[GeorgeA]

@dsperber Post #12,322
"You can share the following information.
(a) DTS X upgrade has recently been certified by DTS.
(b) The upgrade will be available imminently
(c) The upgrade will be accessible via download and will not require the customer to return their A16 unit.
(d) Price is $199 + taxes where applicable"

 

[esimms86]

Here's the story of my A16 getting returned to Smyth for repair, specifically to fix the "red screen Error 002" problem which they'd said was a "simple soldering job". I also availed myself of all the optional upgrades James offered.

(1) Clearly it must have been a very quick and simple repair job, because the A16 has just today now been tendered to UPS in Bangor and is scheduled for delivery back in my hands this coming Monday Oct 11. I paid Fedex shipping from LA to Bangor ($86 as previously noted) and Smyth paid UPS shipping back to me.

Truly an amazing record-setting international journey in this semi-post-covid time, since I shipped it from LA to Bangor on Friday afternoon Oct 1. Arrived at their door Tuesday Oct 5 at noon, was repaired/upgraded by Wednesday Oct 6, and shipped back to me today Thursday Oct 7, scheduled to arrive at my door on Monday Oct 11.

(2) I had asked if the original APM-upgrade to support 24-channels was still available, separate from the HDMI upgrade for eARC which I had no interest in, as was the original offer last year. I also asked about the recent information indicating that a brand new A16 had arrived with firmware 2.03 preinstalled, and also the hints that "something big and special" was going to be revealed at the Paris audio show October 28-29 suggesting possible big news about DTS certification. His response was as follows:

"Regarding the upgrade, unfortunately we can't do the 24 channel separate to the HDMI, This was originally offered but there wasn't enough demand so we didn't proceed with that method. You will receive the latest 2.04 firmware which has the DTS code embedded. Though DTS will not be enabled until we release it officially. More details will follow. If you confirm and pay ASAP we could have your unit fixed and upgraded ready to be shipped tomorrow.
Let me know if you want the upgrade, the cost is $500 plus VAT if applicable. Payment can be made via bank transfer or PayPal, all PayPal fees must be paid by you the buyer."

(3) I decided to go ahead and authorized him to perform the full upgrade, including BOTH (a) the APM110 hardware providing 24-channels, as well as (b) the HSR41T HDMI hardware providing eARC, at the price he proposed.

(4) A bit later, James sent me a second email with the following additional information:

"We could also add DTS X to your unit for $199 as that is the price we will be charging, and you would be the first to have it on a A16 unit. Let me know ASAP."

(5) Once again, I did not hesitate for a moment and immediately authorized him to do whatever was required to apply/activate the DTS X functionality in the new 2.04 firmware to be resident in my A16 when returned.

(6) I also asked him if I could share any or all of this information especially regarding DTS with the A16 community here on Head-Fi. He said I could share the following information:

"You can share the following information.
(a) DTS X upgrade has recently been certified by DTS.
(b) The upgrade will be available imminently
(c) The upgrade will be accessible via download and will not require the customer to return their A16 unit.
(d) Price is $199 + taxes where applicable"

(7) I received a PayPal invoice for a total price of $800.41, which included $699 for the newly purchased hardware and DTS:X fee, $66.41 sales tax (9.5%), and $35 PayPal fee.

Just curious, is there a reason why you already paid the DTS:X in advance of the new firmware, rather than waiting for it to be formally released? Did SR already install a beta or “final” version of the firmware on your A16?

 

[Got the Shakes]

I’m glad to hear that the Zidoo Z9X is working great for you. Unlike most people here, however, I purchased the A16 primarily for listening to music in surround (I have amassed an extensive library of anything from 3 channel to DTS Atmos, and in formats ranging from FLAC to DSD rips). Being an outlier can be expensive!

So I might be a bit off on this, but the newer Zidoo models all use the same chipsets and have almost the exact same media playing capabilities. The higher end models support adding internal HDD storage where the Z9X does not. I don’t know exactly what your setup is, but if all you care about is getting the raw audio feed from a player to the A16 the $200 Z9X would work fine. If you’re looking for something with a higher end DAC then you would need to go for the more expensive models. I haven’t tried a higher end model, but I did a decent amount of research a few months back when I ended up settling in the Z9X.

 

[dsperber]

Just curious, is there a reason why you already paid the DTS:X in advance of the new firmware, rather than waiting for it to be formally released? Did SR already install a beta or “final” version of the firmware on your A16?

They installed the very latest firmware version 2.04 in my A16 and simultaneously "activated" it for DTS:X since I paid the required $199 along with my other APM/HDMI upgrade charges. I imagine 2.04 will be publicly released fairly soon.

But apparently the DTS:X functionality must be separately "activated" (perhaps through another special serial-number-specific download or USB-delivered "activation" through the firmware upgrade manager?) I don't know how this will all work, but I'm sure they will announce the details in the near future. Bur for sure that is what the $199 fee is presumably to cover. I don't know if that's a fee required to be paid/split to DTS or just a fee for Smyth. But that's the price. And they did that install/activation, whatever's involved, on my A16 as long as it was already in their hands.

As James said others will be able to pay the same $199 fee (plus tax) and not have to return their A16 to Ireland for any physical changes. It apparently is in the new downloaded 2.04 firmware where the DTS functionality now is facilitated, but not functional unless additionally "activated" for $199.

As far as why I wasn't charged any special import duty or VAT or whatever, I don't know. The Commercial Invoice paperwork that went along with the Fedex airbill papers showed it was being "returned for warranty repair". So maybe the price (plus tax) charged to me is technically just for "parts needed for the repair", and therefore not subject to any new product purchase. In any case I certainly was not billed in advance by Smyth for anything other than what I quoted earlier.

 

[JohnEW]

Said to the wife "I require another $199 + taxes to update my A16", the reply was "WHAT.. I have not seen anything for the money you have already spent"

She has a point. It is great for the lucky few who received their A16's but for the rest of us who have not heard "a peep" (Scottish word for Nothing) in over a year officially from Smyth Research about when outstanding pre-order orders are going to be moving again.

There must be someone in Smyth Research who is able to give us an update of what the position is with our orders and how long we might have to still wait.

 

[VandyMan]

Said to the wife "I require another $199 + taxes to update my A16", the reply was "WHAT.. I have not seen anything for the money you have already spent"

She has a point. It is great for the lucky few who received their A16's but for the rest of us who have not heard "a peep" (Scottish word for Nothing) in over a year officially from Smyth Research about when outstanding pre-order orders are going to be moving again.

There must be someone in Smyth Research who is able to give us an update of what the position is with our orders and how long we might have to still wait.

I'm 99.9% certain that you will be able to buy a DTS-X license from Smyth AFTER you get your A-16. There is no reason to buy it now.

 

[esimms86]

They installed the very latest firmware version 2.04 in my A16 and simultaneously "activated" it for DTS:X since I paid the required $199 along with my other APM/HDMI upgrade charges. I imagine 2.04 will be publicly released fairly soon.

But apparently the DTS:X functionality must be separately "activated" (perhaps through another special serial-number-specific download or USB-delivered "activation" through the firmware upgrade manager?) I don't know how this will all work, but I'm sure they will announce the details in the near future. Bur for sure that is what the $199 fee is presumably to cover. I don't know if that's a fee required to be paid/split to DTS or just a fee for Smyth. But that's the price. And they did that install/activation, whatever's involved, on my A16 as long as it was already in their hands.

As James said others will be able to pay the same $199 fee (plus tax) and not have to return their A16 to Ireland for any physical changes. It apparently is in the new downloaded 2.04 firmware where the DTS functionality now is facilitated, but not functional unless additionally "activated" for $199.

As far as why I wasn't charged any special import duty or VAT or whatever, I don't know. The Commercial Invoice paperwork that went along with the Fedex airbill papers showed it was being "returned for warranty repair". So maybe the price (plus tax) charged to me is technically just for "parts needed for the repair", and therefore not subject to any new product purchase. In any case I certainly was not billed in advance by Smyth for anything other than what I quoted earlier.

Thanks for your reply. I had sent my A16 in for the APM/HDMI hardware upgrade back in 2020, however, I had to deal with the UK Customs fees, the bulk(but not all) of which I was eventually reimbursed for. Obviously, it wasn’t an easy process back then, and I’m thinking that Smyth Research may have, since then, worked the bugs out in that whole import/Customs process. Certainly, it’s now understood by UK Customs, at least in your case, that you already own the A16; why they didn’t recognize the same to be true for myself and others will forever remain a mystery to me.

I’m looking very much forward to experiencing DTS:X when it finally becomes available(I’m assuming by the end of October given Gilles’s plans for the Paris Show).

 

[phoenixdogfan]

Thanks for your reply. I had sent my A16 in for the APM/HDMI hardware upgrade back in 2020, however, I had to deal with the UK Customs fees, the bulk(but not all) of which I was eventually reimbursed for. Obviously, it wasn’t an easy process back then, and I’m thinking that Smyth Research may have, since then, worked the bugs out in that whole import/Customs process. Certainly, it’s now understood by UK Customs, at least in your case, that you already own the A16; why they didn’t recognize the same to be true for myself and others will forever remain a mystery to me.

I’m looking very much forward to experiencing DTS:X when it finally becomes available(I’m assuming by the end of October given Gilles’s plans for the Paris Show).

I sent mine back to Bangor for repair twice and had to pay US Customs fees of $130 each time. Additionally, Tennessee levied a $400 use tax on the initial importation. And there was also the nine month wait for the first return. At least I got a complimentary upgrade to 24 channels out of that.

Btw, how did you get reimbursed for the US Customs fees. If it's not too late, I would not mind pursuing that.

 

[shmau]

I finally received my unit back today, after someone managed to figure out the paperwork. It sat in a warehouse for over two weeks before moving at all and perhaps never would have moved had I not pushed them. As a final insult when the unit finally arrived here, of course they had used the wrong phone number (their own) despite me specifically requesting that they ensure it's correct and them claiming to do so, so naturally it also sat here in a warehouse for multiple days until I proactively contacted them myself and fixed the issue. Then I received a short call from customs and that was it.

And of course I had to pay the taxes again because of course.

Yes I'm salty. But I'll be alright after a while.

At the very least the original issue seems to be fixed. Now to see if there any any other issues...

 

[esimms86]

I sent mine back to Bangor for repair twice and had to pay US Customs fees of $130 each time. Additionally, Tennessee levied a $400 use tax on the initial importation. And there was also the nine month wait for the first return. At least I got a complimentary upgrade to 24 channels out of that.

Btw, how did you get reimbursed for the US Customs fees. If it's not too late, I would not mind pursuing that.

I wrote a long post detailing steps taken sometime back in, I believe, spring of 2020. Perhaps you can do a search for it. In the meantime, I’ll do what I can to narrow down the date/post number on my end. Good luck with your quest.

 

[esimms86]

I wrote a long post detailing steps taken sometime back in, I believe, spring of 2020. Perhaps you can do a search for it. In the meantime, I’ll do what I can to narrow down the date/post number on my end. Good luck with your quest.

Posts 8778 and 9990 should be enough to get you started. Best of luck.

 

[dsperber]

I have only used Fedex as my international shipper. Once to Stax Japan for repair, and now to Smyth Ireland for repair. I used the Fedex "create shipment" online wizard starting from my account, with the international breakout taking me to the extra pages for producing the "commercial invoice". It was more complicated for my SR-009 return since its value was over $2500 and additional information was required. But the A16 only needed me to come up with a "harmonized code" (i.e. commodity code), which I was able to work through myself using a secondary wizard. With my Stax SR-009 I actually had to phone the US Census Bureau department Help Desk that assigns these codes, in order to get the right number.

But in both stories, I was charged ZERO taxes or duties of any kind, to either destination. Same story in the return direction. I was never post-billed for import duties or forced to pay something before they would deliver.

I believe it was due to specifying "return for warranty repair".

 

[Dixter]

I would tell you how my shipment went but somehow it was when covid first started and the person that delivered the package just thru several packages on the door step and left so the Smyths had to work it all out on there end... so I'm not sure what actually transpired to and I was very glad to get it back...

 

[phoenixdogfan]

Posts 8778 and 9990 should be enough to get you started. Best of luck.

Thank you. Sounds like business for next week.

 

[Richter Di]

I put my money down yesterday for a one year subscription to Club Realiser. I've yet to spend time with the various specials available to subscribers but I would say that it's definitely worth the money, for me at least(as usual, your YMMV and everybody's financial situation is not the same). I need to have the manual translated but it already looks extensive, plus there are some 40 plus PRIRs(most of them captured by Gilles himself), with written explanations for each. Add in the capture videos plus one year of emailed updates and it looks like a pretty sweet deal overall. I'm also curious/excited/anxious to see what Gilles might be throwing in after the Paris Show later this month. Anyway, I'm one happy camper.

Did the same.
Now have to send them my serial number