them an email and use a title that makes it clear you're looking to purchase. Better do it before the holidays.

There are several variants of the 2U model, double check if there's a model you might be able to use for something other than headphones too. Dante or AES model would give you digital outputs, for example, which is pretty rare.

 

[UseThe4s]

Usually they can ship out within maybe 2 weeks. Just send them an email and use a title that makes it clear you're looking to purchase. Better do it before the holidays.

There are several variants of the 2U model, double check if there's a model you might be able to use for something other than headphones too. Dante or AES model would give you digital outputs, for example, which is pretty rare.

Thank you for your reply, thats a good news. Somehow I thought there was a waiting time for those units in the past. I will be using the A16 only with headphones. I have sent them an e-mail asking about the difference between the different 2U models. Could you please tell me the basic difference in a sentence or two?

 

[shmau]

Thank you for your reply, thats a good news. Somehow I thought there was a waiting time for those units in the past. I will be using the A16 only with headphones. I have sent them an e-mail asking about the difference between the different 2U models. Could you please tell me the basic difference in a sentence or two?

There's also the speaker edition sold through the French distributor. Faux surround with two speakers. Quite expensive though.

 

[jacobacci]

I am experiencing the same or similar results... Tried with both my Zidoo Z9X and Oppo (Clone) 203.

FYI... Native Auro-3D has difficulty locking the decoder with FW2.17. I've mentioned it to the Smyths.

I have also made James aware of the issue. I have exchanged emails with Werner Dabringhaus of MDG and he confirmed that Diabolo is decoded correctly as Auro by his Denon AVR. So I assume it's a freak maldetection of the Auro stream on the two BluRays. I have also sent the files to James for investigation.

 

[Litlgi74]

I have also made James aware of the issue. I have exchanged emails with Werner Dabringhaus of MDG and he confirmed that Diabolo is decoded correctly as Auro by his Denon AVR. So I assume it's a freak maldetection of the Auro stream on the two BluRays. I have also sent the files to James for investigation.

There was an issue with playing back 5.0 SACD discs that has been solved by firmware 2.11... so hopefully if it's on the Smyth end... This to can be fixed

 

[Cecala]

Hello guys, I am about to pull the trigger on the A16. Any idea what is presently the waiting time for a 2U unit (if there is one)?

FWIW, I ordered and paid for mine 2 Wednesdays ago. Received an email on that first Friday accepting payment and furnished with a tracking number that goes no where. i.e. dead end. I have sent a follow up email to James last Thursday for clarification and currently waiting for some response.
Gives me time to read the manual.

 

[GeorgeA]

I am experiencing the same or similar results... Tried with both my Zidoo Z9X and Oppo (Clone) 203.

FYI... Native Auro-3D has difficulty locking the decoder with FW2.17. I've mentioned it to the Smyths.

In this thread, @zdjh22 found a workaround for rendering a pure 4.0 signal with his OPPO player and Realiser A16 unit.
“On power-up of the A16, or after playing certain other formats (for example, SACD 5.1 via PCM), an MLP-4.0 file which is sent as PCM 4.0 is only seen as PCM 2.0. However, after playing a different DVD-A disc with MLP-5.1, subsequently the A16 renders the PCM 4.0 correctly. The display switches from "HDMI PCM Discrete 2-CH" to "... 6-CH". The virtual speaker display reflects either two channels when the Oppo and A16 are not in agreement, or four channels when they are in agreement.”
Source: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/smyth-research-realiser-a16.807459/post-17866506

It seems that rendering 8.0 Auro-3D audio signals is a more complicated issue.

 

[zdjh22]

In this thread, @zdjh22 found a workaround for rendering a pure 4.0 signal with his OPPO player and Realiser A16 unit.
“On power-up of the A16, or after playing certain other formats (for example, SACD 5.1 via PCM), an MLP-4.0 file which is sent as PCM 4.0 is only seen as PCM 2.0. However, after playing a different DVD-A disc with MLP-5.1, subsequently the A16 renders the PCM 4.0 correctly. The display switches from "HDMI PCM Discrete 2-CH" to "... 6-CH". The virtual speaker display reflects either two channels when the Oppo and A16 are not in agreement, or four channels when they are in agreement.”
Source: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/smyth-research-realiser-a16.807459/post-17866506

It seems that rendering 8.0 Auro-3D audio signals is a more complicated issue.

This bug happens a lot to me. I’ve always used Queen’s A Night at the Opera as the MLP-5.1 to get the A16 working again. The first song, actually, Death on Two Legs, which some might find appropriate:

You suck my blood like a leech
You break the law and you breach
Screw my brain 'til it hurts
You've taken all my money
And you want more

I’ve run into a couple of other minor bugs. The first is that some sound rooms that use remapped (via CX PRIRs) virtual speakers don’t seem to play correctly in 16-channel mode, even though they use less than 16 virtual speakers. Switching into 24-channel mode fixes the issue. It might be some residual state like the MLP-4.0 above, or maybe some virtual speaker labels were only introduced with 24-channel mode? I need to look at the firmware notes from that time.

The other issue is that sometimes the A16 becomes very unresponsive while playing music. The music continues to play, but reaction to key presses is very slow or does not happen. This occurred again last week while playing with Auro native streams. Terminating the input (stopping my Oppo) often brings the A16 back to life. I suspect that the APM decoder board is the problem. I believe from the limited APM110 description that control and communications of that board is via a serial connection. The main computer on the A16 may be waiting on responses, or responding to APM issues (such as repeatedly switching between decode types).

 

[Glopitou]

What software should I use to get an Auro3d music file (bought here https://spiritofturtle.com/collections/auro-3d-9-1-immersive-audio ) to be detected by the A16 Realiser when played from my PC? I tried Plex and MPC-BE but didn’t manage to get the Flac audio be passed through.

 

[Litlgi74]

What software should I use to get an Auro3d music file (bought here https://spiritofturtle.com/collections/auro-3d-9-1-immersive-audio ) to be detected by the A16 Realiser when played from my PC? I tried Plex and MPC-BE but didn’t manage to get the Flac audio be passed through.

I would think any software (such as VLC) that can output a bitstream over HDMI will work with the A16.

 

[Glopitou]

There was a message a while ago, in which @GeorgeA described to @dsperber how to play Auro3D music files (encoded in Flac) from his blu-ray player: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/smyth-research-realiser-a16.807459/post-17105410
I can play video files which have an Auro-3D track just fine, but when I play the Auro flac file, it just plays as PCM (not native Auro-3D like @GeorgeA experienced). Note that I have enabled Auro-3D in my profile and tried the vairous Auro Listening modes, but to no avail.