L8MDL
100+ Head-Fier
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Keep the faith. My Yarra arrived last week!
Smyth Research Realiser A16
mikemav
New Head-Fier
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Wondering for those of us who opted for the standard/rack mount chassis A16 instead of the headphone stand: is it 2RU or 3U high? Do rack ears come with or optional? I know there was discussion about possible optional wood side panels but that is probably back burner to say the least, but I am spacing out a new AV rack and wanted to leave room (and hope) the A16 will arrive one day.
It's 2U, the rack ears were an extra option when I preordered.
phoenixdogfan
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The interesting thing about this is the Smyth's have received all the money from backer-customers that they're going to get, and I don't think it's a lot. The kickstarter backers number 330 nand pledged 282 GBP or $338k USD. Figure another 1000 preorders at $1750 and you come up with $1750M USD. Taken together that's only $2.1 Million form customers to fund everything for 3+ years. The organization showed 6 people, then there's cost of materials, plus facility overhead, plus specialized contractors, plus licensing fees, plus websites, plus promotional expenses. Doesn't seem like they've taken in nearly enough to sustain that kind of operation.
Which makes it all the more puzzling that they have not taken any orders in over two years, including new orders at the higher $4000 price which would give them much needed working capital. Have to think its because they have little confidence in their ability to deliver on any additional commitments at this time even though such commitments would supply additional cash in what must be a cash strapped undertaking.
Which makes it all the more puzzling that they have not taken any orders in over two years, including new orders at the higher $4000 price which would give them much needed working capital. Have to think its because they have little confidence in their ability to deliver on any additional commitments at this time even though such commitments would supply additional cash in what must be a cash strapped undertaking.
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sahmen
Headphoneus Supremus
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I pre-ordered mine, and I'm really tempted to ask them for a refund, right about now,---at the very least, to force the Smyths to make some kind of statement about their shipping plans, or about the current status of the entire project, at the very minimum. Of course, I would rather take the A-16, if it has any reasonable chance at all of getting delivered this year, but I have about a million other ways to use the money, if the A-16 is not going to ship within this reasonable time frame...
The key issue here is that, for some reason, the Smyths no longer seem to have either the will or the cojones to tell us--in honesty, and with good faith--about the real current status of the A-16 (in terms of its progress or when it will ship). That leaves all of us--their customers--twisting in the wind, so to speak, with each left to believe whatever he/she wants to, according to the passing whims of their trust or skepticism, "optimism," "pessimism," or even their "paranoia" (all rather futile postures, IMHO, as none of them will in themselves help to move the needle one way or another).
The more I ponder this situation in a dispassionate way, the more the idea of asking for the refund grows. So far, I have generally been willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, on the basis of their record with the
A-8, which inspired me to invest in the A-16 to begin with. However, it is neither possible, nor practical, nor wise to remain in this state of suspension indefinitely. Besides, how practical is it to continue giving the benefit of a doubt to another party in a contractual agreement, when that other party has virtually stopped doing anything substantial to defend their own good faith, integrity, or their continuing commitment to the contract--all of which they have unofficially violated over and over again anyway, through their habitually atrocious communication practices?
In other words, there has to be some tipping point here, where tolerance, or forbearance, are no longer tenable or viable options. Currently, I am looking for mine, and when I find it, I am going to act, and do so swiftly.
The key issue here is that, for some reason, the Smyths no longer seem to have either the will or the cojones to tell us--in honesty, and with good faith--about the real current status of the A-16 (in terms of its progress or when it will ship). That leaves all of us--their customers--twisting in the wind, so to speak, with each left to believe whatever he/she wants to, according to the passing whims of their trust or skepticism, "optimism," "pessimism," or even their "paranoia" (all rather futile postures, IMHO, as none of them will in themselves help to move the needle one way or another).
The more I ponder this situation in a dispassionate way, the more the idea of asking for the refund grows. So far, I have generally been willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, on the basis of their record with the
A-8, which inspired me to invest in the A-16 to begin with. However, it is neither possible, nor practical, nor wise to remain in this state of suspension indefinitely. Besides, how practical is it to continue giving the benefit of a doubt to another party in a contractual agreement, when that other party has virtually stopped doing anything substantial to defend their own good faith, integrity, or their continuing commitment to the contract--all of which they have unofficially violated over and over again anyway, through their habitually atrocious communication practices?
In other words, there has to be some tipping point here, where tolerance, or forbearance, are no longer tenable or viable options. Currently, I am looking for mine, and when I find it, I am going to act, and do so swiftly.
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sander99
Headphoneus Supremus
In fact:
IF things would really go wrong we can at least communicate about it amongst eachother here.
IF things would really go wrong we can at least communicate about it amongst eachother here.
Sonic Defender
Headphoneus Supremus
It is situations like this that have resulted in me not participating in these crowd-funding models. I understand that many such campaigns result in product delivery, but this and the LHL stuff has me so gun-shy that I just couldn't take the chance, certainly not with any appreciable sum of money. I am very sorry for those of you who have likely lost what you put into the Realizer. Darn shame and while it seems so very unlikely, I'll hope that there remains a chance that you will see product (there is no way there will be cash to refund at this point). Bon chance.
sander99
Headphoneus Supremus
At this point I don't think we 'likely lost our money', only that it is not completely impossible that we did.
Sonic Defender
Headphoneus Supremus
Well that is good news and I really hope that you're right.
Looking back over the updates since 21 Dec 2018 here are the following amount of days between updates.
21 Dec 2018 - 04 Feb 2019 46 Days
04 Feb 2019 - 02 Apl 2019 58 Days
02 Apl 2019 - 24 May 2019 53 days
24 May 2019 - 09 Jul 2019 47 Days
09 Jul 2019 - 11 Aug 2019 35 Days
Although Smyth Research is certainly not good at communicating with their Kickstarter and pre-order customers. When they do finally produce an update, which is only when they have something to tell us whether positive or negative, many people have been disappointed with what is being told.
I am trying to keep positive as we were shown the Kickstarter #41 update images of the hardware, and many people have seen the demonstration models working.
https://www.kickstarter.com/project...al-3d-audio-headphone-processor/posts/2044207
It has only been 35 days since the last update, and although I am also disappointed the Realiser A16 is not ready to be shipped yet, I hope the delay whatever it is will soon be rectified and we will see a new positive update.
21 Dec 2018 - 04 Feb 2019 46 Days
04 Feb 2019 - 02 Apl 2019 58 Days
02 Apl 2019 - 24 May 2019 53 days
24 May 2019 - 09 Jul 2019 47 Days
09 Jul 2019 - 11 Aug 2019 35 Days
Although Smyth Research is certainly not good at communicating with their Kickstarter and pre-order customers. When they do finally produce an update, which is only when they have something to tell us whether positive or negative, many people have been disappointed with what is being told.
I am trying to keep positive as we were shown the Kickstarter #41 update images of the hardware, and many people have seen the demonstration models working.
https://www.kickstarter.com/project...al-3d-audio-headphone-processor/posts/2044207
It has only been 35 days since the last update, and although I am also disappointed the Realiser A16 is not ready to be shipped yet, I hope the delay whatever it is will soon be rectified and we will see a new positive update.
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HairyHook
Head-Fier
I demoed the product with my wife at CanJam SoCal 18 and we pre-ordered it as a gift to myself for a future accomplishment that I've been working on for the past 2 years. The Smyths brothers told me that the product was going to be released within 3 months, so I felt pretty bad with the pre-order because I wasn't even close to achieve my goal (reason for the pre-order). My wife looked at me and told me, "you know how these things go with hardware and software development... they say 3 months and it will be 18 at the end, you will achieve your goal before they ship it". I thought she was crazy, but I'll be doing my exam in 12 days (approx 18 months after CanJam 18) and I hope they ship it right after I pass.
TLDR: my wife might have delayed the whole development process in order to make me feel better.
TLDR: my wife might have delayed the whole development process in order to make me feel better.
phoenixdogfan
1000+ Head-Fier
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You must have one of those maps on your wall where your house is at the center of the universe.
got the next update.....will start shipping units this week.......10-20 units each week over several months.....
sander99
Headphoneus Supremus
Kickstarter Update August 2019
Posted by James Smyth
August 12, 2019
Collaborator
We will begin shipping Realiser A16 units this week, and this will continue over the next several months. Since the testing procedure is quite involved we’re only expecting to ship around 10 to 20 units per week. We’ll be posting weekly updates on the numbers that have been shipped, which is intended to give backers some indication of our progress.
The A16 is being shipped with only a single operating mode and with a slightly reduced set of features, outlined below. DTS-X and Auro3D are yet to be certified. If and when these are certified, they will be available in future firmware updates. Other operating modes and features may also be introduced in the future as firmware updates.
Realiser A16 specifications, Firmware v1.0, August 2019
Analogue audio inputs/outputs
1. 16ch input + 16ch output, phono, 2.5Vrms
2. 2ch stereo input, phono, 2.5Vrms
3. 2ch tactile output, phono, 2.5Vrms (DC to 120Hz)
Digital audio inputs/outputs
1. HDMI 2.0b* input (8ch LPCM and bitstream)
2. SPDIF input (coaxial or optical) (2ch LPCM and bitstream)
3. USB 2.0 (16ch, 24bit, 96kHz LPCM) (Drivers for PC and Mac)
* : HDR10+ not supported
Headphone outputs (dual users)
1. Analogue, stereo 1/4” jack and 2ch phono
2. Digital stereo, SPDIF, 24bit @ 48kHz (coaxial and optical)
Ancillary inputs/outputs
1. HDMI 2.0b output (video pass-thru* from any HDMI input)
2. Microphone inputs (dual, for supplied binaural PRIR/HPEQ measurement microphones)
3. Headtracker input (for supplied head-tracker)
4. Set-top input (for supplied set-top IR reference)
5. Micro SD card port (for external PRIR/HPEQ file storage and firmware updates)
* : HDR10+ not supported
Audio bitstream decoding/rendering capability
1. Dolby Atmos (listening modes up to 9.1.6ch)
2. Dolby TrueHD (up to 7.1ch)
3. Dolby Digital (up to 5.1ch)
4. Dolby Digital+ (up to 7.1ch)
5. Dolby Surround upmixing to a 7.1.6ch listening mode
SVS headphone rendering capability
1. Dual users, each user can render 16 virtual loudspeakers in any spatial position
2. Individual headtracking (azimuth only) for both users simultaneously
3. Audio sources : HDMI 1 to 4 (LPCM or bitstream), USB 2.0 (up to 16ch), 16ch analogue, 2ch analogue, SPDIF coaxial or optical (LPCM or bitstream). Audio sources are common to both users.
4. All SVS processing and rendering @ 48kHz sampling rate, 32ms latency, max reverb length 0.75s
AV rendering mode
1. Analogue and digital audio inputs (USB and SPDIF) can be output via the multi-channel analogue line outputs.
2. Decoded Dolby Atmos, Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital, and Dolby Digital+ bitstream signals can be output via the multi-channel analogue line outputs.
Binaural room impulse response measurement (PRIR measurement)
1. 16ch synchronous measurement using internally generated excitation signals from the 16ch analogue outputs.
Headphone equalisation (HPEQ measurement)
1. Automatic headphone EQ measurement using binaural microphones
2. Manual headphone EQ using equal loudness noise bands
3. Manual headphone EQ using an external loudspeaker reference
Posted by James Smyth
August 12, 2019
Collaborator
We will begin shipping Realiser A16 units this week, and this will continue over the next several months. Since the testing procedure is quite involved we’re only expecting to ship around 10 to 20 units per week. We’ll be posting weekly updates on the numbers that have been shipped, which is intended to give backers some indication of our progress.
The A16 is being shipped with only a single operating mode and with a slightly reduced set of features, outlined below. DTS-X and Auro3D are yet to be certified. If and when these are certified, they will be available in future firmware updates. Other operating modes and features may also be introduced in the future as firmware updates.
Realiser A16 specifications, Firmware v1.0, August 2019
Analogue audio inputs/outputs
1. 16ch input + 16ch output, phono, 2.5Vrms
2. 2ch stereo input, phono, 2.5Vrms
3. 2ch tactile output, phono, 2.5Vrms (DC to 120Hz)
Digital audio inputs/outputs
1. HDMI 2.0b* input (8ch LPCM and bitstream)
2. SPDIF input (coaxial or optical) (2ch LPCM and bitstream)
3. USB 2.0 (16ch, 24bit, 96kHz LPCM) (Drivers for PC and Mac)
* : HDR10+ not supported
Headphone outputs (dual users)
1. Analogue, stereo 1/4” jack and 2ch phono
2. Digital stereo, SPDIF, 24bit @ 48kHz (coaxial and optical)
Ancillary inputs/outputs
1. HDMI 2.0b output (video pass-thru* from any HDMI input)
2. Microphone inputs (dual, for supplied binaural PRIR/HPEQ measurement microphones)
3. Headtracker input (for supplied head-tracker)
4. Set-top input (for supplied set-top IR reference)
5. Micro SD card port (for external PRIR/HPEQ file storage and firmware updates)
* : HDR10+ not supported
Audio bitstream decoding/rendering capability
1. Dolby Atmos (listening modes up to 9.1.6ch)
2. Dolby TrueHD (up to 7.1ch)
3. Dolby Digital (up to 5.1ch)
4. Dolby Digital+ (up to 7.1ch)
5. Dolby Surround upmixing to a 7.1.6ch listening mode
SVS headphone rendering capability
1. Dual users, each user can render 16 virtual loudspeakers in any spatial position
2. Individual headtracking (azimuth only) for both users simultaneously
3. Audio sources : HDMI 1 to 4 (LPCM or bitstream), USB 2.0 (up to 16ch), 16ch analogue, 2ch analogue, SPDIF coaxial or optical (LPCM or bitstream). Audio sources are common to both users.
4. All SVS processing and rendering @ 48kHz sampling rate, 32ms latency, max reverb length 0.75s
AV rendering mode
1. Analogue and digital audio inputs (USB and SPDIF) can be output via the multi-channel analogue line outputs.
2. Decoded Dolby Atmos, Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital, and Dolby Digital+ bitstream signals can be output via the multi-channel analogue line outputs.
Binaural room impulse response measurement (PRIR measurement)
1. 16ch synchronous measurement using internally generated excitation signals from the 16ch analogue outputs.
Headphone equalisation (HPEQ measurement)
1. Automatic headphone EQ measurement using binaural microphones
2. Manual headphone EQ using equal loudness noise bands
3. Manual headphone EQ using an external loudspeaker reference
sahmen
Headphoneus Supremus
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Congrats, Smyths! Now we're talking... But how are they shipping the damned things without having verified shipping addresses?
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