[GeorgeA]

@Andi123
I should’ve written earlier: welcome among those who appreciate the illusion of listening to speakers through headphones.

 

[jk6661]

James helped me figure it out. Another setting on the player was wrong.

 

[KMann]

Hello,
I'm interested in the Smyth Realiser A16 but a haven't quite understand how to calibrate it and Im not sure if I could manage it when I buy the Smyth Realiser, so I hesitate to buy it. As I understand it, the Smyth Realiser only works satisfactory, if it is calibrated to my ears. But how to do this ? Do I need a surround system with real loudspeakers to calibrate the Smyth Realiser ? I Want to buy the Smyth Realiser to avoid to buy a surround system. (A surround system is to loud for the neighbours, by the way).
So how does the calibration works. Can I put the microphones in my ears and put my Sennheiser HD800 headphones over it and calibrate, or need I real loudspeakers to do so ? Where in the menu of the Smyth Realiser can I start this calibration? Is it called HRTF ?

FWIW: I was hesitant as you and got my A16 only very recently. My biggest issue was not having acces to a Atmos setup where I can do my PRIRs. What convinced me to make the leap was trying some sound demos from 3DSoundShop, so a the very least, it would be a good idea to check them out, since you are using HD800, tonality should also be reasonable. If you are happy with the localization, then BRIRs from 3DSoundShop may be a good stop gap before you fully learn your A16 and find access to a place where you can do your own measurements (at least that is the approach I have taken). My main use case is Movies, if my intent was music listening only, I would not have got the A16 if I did not have access to a really good 2Ch setup better than what I have at home.

 

[GeorgeA]

James helped me figure it out. Another setting on the player was wrong.

If that’s not a secret maybe you’d write the solution here to help others.

 

[audiohobbit]

+1 to this, and I wish the man Loud will go below 563Hz, part of the reasoning may be because it is really hard to judge loudness levels below 500Hzand also because bass is not affected much during PRIR measurements. but just having the ability to do this would help us add say a bass shelf or even out some wiggles in the room response.

My understanding was always that autoHPEQ also doesn't do anything below 500 Hz!
At least with the A8 I think this was true, I even think it was in the manual somewhere.

 

[esimms86]

In addition to what @GeorgeA wrote

let me advise you to become a member of the Club Realiser at https://www.smyth-realiser.fr/ Although you might not speak French with the help of DEEPL.COM you can easily translate it. Besides you get a very easy 25 page manual for the A16 and the Club also includes the files you need for the so called asynchronous capture mode.

DEEPL also offers a free 30 day trial for the starter and advanced editions. After that, it’s $6.99 and $22.99 per month for each, respectively. I plan to hold out until Gilles’s updated manual is released.

BTW, Club Realiser can only be renewed “manually” so you can’t be automatically charged for renewal because you just plain forgot to unsubscribe.

 

[Camano]

My understanding was always that autoHPEQ also doesn't do anything below 500 Hz!
At least with the A8 I think this was true, I even think it was in the manual somewhere.

The autoEQ frequency sweep starts below audibility (<20Hz). I don't know if the A16 equalizes everything in the sweep, but I know it fixed the bass problem for me.

 

[KMann]

My understanding was always that autoHPEQ also doesn't do anything below 500 Hz!
At least with the A8 I think this was true, I even think it was in the manual somewhere.

With A8 (which I have but no longer use), it split the EQ into three bands 0-5k, 5-10k and 10k-24khz and had compression factor associated with each band (1, 0.7 and 0.3), which means it will fully invert 0-5k but only partially invert higher frequencies. I may have also read that there is some smoothing involved and it would not try to over correct the higher frequencies. With my own PRIR and HPEQ with A8, I was quite happy with the tonal balance

 

[KMann]

My understanding was always that autoHPEQ also doesn't do anything below 500 Hz!
At least with the A8 I think this was true, I even think it was in the manual somewhere.

I have to add that, I have never used headphones that needed EQ in the bass or lower mids, so subjectively, I cannot tell if it were doing anything, but I hope it is.

 

[audiohobbit]

Of course the sweep goes from 20 Hz to 20 kHz, but the EQ doesn't do anything below 500 Hz I think. Or to be more precise. 0-500 Hz is one frequency band.
I have to look for the info or the quote from Stephen, I had lots of E-Mail conversations with him in the past.

I have different over ear headphones which I auto EQ'd for the A16 and I'm quite sure that they all had their differences in the bass even after auto EQ, for example the DT770 was more bass heavy than the LCD2, which seems to be more natural (flat) in the bass, even after auto HPEQ.
But this was 2 years ago and maybe I mix s.th. up here.
Simple measurements between flat and auto EQ could clarifiy this, but again: no time...

 

[audiohobbit]

got a little bored last night so I decided to tackle the IP Command Server https://smyth-research.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/A16-IP-command-server-May-2020-1.pdf

and actually once I got it working I can see where it could have some good value.. right now its limited in functions but the Smyths did indicate it could be made better at a later date as in you could use it while sitting in a chair and performing the PRIR routines from an ipad.... that would be great to have

I used an older ipad mini for setting this up and it seems to work pretty good... if you have trouble reading the small screen of the A16 from across the room then you should like this option...
reading the document can be a little dry but they do explain it and added content that you may or may not care about... as in they ramble quite a bit, but its better to have too much info than not enough info.. so all if good in the end....

the short version:
1. Open your home router and look to see what IP address isn't being used... for example 192.168.254.66 is what I chose.. the 66 being the key here
2. Plug in a ethernet cable to the A16... settings...Network...change the address to 192.168.254.66 and turn on TCP command server...
3. load the ipad with the Centrocontrol app from the app store(its free)... then point the ipad camera to the QR code to load the A16 code
4. goto the ipad settings... scroll to centrocontrol to set the address to 192.168.254.66 and channel 4101
5. run the centrocontrol app and it connects on its own and wala... you now have the display of your A16 looking back at you from your ipad....

one nice item is one of the screens has 12 buttons and each button is there for you to switch virtual rooms... so you can flip back and forth to different setups easily to compare... so you can have 12 different speaker setups just there to select on your ipad.... pretty cool function...

thanks.

I just ordered a refurbished 6. gen ipad from the Apple store, since I only have Android devices. There is a Centro Control Android App also but DemoPad only sell it with one of their products and I'm not sure if it is the same version as the ios app.
I even had a conversation with Stephen about the Android App with no conclusion, so I'm tired of waiting now, and your post just convinced me to spend the money and order me a refurbished ipad
I did want one from the Apple store, not from any other dealer, and when I looked last year there were none of the cheaper ones available, now there are.
It's only the 32 GB version but I hope this will suffice for just a few apps I need for the home cinema (Centro Control, Logitech Harmony, Oppo, ...)

 

[phoenixdogfan]

DEEPL also offers a free 30 day trial for the starter and advanced editions. After that, it’s $6.99 and $22.99 per month for each, respectively. I plan to hold out until Gilles’s updated manual is released.

BTW, Club Realiser can only be renewed “manually” so you can’t be automatically charged for renewal because you just plain forgot to unsubscribe.

The async files alone justify the price.

 

[jk6661]

FWIW: I was hesitant as you and got my A16 only very recently. My biggest issue was not having acces to a Atmos setup where I can do my PRIRs. What convinced me to make the leap was trying some sound demos from 3DSoundShop, so a the very least, it would be a good idea to check them out, since you are using HD800, tonality should also be reasonable. If you are happy with the localization, then BRIRs from 3DSoundShop may be a good stop gap before you fully learn your A16 and find access to a place where you can do your own measurements (at least that is the approach I have taken). My main use case is Movies, if my intent was music listening only, I would not have got the A16 if I did not have access to a really good 2Ch setup better than what I have at home.

BD Audio MIX was set to "on". It should have been off. (Sony UPB X-800)

 

[phoenixdogfan]

thanks.

I just ordered a refurbished 6. gen ipad from the Apple store, since I only have Android devices. There is a Centro Control Android App also but DemoPad only sell it with one of their products and I'm not sure if it is the same version as the ios app.
I even had a conversation with Stephen about the Android App with no conclusion, so I'm tired of waiting now, and your post just convinced me to spend the money and order me a refurbished ipad
I did want one from the Apple store, not from any other dealer, and when I looked last year there were none of the cheaper ones available, now there are.
It's only the 32 GB version but I hope this will suffice for just a few apps I need for the home cinema (Centro Control, Logitech Harmony, Oppo, ...)

What's the earliest generation IPad that will run Centro? Is there anything even cheaper than a 6th Gen? For me, running Centro would be the exclusive use for the Ipad, so no point in spending for any capability in excess or that.

 

[Dixter]

What's the earliest generation IPad that will run Centro? Is there anything even cheaper than a 6th Gen? For me, running Centro would be the exclusive use for the Ipad, so no point in spending for any capability in excess or that.

The mini ipad I am using is an older model... its the Ipad mini 3 with 128GB