[audiohobbit]

SVS (for 2 users) + multichannel analog out + original bitstream over HDMI

I think thats not possible. Maybe a closer look at the block diagrams could tell you what is possible and what not, but I have no idea.
The hardware is probably the limitation, otherwise they would have implemented all this in the first place.

Hybrid mode should be possible, meaning SVS + multichannel out, but bitstream + SVS, this maybe a problem.

 

[sander99]

Maybe a closer look at the block diagrams could tell you what is possible and what not, but I have no idea.

I also don't know, I was just thinking simple: HDMI inputs and outputs are on one and the same HDMI board, maybe the board can be configured to not only pass video from the input on but audio (untouched) as well. 'Extracting' audio doesn't need to mean to remove it out of the stream, does it?

 

[audiohobbit]

'Extracting' audio doesn't need to mean to remove it out of the stream, does it?

Actually I think it does. But I'm blind and talk about colors here...

 

[CaptainFunk]

Unfortunately, the lip-sync feature in 1.75 does not seem to solve the delay issues I am having with Dolby bitstreams. The audio is already late, so what needs to be delayed is the picture. A negative value does not seem to be possible.

Also, I wish they implemented just a simple switch (ideally on the remote) to enable and disable audio passthrough for the current preset. I have 3 devices connected via HDMI and I would like to passthrough audio to the TV for all of them. It looks like this is not possible currently, or rather I would need to sacrifice one device at least (HDMI 1+2 set to processing, HDMI 3+4 set to passthrough).

Still, I am happy that more and more people receive their devices and that they actively work on the firmware.

 

[Got the Shakes]

Unfortunately, the lip-sync feature in 1.75 does not seem to solve the delay issues I am having with Dolby bitstreams. The audio is already late, so what needs to be delayed is the picture. A negative value does not seem to be possible.

Also, I wish they implemented just a simple switch (ideally on the remote) to enable and disable audio passthrough for the current preset. I have 3 devices connected via HDMI and I would like to passthrough audio to the TV for all of them. It looks like this is not possible currently, or rather I would need to sacrifice one device at least (HDMI 1+2 set to processing, HDMI 3+4 set to passthrough).

Still, I am happy that more and more people receive their devices and that they actively work on the firmware.

I agree that it would be much easier to activate pass through with a single button press. I am glad that they did implement it though even in its current state as it makes my setup so much easier to use.

 

[audiohobbit]

Concerning audio delay:
CaptainFunk, could you tell us exactly what's your setup, which devices are connected how, what PRIR you use in what preset and what HPEQ?

A delay of video will not be possible in the Realiser, it had to have video processing for that which it doesn't.

Concerning audio passthrough, my personal opinion: The Realiser is very unique and very important and valuable to me. If it breaks, not so easy to get replacement or repair (who knows how long etc.)
So I would not turn on the unit when it actually does nothing.
I personally would use HDMI switches and turn the Realiser off when not really in use.
Just my 2 cents here.

 

[CaptainFunk]

Concerning audio delay:
CaptainFunk, could you tell us exactly what's your setup, which devices are connected how, what PRIR you use in what preset and what HPEQ?.

Xbox One X/PS4 both set to bitstream -> A16 decoding Dolby streams = ~100ms audio delay
Xbox One X/PS4 set to PCM -> A16 not doing any decoding work = no delay, all works as expected

As we have verified with some other people already, the Dolby decoder does seem to add quite a bit of latency. James confirmed that they are aware of this, as I have reported a while back.

 

[Juy777]

Xbox One X/PS4 both set to bitstream -> A16 decoding Dolby streams = ~100ms audio delay
Xbox One X/PS4 set to PCM -> A16 not doing any decoding work = no delay, all works as expected

As we have verified with some other people already, the Dolby decoder does seem to add quite a bit of latency. James confirmed that they are aware of this, as I have reported a while back.

This is a bit of a pity for playing Dolby Atmos games (a few are already available) since delaying the picture will cause a unbearable delay in any case. I was hoping to utilize the A16 for that purpose.
For watching movies i would have to buy a Blu Ray player which is capable of delaying the picture then, so that can be worked around.

 

[audiohobbit]

Xbox One X/PS4 both set to bitstream -> A16 decoding Dolby streams = ~100ms audio delay
Xbox One X/PS4 set to PCM -> A16 not doing any decoding work = no delay, all works as expected

What PRIRs and HPEQs do you use? What TV/projector, is the video passed through the A16 also?

I still have in mind the answer from Stephen Smyth here: https://www.head-fi.org/threads/smyth-research-realiser-a16.807459/page-445#post-15207099
Maybe it has to do something with the preset.

Strange thing is that I don't notice a difference in lipsync between PCM and Dolby.

My setup at the moment:
Panasonic DP UB 424 -> HDMI out 1 -> video only -> Projector JVC X5900
Panasonic DP UB 424 -> HDMI out 2 -> audio only -> Realiser A16 -> presets from the factory PRIR of the Surrey Room for Dolby and PCM, manLOUD HPEQ based on Surrey Room for my inears.
The Panasonic DP UB 424 is set to an audio delay of (I think) 90 ms!
For Dolby it sends bitstream to the A16, DTS is decoded to PCM and sent to the A16.


Maybe you should try a full factory reset and then try first with the pre installed PRIRs, HPEQ and preset.

 

[audiohobbit]

If the Harmony remotes will allow reusing Philips Pronto hex codes, you could try to generate all codes for the given device number (3) and frequency (37.683kHz) and try if some undocumented codes do select a specific input.

Rene

Rene, many thanks for your investigation on the remote codes. To be honest I don't understand much. I have no idea if the Harmony can use those Pronto Codes and how?
I hoped that I can teach my Harmony at least the volume keys and hope that it can repeat them with one key press (there are settings for this in the setup I think). But I haven't found the time yet. Setting up the Harmony is always a little complicated for my taste.

The question would be: Could read out alle the codes of the A16 remote and can we send these to Logitech to put them into the database?

As you seem to have some knowledge about remote IR codes: Do you think the A16 remote or the A16 unit could be "repaired" so that the key repeat functionality will work in the future?

 

[audiohobbit]

I started to look at the thread but I suspect the french backers mostly ordered through the distributor (gilles gerin I think, forgive my spelling if not quite right) and he’s taking care of them through private mailing list or such and dealing with smyth directly. I’d then argue it’s almost better to keep your and his communication separate for the sake of smyth brothers sanity but still:

Thank you Arnaud. Then I keep this separate and let them report through Gilles.

I just wanted to comment those you found:

- p67, 2 sep., falcon666 (1st backer to receive his unit i think): no batteries for the remote, nasty clips for the tracker cable (i feel the same: you will simply risk breaking the wire when trying to clip it, the channel being either too small or too rigid)

On the batteries: Oh my god... Worlds end is near... (seriously?)
On clips: Well, I haven't tried them yet, but you can't manufacture them for all cable sizes. Just take some tape or cable ties, the ones with velcro.
(Actually I can't understand why people are complaining about such little things).

- p68, 4 sep., falcon666: some A8 prirs don’t play on A16 (probably fixed by firmware update since)

Ok, didn't occur here as far as I remember. It was found out how the really old A8 PRIRs could be imported, but they managed this already as it seems.

- p69, 6 sep., falcon666: some issues with dolby upmixing (option 1 bugs, option 2 only works for atmos). I myself haven’t tried this so not sure what he’s referring too.

I'm not sure either. What does he mean by option 1 and option 2? Atmos signals are not upmixed. Seems that many Atmos streams don't use the front wides. Front wides are also not used for upmixing. Just the 7.1 part and the top speakers.
I think its the same for PCM signals. For these to set up upmixing there's another sub menu in the preset settings for user A of course, and I think it doesn't work for analogue input signals.
If he maybe refers to DTS neural X with option 2, this doesn't work at all at the moment.

But I encountered strange behaviour with a preset with upmixing, it seems that it sometimes don't show in the preset (when in speaker map mode and you press the up arrow key button). Maybe it only shows when it's actually upmixing something, I'm not sure. User B has no separate upmixing setting. If you use a preset for user A with upmixing then upmixing is done also for user B and it says upmixer on, if you switch user A to a preset without upmixing, user B shows no upmixer.

- p74, 25 sep., gearnet (maybe 3-4 people received it by now): deafening buzz in the middle of uhd playback of a dts-hd soundtrack (fixed upon reboot, supposedly fixed in FW 1.70)
- p75, 2 oct., gearnet: buzz is back in FW1.7, less loud but very frequent which makes it impossible to watch a movie (same uhd playback between pana ub9000 and lg 55c8). “This A16 is a total pos” is his harsh comment

ok, didn't happen here so far with the new FW, did it? He should report this, I think the Smyths take this very seriously. But it's always difficult to reproduce such problems in the lab that occur only randomly.

- p75, 2 oct., gearnet: same buzz using in analog in vs bitstream from the pana player but no issue with a marantz ub400. It turns out the pana was a brand new unit and arrived defective...

ok. When using stereo analogue in with my Oppo I encountered a relatively high noise floor. haven't tried the multichannel in so far (have to buy some cables first).

- p77, 10 oct., You Gene (also reported a few pages back): display unreadable from a practical distance

yes we all agree about that I think. This is already on my list and best would be to have the browser based GUI so that you can use a tablet for this.

 

[Dixter]

seems one person is reporting a success at asynchronous capture over on the French site... maybe we are close to having asynchronous capture ???

 

[Got the Shakes]

seems one person is reporting a success at asynchronous capture over on the French site... maybe we are close to having asynchronous capture ???

That would be great. The capture I have of my system is pretty good, but I would like to take a shot at capturing it without needing to connect/disconnect speakers and move around.

 

[audiohobbit]

Gentleman, listen up, I actually got a reply from Stephen Smyth and I'm allowed to post this.

He just gave answers to a few things but thanks us for putting this information up.

On the Brexit issues he wrote:

Regarding VAT and Brexit. First I would point out that all non EU kickstarter shipments require a customs invoice and we use the price paid by the kickstarter as the value. So even if VAT was to be charged again, it would only be on that value. Second, VAT was paid by us to the UK authorities shortly after the kickstarter closed, as is required when a sale has been made and money paid. VAT is not triggered by shipping product, but rather the sale. So I would be surprised if there is a problem since many companies will be in the same situation, ie sale and shipping straddling the Brexit date. Third, if after collecting VAT, a sale is subsequently cancelled, VAT can be reclaimed. So possibly we could reclaim VAT and give it back to EU kickstarters if it was to be charged again, but I don't know for certain. Forth, we are in Northern Ireland and the rules that govern our VAT may not change even after Brexit.

he added

However you should be clear that getting VAT refunds and paying this back to kickstarters are just my thoughts and it may not be possible to get refunds from the UK authorities. Anyway, I honestly don't think EU customers will be charged VAT again.

So I'd say they don't see any problems there.


On the issues he said

most problems we already know about since we have now tested over 150 systems and counting. Any issues that are reported will be fixed asap provided we see the same problem here.

He said also something about solo/mute:

I note some discussion about solo/mute buttons. This functionality is there for pro-audio users. It makes no sense to solo channels for normal operation although it can be useful to check a new PRIR.

-> my conclusion is: I will drop this from the list, for the time being. Maybe put this on a separate list which we will send them next year or so, when all the A16s are shipped.
At the moment they seem to be very busy with testing and shipping units. So it's really cool that they still found some time to give us those FW updates!

Many thanks to the Smyth Team!



He also said something about HDMI pass through:

One needs to understand how HDMI works. Downstream sink devices are interrogated by upstream sources to find out their audio playback capability. If two sinks were connected to a single source and both sources had different capability, then the question for the player is which audio stream should it send. So this is why the A16 is muted during bypass, it lets the downstream device set the audio mode in the player.

And of course he's right. The Realiser would demand Dolby Atmos for example but a TV connected to the Realiser only stereo, so both is not possible at the same time.


And I may add they are working on asynchronous measurement and browser base GUI at the moment.


Hope this makes all of you happy. I certainly am!

 

[esimms86]

I wonder if anyone here has access to s copy of the manual that Gilles prepared. If so, then would be great if they could get permission from Gilles to put it in a Dropbox and post a link for people to download. Google Translate, I assume, would suffice for people like me who don’t read French.