[You Gene]

Have a look inside your new A16 :
https://www.homecinema-fr.com/forum...view-hcfr-liens-en-post-1-t30075654-1650.html

 

[Got the Shakes]

James just invoiced me for shipping. It was $100 total. A lot better than the $400+ I spend on getting it there.

 

[esimms86]

James just invoiced me for shipping. It was $100 total. A lot better than the $400+ I spend on getting it there.

My invoice was for $70 for shipping a Kickstarter unit to Massachusetts. I assume that it’s insured for the original Kickstarter value of 774 pounds.

 

[Got the Shakes]

My invoice was for $70 for shipping a Kickstarter unit to Massachusetts. I assume that it’s insured for the original Kickstarter value of 774 pounds.

Im guessing mine is insured for the full retail value since I paid the difference last year to get my unit quicker. Also it’s going to Michigan which is a bit further distance obviously. Honestly $100 is fine to let them do all the work. I really wanted nothing to do with trying to buy my own label and schedule the pickup. Next is going to be trying to file for some of my import fees back from the UK, but I feel like I still don’t know how to obtain some of the info needed for that...

Edit: Looks like it’s cleared outbound customs and I now have a delivery date of Monday.

 

[CaptainFunk]

An interesting find , my realiser has a firmware version from June 15 2020 , 1.95 .

I also received my upgraded A16 today and interestingly, the firmware version is 1.96

Still setting everything up but eARC seems to be disabled still, so I am guessing that will come in a future firmware update.

 

[Got the Shakes]

I also received my upgraded A16 today and interestingly, the firmware version is 1.96

Still setting everything up but eARC seems to be disabled still, so I am guessing that will still come in a future firmware update.

Hopefully soon! This is one of the main reasons I went through the upgrade process.

 

[Dixter]

There is a screen that shows the present configuration of the A16.... hit the menu key on the remote and on the next page locate the Audio Source and navigate to there... once there hit the enter key on the remote and the A16 should display another screen that shows some info on how the A16 is configured.... at the bottom right side it shows the eARC and some parameters that I have no knowledge of what its truly telling.... but it does show that eARC is enabled... perhaps when the A16 is plugged into a eARC TV it will show if the eARC is doing its job or not... I don't have an eARC TV so I can't confirm... I'm just pointing you to the screen that might help with the eARC...

 

[You Gene]

I just read on the German hifi forum : http://www.hifi-forum.de/viewthread-110-16664-25.html

...My A16 is back with the upgrade, but I have big problems with the firmware (1.96). The device freezes after a few minutes and any Dolby Stream sounds distorted and a loud "Bzzzzzz" sounds, so all that remains to do is to switch off. James promptly got in touch and suggested playing 1.91 again to see if it was a hardware problem. With 1.91 the problems are gone, but now I can no longer use Dolby Sound Rooms but only PCM, although Dolby is probably decoded in the background, strange thing. I already told James, let's see what happens.
Does anyone happen to have the same problems after upgrading? If not, did you also have the 1.96 firmware installed? It doesn't seem to exist online yet...

 

[audiohobbit]

Here's the solution of the Firmware-Riddles, coming from Stephen:

Rev 1.95 and 1.96 include a tone generation feature that allows us to directly test the 24-ch output from the MDS decoder board. Apart from that it is no different from the released version.

This means no eARC working with those versions I suppose.

 

[Dixter]

Here's the solution of the Firmware-Riddles, coming from Stephen:

This means no eARC working with those versions I suppose.

Hard to tell on the eARC... I don't have a eARC TV but on the A16 it says " eARC enabled "
I am testing out as much as I can at the moment with the new hardware.... the HW and the SW are very HDMI centric....
so far, if you want to get the best out of the A16(24) you need to have a source that is bitstream HDMI mode that I have tested via my OPPO player... the Apple TV 4K is putting out lossless PCM...
I have been testing now for 3 days and have no errors to report....
my laptop has HDMI out but it isn't bitstream capable so it goes to PCM mode over HDMI also...
the upmixer might not have all of the SW parameters yet either.... for PCM you can choose to upmix only on inputs HDMI or SPDIF and only selection is Dolby Surround or Direct... maybe a firmware to update this ???
This is with FW 1.96

 

[Got the Shakes]

Hopefully in short order they’ll have firmware to enable eARC. I changed my entire gaming and media setup to take advantage of eARC with the upgraded A16 (and the HDMI 2.1 features on my tv). Until they enable it there will be no surround sound for gaming unless I rewire everything which I really don’t want to do.

 

[audiohobbit]

Well the 1.90 release notes say at the bottom

Imminent A16 Features (APM110/HSR41T hardware)
1)Add eARC audio source
2)Extend ALL/ASYNC PRIR measurements to 24 channels
3)Extend OH key group to 10 overhead/height speakers

Imminent means yet to come as I understand it.
You could check one of the other features listed like the 10 OH solo keys, if this is not yet working (which I expect according to release notes) then eARC won't either I suppose (although even with the 16ch version and FW1.91 it says something about eARC in some menus I noticed).

the upmixer might not have all of the SW parameters yet either.... for PCM you can choose to upmix only on inputs HDMI or SPDIF and only selection is Dolby Surround or Direct... maybe a firmware to update this ???

AFAIK the upmixer runs on the APM-board(s) and those can only handle digital sources. This is also true for the bass and treble (shelving) filters they added (in System, Setup, Misc), they're specifically named APM-XX Bass and Treble.
So I think this can't be fixed by FW update.
At the moment DTS isn't licensed so the only upmixer available is that of Dolby. So I see no fault here.

It doesn't have any parameters that's right. I'm not fully aware if the DSU has parameters on AVRs. Do you know that?

What I noticed:
When setting up a preset and you want PCM to be upmixed by the DSU, you have to also switch on the DSU for the Dolby Source.


Btw. Stephen says as I understood they tested all upgraded units twice. It may be a mechanical error (probably caused by transport) with the unit of the unlucky german user. They're in contact with him.
That's one reason why I am so hesitant to ship my unit back to Smyth for an upgrade i don't really need.

 

[Got the Shakes]

Well the 1.90 release notes say at the bottom


Imminent means yet to come as I understand it.
You could check one of the other features listed like the 10 OH solo keys, if this is not yet working (which I expect according to release notes) then eARC won't either I suppose (although even with the 16ch version and FW1.91 it says something about eARC in some menus I noticed).


AFAIK the upmixer runs on the APM-board(s) and those can only handle digital sources. This is also true for the bass and treble (shelving) filters they added (in System, Setup, Misc), they're specifically named APM-XX Bass and Treble.
So I think this can't be fixed by FW update.
At the moment DTS isn't licensed so the only upmixer available is that of Dolby. So I see no fault here.

It doesn't have any parameters that's right. I'm not fully aware if the DSU has parameters on AVRs. Do you know that?

What I noticed:
When setting up a preset and you want PCM to be upmixed by the DSU, you have to also switch on the DSU for the Dolby Source.


Btw. Stephen says as I understood they tested all upgraded units twice. It may be a mechanical error (probably caused by transport) with the unit of the unlucky german user. They're in contact with him.
That's one reason why I am so hesitant to ship my unit back to Smyth for an upgrade i don't really need.

I assume eARC will be the highlight of the next firmware release on their site and I would think they would want to do that soon since eARC capable units are going back to upgrade customers and presumably KS backers soon.

Damage during shipping has been my greatest concern of this whole upgrade process. I have my fingers crossed that everything is functioning correctly when my upgraded unit gets here Monday.

 

[esimms86]

I believe that my A16 is still in the UK but I received a call and a subsequent email from UPS in Philadelphia, PA. They sent me a "TOXIC SUBSTANCE CONTROL ACT DECLARATION" form to print, fill out, sign and email back to them so that shipping can proceed forward. They basically need me to state that no hazardous chemicals are being shipped into the US. I expect that other folks in the US will be receiving the same call.

 

[Got the Shakes]

I believe that my A16 is still in the UK but I received a call and a subsequent email from UPS in Philadelphia, PA. They sent me a "TOXIC SUBSTANCE CONTROL ACT DECLARATION" form to print, fill out, sign and email back to them so that shipping can proceed forward. They basically need me to state that no hazardous chemicals are being shipped into the US. I expect that other folks in the US will be receiving the same call.

Mine is in the US and seems to have departed Philadelphia today with no issues (best I can tell) and they never had me fill out any forms. I did need to provide them with my SSN again like last time since I don’t have a tax ID. They did ask me when I was providing that info if the shipment had any wood in it though.