I will be going with the 2U version. While the headstand idea is cool, just not my cup of tea and I also would not have the vertical room for it in my setup.
Yep. 2U for me. I just hope that both versions go into production.
I will be going with the 2U version. While the headstand idea is cool, just not my cup of tea and I also would not have the vertical room for it in my setup.
I had à demo at Munich but... I did not really understood if It Is mainly for gamers and films or if It can be of "audiofile usage" ? Can we use our own high-end DAC and headphone Amp or do we need to use it's internal DAC/Amp ?
Also, does It works optimal with 2 chanels ONLY music files ( high-res HiFi files or TIDAL streaming) or only with 5.1 or 7.1 files/DVD for movies ?
All very good questions, chief among which I'm interested in the emphasized part.
Let's say I've already got a chain for stereo listening (PC, DAC, Amp, Headphones). Would using my own music collection or streaming benefit from the Realizer added somewhere in the chain? If yes, in what way?
....The Realiser DOES NOT "IMPROVE" anything in the playback through the headphones. It DUPLICATES the listening environment represented by the PRIR file you're using for playback, however good or bad it was.
I take it that for two channel no specially encoded music is required and that Tidal will give the Realiser the signal it needs to work it's magic?
[...]
If instead, you listened to that same 2-channel stereo music [...] it appear that you're listening to those real loudspeakers physically in front of you.
[...]
2.0 content is just as specially-coded as 5.1, 7.1, etc. You'll get the sound as if your were sitting in front of the two main speakers (assuming you don't put on any mixing / routing options).
What about rendering 2.0 content on a 5.1 PRIR or whatever? How would that work?
I think the Realiser does attempt to improve the sound, in the sense that duplicating a finely-tuned room can improve the timbre as well as the soundstage relative to a standalone headphone. For example, the Realiser can (perhaps) remove the 6 kHz peak in the HD800 if of course it does not appear in the room measurements. In fact, whether the new equalization in the A16 can do this more effectively than the A8 is an important issue, and will affect what headphones are a best match.
The Realiser A16 does not use a Sabre DAC, it uses a AK4414EQ DAC.
I will be going with the 2U version. While the headstand idea is cool, just not my cup of tea and I also would not have the vertical room for it in my setup.