[Om ma Ni]

I use the subpac behind my sofa back cushion and it works great with the A16. I have it pretty well at the minimum level.

what are your settings with the A16 and the subpac?

 

[makan]

what are your settings with the A16 and the subpac?

Here are my settings in my atmos room. The subpac is just on low volume but of course is adjustable to your liking.

 

[m8o]

...I wonder how many more of such parlor tricks he is got left up his sleeve...

Was that communique before or after their DAC chip fabricator's fire and subsequent world-wide shortage of the devices necessary to complete the A16s?

 

[Om ma Ni]

Here are my settings in my atmos room. The subpac is just on low volume but of course is adjustable to your liking.

In your tactile settings what are the 2db and 10db stand for?

 

[Dobrescu George]

I have awesome news my friends!

I'm almost done posting my video review, along with my full written review about the A16.

It took me a really long while, and this is probably the review that I took the most to fully complete, but honestly the sound is really worth all the effort.

I managed to get everything going, do some measurements, and finally be able to tell you that I am impressed. It is as good as everyone in here has been saying

 

[casinorob]

Deleted

 

[sahmen]

Was that communique before or after their DAC chip fabricator's fire and subsequent world-wide shortage of the devices necessary to complete the A16s?

Not sure about when the fire or shortages occurred or were announced, but I received that note from James on December 14, 2020; that is, smack dab inside the pandemic, so I suspect any related disasters had already occurred and that most people were well aware of the shortages you're referring to... At any rate, here is a copy of the note from James Smyth, with my own contact information removed:

************
James Smyth <james@smyth-research.com>

Mon 2020-12-14 11:16
To: ...

Hi ...,


Sorry for the late reply.

You're still on the list for delivery of the A16, you are pre-order number #226
We have almost completed KS order and once that's complete we will begin pre-orders.
I understand your frustration, but our aim is for everyone who has pre-ordered to receive a unit.
The real issue is that the KS price we established initially doesn't even cover the costs to make the A16, so we got the pricing wrong.
So at this point we either pack it in and pay everyone's money back, this would result in bankruptcy, or we put a number of units aside and start to sell at retail price to make some money and ship KS at the same time.
It's a juggling act really. On top of that there is essentially 3 people working full time making who don't even make minimum wage, so everything we is to keep the lights on in the hope of getting through this backlog and start moving forward with the business.

I really appreciate your patience and I know it's not nice, but everything we are doing is to make sure everyone who has paid will get their unit, because the day they don't is the day our doors shut and we're finished as a business.

I expect that your unit will be shipped early 2021.

Again I'm sorry for the extremely long wait, but your unit will be delivered.


Best Regards
James

*********************

Funny thing is that there is something so touchingly candid about the letter it almost makes me want to shed a tear... And then he had to go and spoil it all with that improbable and implausible "early 2021" shipping promise, which only got me thinking that he was probably taking me for some kind of "easy mark" chump.

 

[phoenixdogfan]

My new problem. The headtracker powers up, lights green, and then apparently doesn't track my head. I know this b/c my set top lighting pattern does not change when I change the orientation of the headtracker. Also when I hit the HT button on the remote, the display remains at 0 degree elevation and azimuth regardless of how I re-orient the headtracker. And, yes, it is set to optical. Anyone run into this and have an easy fix?

 

[sander99]

My new problem. The headtracker powers up, lights green, and then apparently doesn't track my head. I know this b/c my set top lighting pattern does not change when I change the orientation of the headtracker. Also when I hit the HT button on the remote, the display remains at 0 degree elevation and azimuth regardless of how I re-orient the headtracker. And, yes, it is set to optical. Anyone run into this and have an easy fix?

You didn't by any chance set "Disable HT" in HT settings and forgot about it?
Checked the cables? (Try another cable if you have that.)
If you have 2 headtrackers (?) did you try the other one?
You have the proper side of the headtracker "visible" to the settop?
Tried a power-off power-on?

 

[Dobrescu George]

We finally have a product for absolutely everyone ~

If you're a basshead, Home Theather fanatic, audiophile, soundstage addict, or pretty much anything else related to audio-video, including gamer, this one will be quite interesting!!

The Smyth A16 Realiser is a DAC/AMP/HT/DXP Processor that basically can drive two headphones at once, but can also EQ them, add 3D soundstage, improve the bass, and add head tracking abilities to your system and improve on your VR experience, basically doing a lot of tasks, rather than being just a DAC or DAC/AMP!

I made a full in-depth written review about it, pairing with more than 10 headphones throughout the review, comparing it to some other high-profile competitors, and also did my best to let you know just how good it is in actual daily usage~

Smyth Research really did something nice here, and I hope my review is fun to read, and if you have questions, I am around to help~

https://www.audiophile-heaven.com/2...-headstand-dac-amp-3d-stage-for-everyone.html

 

[sander99]

@Dobrescu George:
I'm sorry but after reading a small part of the review I began to feel uneasy and decided to search for some key words in the text:
PRIR: zero occurances
HPEQ: zero occurances
binaural or virtual: zero occurances
emulate or simulate or render: zero occurances
speaker: 1 occurance ("it creates the feeling of a real multi-speaker setup ... inside your headphones")

You compare it to DAC/Amps?
The core functionality of the A16 is to do a binaural simulation of loudspeakers over headphones, that should be the first thing to mention (and explain what it means).
Okay, that sentence "it creates the feeling of a real multi-speaker setup ... inside your headphones" could do but it should have been somewhere in the first five lines or so, not halfway through after more than 100 lines of text.

I didn't read everything, but I do wonder: did you do a PRIR measurement (of loudspeakers in a room) yourself?

 

[audiohobbit]

I didn't read everything, but I do wonder: did you do a PRIR measurement (of loudspeakers in a room) yourself?

No, he didn't. He mentions it in the review, but I can not quote it, since the site is protected from copying text.

I totaly agree that George either didn't get what the purpose of the Realiser really is, or couldn't explain it to the readers of the review, or both, and so the review unfortunately is a bit confusing to read and understand.

 

[Dobrescu George]

No, he didn't. He mentions it in the review, but I can not quote it, since the site is protected from copying text.

I totaly agree that George either didn't get what the purpose of the Realiser really is, or couldn't explain it to the readers of the review, or both, and so the review unfortunately is a bit confusing to read and understand.

I may do a secondary article with the PRIR. Still need to get around it.

So far, I already had the unit for a long while and wanted to share my thoughts about it.

I used the PRIR files that are default.

@Dobrescu George:
I'm sorry but after reading a small part of the review I began to feel uneasy and decided to search for some key words in the text:
PRIR: zero occurances
HPEQ: zero occurances
binaural or virtual: zero occurances
emulate or simulate or render: zero occurances
speaker: 1 occurance ("it creates the feeling of a real multi-speaker setup ... inside your headphones")

You compare it to DAC/Amps?
The core functionality of the A16 is to do a binaural simulation of loudspeakers over headphones, that should be the first thing to mention (and explain what it means).
Okay, that sentence "it creates the feeling of a real multi-speaker setup ... inside your headphones" could do but it should have been somewhere in the first five lines or so, not halfway through after more than 100 lines of text.

I didn't read everything, but I do wonder: did you do a PRIR measurement (of loudspeakers in a room) yourself?

It is simpler to read it entirely and ask after doing so... Every writer has his own style, I try to always improve mine, so any advice on that is really welcome!





As a reviewer, I make articles mostly for people who do not have a product already. So information that is really technical and easy to understand for owners won't get the point across. Hearing what PRIR and HPEQ is would complicate things a lot in the mind of a new reader, so I explained it using more common terms, and that you can measure room and headphones, and EQ the headphones, trying to stick to terms that a beginner, someone new to something can understand. Also, I tried to avoid being redundant compared to the info that the official Smyth Research videos and materials covers already, to offer a new perspective.

Smyth Research makes some awesome videos where they explain better what their products do and how they work, which should help a lot more than me making the same thing. In the end I did make two videos, one where I go step by step making the HPEQ files, and one where I do a full review, but both also avoid info that is too technical since the content is not aimed at owners, but at people who either don't know it, or are considering it.

I am still improving and learning, and if in general there is more request for something I try to offer it. Generally my readers even now send me hundreds of mails literally with really basic questions, like what is that, how to explain things in more basic terms, so I try to adapt to those.

It ain't even for cheap products, some people purchase a Mytek Brooklyn DAC+, and then mail me to ask what the VU meters are and how do they work, or how to connect that to headphones and speakers.

This is the instruction set from Smyth Research

 

[phoenixdogfan]

I may do a secondary article with the PRIR. Still need to get around it.

So far, I already had the unit for a long while and wanted to share my thoughts about it.

I used the PRIR files that are default.



It is simpler to read it entirely and ask after doing so... Every writer has his own style, I try to always improve mine, so any advice on that is really welcome!





As a reviewer, I make articles mostly for people who do not have a product already. So information that is really technical and easy to understand for owners won't get the point across. Hearing what PRIR and HPEQ is would complicate things a lot in the mind of a new reader, so I explained it using more common terms, and that you can measure room and headphones, and EQ the headphones, trying to stick to terms that a beginner, someone new to something can understand. Also, I tried to avoid being redundant compared to the info that the official Smyth Research videos and materials covers already, to offer a new perspective.

Smyth Research makes some awesome videos where they explain better what their products do and how they work, which should help a lot more than me making the same thing. In the end I did make two videos, one where I go step by step making the HPEQ files, and one where I do a full review, but both also avoid info that is too technical since the content is not aimed at owners, but at people who either don't know it, or are considering it.

I am still improving and learning, and if in general there is more request for something I try to offer it. Generally my readers even now send me hundreds of mails literally with really basic questions, like what is that, how to explain things in more basic terms, so I try to adapt to those.

It ain't even for cheap products, some people purchase a Mytek Brooklyn DAC+, and then mail me to ask what the VU meters are and how do they work, or how to connect that to headphones and speakers.

This is the instruction set from Smyth Research

I guess what I am confused about after reading the review is whether you used on a Smyth's Prsets like the 16 channel atmos BBC prir or whether you bypassed that stuff entirely and just used it as a conventional stereo headphone dac/amp with the only processing being the specialized EQ (HPEQ) (which is indeed do-able).

 

[Dobrescu George]

I guess what I am confused about after reading the review is whether you used on a Smyth's Prsets like the 16 channel atmos BBC prir or whether you bypassed that stuff entirely and just used it as a conventional stereo headphone dac/amp with the only processing being the specialized EQ (HPEQ) (which is indeed do-able).

Did both, liked using the 16-Ch Atmos BBC PRIR more, was a unique experience all in all

Bypassing still gives a beautiful presentation, but the best sound is clearly when using the default 16 CH PRIR Setting