Smyth Research Realiser A16

[phoenixdogfan]

Two months would be nice. I’ve set my sights on sometime before the official start of summer. While I would like to think that Dolby would put the retest on a fast track, I don't know if that’s a reasonable or correct assumption. I also know that fixing one software bug can often create another software bug elsewhere in the code. Bottom line is that Dolby will have to run retests on the entire firmware.

All this optimism presupposes it won't take them six months to do new firmware.

 

[esimms86]

All this optimism presupposes it won't take them six months to do new firmware.

In the end, our personal optimism or pessimism doesn’t affect the outcome. Of course, it gets here when it gets here. Like many of you, I’ve been waiting since the summer of 2016 when I first placed my order. Also,the rollout of the A8 from first orders to finally materializing in the marketplace took far longer than the A16 has taken thus far. I’m as firmly grounded in reality as you are. I do know, however, that the A16 is a one of a kind technological tour de force and I will welcome it’s arrival on my doorstep when the day finally arrives. Like you and everyone else, I hope that that day comes sooner rather than later. I also look forward to one day seeing an A16 impressions thread.

 

[jgazal]

I agree with @esimms86 about a new impressions thread. As @dsperber is going to receive his unit first, he could start such thread as soon as he receives his own unit, signaling that the A16 is available for purchase to anyone else.

 

[Azurik]

April 2019 Update



In the last few days we received a report from Dolby relating to their compliance and certification tests. There are a small number of issues that need to resolved, and we’re working on replicating the problems and then fixing them. We believe that all of the issues can be resolved with a firmware update, which will allow Dolby to quickly retest the device. It’s difficult to put a timeline on this, but when we have issued the updated firmware to Dolby, we will let you all know by way of a short update.

At the AES 2019 show in Dublin we were demonstrating the Realiser operating in two modes. One application was as an immersive audio monitoring tool, using the USB port for 16-ch playback of PCM tracks from an audio workstation, whilst the second application was more consumer oriented, decoding Dolby Atmos bitstream tracks from a Blu-ray disk. The overall response to the demos was very positive, and it was particularly encouraging to see the high level of interest from students and educators from all parts of Europe.
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Looking how everything is going, I’m really happy I cancelled my order and got my full refund when I did. I was really excited and had everything paid off. Still got emails from James where he promised the release by December 2017.

I got no doubt the A16 will eventually release at some point but I didn’t want to take my chances.

 

[wink]

..

 

[audiohobbit]

Well, we all are.

But now you can blame Dolby for that...

 

[jgazal]

We cannot blame Dolby. They are securing that the A16 will work with all Dolby systems in all possible configurations. It takes time. There are so many possibilities...

 

[sahmen]

"We believe that all of the issues can be resolved with a firmware update... It’s difficult to put a timeline on this, but when we have issued the updated firmware to Dolby, we will let you all know by way of a short update."

And then what next? I bet those who were expecting shipping within a maximum of three months took one hard, nervous, gulp after reading that last sentence.

He he he! You have got to love that "difficult to put a timeline on this" part... Maybe we should place a Smyth trademark on that sentence, since the Smyths are so great at making their timelines elastic, and practically wrote the textbook on the elasticity of the timeline?

Anyway, to make all this talk about elasticity more fun, here's a dude who seemed to bet a little too much on it, in handling--of all the possible elastic things in the world-- a condom!!! :

Oh yeah... You will need to have a little sense of humor to get this one

 

[m8o]

I came here for one reason .... to say "Sigh....".

 

[MichaelJames99]

For me, my biggest concern is they run out of funding. This product is 90% there (maybe a little more). They are doing demos across the world it seems. The Certification is on the last legs allegedly which will take some firmware or software changes (how in depth these are, we do not know). It would be interesting to know how many total A8 units were sold world wide and how many backers (people who have put money down in some way) there are. It appears this will be the same target audience as the A8 (super home theater users, professionals vs. mass marketed.. pricing into the $4k range shows that I beleive).

 

[phoenixdogfan]

For me, my biggest concern is they run out of funding. This product is 90% there (maybe a little more). They are doing demos across the world it seems. The Certification is on the last legs allegedly which will take some firmware or software changes (how in depth these are, we do not know). It would be interesting to know how many total A8 units were sold world wide and how many backers (people who have put money down in some way) there are. It appears this will be the same target audience as the A8 (super home theater users, professionals vs. mass marketed.. pricing into the $4k range shows that I beleive).

They would not be the first Kick Starter to go belly up after successfully developing the product but before ramping up to produce it in quantity.

 

[Richter Di]

I came here for one reason .... to say "Sigh....".

2x

 

[esimms86]

They would not be the first Kick Starter to go belly up after successfully developing the product but before ramping up to produce it in quantity.

This is, admittedly, off topic, however, it is relevant to our discussion of Kickstarter. I received an email today from Kickstarter stating the Yarra 3DX sound bar is getting ready to ship. I would imagine that there would be significant overlap between the backers of Yarra 3DX and the A16.

 

[L8MDL]

The Yarra email actually said production was beginning next week. That's 45-60 days from any shipping date.

 

[esimms86]

The Yarra email actually said production was beginning next week. That's 45-60 days from any shipping date.

I still take it as good news for myself and others. I, after all, had already mentally assigned the Yarra 3DX to the dust bin of other Kickstarter companies, like OSSIC X and LHLabs. Now, it appears that it may actually ship before the A16.