[mrmac]

Wow! I’ve been asking the Smyth’s a few times why there is no reference level implemented. And out of the blue with no previous mention, it’s here!

I’m very excited for this and can’t wait to try it out.

 

[Thomasphoenix98]

Anyone installed the update? All good?

 

[Dixter]

I installed it... haven't gone thru everything yet but they changed quite a bit so it might take a while to sort thru all of the changes...

 

[Om ma Ni]

So Far so Good...bit too early to detect any news bugs but I m running my upgraded A16 in balanced mode now...way more power an consistency in the output for the L/R HP channels..pls note that i am using and external HP amp..also noticed that the SVS rendering for the L/RWide is now fully working in Atmos format.
will need to dig out more all the new firmware improvements specifically for the Reference level calibration etc...

 

[Thomasphoenix98]

Hi guys , Thats great to hear.
btw what cable do you recommend with the HD800s for balanced ? My HP came with a dual to single XLR type cable along with the normal one .

 

[Fox1977]

Yesterday, it has been 4 years sharp since I backed the A16 on KS... I can’t wait to experiment it also, explore the menus, try to build a PRIR, discover the wonders it does...

PS: to native English-speaking members, in this sentence, I have a doubt wether I should say “it has been 4 years” or “it was 4 years”. Since I start with “yesterday”, it makes me wonder.... what’s the correct tense to use in this case ? Thanks !

 

[GeorgeA]

Previously, info on the balanced output was provided at the A16 kickstarter page
UPDATE #36, A16 Balanced Headphone wiring diagram
https://www.kickstarter.com/project...al-3d-audio-headphone-processor/posts/1952155

Is that approach in line with the new FW update?

 

[Om ma Ni]

Previously, info on the balanced output was provided at the A16 kickstarter page
UPDATE #36, A16 Balanced Headphone wiring diagram
https://www.kickstarter.com/project...al-3d-audio-headphone-processor/posts/1952155

Is that approach in line with the new FW update?

Not sure ...the way my A16 is connected in balanced mode atm is :
HP A RCA output (back panel of A16) to male 3 pin XLR to my HDVD800 (Left channel in A16 balanced mode)
HP B RCA output (back panel of A16) to male 3 pin XLR to my HDVD800 (Right channel in A16 balanced mode)
So using 2 x RCA / male XLR cables , i ordered them as custom made cables from Moon audio ages ago while waiting for the A16....

 

[sander99]

Previously, info on the balanced output was provided at the A16 kickstarter page
UPDATE #36, A16 Balanced Headphone wiring diagram
https://www.kickstarter.com/project...al-3d-audio-headphone-processor/posts/1952155

Is that approach in line with the new FW update?

Yes, you can see that in the release notes of the firmware:
https://smyth-research.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/A16-firmware-1.98-24-July-2020.pdf

Not sure ...the way my A16 is connected in balanced mode atm is :
HP A RCA output (back panel of A16) to male 3 pin XLR to my HDVD800 (Left channel in A16 balanced mode)
HP B RCA output (back panel of A16) to male 3 pin XLR to my HDVD800 (Right channel in A16 balanced mode)
So using 2 x RCA / male XLR cables , i ordered them as custom made cables from Moon audio ages ago while waiting for the A16....

I already suspected this is also possible, although this is not what many users will do. The main rationale about bridging the headphone amps is to exploit the fact that there happen to be 2 stereo amps on board anyway - of which one would be unused anyway when the A16 is used by one person - and you can get more power out of them this way and it is easy to implement.

So Far so Good...bit too early to detect any news bugs but I m running my upgraded A16 in balanced mode now...way more power an consistency in the output for the L/R HP channels..pls note that i am using and external HP amp

Using the external amp with balanced inputs won't give that amp any more power, but it may seem that way to you because of a larger gain (I expect) at the same volume setting.

 

[GeorgeA]

Yes, you can see that in the release notes of the firmware:
https://smyth-research.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/A16-firmware-1.98-24-July-2020.pdf

Thanks for guidance. I’ve compared the two schematics and they are pretty the same.

 

[audiohobbit]

Funny, at the weekend I just DOWNgraded from 1.91 to 1.81 because I seem to have many problems and thought this was due to 1.91. But seems also that my manLOUD HPEQ I created for my inears may have something to do with it also.
I'm not sure, but created a new one whichs sounds even better.
I also just noticed with Atmos demo pink noise that the front wides have not been used and steered to the front L and R. Since this wasn't mentioned in the 1.90/1.91 update (which is a bit unfortunate) I also thought that this is a malfunction. At least this turned out not be one. But maybe some other things were due to this "experimental" Atmos decoder they talk about in the update.
As another one here said I didn't get sound out of the HP and this was reproducible, always after turning the unit on. I had to wildly change presets back and forth every time.
I also had a (or the?) buzzing noise once, and with the Atmos demo pink noise once I got a very loud white noise on all speakers which was really ugly.
And the presets always lost their settings, and the volume level changed by itself, well not really by itself, but as I already wrote, for exapmle it is at 74 and I press vol+ then it suddenly drops to 70 or something like that.
But the latter two bugs seem to be FW independent with my unit, I got this all the time.
Maybe the presets losing some settings has to do with the internal SD card they talk about. My unit also froze several times.

 

[castleofargh]

It would be mostly important to folks that have most if not all of their headphones all ready set up for Balanced connections... and its nice to have double power... the definition of " Balanced " these days is somewhat miss-leading.... for the A16 its more like " isolated Left/Right bi-amped output " ... it will be interesting to see if the HD800 scales with this update... it does seem to respond well to more power...

Usually you'll get double the voltage(because the audio signal is generated by both ends of the wire so you end up with twice the electric potential), meaning a loudness of +6dB at any volume setting. If you feel all fluffy inside when hearing about bigger power values, good news! P=V²/R so it's 4 times the max power.
bad news, the 4X power balanced is conditional on you listening louder by 6dB(which would also be the case single ended BTW).

 

[audiohobbit]

Just began to inspect the new update release notes closer, now it seems that I got the explanation for my volume drops:

Headphone Clip Attenuation Override
The A16 headphone volume control (user A and user B) is implemented inside the SVS rendering DSPs using a digital gain control. A consequence of this approach is that it is relatively easy to clip the PCM signal output to the headphone DACs (as well as the SPDIF transmitters and USB stereo line out) when a high-volume setting coincides with high input signal levels. To mitigate this potential problem the A16 steadily reduces the digital gain (volume) each time a clip event is detected, thereby ensuring the listener is not subjected to sustained clipping distortion. In practice this means that the A16 will automatically reduce the dialled in volume during loud portions of the sound track until clipping ceases. The problem can normally be avoided either by moving the A16 gain slider (L-M-H) on the front panel to a higher setting when the headphone is directly by the A16, or by increasing the headphone amplifier gain when using an external headphone amplifier. Previously any automatic reduction in volume setting was not reflected on the A16 display until an attempt to adjust the volume was made by the user. As of rev 1.98, the volume shown in the top right-hand corner of the speaker rendering page will now match the actual gain in real time.

That's exactly what I encountered.
And yes I saw occasional clipping in loud movies when watchting the Audio Meters.
I drive my in ears only in the mid gain setting because they are so sensitive that even in mid gain there's a relatively high noise floor.

 

[esimms86]

Yesterday, it has been 4 years sharp since I backed the A16 on KS... I can’t wait to experiment it also, explore the menus, try to build a PRIR, discover the wonders it does...

PS: to native English-speaking members, in this sentence, I have a doubt wether I should say “it has been 4 years” or “it was 4 years”. Since I start with “yesterday”, it makes me wonder.... what’s the correct tense to use in this case ? Thanks !

“As of yesterday, it’s been exactly four years since...”

“It was 20 years ago today/(that)Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play”

 

[Dixter]

I sure wish they would sell the Sgt Pepper album that they did for the ATMOS music demo - I just listened to the Beatles " Love " in 5.1 surround and its so nice on the A16...