[esimms86]

That's great @dsperber, and thanks so much for taking this on. It's fantastic to have Lorr involved and, as a side note, I'm ecstatic to hear that the A16, in fact, has +/- 180 degrees tracking potential. I'll keep my fingers crossed that this Blackbird expedition can become a reality.

As a side note, while I'm sure that you've kept up to speed with the posts here, I'd like to reiterate the value of the Smyth's YouTube videos. In particular, be sure to check out the Basic video on transferring A8 presets to the A16 as you prepare to load your A16 with your AIX Studios preset.

 

[MichaelJames99]

Count me in on a trip to Nashville, once I actually get my A16. I'm in Louisville KY.

 

[dsperber]

Count me in on a trip to Nashville, once I actually get my A16. I'm in Louisville KY.

You'll obviously need an A16 to enjoy using a PRIR. But in truth there's nothing to prevent you from going to Nashville EARLY to have a personal PRIR measurement made at Blackbird, come away with the SD card, and then eventually use that PRIR whenever your A16 actually arrives. The two events are independent.

Let's just remain cautiously optimistic for now about Blackbird. Rolff didn't jump out of his chair and say "COME ON DOWN!". Kind of a bit of the opposite, actually. So let's see if my sincerity can persuade him.

More to come as the story develops.

 

[paulchiu]

My wife took this at home & I am on my way to the airport.

Oh well, at least it's likely not a pre-production model, at #26.
I was Kickstarter #13 - for a headstand unit

 

[CanMad]

Ah, it was the other way round, but it is probably wise also not to try the A16 mics with the A8 without consulting Smyth.
A16 manual:

Thanks, I won't try that if I have issues with my A16 mics then.

 

[CanMad]

I haven't opened the parts box yet, but I just noticed on the packing list that they DID include the two HT units I requested, along with two sets of HT cables.

Yes as I reported my packing note said the same. But they DIDN'T include the two HT units I pledged for. Please let us know if you have more luck.

I'm glad you got serial number 1 as promised.

@mrmac have you received your 2nd HT yet?

 

[Dixter]

no pics of the headstand yet.... who's going to be the first one to post a pic of the headstand they get...

 

[dsperber]

Yes as I reported my packing note said the same. But they DIDN'T include the two HT units I pledged for. Please let us know if you have more luck.

Now that I've opened the parts box, I see that I had the same missing second HT as you reported. Also all of the associated second set of cables, mounting and retaining clips, and rubber bands. So just one complete set of items (4) - (9) relating to the HT was included. Note this this isn't critical at the moment since I'm just me right now. But I had ordered to second HT for future use by "user B".

Also, again not that it's important, but my packing list said that the rack-mount ears and screws (18) were included and they were not. I may have written to James over the past year or two when unit types and details were being confirmed that I really had no need for the ears. My 2U was simply going to sit on a shelf. So I don't have a problem with their not being in the box, especially since I may have explicitly told them not to send them to me.

Also, the plug end of the power supply cable is for the UK (two round pins). It needs a UK->USA adapter for use here in the USA. Fortunately I had a couple of these available from my international travel kit so that's a non-issue.

On an unrelated matter, after the UPS driver must have gotten reamed out after my complaint the other day when he didn't deliver my A16 as scheduled, he's now just coming to my door and dropping the item and not asking for a signature, when I would have expected any expensive item that was probably insured to require a signature. The Wednesday re-delivery of the A16 simply saw the carton placed at my front door (and he took away the envelope I'd taped to the door with the check for brokerage fee), but didn't ring the bell to get my signature. Same today when my Oppo 203 arrived. Again, expensive shipment, and you'd think it would have been insured and/or at least expected a signature. Again not. Maybe I'm wrong to expect this, and I should just be happy the items are now being delivered at all!

 

[Kiritz]

I was a kickstarter supporter, though I don't know what number in the list. So far I have not received a unit and my emails to James have gone unanswered. Lorr tells me that the deliveries are coming from the UK and therefore he can be of no assistance. Does anyone have a clue on what I can expect at this point? It would seem fairly easy to simply inform those of us who supported this product's development of what is going on. But no. Apparently the Smyth's technical wizardry is not matched by interpersonal skills...

 

[CanMad]

Now that I've opened the parts box, I see that I had the same missing second HT as you reported. Also all of the associated second set of cables, mounting and retaining clips, and rubber bands. So just one complete set of items (4) - (9) relating to the HT was included. Note this this isn't critical at the moment since I'm just me right now. But I had ordered to second HT for future use by "user B".

Also, again not that it's important, but my packing list said that the rack-mount ears and screws (18) were included and they were not. I may have written to James over the past year or two when unit types and details were being confirmed that I really had no need for the ears. My 2U was simply going to sit on a shelf. So I don't have a problem with their not being in the box, especially since I may have explicitly told them not to send them to me.

Also, the plug end of the power supply cable is for the UK (two round pins). It needs a UK->USA adapter for use here in the USA. Fortunately I had a couple of these available from my international travel kit so that's a non-issue.

On an unrelated matter, after the UPS driver must have gotten reamed out after my complaint the other day when he didn't deliver my A16 as scheduled, he's now just coming to my door and dropping the item and not asking for a signature, when I would have expected any expensive item that was probably insured to require a signature. The Wednesday re-delivery of the A16 simply saw the carton placed at my front door (and he took away the envelope I'd taped to the door with the check for brokerage fee), but didn't ring the bell to get my signature. Same today when my Oppo 203 arrived. Again, expensive shipment, and you'd think it would have been insured and/or at least expected a signature. Again not. Maybe I'm wrong to expect this, and I should just be happy the items are now being delivered at all!

Yes I'm missing the complete set of hardware for a second head tracker.

I got rack mount ears even though I didn't order them.

Not that it matters the round pins are actually Europe the UK has rectangle shape pins. I had spare "figure 8" cables lying around with Australian plug so I'm OK there.

Yes I had to sign for my delivery from UPS. I signed up via their website for emails and SMS messages about the tracking status supposed to include notification of imminent arrival and delivery. I haven't received a single email or mobile phone message lol. I was just glad they rang the doorbell and didn't assume I wasn't there like they did to yourself and @mrmac.

 

[illram]

I mean, I would gladly volunteer my time helping the Smyth's set up a mail merge. This is just silly how dysfunctional this is, at this point, even if this is just a one man operation.

I also ordered a 2nd head tracker, I now eagerly await my chance 1 year from now to discover they also forgot to send mine!

 

[phoenixdogfan]

You'll obviously need an A16 to enjoy using a PRIR. But in truth there's nothing to prevent you from going to Nashville EARLY to have a personal PRIR measurement made at Blackbird, come away with the SD card, and then eventually use that PRIR whenever your A16 actually arrives. The two events are independent.

Let's just remain cautiously optimistic for now about Blackbird. Rolff didn't jump out of his chair and say "COME ON DOWN!". Kind of a bit of the opposite, actually. So let's see if my sincerity can persuade him.

More to come as the story develops.

I'm in if someone will allow me the use of their Realiser to make a PRIR. Since I live in Nashville, I can bring my HD 800s and LCD Xs. Want to know what the estimated tariff will be. Hoping it's under $500 per person, assuming you can get Blarkbird's management to consent.

 

[Dixter]

I was a kickstarter supporter, though I don't know what number in the list.

go to the kickstarter site and log on... once logged on click the blue globe at the upper right side and there select the backed project " realiser A16 " then at the top of the page on the left it will say
" your a backer " just to the right of that line you should see how much you pledged and " view " click the view and at the very bottom will be your " backer number " so far they seem to be shipping out a little more than 10 per week... so you should be able to do the math to see where you are in the line... best of luck...

 

[phoenixdogfan]

Very useful hints. Thank you.

On a related matter that's still only in the very beginning stages of forming, I've made a phone call to Blackbird Studios in Nashville. I am awaiting a call back from the studio manager to discuss the notion of renting their Dolby Atmos Studio C (which probably could also serve for linear 5.1 and/or 7.1 measurements as well without too much additional effort). Their site says $90/hour including an engineer, but depending on how many of us would be willing to fly to Nashville for such an occasion it may be needed for more than a day or two. I will also bring up the other engineering and property rights considerations and issues that have been brought up here a few weeks ago, so that we would all simply be able to use the resulting PRIR's without any concern.

I've also written to Lorr Kramer, to see if he would be willing to be contracted for one or more days to be the "chief PRIR measurement engineer" driving the whole effort. I told him we would of course cover his travel and food/lodging expenses, as well as his time... assuming he's interested. So our "group cost/person" would not only involve paying for Studio C at Blackbird but also paying for Lorr to be there. Same as we did at AIX. Haven't heard back yet.

If this gets off the ground and we have a rough idea of about what the per-person "venue cost" would be, we'll have to start with a signup sheet to find out how many people in the US and from around the world would be willing to go to Nashville and Blackbird for such an activity. Obviously there are costs involved, so not everyone would be interested. Also, if you have your own (or easy access to a) listening location that is sufficient for your needs, you obviously would have much less interest in going to Blackbird.

More to come.

How much did AIX cost on a per person basis?

 

[dsperber]

How much did AIX cost on a per person basis?

AIX was here in LA which was local to all of us. So there was no travel cost involved.

As I recall I paid Lorr $200, and I also paid Mark Waldrep (of AIX) another $200 (might have been a bit less... it was a long time ago). I think we booked 2 hours of time, to allow for setup, measurements (mine are longer), A/B comparison, breakdown, etc.