Smyth Research Realiser A16

[CaptainFunk]

I interested to see if @GotTheShakes or any other folks in the first queue receive their A16 with a manual (and/or if Smyth Research soon puts one up for download).

My A8 didn't include a manual when I bought it 9 years ago. Printed manuals don't really make sense anymore really, a PDF is more straight forward and can be updated easily. I wouldn't be surprised if they make the manual available today or over the weekend.

(Also Hi, I am new to this thread and have been a silent reader for years. My backer number on Kickstarter is 25, so let's see how much longer I have to wait.)

 

[Takeanidea]

My A8 didn't include a manual when I bought it 9 years ago. Printed manuals don't really make sense anymore really, a PDF is more straight forward and can be updated easily. I wouldn't be surprised if they make the manual available today or over the weekend.

(Also Hi, I am new to this thread and have been a silent reader for years. My backer number on Kickstarter is 25, so let's see how much longer I have to wait.)

You should be getting yours in 2-4 weeks! I pre ordered mine on 20 Sep 2016

 

[Richter Di]

My A8 didn't include a manual when I bought it 9 years ago. Printed manuals don't really make sense anymore really, a PDF is more straight forward and can be updated easily. I wouldn't be surprised if they make the manual available today or over the weekend.

(Also Hi, I am new to this thread and have been a silent reader for years. My backer number on Kickstarter is 25, so let's see how much longer I have to wait.)

Welcome!

 

[Fox1977]

When I got my PRIR done in Paris back in October 2016, their A/V receiver seemed a regular one, I don’t remember seeing 12 cables connecting the A16 to it... it then might have been done via HDMI. I should try to find some pictures that i took and see if I can count the cables.

 

[profsbg]

No sweep over HDMI, even for stereo??? I repeatedly asked about this and received assurances before signing on to KS. This is a major omission and makes the A16 useless for me.

 

[audiohobbit]

They had active speakers IMO so connecting each analog out to one speaker of the Realiser would've worked for example. I don't think they messed around with EQing etc.

I really hope that the PEQ per channel promised do work with the first firmware and secondly I hope that combining PRIRs will work.

 

[audiohobbit]

I just "realised" that the A16 at the moment can't decode any DTS at all (yes that's quite loogically but I didn't think about that), most movies that don't have 3D sound have DTS-MA Track, not Dolby!
So for those movies I would have to go the analogue route (decoding via AV Receiver and 8 analog cinch cables to the Realiser) and for Atmos movies I have to got digitally into the A16 because I don't have an Atmos-capable AV-Receiver.
My UHD-Player has 2 HDMI outputs, one for sound only, and one with 4k picture and sound. Hopefully I can use both, the one with sound only goes to the AV Receiver and the other one to the A16 since it can pass through the picture (4k HDR10 is all I need), hopefully.
But this makes things even more complicated as they already are!

And as I said earlier I'm not prepared for all this and have no time and/or much desire to play around because of the private problems I have at the moment.

I see it coming, I'll get the A16 in 4 weeks or so and just put it on the shelve...

Even if I had no private problems this stuff is so complicated that you often can't really get your head around it anyway. I don't know how often I thought I get nearly crazy with the A8.. I have a more or less working system now and don't want to touch it...

 

[Got the Shakes]

I just "realised" that the A16 at the moment can't decode any DTS at all (yes that's quite loogically but I didn't think about that), most movies that don't have 3D sound have DTS-MA Track, not Dolby!
So for those movies I would have to go the analogue route (decoding via AV Receiver and 8 analog cinch cables to the Realiser) and for Atmos movies I have to got digitally into the A16 because I don't have an Atmos-capable AV-Receiver.
My UHD-Player has 2 HDMI outputs, one for sound only, and one with 4k picture and sound. Hopefully I can use both, the one with sound only goes to the AV Receiver and the other one to the A16 since it can pass through the picture (4k HDR10 is all I need), hopefully.
But this makes things even more complicated as they already are!

And as I said earlier I'm not prepared for all this and have no time and/or much desire to play around because of the private problems I have at the moment.

I see it coming, I'll get the A16 in 4 weeks or so and just put it on the shelve...

Even if I had no private problems this stuff is so complicated that you often can't really get your head around it anyway. I don't know how often I thought I get nearly crazy with the A8.. I have a more or less working system now and don't want to touch it...

Don’t get me wrong, I wish it was shipping with DTS decoding as well, but why not just let your UHD player do the decoding and send it to the A16 via HDMI as LPCM audio?

 

[audiohobbit]

To be honest I didn't know that this is possible. I just had a look into the online manual of my Panasonic UB424 and it seems this could work. Thanks for the hint!
Then the only question remaining is upmixing 5.1 to 7.1.
With my receiver I'm using Dolby Prologic2x to expand, also for DTS-signals. Will the A16 have this mode as well or any other type of upmixing with the initial FW? What about the Illusonic upmixer?
What one could also do is create a real 5.1 PRIR and use this for 5.1 signals.

 

[sander99]

What about the Illusonic upmixer?

Fat chance, I am pretty sure Smyth would have proudly mentioned that in the update if it was implemented.

Will the A16 have this mode as well or any other type of upmixing with the initial FW?

I expect the Dolby Atmos certification required that the Dolby Surround Upmixer (DSU) is implemented. As I understand it the DSU replaces the various prologic upmixers from the past.

 

[phoenixdogfan]

If the only way to measure is with 16 analogue patch cords coming from the A16, that's a dealbreaker for me, and the Smyths have saved me $4k. Glad I hung back.

 

[phoenixdogfan]

Fat chance, I am pretty sure Smyth would have proudly mentioned that in the update if it was implemented.

I expect the Dolby Atmos certification required that the Dolby Surround Upmixer (DSU) is implemented. As I understand it the DSU replaces the various prologic upmixers from the past.

No Illusonic mixer? Is there someone who can verify whether that's coming, or already included, or permanently scrapped?

 

[phoenixdogfan]

Don’t get me wrong, I wish it was shipping with DTS decoding as well, but why not just let your UHD player do the decoding and send it to the A16 via HDMI as LPCM audio?

If you're streaming, that could also be done over J River.

 

[sander99]

No Illusonic mixer? Is there someone who can verify whether that's coming, or already included, or permanently scrapped?

It's just my guess. I assume we will soon know from the first people here who received the A16 whether or not it is already included.

 

[phoenixdogfan]

No disrespect taken, and you are exactly right. They still have the headstand and 2U models listed as being available in limited quantities in their website. I’m sure the promise with all of those units is the same as what happened with mine. If you pay the full price then the A16 ships next day.

One of the things that I wondered was that if they really can only test and ship 10-20 units a week, exactly how many of those go to customers that backed the Kickstarter campaign or preordered directly through Smyth (like I did)? Some of those units have to go to Gilles customers, and some I’m sure will be held for retail customers. Unfortunately that doesn’t leave a ton of units weekly to fill the 300+ KS orders and however many preorders they have. Maybe I’m wrong in my speculation, and maybe a month or two down the line they find a way to ramp up to 30 units a week.

For the money you paid, I hope there was no added shipping or duty. In other words, was $3995 the "all in" price?