[musicday]

For the owners of A8, how is the build quality? I have never seen it and i would like to know what we will expect in A16.

 

[dsperber]

Another option is to upmix the 5.1 source to 7.1 channels. The A16 will have the Illusonic upmix for example.

I have my 5.1 in P1, because it gets by far the most use because I mostly watch HDTV. I have my 7.1 in P2, so if I am playing a BluRay it's just a quick push of one button on the remote. Easy enough to deal with one button-push when I have to.

I'm already quite accustomed to manually pushing a button for optimal results if I have to, so I don't mind a quick push of P2 on the A8 remote in order to then enjoy a 2-hour movie. My DVR doesn't have "native" output resolution capability, which would put out 720p if the source is 720p or put out 1080i if the source is 1080i. I feed HDTV source into my Oppo's external HDMI input, and I want the Oppo to do the up-convert to 1080p for feeding to my Panny, because the Oppo does a fabulous job.

So although I could just leave my DVR at 1080i (which is most channels, except Fox-owned and Disney-owned) and let it up-convert 720p to 1080i so that I would never have to think about it or push any buttons ever, the visual results of the DVR putting out 720->1080i, and then the Oppo putting out 1080i->1080p, the results are dreadful. The optimal visual results on the Panny come if I feed 720p source to the Oppo as true 720p, and 1080i source to the Oppo as true 1080i... even though this requires me to push a "set output resolution" sequence of six button pushes, in order to manually set 720p when I'm currently at 1080i, and vice versa. So that's what I do, if I have to.

Now to minimize this activity, since I'm always watching recorded programs and never watch anything live, I sometimes actually pick sequences of 720p or 1080i recordings to watch, simply so that I can not have to change output resolution for each program if I go back and forth.

But one button P1/5.1 or P2/7.1 for the Realiser, when it's P1 90% of my viewing, I can deal with it and not complain.

 

[SergioPOE]

If you play 5.1 source material, for example, through a 7.1 system, won't the two side speakers simply be ignored? I don't know how the A16 will handle it, but I plan to get a PRIR in a 7.1.4 system at a local audio store and I assume that if I listen to 5.1 content, that it will only play 5.1 channels, or that I can upmix it if I want, but I certainly don't plan to get a 5.1 PRIR, and then one for 7.1, and another for 7.1.2, 7.1.4, etc.

 

[SuperDuke]

I plan to use the A16 primarily w/ a 2 CH set up. Will the Amplifier used make a significant difference in creating my PRIR?

 

[blubliss]

I bet I've heard that Egyptian pre set on the Out of Your Head Software.... it's exactly as you described it

No, I think that's my PRIR. I was there that day too. The Out of Your Head dude took that and has used it commercially without ever asking. I am pretty certain it has to be mine because I am one of three people who were there and I'm the only one to have shared it on that dropbox site. I guess he could have taken it from Smyth when he had something to do with them. Either way, he never replied to me when I asked the question...

 

[cachi]

No, I think that's my PRIR. I was there that day too. The Out of Your Head dude took that and has used it commercially without ever asking. I am pretty certain it has to be mine because I am one of three people who were there and I'm the only one to have shared it on that dropbox site. I guess he could have taken it from Smyth when he had something to do with them. Either way, he never replied to me when I asked the question...

Just curious, had he asked. Would you have said yes? I think he should have asked because he was after all using your time.

 

[blubliss]

Just curious, had he asked. Would you have said yes? I think he should have asked because he was after all using your time.

Not sure, maybe not if I had known about the Smyth shenanigans (which I'm not going to say anything else about because I don't know any more). I did hear he told someone else he had gotten all those measurements himself...which is obviously not true since he wasn't at the Egyptian Theater with us.

 

[cachi]

Not sure, maybe not if I had known about the Smyth shenanigans (which I'm not going to say anything else about because I don't know any more). I did hear he told someone else he had gotten all those measurements himself...which is obviously not true since he wasn't at the Egyptian Theater with us.

Yea I am pretty sure he didnt measure them on his own ears since I recognize all those presets form the dropbox demo hrtfs

 

[cachi]

Has anyone tried to create a near field hrtf in a non-studio setting. I was thinking someone could get one decent near field studio monitor then measure it while sitting near field to avoid room acoustics. Would this work, or would the mics pick up the room acoustics even in a near field configuration close to the listener?

 

[Erik Garci]

Has anyone tried to create a near field hrtf in a non-studio setting. I was thinking someone could get one decent near field studio monitor then measure it while sitting near field to avoid room acoustics. Would this work, or would the mics pick up the room acoustics even in a near field configuration close to the listener?

I mostly make near-field PRIRs at home. The mics still pick up the room acoustics, but the room acoustics become much quieter relative to the direct sound, and placing the speakers farther from the walls minimizes early reflections.

 

[cachi]

I mostly make near-field PRIRs at home. The mics still pick up the room acoustics, but the room acoustics become much quieter relative to the direct sound, and placing the speakers farther from the walls minimizes early reflections.

How well does the realiser emulate speakers at lower volumes? does it still sound like speakers playing but at low volumes? or Do you need to crank it up to the level that the sweeps recorded at to make it sound real?

Wouldnt recording sweeps at high volume have the inherent room acoustics at that volume and therefore playing the realiser at lower volumes than recorded would sound off? Not sure if I am making myself clear. The room response at quiet levels , I would think, is much different than at higher levels.

 

[Sordel]

How well does the realiser emulate speakers at lower volumes? does it still sound like speakers playing but at low volumes?

Great question. I do wonder, though, whether you'll really want to listen to films at very low (equivalent) sound pressures. I would expect to listen between low-medium and high-medium volumes: a narrow collar and one that I'd think that the A16 would handle well.

 

[cachi]

Great question. I do wonder, though, whether you'll really want to listen to films at very low (equivalent) sound pressures. I would expect to listen between low-medium and high-medium volumes: a narrow collar and one that I'd think that the A16 would handle well.

I agree with the listening level of movies, but I also would want to listen to alot of music with the realiser. Since I can easily spend hours listening to music, I would want to adjust volume to a level that my ears would not get fatigued and still allow good detail to come through. Hence, my interest in lower volumes.

 

[sander99]

With the A16 it will be even easier because you can let the A16 choose a PRIR automatically based on the source format.

Re-reading the "A16 UI overview.pdf" I have to correct myself here I think. The automatic selection I was thinking of only selects based on the source being Atmos, DTS:X, Auro3D or PCM, not 5.1.[whatever] versus 7.1.[whatever] as far as I understand the document.

 

[castleofargh]

How well does the realiser emulate speakers at lower volumes? does it still sound like speakers playing but at low volumes? or Do you need to crank it up to the level that the sweeps recorded at to make it sound real?

Wouldnt recording sweeps at high volume have the inherent room acoustics at that volume and therefore playing the realiser at lower volumes than recorded would sound off? Not sure if I am making myself clear. The room response at quiet levels , I would think, is much different than at higher levels.

the correction is based on fairly loud volume level, because otherwise you might have issues with the ambient noise in the room getting close to the musical content. and that's certainly not something we wish to emulate if we can avoid it. so yes playing at lower levels is likely to be the identical correction with lower gain. but don't worry you'll feel the same because most of the changes you perceive from a quiet listening are psychoacoustic more than acoustic. the room doesn't change, the speakers are hopefully pretty linear(and the better they are the more linear they should be), so not much of a reason for big objective changes IMO.