Smyth Research Realiser A16

[sander99]

I updated and can confirm that audio passthrough is now working.

What I didn't understand from the description: can you pass through HDMI audio and have it SVS processed over headphones at the same time?
And the minimal 50 ms mute (relating to the old 10 second silence problem): can it be completely turned off or not?

 

[Got the Shakes]

What I didn't understand from the description: can you pass through HDMI audio and have it SVS processed over headphones at the same time?
And the minimal 50 ms mute (relating to the old 10 second silence problem): can it be completely turned off or not?

Not sure about the mute thing as I haven't messed with it and don't have a setup where it's even been something that has been a problem for me. From what I can tell with the audio passthrough is that it's either SVS processed and sent to your headphones or bypass is enabled and it sends untouched sound to your tv and doesn't allow for any listening via headphones.

 

[esimms86]

On Kickstarter yesterday backer #81 announced that he received his pre-shipping address confirmation email.

 

[Richter Di]

On Kickstarter yesterday backer #81 announced that he received his pre-shipping address confirmation email.

OMG it is getting closer.

 

[audiohobbit]

Is it christmas already (new firmware...)? .

 

[dsperber]

New features looking good!

I must confess... I sent my own email to James a few weeks back, which summarized my own thoughts and suggestions for how the user interface could be greatly improved. These ideas correspond to the two main items I've been "proposing" here for a while now. Looks like they have acted on my ideas, very much like I proposed.

It's clear from this latest firmware upgrade that they definitely listened and agreed and acted quickly, if not quite exactly the same way I most recently proposed in this forum. But they've now absolutely invented a solution to re-allocate the numeric keypad area (via a Settings option, whereas I would have made it "dynamic" by use of the ALL and TEST keys pressed repeatedly to toggle the numeric keys in or out as either live/music-loop speaker solo or preset 1-9 selectors). I do think having it "static" through a Settings option is a bit restrictive, and requires too much effort to go back and forth (when individual speaker solo is actually desired). I think they might consider my use of ALL and TEST pressed repeatedly to toggle back and forth as a further improvement to usability.

Also, they've now allowed INPUT/SOURCE to be stored in the preset, rather than be a "global" value. This is really incredibly useful, I think we'll all agree.

The only thing "on my list" still not implemented is that power-on VOLUME should also be stored in the preset. Given how quickly they placed allowing INPUT to be picked up from the preset (via main menu toggle for that switch), I'm sure it would be similarly quick and easy for them to also put power-on VOLUME in the preset.

And, as has already also been discussed, it does seem that the LS/RS keys (in the upper Top Key group) should actually solo the Ls/Rs speakers when using a 5.1 PRIR, rather than not. It's a bit counter-intuitive to actually have the LS/RS keys pre-assigned to the Lss/Rss speakers (which are only in 7.1 and higher PRIR's), and isn't the way the A8 remote has it engineered. with the A8 remote the left-side and right-side speakers are solo'd by the LS/RS keys (as you would intuit), no matter whether using a 5.1 or 7.1 PRIR and no matter what angle those speakers are at. I don't feel it should be up to the user to manually assign two speaker solo keys in the numeric keypad area just to solo Ls/Rs when using a 5.1 PRIR.

Nevertheless, great progress!! I'm out of town for a few weeks so I can't try the new change (from MDS) regarding CD audio navigation via HDMI and "stutter", to see if this finally does solve the problem. Presumably there should have been no need for "auto-mute" interval at all, and I would have expected them to have implemented a 0ms value (which doesn't exist right now) as the way to let the user understand there is no auto-mute active. Having any non-zero value (including 50ms) display seems confusing, if the feature is not active any longer.

 

[audiohobbit]

I must confess... I sent my own email to James a few weeks back, which summarized my own thoughts and suggestions for how the user interface could be greatly improved.

I thought so...

This means they listenend to you, but not to my efforts with the list. So totally useless what I'm doing.
(I suppose the SVS Bass will still be flawed and produces strange distortions. But seems that I'm totally alone with this, no one else even bothers to test this at least. )

 

[audiohobbit]

Also, they've now allowed INPUT/SOURCE to be stored in the preset, rather than be a "global" value. This is really incredibly useful, I think we'll all agree.

No. Not as it seems implemented at the moment. As I understand it you either have the input fixed set in the preset, but then you can't change the input as you want, or the old way.

I want to use a preset with more than one input. Don't want to create a preset for every input.

 

[audiohobbit]

I do think having it "static" through a Settings option is a bit restrictive, and requires too much effort to go back and forth (when individual speaker solo is actually desired). I think they might consider my use of ALL and TEST pressed repeatedly to toggle back and forth as a further improvement to usability.

Again: What the screw is so important about soloing the speakers all the time??
You admitted yourself that its not so important and you don't do it always.
There are things way more important!
So please: Let it be as it is now and don't bother them anymore with those relatively unimportant things. Thank you.

 

[dsperber]

I thought so...

This means they listenend to you, but not to my efforts with the list. So totally useless what I'm doing.

I'm sure that's not true. My guess is that they're absorbing user feedback and bug reports, which is obviously now coming fast and furious now that so many users (both head-fi and "professional") now finally have an A16 in their hands and are actually trying to use it. And they're dealing with everything in some priority order, as they see it.

You see how quickly they addressed genuine major show-stopper bugs and problems, such as "the buzz" and the "stutter" related to navigating CD audio fed through HDMI. And now with 1.75 they've made some very useful user-interface enhancements that they probably never realized were so important before our feedback.

It's one thing for developers to use the device in a lab or on a programmer's desk, or for occasional demos, and another thing to see how a real user uses it in a house or theater or bedroom environment. The screen is small, and close-up it's readable but from five feet away or more it's essentially impossible to read menu items. So being able to use the remote "in the dark" through finger-memory, and not have to depend on reading tiny characters on a screen... it clearly becomes much more fundamental and important when you have "ordinary civilians" (including family members) try to use the device and get frustrated with the amount of tech-savvy required.

So (a) not being able to have INPUT implicit in a preset, and (b) not being able to select a preset "in the dark" with a fixed single button (like the P1-P4 of the A8 remote)... these now are BIG DEALS, just as big as "the buzz". If you can't just pick a preset "blind, single-click" and have its default INPUT automatically likewise selected, well I guess they just never realized how important that would be until they left it out and users began complaining.

(I suppose the SVS Bass will still be flawed and produces strange distortions. But seems that I'm totally alone with this, no one else even bothers to test this at least. )

As the user community really begins to grow, I'm sure there will be lots of "exotic" features that surely will be very important to some but not to others. And this will definitely influence the intensity with which you experiment.

For example, my own focus is on USING the A16 (with my pre-existing A8 PRIR's). I have never actually "created" a PRIR myself (since Lorr "engineered" mine at AIX), and even today have zero knowledge of the steps involved. Hence my focus on good and bad points about the user-interface, for USING the device.

I'm sure Smyth will continue to respond to all of our inputs, over time, in reasonable priority order. Pretty remarkable what "biggies" they've already managed to successfully address. And I'm sure tweaks and improvements will continue to come out, even when a first step was good but not quite right.

 

[dsperber]

No. Not as it seems implemented at the moment. As I understand it you either have the input fixed set in the preset, but then you can't change the input as you want, or the old way.

I want to use a preset with more than one input. Don't want to create a preset for every input.

I agree. As I said I'm not home right now so can't actually try the new firmware, and see if I understood it properly.

But if what you say is correct, then that's not right. The INPUT in the preset (like power-on VOLUME, had they implemented that as well) is simply the default initial starting value for the in-memory preset. And it would get loaded at power-on from the NVRAM values for that unique preset, stored from the in-memory values the last time that preset got SAVED. But that doesn't (or shouldn't) prevent you from changing either INPUT or VOLUME in that in-memory preset storage, and having those values persist across changing to another preset and then coming back to the original preset. Each in-memory preset should have whatever "dynamic" values you set, only initially defaulting at power-on to whatever the last-saved NVRAM values were for that preset. At least that's how I would have designed it.

And of course requiring navigating through the menu and Settings just to get back to where you COULD changes INPUT... clearly that's not user-friendly.

 

[dsperber]

Again: What the screw is so important about soloing the speakers all the time??
You admitted yourself that its not so important and you don't do it always.

It IS important. And it IS useful... on occasion, when you need to do it. So much so, apparently, that Smyth decided to invent an enhanced "group" speaker function for the OH button, rather than just have it allocated for the single TOP-CENTER speaker. And, now that it's available, that DOES make sense.

So tying up 12 keys for occasionally used speaker solo when there were ZERO keys for the commonly used preset-selection function... obviously that is important. Inventing a way to have BOTH (not lose what's currently available, but add a second set of key functions) that's a terrific improvement. But then to create a convoluted cumbersome multi-tap + navigate (and require being able to read what's on the screen) way to switch between what are now two ways to utilize the keys, that's worthy of feedback... and a suggestion for some additional "polishing".

There are things way more important!

Well, to you "async PRIR creation" is really important, because of your situation. To me, with my pre-existing AIX PRIR's and the availability of the factory-provided BBC room for 9.1.6, it doesn't mean much all. I'm an A16 user, not a PRIR creator. I want to use it from my bed, in the dark and from across the room, while watching movies. So easy intuitive usability "in the dark" is most important to me. But It's all important, just different things to each of us.

 

[audiohobbit]

The audio source can now be specified in User A presets. The original audio source selector located in the home page remains, but it must be disabled for the system to use audio sources specified byUser A presets.

Well, to you "async PRIR creation" is really important,

For a lot of users, not only me!

But the speaker solo thing seems only important to you.

I totally agree with easier preset selection but the solo-ing, as it is now, is ok to me, and maybe to most other users.

 

[sander99]

Well, to you "async PRIR creation" is really important, because of your situation. To me, with my pre-existing AIX PRIR's and the availability of the factory-provided BBC room for 9.1.6, it doesn't mean much all. I'm an A16 user, not a PRIR creator.

You are really an exception in that you have your PRIRs. Everyone wants to be a user, but needs a good PRIR for that. And they don't want to become full time 'PRIR creator', they want a simple way to do it. At this moment it is very unpractical, the asynchronous measurement method makes it extremely easy. That's why it is very, very important for most people even if not all of them know/understand it yet themselves!
A simple fast way to do a PRIR is important for one more reason: not every measurement is equally succesfull. It is generally advisable to do a few tries and see what comes out best. In the current situation that soon means a days work. With the asynchronous measurement method you could do 5 tries in 15 minutes!

 

[audiohobbit]

Exactly.