Smyth Research Realiser A16

[zdjh22]

Yes, but I've been known to be very wrong about many of my assumptions.

I took it to be a very clever joke given the Sinclair computer. Feel free to take credit!

 

[Sanctuary]

I took it to be a very clever joke given the Sinclair computer. Feel free to take credit!

Looked up the history behind this.

 

[zdjh22]

I've spent several days doing more investigation of the issue of Auro 3D playback from FLAC files. To make a long story short, I extracted a DTS-HD MA file with Auro 3D encoding from the 2014 Aelita album, converted it to FLAC, then manipulated the Auro 3D bits (the bottom 4-bits of the 24-bit samples, as described in the interview with Auro-3D's Wilfried Van Baelen - see https://www.audioholics.com/audio-technologies/auro-3d-interview). In the modified version, I manipulated the Auro 3D bits such that the audio plays 20 seconds with Auro 3D, then 20 seconds without, then 20 seconds with, and so on. This allows me to compare Auro 3D decoding with either native (HDMI 6-channel) or Auromatic, and it definitively, I believe, shows how to set the various Auro 3D controls on the A16 in order to play back FLAC files successfully without the need to play interleaving DTS (with Auro) files.

In the next post I'll describe the file manipulations in more detail.

In this post I explain the settings. There are 4 that I use:

• Listening Room "load only", set always to Auro
• Auro-3D in the 2nd screen of the preset, always on
• Auro LM in the 2nd screen of the preset, either "native" or "AURO3D"
• In the PCM Audio Management of the 2nd screen of the preset, HDMI set to "Auromatic"

I can feed from my Oppo 203 via HDMI either a FLAC version of the file, or a DTS-HD MA encoded version in an MKV file.

The MKV file version simply needs Auro-3D set to "On". "Load only" set to Auro avoids the long listening room loads and reloads that sometimes occur. Auro LM set to "native" in, for example, a 13.1 listening room causes this particular file to still render as 9.1. Set to "AURO3D" results in upmixing to 13.1. The PCM Audio Management setting doesn't matter. This is the simple case: a DTS-HD MA encoded file with Auro 3D always works when Auro 3D decoding is enabled in the A16.

When using a FLAC version, the fun begins. If Auro-3D is "off" but the PCM Audio Management is set to "Auromatic", my A16 switches rapidly between HDMI 6-channel and Auro 3D, and no sound is heard. This is only the case if the PCM file was encoded with Auro 3D; if the file is not Auro 3D encoded, the description in the documentation is correct: Auromatic upmixing occurs. If Auro-3D is "on" but PCM Audio Management is set to "Direct", no Auro 3D decoding occurs. With both switches on, Auro 3D decoding occurs, and the Auro LM setting behaves exactly as with the DTS-HD MA file.

Note that this is true Auro 3D decoding from the FLAC file, not Auromatic upmixing. This is clear from both the screen display (text in yellow), as well as the behavior of my modified file with 20 seconds Auro on, then 20 seconds off. The resulting experience is the same from both the FLAC and MKV (DTS-HD MA) versions of the file. So, no need to play a DTS Auro file first in order to successfully play a FLAC Auro file as long as the PCM Audio Management switch is set to Auromatic.

 

[zdjh22]

As promised, here are the details of how I prepared the test files. I'm happy to provide a link to an archive of my C-language programs and the two versions of the 20-seconds Auro 3D on then 20-seconds off (repeating) of "Black Saturday" from "Aelita". Just send me a PM, or let me know if it's within the rules of this board to post this (since it includes a complete, though modified, track, albeit from a long out-of-print disc).

First, I decrypted the BluRay disc with MakeMKV and extracted the DTS-HD MA first track into an MKV file. Next, I used ffmpeg via the wonderful MMH tool to extract the lossless audio track from that MKV into a flac file. I then used the "flac" command to convert to a raw format (24-bits packed, signed, raw interleaved format). I then used three programs that I wrote in C. The first pads the 24-bit samples to 32-bits, the second applies a bit mask with the choice of operations (AND, OR, or XOR), and the third converts the 32-bit padded format back to a 24-bit packed, signed, raw file. Next, the "flac" command was again used, this time to convert the raw file to .flac. Finally, the DTS-HD MAS encoder was used to convert 6 mono WAV files from the flac to DTS-HD MA, and MKVToolNIX used to put that DTS file into an MKV container.

The tool chain was tested with no bit modifications to verify that the initial and final DTS files played on the A16 with Auro 3D decoding. The flac tool was also used to verify that md5sums of the uncompressed data streams were identical in the initial and final flac files.

Only minor bit changes to the "Auro bits" (the least significant 4 bits) are necessary to kill Auro decoding. I demonstrated this by simply OR-ing in "1" to the least significant bit of all samples. The resulting file would only play as a PCM (or upmixed via Auromatic).

By applying in essence a square wave, where Auro is ruined by OR-ing in the bottom bit for a period, with other periods not touched, the resulting files played back on the A16 switching between Auro 3D decoding and either HDMI 6-channel or Auromatic, depending on the setting of the Auro LM switch.

The resulting files with a 20-second half-cycle on/off sequence are ideal for comparing Auromatic with Auro 3D on the A16. Since the .flac file (with PCM Audio Management set to "Auromatic") and the MKV DTS-HD MA file play identically, this proves to me that .flac Auro files may be played on the A16 without first playing a DTS Auro file.

I haven't tried this from my Windows laptop, but based on my earlier tests with VLC I doubt the results will be different. I'm not particularly interested in playback from a PC but am happy to give it a try, or to share my music and code files.

 

[zdjh22]

Looked up the history behind this.

My father bought the Sinclair scientific calculator that predated the computers way back in 1974. Very cheap, cheaply made, but a good calculator that taught me RPN and was way cheaper than an HP calculator. I vaguely recall that the LED digits were purple, or at least purple because of a colored mask. Very unusual.

EDIT: Just found the Wikipedia page, wow this brings back memories. The LEDs were red, but the plastic surrounding them was, ahem, Deep Purple. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinclair_Scientific. I'd forgotten that it had scientific notation (mantissa plus exponent) only, and that it only had 5 digits of precision. So hardly a worthy competitor to an HP-35, but still, a big time saver from interpolating trig and log tables by hand.

Doing some more Clive Sinclair reading just now, I forgot that I had built a Sinclair digital watch as a kit in 1975 (a Christmas present). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Watch_(wristwatch).

Maybe Smyth Toys has the old Sinclair scientific calculator and watch available!

For true nerds out there, my favorite antique calculator is one of these (I own both a Type I and a Type II, both from the late 1950's and both in excellent working condition):

 

[jacobacci]

Interesting
https://audiophilestyle.com/ca/immersive/how-to-decode-and-play-auro-3d-music-on-a-mac-r1103/
Does anyone have experience with this VST plugin?

 

[GeorgeA]

@zdjh22 On December 25-26, 2023, the TRPTK label offered their musical production Tchaikovsky - Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy (Single) for free. I then wrote about that offer in this thread so that other Realiser A16 owners could take advantage.

I chose to download a file in the format 96 kHz Auro-3D 9.1 FLAC, which I conveyed from my CA player to the Realiser A16 unit via HDMI. Auro-3D switch was set to “On” and Auro LM to “native”. I don’t remember any issue with Auro-3D decoding. If there had been an issue, most likely I would’ve written here.

At the end of December 2023, the firmware rev. 2.17 wasn’t available yet. That’s why I think that the issue with Auro-3D playback from FLAC files occurred after installing firmware 2.17.

 

[zdjh22]

@zdjh22 On December 25-26, 2023, the TRPTK label offered their musical production Tchaikovsky - Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy (Single) for free. I then wrote about that offer in this thread so that other Realiser A16 owners could take advantage.

I chose to download a file in the format 96 kHz Auro-3D 9.1 FLAC, which I conveyed from my CA player to the Realiser A16 unit via HDMI. Auro-3D switch was set to “On” and Auro LM to “native”. I don’t remember any issue with Auro-3D decoding. If there had been an issue, most likely I would’ve written here.

At the end of December 2023, the firmware rev. 2.17 wasn’t available yet. That’s why I think that the issue with Auro-3D playback from FLAC files occurred after installing firmware 2.17.

I “liked” your post back then, but forgot to download it on those two “free” days. It’s still listed on the webpage as free, so come Christmas I’ll do that.

Since my A16 has the new APM and ARM processor hardware, I’m stuck at no older than 2.15, and of course, 2.15 was broken for making your own PRIRs and HPEQs. I don’t know if the Auro settings were broken already, but regardless I’m stuck at 2.17 since I do make PRIRs and HPEQs.

I suppose if you mentally imagine the PCM Audio Management option to be “Auro” instead of “Auromatic” it’s not really broken, it’s just that both that PCM switch and the Auro 3D enable have to be “on” for Auro in FLAC decoding to work. The bug then is that if "Auromatic" is set but Auro-3D is "off" the A16 goes into a fast loop switching between sound modes with no output. Plus you need to make the appropriate mental changes to the fw2.15 documentation. It’s telling that they did not include a BMP from the A16 screen showing a PCM file playing in Auro3D.

Here are the missing display images. In the FLAC file I made with 20 seconds of Auro content interspersed with 20 seconds of non-Auro content, screen 1 changes to/from screen 2 or screen 3 every 20 seconds depending on the LM setting. In fact I captured these BMPs while playing that test FLAC file with the two different Auro LM settings. Note well that I did not have to play "Polarity" or a similar DTS Auro file first to make the FLAC decode correctly.

First with a FLAC Auro file with PCM Audio Management set to "Auromatic", Auro 3D "on", Auro LM "native" (9.1 Auro source):

Second with a FLAC non-auro file with Auro-3D "on", PCM Audio Management set to "Auromatic", and Auro LM set to "native":

Third with a FLAC non-auro file with Auro-3D "on", PCM Audio Management for HDMI "Auromatic", and Auro LM set to "AURO3D:

 

[zdjh22]

Interesting
https://audiophilestyle.com/ca/immersive/how-to-decode-and-play-auro-3d-music-on-a-mac-r1103/
Does anyone have experience with this VST plugin?

Not me, though I did notice just now on the Auro-3D website that the base tools to mix and monitor Auro content are free. So maybe the $20/month quoted in that article no longer applies (and I think it's $20/quarter, not per month). The encoding tools to create content for distribution aren't free, but are very cheap (for the music version), particularly in comparison to the costs of comparable Dolby and DTS tools.

If the VST plugin were somehow compatible, via Loopback or Blackhole and using Virtuoso, one could listen to Auro 3D on a Mac with binaural rendering to headphones (Atmos soundrooms only, but maybe the Virtuoso folks would implement Auro soundrooms). I wonder if the Auro software is still not Apple Silicon compatible?

 

[esimms86]

https://trptk.com/shop/spatial-audio-downloads/tchaikovsky-dance-of-the-suger-plum-fairy-single/

Can be downloaded for free on December 25th and 26th

Guys, thanks for the heads up!

 

[yogibeezwax]

Hi,
I’m seriously considering purchasing the A16 Stand as I have a very small apartment and can’t fit a full home theater sound system. I was also considering the Sony quad system, but back speaker placement would be challenging in my setup.

The room where I plan to use the A16 Stand is my sleeping alcove (220x180 cm). My current audio setup is as follows:

LG G4 77” (HDMI) → Nvidia Shield TV Pro (S/PDIF) → RME ADI-2 DAC (XLR) → Oppo HA-1 (Balanced XLR) → ZMF Vérité Closed

Since the A16 Stand is a significant investment—both financially and in terms of setup—I’d appreciate some clarification on a few points:

I read on a Head-Fi review that “you need access to good speakers in an acoustically optimized space, such as a professional studio or home.”

1. Does this mean the A16 Stand would be unsuitable for me, or am I misunderstanding this requirement?​
2. Would it be possible to integrate the A16 Stand into my current setup? If so, could it replace my RME ADI-2 DAC, which I currently use as a preamp and EQ device? I’m open to switching it out if the A16 Stand can perform similar functions.
3. I understand that not wearing the head-tracking sensor may reduce the immersive experience. However, would I still gain some benefit from the spatial audio effect without it?

As I live in Sweden, any potential RMAs would be easily addressed by jumping on a Ryan Air fare, which is a huge plus in my book (had to send the Oppo HA back to the States a couple of years ago and that was an ordeal).

Thank you for your time, and I look forward to your insights.

 

[gimlet]

I also originally acquired an A16 because I was living in an apartment. You don’t actually need to own or measure any speakers - it comes with a standard BBC setup based on Neumann monitors. You can start adding virtual speakers (PRIRs) like Genelec, Kef and D&D 8c, shared for free within this group, and I also strongly recommend buying some of the virtual speakers measured by John at 3D sound shop - they are excellent, especially his Omega, Genelec and D&D.

As for headphones, many people rate the Sennheiser 800s as the best fit for the A16, although most low distortion open headphones can work. You are unlikely to get the full “out of your head” realism with closed headphones, although they will also work to some extent.

For the last 4 years, I used the A16 to replace my DAC and headphone amp completely - it is that good. But if you want to feed a digital signal to an external DAC or amp, you can.

As for the head tracker, in my view the A16 really benefits from it. Enhanced realism and full immersive imaging is worth the (small) effort of attaching a head tracker to your headphones, and the A16 has excellent optical or magnetic tracking.

One final point if you are serious about purchase. The A16 is not typical consumer hifi. It is highly complex and mainly aimed at studio professionals, so I suggest that in advance, you download and read the user manual and look at the YouTube videos for setup. It is well worth the effort,and this community is full of great advice. Good luck.

 

[yogibeezwax]

I also originally acquired an A16 because I was living in an apartment. You don’t actually need to own or measure any speakers - it comes with a standard BBC setup based on Neumann monitors. You can start adding virtual speakers (PRIRs) like Genelec, Kef and D&D 8c, shared for free within this group, and I also strongly recommend buying some of the virtual speakers measured by John at 3D sound shop - they are excellent, especially his Omega, Genelec and D&D.

As for headphones, many people rate the Sennheiser 800s as the best fit for the A16, although most low distortion open headphones can work. You are unlikely to get the full “out of your head” realism with closed headphones, although they will also work to some extent.

For the last 4 years, I used the A16 to replace my DAC and headphone amp completely - it is that good. But if you want to feed a digital signal to an external DAC or amp, you can.

As for the head tracker, in my view the A16 really benefits from it. Enhanced realism and full immersive imaging is worth the (small) effort of attaching a head tracker to your headphones, and the A16 has excellent optical or magnetic tracking.

One final point if you are serious about purchase. The A16 is not typical consumer hifi. It is highly complex and mainly aimed at studio professionals, so I suggest that in advance, you download and read the user manual and look at the YouTube videos for setup. It is well worth the effort,and this community is full of great advice. Good luck.

Thank you for the reply, really appreciate you taking the time! I've started going through this thread as well as the manual (100+ pages is quite a bit). I do have a couple of open back headphones, nothing like the Sennheiser 800s though (which I've actually considered getting for a A16 combo). I hear you regarding the investment in time it'll take. I could get a soundbar but I'd rather choose an option that gives me a more immersive experience as I quite enjoy watching movies with headphones. Thanks again for you suggestions!

 

[esimms86]

Hi,
I’m seriously considering purchasing the A16 Stand as I have a very small apartment and can’t fit a full home theater sound system. I was also considering the Sony quad system, but back speaker placement would be challenging in my setup.

The room where I plan to use the A16 Stand is my sleeping alcove (220x180 cm). My current audio setup is as follows:

LG G4 77” (HDMI) → Nvidia Shield TV Pro (S/PDIF) → RME ADI-2 DAC (XLR) → Oppo HA-1 (Balanced XLR) → ZMF Vérité Closed

Since the A16 Stand is a significant investment—both financially and in terms of setup—I’d appreciate some clarification on a few points:

I read on a Head-Fi review that “you need access to good speakers in an acoustically optimized space, such as a professional studio or home.”

1. Does this mean the A16 Stand would be unsuitable for me, or am I misunderstanding this requirement?​
2. Would it be possible to integrate the A16 Stand into my current setup? If so, could it replace my RME ADI-2 DAC, which I currently use as a preamp and EQ device? I’m open to switching it out if the A16 Stand can perform similar functions.
3. I understand that not wearing the head-tracking sensor may reduce the immersive experience. However, would I still gain some benefit from the spatial audio effect without it?

As I live in Sweden, any potential RMAs would be easily addressed by jumping on a Ryan Air fare, which is a huge plus in my book (had to send the Oppo HA back to the States a couple of years ago and that was an ordeal).

Thank you for your time, and I look forward to your insights.

A couple more points:

1)I own an LG C4, the little brother to your LG G4. Both TV’s do ARC and the later edition A16’s do eARC, so you’re good there.

2)While some people (like me) really depend on the head tracker to give an immersive experience, you may be one of those people who do well without it. If you want to give a try then you should make certain to turn off the head tracker function in Settings. Additionally, I would advise you not to move your head from side to side while listening.

Hope this helps.

 

[yogibeezwax]

A couple more points:

1)I own an LG C4, the little brother to your LG G4. Both TV’s do ARC and the later edition A16’s do eARC, so you’re good there.

2)While some people (like me) really depend on the head tracker to give an immersive experience, you may be one of those people who do well without it. If you want to give a try then you should make certain to turn off the head tracker function in Settings. Additionally, I would advise you not to move your head from side to side while listening.

Hope this helps.

Thanks a bunch for your input! The eARC support was definitely one of the deciding factors. Just purchased the Sennheiser HD800s a couple of min ago..found them on onestop-digital 400 euro cheaper than on Swedish sites so I'll probably go for the Omega Pro 96 PRIR.