[MichaelJames99]

I'm a "Pre-Order" Customer Feb 15 2017 is when i put $700 down (partial payment) Paid the rest in May 2017 including $70 for shipping to United States.
Any idea how long Im off?

 

[sander99]

Hoping an A16 owner can answer this question. With Impulcifer I can easily generate my own HRIR because it automatically plays sweeps on all 7 channels one after another. So I hit a button and then it progresses to record. With the Smyth will it actually generate the sweeps on each speaker including the atmos height channels over HDMI?

I remember reading earlier that you had to plug and unplug via preouts etc. which is a serious pain and I'd never want to bother doing that.

(Has been discussed many times, but a small recap
No sweeps over HDMI.
Sweeps over up to 16 analog outputs. If you have a system with all analog inputs you can measure in one go (16 channels max of course). One drawback: if for example you use an AV Receiver with dsp room correction: most receivers will bypass all dsp when using multichannel analog inputs.
If you measure all channels using only one or two spekaers there is some cable changing involved.

However: with the so called asynchronous PRIR measurement (is implemented, but we don't have the necessary files yet) it will be possible to measure PRIRs without connecting the A16 to the system under measurement at all: sweeps (plus additional info and sync signals) will be played over the system from for example a usb stick. The A16, set in the proper mode, automatically syncs to the signals. In this scenario all channels (up to 24 with the new version I expect) and all dsp processing can be included.

Also is any sort of virtual room correction available? With Impulcifer I can apply whatever target room I want, for example, Harman Loudspeaker in room target. It'll flatten out the frequency response and hit the target curve while maintaining my HRIR.

No, unfortunately not.

 

[Phil86OSU]

I'm a "Pre-Order" Customer Feb 15 2017 is when i put $700 down (partial payment) Paid the rest in May 2017 including $70 for shipping to United States.
Any idea how long Im off?

I'm late December 2016 pre-order...any clues as to how close the pre-orders are once they start shipping again?

It would be great to have a surround virtualizer during the apocalypse

 

[sander99]

Any idea how long Im off?

I'm late December 2016 pre-order...any clues as to how close the pre-orders are once they start shipping again?

We have this piece of information, from wich we at least know (if true) that there are 280 pre-order units. Roughly 200 (#204 has received his) have been shipped now, so 110+280 = 390 to go. The time-line mentioned is disrupted again by the pause (hardware change). From the moment they start shipping again it would be roughly 39 weeks before all A16s are shipped (assuming 10 per week, and no new disruptions...).

!!!! Someone just mentioned on the HCFR forum a message he received from James ; it reads as follows !!!!
(This is extremely detailed information that should have been posted to all on the Kickstarter page/Facebook page instead of parcelled out to one person ???)

Thanks for getting in touch.

We have shipped out 180 Kickstarter units and have another 130 units to ship to complete all Kickstarter orders.
I estimate the Kickstarter backers should all have their units by April/May 2020.
As soon as we finish the Kickstarter units we will immediately begin shipping pre-order units.
I see you're number #261 on the pre-order list out of #280, I estimate you'll receive your unit in the 4th quarter this year.

There is an option that you can pay the retail price difference to receive your unit within 7 working days.
We do this to keep the money coming in, this ultimately allows us to keep working on the A16 and grow the business.

Let me know if this interests you.

Thanks again for your patience and support.

Regards
James

#261 ordered December 26th 2017.
Funding period
Aug 1 2016 - Sep 10 2016 (40 days).

You can estimate from your order date where you are in the line.

 

[Phil86OSU]

We have this piece of information, from wich we at least know (if true) that there are 280 pre-order units. Roughly 200 (#204 has received his) have been shipped now, so 110+280 = 390 to go. The time-line mentioned is disrupted again by the pause (hardware change). From the moment they start shipping again it would be roughly 39 weeks before all A16s are shipped (assuming 10 per week, and no new disruptions...).

#261 ordered December 26th 2017.
Funding period
Aug 1 2016 - Sep 10 2016 (40 days).

You can estimate from your order date where you are in the line.

Thanks, not sure how I missed this info! I wonder where 12/31/2016 puts me on the pre-order list. I e-mail James about once every other month and haven't got a response since September 2018.

 

[Fox1977]

On Smyth Research website, it's still written for the moment that they plan to resume shipping by the end of the month...

 

[sahmen]

I just realized something about the A-16 that I didn't know before, from one of Gilles Gerin's letters: the fact that the A-16 can act like a full-blown processor for actual speaker amplification:

"Le saviez-vous ?
En plus de sa fonction d'ampli-processeur multicanal pour 2 casques hi-fi, le Realiser A16 est aussi un processeur home-cinéma 16 canaux à part entière. Il dispose de 16 sorties analogiques non amplifiées à cet effet (et aussi pour la capture). Il permet donc, par exemple, de commencer un film sur les enceintes de sa salle home cinéma, puis, quand il se fait tard, de le finir au casque... Sans rien perdre en expérience sonore "

which I roughly translate as follows:

"Did you know? (Well, I didn't, of course)

Apart from functioning as a multi-channel pre-amp processor for 2 hifi headphones, the A-16 is also a 16-channel home theater processor in its own right (My question: what happened to the 24 channels I have been reading about lately on this site?). The A-16 is equipped with 16 non-amplified analogue outputs (or pre-outs?) serving this purpose (and also that of capturing audio signals). It allows one therefore, the option to start watching a film with one's home theater speakers, and then to complete the viewing with headphones when it gets to be late, without losing anything in the sonic experience."

What I want to know from owners who already have the A-16 in hand, is whether you have tried using it this way before (i.e. with home theater speakers and no headphones), and if so, what your impressions have been of the A-16 as a multichannel pre pro powering up to 16 actual home theater speakers...Kindly share your experiences and impressions if you have. Thanks for all helpful inputs in advance.

 

[phoenixdogfan]

I just realized something about the A-16 that I didn't know before, from one of Gilles Gerin's letters: the fact that the A-16 can act like a full-blown processor for actual speaker amplification:

"Le saviez-vous ?
En plus de sa fonction d'ampli-processeur multicanal pour 2 casques hi-fi, le Realiser A16 est aussi un processeur home-cinéma 16 canaux à part entière. Il dispose de 16 sorties analogiques non amplifiées à cet effet (et aussi pour la capture). Il permet donc, par exemple, de commencer un film sur les enceintes de sa salle home cinéma, puis, quand il se fait tard, de le finir au casque... Sans rien perdre en expérience sonore "

which I roughly translate as follows:

"Did you know? (Well, I didn't, of course)

Apart from functioning as a multi-channel pre-amp processor for 2 hifi headphones, the A-16 is also a 16-channel home theater processor in its own right (My question: what happened to the 24 channels I have been reading about lately on this site?). The A-16 is equipped with 16 non-amplified analogue outputs (or pre-outs?) serving this purpose (and also that of capturing audio signals). It allows one therefore, the option to start watching a film with one's home theater speakers, and then to complete the viewing with headphones when it gets to be late, without losing anything in the sonic experience."

What I want to know from owners who already have the A-16 in hand, is whether you have tried using it this way before (i.e. with home theater speakers and no headphones), and if so, what your impressions have been of the A-16 as a multichannel pre pro powering up to 16 actual home theater speakers...Kindly share your experiences and impressions if you have. Thanks for all helpful inputs in advance.

Good question, and I don't know because I don't have a 16 channel set up. However, the original specs for the 16 channels of analog output show a THD of .001 which is 100db of signal above distorton, and a S/N ratio of 112 db, so it should be fairly respectable.. You will of course need 16 channels of amplification and 16 speakers, but the A16 (assuming the spec is accurate) should not be your weakest link.

It also has some pretty good bass management, and if they add Dirac live....

 

[sander99]

What I want to know from owners who already have the A-16 in hand, is whether you have tried using it this way before (i.e. with home theater speakers and no headphones), and if so, what your impressions have been of the A-16 as a multichannel pre pro powering up to 16 actual home theater speakers...Kindly share your experiences and impressions if you have. Thanks for all helpful inputs in advance.

I haven't tried this yet but I am planning to. But I can already warn you about the following:
In it's current state the A16 is a extremely basic multichannel "pre pro". Because at the moment you can not even adjust the levels and delays of the individual channels. Which is a must if you are hoping for anything close to a decent result. (Unless you use 16 identical speakers and put them all at identical distance from your seating position, and even then different acoustic conditions between the speakers - different distances to walls, floor or ceiling - can cause imbalances.)
And of course there is no parametric equalizer yet (that almost every modern AV receiver / amp / pre pro has).
All the above is promised functionality but not yet implemented.
That's why I bought 4 DSP Mini4x4s, small DSP boxes that can perform a number of standard DSP functions. It is going to be an enormous job to set it all up though, the DSP boxes don't do an automatic calibration, I first have to calibrate te speakers in groups of 7 max with my Yamaha AV receiver, then manually copy the settings into the DSP boxes.
For me it is a fun project, using old used amps and speakers.
For most people it probably is wiser to just buy a new AV Receiver supporting the new formats.
Or wait until Smyth implements all this stuf (but probably they also will not implement an automatic calibration for the parametric equalizer, at least they never mentioned it).

 

[mrmac]

I just realized something about the A-16 that I didn't know before, from one of Gilles Gerin's letters: the fact that the A-16 can act like a full-blown processor for actual speaker amplification:

"Le saviez-vous ?
En plus de sa fonction d'ampli-processeur multicanal pour 2 casques hi-fi, le Realiser A16 est aussi un processeur home-cinéma 16 canaux à part entière. Il dispose de 16 sorties analogiques non amplifiées à cet effet (et aussi pour la capture). Il permet donc, par exemple, de commencer un film sur les enceintes de sa salle home cinéma, puis, quand il se fait tard, de le finir au casque... Sans rien perdre en expérience sonore "

which I roughly translate as follows:

"Did you know? (Well, I didn't, of course)

Apart from functioning as a multi-channel pre-amp processor for 2 hifi headphones, the A-16 is also a 16-channel home theater processor in its own right (My question: what happened to the 24 channels I have been reading about lately on this site?). The A-16 is equipped with 16 non-amplified analogue outputs (or pre-outs?) serving this purpose (and also that of capturing audio signals). It allows one therefore, the option to start watching a film with one's home theater speakers, and then to complete the viewing with headphones when it gets to be late, without losing anything in the sonic experience."

What I want to know from owners who already have the A-16 in hand, is whether you have tried using it this way before (i.e. with home theater speakers and no headphones), and if so, what your impressions have been of the A-16 as a multichannel pre pro powering up to 16 actual home theater speakers...Kindly share your experiences and impressions if you have. Thanks for all helpful inputs in advance.

I have had the A16 since mid August and my plan was to have it replace my old and trusted Denon AVR. However as mentioned above, it is currently quite limited as a pre pro. Since I have a family and kids, watching movies at reference levels is a thing of the past and hence I felt the A16 is the perfect night movie watching tool, and it certainly is. The need for watching films with speakers is just at low volumes with the kids and for that the A16 is fine although a bit clunky with settings and inputs (meaning not very easy to operate for my family). I hope that most of these problems will eventually be fixed and (please) if they add Dirac live, it will be a full fledged top of the line pre pro. I find it very positive that they mentioned Dirac in the recent update.

Currently I still have my AVR so I can one day hopefully make an asynchronous PRIR measurement of my room with Audessey xt32 running.

 

[You Gene]

I am trying to reconcile the Speaker map Display of our BBC room 24 channels (see Smyth web site) with the Speaker Map display in the manual page 97 :

It does not seem to check. Lbg 49 + Rbg 50 are supposed to be yellow. I must be colour-blind.
Am I comparing 2 different things ?

Thanks.

 

[sander99]

I am trying to reconcile the Speaker map Display of our BBC room 24 channels (see Smyth web site) with the Speaker Map display in the manual page 97 :



It does not seem to check. Lbg 49 + Rbg 50 are supposed to be yellow. I must be colour-blind.
Am I comparing 2 different things ?

Thanks.

The yellow speakers in that first diagram are all ground speakers, below ear height. Atmos (or Atmos 15.1.8 for sure) doesn't have ground speakers, so it's correct that there are no yellow speakers in that Atmos speaker map display. Nothing to be concerned about, maybe that first diagram is going to change in the next manual, or maybe the exact position in the diagram is not supposed to mean a lot.

 

[GeorgeA]

I’m wondering what might be the role of those ground (negative elevation) speakers. None of the currently known immersive formats (Dolby Atmos, DTS:X and Auro-3D) made use of them. Maybe Smith Research aims at manufacturing a future-proof Realiser A16.

 

[sander99]

I’m wondering what might be the role of those ground (negative elevation) speakers. None of the currently known immersive formats (Dolby Atmos, DTS:X and Auro-3D) didn’t make use of them. Maybe Smith Research aims at manufacturing a future-proof Realiser A16.

Ambiosonics, example (there are many variations) :


I don't know if Smyth plans to ever add some fucntionality for that, but don't forget: using the 16 analog inputs, or 16 channel PCM via USB, you can put in whatever you like from external devices.

 

[GeorgeA]

Thanks for ambisonics example. I think it’s a bit clearer for me now.

“Ambisonics was developed in the UK in the 1970s under the auspices of the British National Research Development Corporation. Despite its solid technical foundation and many advantages, Ambisonics had not until recently been a commercial success, and survived only in niche applications and among recording enthusiasts.”

source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambisonics