[Got the Shakes]

I don't know if they've changed it with the A16, but the A8 could only read SD cards up to 2GB and no higher. Also, the A8 reads normal SD cards, not micro.

It says in the update instructions to “grab a Micro SD card (16 GB and 32 GB are common sizes)” so I’m assuming a 16 GB card will work.

 

[Eich1eeF]

It says in the update instructions to “grab a Micro SD card (16 GB and 32 GB are common sizes)” so I’m assuming a 16 GB card will work.

Since Windows imposes a limit of 32GB for FAT filesystems, and a FAT filesystem is required for firmware updates, that's probably also the maximum size you should use, unless you enjoy manually partitioning and formatting SD cards.

 

[SierraMadre]

EDIT: Some or most of the excess may actually be V.A.T.

They are quoting considerably in excess of the $3995 “buy now” MSRP on the website to new customers, about 25% in excess. In the event of purchase, shipping was promised as next working day after payment received with delivery as next working day after that.
If it was just the MSRP or a little more, then I probably would have bitten, but with all the missing features plus the unknowns re PRIR calibration and future updates, paying 25% over the odds for what will almost certainly be a long and drawn out teething process was just too much of a spend and too much of a risk.

 

[Sanctuary]

It says in the update instructions to “grab a Micro SD card (16 GB and 32 GB are common sizes)” so I’m assuming a 16 GB card will work.

Just looked at the instructions myself. Maybe they updated the instructions again.

(commonly 8 or 16 GB)

There's no reason to bother with even 16GB unless you were planning on using it for more than just storing your PRIRs. They take up so little space, and you would need thousands to come remotely close to filling it.
Also, it's odd that it's using micro now. Must just be a space saving feature, and because micro has higher capacity than it did ten years ago.

 

[SierraMadre]

The download icon for the manual appears to no longer work at least on IOS. The A8 one works, not the A16 one.

 

[phoenixdogfan]

They are quoting considerably in excess of the $3995 “buy now” MSRP on the website to new customers, about 25% in excess. In the event of purchase, shipping was promised as next working day after payment received with delivery as next working day after that.
If it was just the MSRP or a little more, then I probably would have bitten, but with all the missing features plus the unknowns re PRIR calibration and future updates, paying 25% over the odds for what will certainly be a long and drawn out teething process was just too much of a spend and too much of a risk.

Huh! You gotta be kidding me!

 

[sander99]

The download icon for the manual appears to no longer work at least on IOS. The A8 one works, not the A16 one.

The download icon for the A16 manual hasn't worked yet (it's already there for months), we are waiting for it to start working...
But I suppose they will upload the manual on monday, unless they are making very long hours (it actually is monday 01.31 AM in Northern-Ireland right now).

 

[SierraMadre]

Huh! You gotta be kidding me!

Sadly not.

I think that the odds of the project surviving and eventually thriving are better than not and that the product will likely be great, if not now, then eventually. But it’s largely conjecture at this stage and the degree of the markup combined with the way prior pre-orders and backer pledges are being drawn out into a protracted drip feed while brand new customers are receiving immediate shipment does suggest that they are indeed hurting for working capital.

5k is not an inconsiderable amount of money to me overall and as a tech purchase is astronomical compared to what I normally would spend (my most expensive ever tech purchase thus far was a TV that cost less than half that). For that amount, I’d need a finished, tried and tested product with no question mark over future support / aftercare.

 

[Dixter]

Update: The manual is being delayed in order to update it to match the changes in the firmware release....
some of the screens have changed and the manual is being corrected to reflect them.... won't be long now...

 

[JohnEW]

We should soon get the first of the weekly updates of how many A16's have been sent out. I hope that even although they are selling at retail that they are keeping up with the 10-20 units that they said they would be able to produce per week for Kickstarter and pre-order customers. But this may now have been delayed due to the latest firmware possibly being installed before being sent out for delivery.

 

[SierraMadre]

Using just the default Atmos room PRIR that the A16 apparently ships with, can anyone advise what (if any) calibration / personalisation procedure exists for the user’s HRTF and what, if any, additional equipment (other than the supplied in-ear mics) would be required?

 

[phoenixdogfan]

Sadly not.

I think that the odds of the project surviving and eventually thriving are better than not and that the product will likely be great, if not now, then eventually. But it’s largely conjecture at this stage and the degree of the markup combined with the way prior pre-orders and backer pledges are being drawn out into a protracted drip feed while brand new customers are receiving immediate shipment does suggest that they are indeed hurting for working capital.

5k is not an inconsiderable amount of money to me overall and as a tech purchase is astronomical compared to what I normally would spend (my most expensive ever tech purchase thus far was a TV that cost less than half that). For that amount, I’d need a finished, tried and tested product with no question mark over future support / aftercare.

I can see how this is gonna go now. Next week it'll be $6k, and the week after that $8k, and $10k by years end. I'm out for good. Talk about bait and switch.

 

[sander99]

Using just the default Atmos room PRIR that the A16 apparently ships with, can anyone advise what (if any) calibration / personalisation procedure exists for the user’s HRTF and what, if any, additional equipment (other than the supplied in-ear mics) would be required?

The preloaded room will be a generic, or rather just someone else's or a dummy head PRIR (that would be a BRIR for everyone else). It depends on pure chance how well it works for you.
(The Smyth plan is that you can personalise a high quality BRIR using your own low quality PRIR on the exchange website. So for that you would still have to make a PRIR yourself, with speakers in the same locations as they are in the BRIR, and for this purpose a PRIR made with only a tweeter can be sufficient. But when will that service be available? We don't know.)

[Edit: I hope this answers your question. But now I am suddenly thinking maybe your question was more general about all possible ways to get the A16 working based on your personal HRTF, and not specific about the preloaded Atmos room?]

 

[mrmac]

Hi all! I’m a loooongtime lurker doing my first post. I’m number 3 Kickstarter backer. James asked for my address at the same time as the shipping update came. No communication since.
Just got a message from ups that I need to pay 244.66 AUD in import duties.

ETA for my A16 is Wednesday.

 

[SierraMadre]

@sander99 Thanks but already aware of that. I understand what the optimal usage scenario is supposed to be.

I was just wondering if there was any other capacity for interim HRTF personalisation (e.g. dialling in head measurements such as head circumference and inter-aural arc etc.) or whether the Headphone measurement part of the procedure (outlined on p.34 in the A8 manual below) could still be relevant/applied to the default Atmos room.

“Headphone measurement
The purpose of the headphone measurement is to capture the interaction of the headphone cup with your pinna; and to linearise the response of the headphone itself. For this measurement, leave the microphones in your ears and put the headphones on”

EDIT: In a nutshell, the question can be reduced to what personalised calibration (if any) can be applied to the default Atmos room. Is it just load it up and that’s that, no other means of calibration, or is there stuff that can still be performed and applied to that preset to optimise for the user’s personal HRTF?