Smyth Research Realiser A16

[Got the Shakes]

So I picked up my A16 on the way to my office from UPS. I haven’t had a chance to open it and check, but based on the shape of the box I think they sent me the headstand model instead of the 2U. Have a bit of stuff to do at work before I can open it to check though.

 

[Sanctuary]

So I picked up my A16 on the way to my office from UPS. I haven’t had a chance to open it and check, but based on the shape of the box I think they sent me the headstand model instead of the 2U. Have a bit of stuff to do at work before I can open it to check though.

Oh god. Going to be fun if they can't even be bothered to check what model someone actually wanted before shipping them off. I won't even be seeing mine for at least eight months, but I already have my setup based around the 2U. Screw that ugly stand, regardless of its utility. Maybe if it was black I could swallow such a mistake, but it's reflective as hell.

 

[Got the Shakes]

Oh god. Going to be fun if they can't even be bothered to check what model someone actually wanted before shipping them off.

Like I just don’t see how the 2U would fit in the shape of the box I have unless it’s shaped and sized differently than I thought.

Weird though because in the shipping manifest I saw last week it had the serial number that definitely had 2U in it.

 

[CanMad]

@mrmac which model did you order? I ordered the 2u.

 

[Sanctuary]

Like I just don’t see how the 2U would fit in the shape of the box I have unless it’s shaped and sized differently than I thought.

Weird though because in the shipping manifest I saw last week it had the serial number that definitely had 2U in it.

The boxes look really similar, if not the same aside from where they open.

 

[Got the Shakes]

The boxes look really similar, if not the same aside from where they open.

Yup. I was wrong. I did get the 2U. Man it is quite a bit smaller than I would thought. Wide, but not deep.

 

[SierraMadre]

Mentioned this a page or few ago, but I only found three out of the 80+ PRIRs that other people uploaded (those that were done in professional studios too, and some were also even measured by those at Smyth Research), I only found three or so that did what I thought was a good center speaker and only one of them had rears that sounded like rears. I got mine used, so I no longer had the default PRIRs that came with a new A8, and for whatever reason, the originals that were uploaded did not work, so I couldn't hear how the defaults sounded.

Of the three that I found that had a good center speaker, they sounded roughly the same as Dolby Headphone. The one that had rears that sounded like rears had a worse overall timbre to the speakers though. Once I got my own PRIRs done though, they sounded way better than Dolby Headphone, and essentially like speakers. Although your mileage may vary with default/uploaded PRIRs since everyone has a different HRTF, but some can be similar enough that they might find someone else's PRIR sounds "good" to them, even if it would not be as good as making their own.

Most of them that I listened to sounded like the center was hovering way above my head. Out of my head (which can also slightly be adjusted to sounded closer or farther), but still not really right vertically. The fronts also sounded way off most of the time. Like they too were hovering.

Headphones also matter. I only have two open (or semi open) headphones right now, the Beyerdynamic DT880s (my general use headphone) and the Sennheiser HD800s. The HD800s give me the best experience overall, but for casual listening (if I have company), I can use the DT880s just fine as they still sound better than Dolby Headphone when using my own PRIR. Probably going to look into an electrostatic in the future.

The gist is: don't expect to be blown away by the default PRIRs. They might sound better to you, but they likely won't sound $1,600 - $4,000 better than Dolby Headphone.



I don't. Those that took the most risk should be the first in the queue, because often people won't do anything until they see someone else has done it before them. Unless we're talking minutes of differences between them, or you are viewing it as "everyone has an equal chance to be screwed".

Thanks so much for the swift and detailed response, Shadowrunner!
Very helpful.

 

[Got the Shakes]

For those curious, here is a packing list of what’s included in the 2U model box.

https://imgur.com/a/rS7lVmF

 

[KaiSc]

@Richter Di , @hadron70 and others
Having a professional recording studio - see http://www.katapult.de - and deep knowledge in technical acoustics, I was asked several times what I can do for owners of the A16.
After collecting information, even reading through the A8 user manual I can offer:

Doing the A16 measurements / calibration of your personal HRTF/PRIR, and HPEQ.

I have a recording room with close to anechoic conditions, well suited for this.
Reading through the A8 manual it seems that the process is better done by a 2nd person, because you need constant visual control of mic and speaker position to achieve proper results.

I do not have a Dolby Atmos room to a sample (which would be a separate process anyway), the measurements would be done one speaker position at a time, like described in the A8 manual.

 

[Sanctuary]

Yup. I was wrong. I did get the 2U. Man it is quite a bit smaller than I would thought. Wide, but not deep.

Yeah, that's what I thought about the A8 as well, and when I saw the packing box on Ebay, I thought the box was much larger than it actually was. The thing is pretty small.

 

[JohnEW]

So I picked up my A16 on the way to my office from UPS. I haven’t had a chance to open it and check, but based on the shape of the box I think they sent me the headstand model instead of the 2U. Have a bit of stuff to do at work before I can open it to check though.

When you saw the box and thought it was the headstand, was there apprehension before opening it?

Glad you received it, and it was the correct model. I have also ordered the 2U so it was nice of you to inform us what was included in the box.

 

[Got the Shakes]

When you saw the box and thought it was the headstand, was there apprehension before opening it?

Glad you received it, and it was the correct model. I have also ordered the 2U so it was nice of you to inform us what was included in the box.

There was some apprehension, but there wasn’t much I was going to be able to do it about it. I feel like trying to do an exchange internationally would have gotten messy so I was resigned to the fact that I might be stuck with a different form factor than I wanted.

 

[Richter Di]

@Richter Di , @hadron70 and others
Having a professional recording studio - see http://www.katapult.de - and deep knowledge in technical acoustics, I was asked several times what I can do for owners of the A16.
After collecting information, even reading through the A8 user manual I can offer:

Doing the A16 measurements / calibration of your personal HRTF/PRIR, and HPEQ.

I have a recording room with close to anechoic conditions, well suited for this.
Reading through the A8 manual it seems that the process is better done by a 2nd person, because you need constant visual control of mic and speaker position to achieve proper results.

I do not have a Dolby Atmos room to a sample (which would be a separate process anyway), the measurements would be done one speaker position at a time, like described in the A8 manual.

Thank you!
It would be 7.1 right?
Do you have any idea regarding the pricing? 1 person, 2 people, 3 people, 4 people, 5 people?

 

[Richter Di]

For those curious, here is a packing list of what’s included in the 2U model box.

https://imgur.com/a/rS7lVmF

Thank you!
Any idea when you will be able to have a frist test run and some photos?

 

[Got the Shakes]

Thank you!
Any idea when you will be able to have a frist test run and some photos?

I would think I’ll be able to try it out after work and snap some photos as well. I’m in the eastern time zone in the US so I still have like 6 hours before I’ll get home. I’m not 100% sure when I’m going to be able to tackle capturing a room, although that could be tonight as well. Assuming that HDMI sweeps didn’t make it into the 1.02 firmware it’s going to be a more complicated process than I originally thought.

Edit: Also there’s no manual currently so I’m not even sure I’d know how to capture a room if I wanted to.