I really afraid Smyth Realiser will not do well on Kickstarter. They must have a really awesome product, however the marketing is not there yet. Take the A8, really different and nice product, but high price and was sabbatical for a few years, now no one heard of this awesome technology. On the other hand, some company like LH Labs did an awesome job on marketing for their crowdfunding project on a "not very new" technology Dac & Amp, but raised millions.
Based on the interest on this thread, this is worrying. I really like to preorder the A16 on kickstarter and Smyth Research doing well.
yes. Take lh labs Geek Out and Pulse. They raised huge interest on head fi and some reviewer. But now they dont get much praise except from the crowd they've raised interest from. Im not saying they dont have a good product, but it is no way close to what they claimed. Successful crowdfund campaign, not the product. But is also a shame if the reverse is true for Smyth
Interesting question, but I don't think the Kickstarter will ultimately determine the A16's long-term success.
I read a pretty eloquent and thought-provoking article on LinkedIn yesterday about Pokémon Go "hitting its popularity peak" and how getting past that peak will be good for the game and the overall income for the game developers. Recommended read: https://www.linkedin.com/e/v2/pulse?e=32mnxu-ir5y0bnb-9&a=pulse_web_view_article_detail_new_url&midToken=AQFhLyEC3br7BQ&ek=b2_content_ecosystem_digest&li=14&m=hero&permLink=why-pokemon-go-peaking-great-game-dan-porter
The relationship of Kickstarter hype, Geek Out hype, to the Pokémon Go hype would be, in my mind, that Smyth definitely would benefit from the influx of early adopter cash, but they already have a proven technology to expand on and wouldn't experience the hype bubble-burst and product fragmentation issues experienced by LH Labs. LH Labs may have gotten a large Kickstarter funding, but then they were plagued by production speed issues, over-marketing tons of stretch goals and add-ons and eventually new product launches before even delivering on their first product, and generally the Ok-sounding units weren't a big hit in the community and didn't create a lasting interest. I know one Kickstarter-enthusiast friend who bought some super-special-edition SKU of the geek-out, and maybe a pulse, but he had a really hard time selling it because of the pretty widespread counter-hype that followed the unsatisfied early adopters.
Smyth might suffer if they were over-hyped. The new product has every indication of being astounding, but the setup and technical aspects require a certain type of customer – eyes wide open to the setup process and benefits, a bit of a technical mind to understand and perfect the customization, and a vested interest in the benefits of surround. You know, my budget isn't that big, but the other side of the coin on the A16's higher cost of entry is that any potential customer who comes across the A16 will have to think, weighing the cost versus the benefits. The cost compared to the $70 Waves NX should weed out non-enthusiasts, and hopefully provoke some research and thus learning. The best customers for Smyth will carefully consider if it suits their desires, and take the time to personalize their setup before passing judgement.
For example, I'm the wrong customer for the OOYH software. I got to attend my first CanJam at last year's RMAF, and was handed a pair of headphones in the middle of Darin's video demo loop. I could tell something surround-y was happening to the audio, but "Eh," I didn't feel transported into the Transformers sequel movie that was playing. Luckily for Darin I won't bash his product for not amazing
me, but I was still "the wrong customer" to experience the demo because the effect wasn't calibrated for my ears, I wasn't interested in the movie and the scene mostly had a lot of action right in front of me while I know myself enough to know I respond more favorable when I can hear a sound ambiance all around me (I want to hear the surround in a surround demo), I primarily enjoy surround when it's interactive as in games (like head-tracking, that improves immersion or "presence") and there were no interactive game demos, and lastly the software was PC only while I like game consoles, movies on a TV screen, and the freedom of different music sources. I'm the "wrong customer" to have heard the demo because I don't have anything nice to say about the OOYH software, and I didn't give Darin any business due to the demo. That's not to say OOYH wouldn't be fantastic for the target market, but it's not for me.
Right now, I have and enjoy the Creative X7. It has some settings adjustment sliders and a few bands of parametric EQ, but no custom HRTF calibration or headphone auto EQ (it does do speaker EQ). It does suit my apartment/townhouse/late night usage scenario beautifully. The directional effect works pretty well, and the right headphones almost sound "out of my head" like speakers, enough anyway that I get good immersion and gaming utility. I don't think I'd be interested in the Smyth if I haven't been monkeying around with Creative and Dolby Headphone surround DSPs for years... but, to me, the Smyth A16 Realiser looks like the current summit of the surround experience. The A16 would suit my application even better, I'm fascinated by the tech and willing to carefully do the setup, and while the price still makes me wince, I am still able to look at the price and consider it, especially the early-bird price.
