[VandyMan]

Will they loose quality and make an inferior prir or just die?

For me, one channel died, but I think it had been failing for awhile because when I redid some HPEQs they sounded better with the new mics.

 

[esimms86]

For me, one channel died, but I think it had been failing for awhile because when I redid some HPEQs they sounded better with the new mics.

Now that’s a cautionary tale. Sorry you had to go through that.

 

[Sanctuary]

Looks like I'm back to owning a $4,000+ paper weight now. My HDMI ports are all pretty much dead. Last night I tried watching the opening scene of a film for testing (same film I've been using without issues previously) purposes and the audio cut out after ten seconds. Decided to go to another film that I had no problems with and as soon as I hit play, extremely loud static/white noise came pouring out, and it was so loud that it seemed like the A16 jumped up to its maximum volume, when I normally keep it at 50, and similarly with my headphone amp that I normally keep at +5. I'm lucky it didn't ruin my headphones, and damage my hearing, but my unit is now effectively dead unless I want to listen to 5.1 over optical (still works no problem).

Previously I've managed to figure out how to resolve playback/handshaking problems, and since the last major flare-up from two months ago the unit had been running pretty smoothly; with the problems my unit always had from day one anyway. Now though, it's for sure needing to be sent back. Two months ago I was waiting on word from James on whether or not I should send it back for the missing channels problem, but after a brief exchange, he simply stopped replying. Hoping this time he actually gets back to me, since I'm not just missing some channels anymore.

 

[makan]

That really sucks!!!

 

[audiohobbit]

Very sorry to hear that!
Have you tried to just reinstall the firmware?
I had a problem with the HDMI board once and just reinstalled the FW and it worked again
(however the no-sound issue with Dolby Atmos is still there but I'm still on an older FW, so maybe that's been solved in the meantime).

On startup there are some status message in the lower part of the screen and there it showed some error with the HDMI board booting.
Then I just reinstalled the FW and it worked again.

But I think your unit may have a more serious problem though, unfortunately.

 

[phoenixdogfan]

Looks like I'm back to owning a $4,000+ paper weight now. My HDMI ports are all pretty much dead. Last night I tried watching the opening scene of a film for testing (same film I've been using without issues previously) purposes and the audio cut out after ten seconds. Decided to go to another film that I had no problems with and as soon as I hit play, extremely loud static/white noise came pouring out, and it was so loud that it seemed like the A16 jumped up to its maximum volume, when I normally keep it at 50, and similarly with my headphone amp that I normally keep at +5. I'm lucky it didn't ruin my headphones, and damage my hearing, but my unit is now effectively dead unless I want to listen to 5.1 over optical (still works no problem).

Previously I've managed to figure out how to resolve playback/handshaking problems, and since the last major flare-up from two months ago the unit had been running pretty smoothly; with the problems my unit always had from day one anyway. Now though, it's for sure needing to be sent back. Two months ago I was waiting on word from James on whether or not I should send it back for the missing channels problem, but after a brief exchange, he simply stopped replying. Hoping this time he actually gets back to me, since I'm not just missing some channels anymore.

Keep us posted. You may still be on warranty, you need to contact James.

 

[VandyMan]

If it were mine, I would power down and unplug the unit, open it up and make sure that all the cards are properly seated, do a full factory restore, and install the latest firmware. If that improved things, I would then create a new HPEQ, because I've seen odd behavior using ones created with very old firmware versions, and see how it goes. Note that opening the unit might void you warranty.

 

[Sanctuary]

Very sorry to hear that!
Have you tried to just reinstall the firmware?
I had a problem with the HDMI board once and just reinstalled the FW and it worked again
(however the no-sound issue with Dolby Atmos is still there but I'm still on an older FW, so maybe that's been solved in the meantime).

On startup there are some status message in the lower part of the screen and there it showed some error with the HDMI board booting.
Then I just reinstalled the FW and it worked again.

But I think your unit may have a more serious problem though, unfortunately.

Back in February I was having an issue with the sound coming in and out, not playing at all, eARC making funny noises, PCM producing nothing but white noise etc., and was somewhat similar to this. I fixed that by many loops of Full Factory Restore > Firmware > Factory Restore > Firmware until it finally just decided to work again. That didn't work this time unfortunately. And for sure my unit has more problems than what any firmware will fix. My USB interface has not worked since day one, and my virtual rooms never played anything beyond twenty speakers period. It always seemed like one of my boards, or even a cable was faulty in some way.

The irony is that I've been vacillating on whether or not to send my unit back to get the missing virtual speaker problem fixed, because it's annoying to know that I can never have 12.1.10 with mine, despite having a PRIR made for that. At the same time, 12.1.6h gives a near identical sound field as far as I perceive it, and the only thing really missing would be the rear center, so I was mostly OK with my unit the way it was vs risking having it damaged even further during shipping, or getting a worse unit sent back. I just brought this up again to John the night before this happened too.

When I spoke to James in February asking them if they would honor the warranty, since I barely had that many hours on mine, and I was like a few weeks out of a year, he said that they would, so I'm assuming that's still the case since nothing was actually done yet about the problems I initially contacted him with.

As far as opening up the unit, I was actually seriously considering doing that to check any cables/seating problems, but didn't want to risk running into some kind of adhesive that I end up peeling as I open it, only for someone at the Smyth camp to say I then voided my warranty and it would now cost $$$ to repair.

edit: Well, that was surprisingly quick. James just told me that the static sounds like it's a hardware issue and told me to go ahead and ship it back.

 

[shmau]

Back in February I was having an issue with the sound coming in and out, not playing at all, eARC making funny noises, PCM producing nothing but white noise etc., and was somewhat similar to this. I fixed that by many loops of Full Factory Restore > Firmware > Factory Restore > Firmware until it finally just decided to work again. That didn't work this time unfortunately. And for sure my unit has more problems than what any firmware will fix. My USB interface has not worked since day one, and my virtual rooms never played anything beyond twenty speakers period. It always seemed like one of my boards, or even a cable was faulty in some way.

The irony is that I've been vacillating on whether or not to send my unit back to get the missing virtual speaker problem fixed, because it's annoying to know that I can never have 12.1.10 with mine, despite having a PRIR made for that. At the same time, 12.1.6h gives a near identical sound field as far as I perceive it, and the only thing really missing would be the rear center, so I was mostly OK with my unit the way it was vs risking having it damaged even further during shipping, or getting a worse unit sent back. I just brought this up again to John the night before this happened too.

When I spoke to James in February asking them if they would honor the warranty, since I barely had that many hours on mine, and I was like a few weeks out of a year, he said that they would, so I'm assuming that's still the case since nothing was actually done yet about the problems I initially contacted him with.

As far as opening up the unit, I was actually seriously considering doing that to check any cables/seating problems, but didn't want to risk running into some kind of adhesive that I end up peeling as I open it, only for someone at the Smyth camp to say I then voided my warranty and it would now cost $$$ to repair.

edit: Well, that was surprisingly quick. James just told me that the static sounds like it's a hardware issue and told me to go ahead and ship it back.

There's no adhesive. The top cover comes off very easily after undoing a few screws. Of course, if you are not careful you might damage the plating of the screws which would make it obvious you opened it, but other than that I doubt there's any risk. Obviously send it back as is since you have that in progress.

You might want to research a little to avoid paying taxes twice. Depending on your country you may have to file some paperwork before you ship out the item or you'll pay duty and taxes again when it comes back. I did for mine...

 

[Sanctuary]

You might want to research a little to avoid paying taxes twice. Depending on your country you may have to file some paperwork before you ship out the item or you'll pay duty and taxes again when it comes back. I did for mine...

Just had a discussion on this very issue. I will need to have the customs paperwork ready and visible, and when all of that is being filled out, making sure it's noted that it is being sent back for repairs should avoid that problem.

 

[phoenixdogfan]

There's no adhesive. The top cover comes off very easily after undoing a few screws. Of course, if you are not careful you might damage the plating of the screws which would make it obvious you opened it, but other than that I doubt there's any risk. Obviously send it back as is since you have that in progress.

You might want to research a little to avoid paying taxes twice. Depending on your country you may have to file some paperwork before you ship out the item or you'll pay duty and taxes again when it comes back. I did for mine...

You will have to pay duty and outgoing freight which can be a pretty penny. I had to ship mine back twice. I live in Tennessee, USA and each time it was shipped I was levied use tax. I was able to have the two repair levies cancelled by sending the commercial invoice which came with the shipment to the auditors, so be certain to get one of those from James and be sure it specifies something like "repair under warranty-no charge."

Although it's tempting to open the case, I would not do that until and unless Smyth authorized me to do it. Don't want to void that warranty with a $4400 piece, no matter how simple and easy you think the fix might be.

 

[gimlet]

I also had the static issue - James had it fixed and turned around within 2 weeks. Touch wood, everything has been good since then. Good luck and don’t forget the customs forms!

 

[audiohobbit]

edit: Well, that was surprisingly quick. James just told me that the static sounds like it's a hardware issue and told me to go ahead and ship it back.

Good to hear. Wish you luck!

 

[VandyMan]

Although it's tempting to open the case, I would not do that until and unless Smyth authorized me to do it. Don't want to void that warranty with a $4400 piece, no matter how simple and easy you think the fix might be.

That is totally reasonable. I'm very comfortable building computers and open most of my electronics just for fun, so I would not personally hesitate. But it is not risk free and I would advise others to decide how knowledgeable they are and how much risk they want to take. As I pointed out, and several others have said, it might void the warranty if Smyth finds out.

 

[dsperber]

You will have to pay duty and outgoing freight which can be a pretty penny. I had to ship mine back twice. I live in Tennessee, USA and each time it was shipped I was levied use tax. I was able to have the two repair levies cancelled by sending the commercial invoice which came with the shipment to the auditors, so be certain to get one of those from James and be sure it specifies something like "repair under warranty-no charge."

Back on October 1, 2021 I sent my A16 in for repair. (see Fedex story below). It traveled, arrived, got repaired, got sent back to me, and arrived at my door on October 9, 2021!!

James had told me that the "red screen - Error 002" symptom was easily fixed, but it required a "soldering job". So they had to have the unit back in their hands. It was at that time that I also decided to let them also do the 24-channel HDMI hardware upgrade, flash with the latest 2.04 firmware, pay for the license to enable DTS-X, etc. They had not yet released DTS-X to the world but it had passed certification and public release was imminent, and he said my unit would be the first one so enabled. Hardware upgrade was $500, DTS-X license was $199, 9.5% sales tax (perhaps for California?), total PayPal invoice $800.25. I think they may have paid return shipping, as I paid outbound shipping to them.

Anyway, I did NOT pay any VAT or UK-imposed use tax or customs tax or anything. Neither going or returning. Perhaps it was the way I shipped it, along with the "commercial invoice" being prepared by Fedex, for a total cost of $86. Shipped on Friday and arrived at Smyth's door the following Tuesday.

That is the only way I ship internationally is via "Fedex International Economy". Price is guaranteed by phoning the Fedex "Great Rates Hotline" (see Fedex story below).

I used the same Fedex International Economy to ship my Stax SR-009 headphones back to the Stax factory in Japan for (an expensive) repair some years ago, Again, proper "commercial invoice" and "returning for warranty repair" explanation avoided all taxes and customs fees normally associated with purchase of a new item. Again, astonishing delivery time of just 5 days or so, door to door in each direction.

Below is a copy of my email to James five days after I handed the carton to Fedex for outbound shipping to UK.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

James,

Fedex International Economy is fantastic. I shipped it last Friday afternoon and
they had estimated delivery by Thursday of this week. As it turns out they
actually delivered it TODAY (Tuesday noon, UK time)!!

I only use Fedex for international shipments (as I did a few years back sending my
Stax SR-009 back to the factory in Japan for a major overhaul/repair). Again, took
just a few days to get from me in LA to the factory door in Japan. Same story on
the way back to me from them. Just days.

I never use UPS or DHL or anybody but Fedex for international.

And it only cost me $86, going through the Fedex "Great Rates Hotline" here in the
US (which is separate phone number than the regular Fedex number), which I'm
entitled to do because I have a Fedex customer account to simplify my use of Fedex
and also to get a 20% discount on all shipping rates. The "Great Rates Hotline"
takes of another 87% discount to start from. Don't ask me why or how they do this,
but instead of paying almost $300 shipping cost it was $86.

And it got to you in 4 days... out of Customs and into your hands, and signed for.

You should look into using Fedex International Economy and "Great Rates Hotline"
(if available in the UK) for all your shipping. Just open a Fedex account and take
advantage of it.

Filling out all of the airbill paperwork (including Commercial Invoice items,
specifying "Harmonized Code" and "return for warranty repair") was done online
using the Fedex "create a shipment" dialog, specifying International Economy and
then letting the "wizard" walk me through the rest. At the end I printed the seven
pages of papers on my own printer, which I then brought to the Fedex depot along
with my double-boxed A16 for them to insert into the plastic paperwork jacket
affixed to the carton.

And it was delivered at noon today, your time. Remarkable.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Again, returned to me on October 9 (Smyth might have shipped it back through UPS) and as I recall I did not have to pay any additional fees upon delivery.