[You Gene]

Seeing as how they survived as a company with the Realiser A8, I'm not worried about Smyth Research disappearing as a company. They never had any real competition for the A8, let alone the A16. Granted it's a very niche market, but Smyth Research completely owns it now. It's unfortunate that they weren't able to get any other hardware manufacturer to license their codec and system, because that is really their longer term goal. I think the sheer complexity of the PRIR and HPEQ measurements is what keeps it out of the realm of the masses. I think they should offer a more generic set up that is more or less a Dolby Headphone competitor, as pretty much every company has abandoned Dolby Headphone for far inferior codecs.

I agree 100% about the complexity and would like to add that the accessories for all measurements are very amateurish to say the least and do not correspond to the professional tool that is the Realiser A16.

I would have expected something like that (without knowing anything about this contraption) ; I am not saying this is what we need, I am just saying this is what a professional accessory should look like :

quote..."The binaural head microphone BHM III.3 is a recording system designed for making binaural measurements in places where no artificial head can be used, e.g. for recordings at the driver's position in a moving vehicle.

Applications

Binaural measurements without artificial head
Special measurement tasks
Measurements at the driver's position of a vehicle
For environmental protection and occupational safety

BHM III.3
Binaural Head Microphone
The BHM supports all characteristics of human hearing perception. It is calibratable and has low inherent noise. The headset is worn by the user who himself assumes the acoustic function of the artificial head. A defined acoustics impedance closes the ear canal entrance and the sound is transmitted via small tubes to the highly sensitive condenser measurement microphones, which are placed in special packaging outside the ears"...unquote

 

[Eich1eeF]

I agree 100% about the complexity and would like to add that the accessories for all measurements are very amateurish to say the least and do not correspond to the professional tool that is the Realiser A16.

Since measuring is kind of a one time work, I'd expect professionals to either learn to do it right or pay for the service to get it done. BTW, specialized professional measurement equipment of the specialized low volume kind is frequently awkward or complicated to use correctly.

The BHM III.3 is totally unusable to take measurements of headphones, so you'd need two sets of microphones, and unlike the current setup, you would actually need both to be calibrated - the current setup eliminates errors by measuring the room and the headphones with the same microphones. Also, if I were to guess, the BMH III.3 is probably about as expensive as the Realiser - and I mean the retail price, because it is "Unfortunately for binaural enthusiasts, HEAD Acoustics equipment is not available for individual sales".

What might help is something like the attachment seen at https://www.jvckenwood.com/en/technology/exofield/measurement.html, possibly mixed with a cannibalized stethoscope to provide a "just right" force to press the microphones into your ears and position and fixate them reproducibly.

 

[Richter Di]

What might help is something like the attachment seen at https://www.jvckenwood.com/en/technology/exofield/measurement.html, possibly mixed with a cannibalized stethoscope to provide a "just right" force to press the microphones into your ears and position and fixate them reproducibly.

JVCKENWOOD developed an ultra compact "in-ear audio microphone system" using a MEMS microphone to measure the individual characteristics of users. Placing an ultra compact microphone system in the ear canal makes it possible to accurately measure head and ear shapes as well as the sound field characteristics of users' ear canals. By enabling users to easily fix the position of the microphone system they are wearing to the ideal measuring point regardless of individual differences in the shape of the ears, stable and highly-accurate measurement is achieved.

This sounds really interesting. The difference of the ear forms drove me nuts when @sander99 and I wear measuring. Where should the microphone be positioned. It would be great if the JVCKENWOOD could be used together with the Smyth Realiser A16.

 

[valleynomad]

....as pretty much every company has abandoned Dolby Headphone for far inferior codecs.

What are those far inferior codecs?

 

[phoenixdogfan]

This sounds really interesting. The difference of the ear forms drove me nuts when @sander99 and I wear measuring. Where should the microphone be positioned. It would be great if the JVCKENWOOD could be used together with the Smyth Realiser A16.

Maybe the Smyths could adapt a microphone positioning device.

But how critical is it to get an absolutely perfect repeatable fit? Is there a "good enough" fit, or is this an absolutely critical variable with no robustness built into the process? For that matter, are other binaural microphones adaptalbe for use with the Realiser? Do the mics use 48v phantom power? Is there an off the shelf upgrade?

As it currently stands, we have no measurements available for any aspect of the A16's performance-- not S/N ratios of the mics, dacs, A to D processor, shaker amp, headphone amps. Nothing.

I think they owe it to their customers to provide such information.

 

[costas23]

Are there still many kickstarter backers, that did not get their unit? I am kickstarter backer #312, ordered a headstand unit, is there any estimates when the unit will be sent?

edit: nevermind, just saw some comments on the previous pages concerning the same questions, so I see the Kickstarter units are still being shipped. Lets hope it works out this year for all of us waiting

 

[Fox1977]

Are there still many kickstarter backers, that did not get their unit? I am kickstarter backer #312, ordered a headstand unit, is there any estimates when the unit will be sent?

edit: nevermind, just saw some comments on the previous pages concerning the same questions, so I see the Kickstarter units are still being shipped. Lets hope it works out this year for all of us waiting

#178 and #179 reported they received the address confirmation email a few days ago. I'm #203 so i'm hoping to get the email by the end of the month, maybe early march, after a 3-and-a-half-year wait !

 

[valleynomad]

...What might help is something like the attachment seen at https://www.jvckenwood.com/en/technology/exofield/measurement.html, possibly mixed with a cannibalized stethoscope to provide a "just right" force to press the microphones into your ears and position and fixate them reproducibly.

Looks like they have integrated the measuring mics into the headphones of JVC XP-EXT1. Its sound process unit seems to be an A16 minus the immersive audio decoders...
https://www.us.jvc.com/headphones/home_theater_solutions/xp_ext1/

 

[esimms86]

#178 and #179 reported they received the address confirmation email a few days ago. I'm #203 so i'm hoping to get the email by the end of the month, maybe early march, after a 3-and-a-half-year wait !

Though there are 330 Kickstarter backers, someone has posted that the numbers go up to 356(as some people canceled, their numbers were not omitted). Based on #179 receiving their pre-shipping email, one could extrapolate that the Kickstarter units are likely(?) to have all been delivered by some time in August(a guesstimate- also, I don’t work for Smyth Research so don’t hold me to it). That would make it a year start to finish for the Kickstarter shipments. Hopefully, SR will post information on pre-order numbers once the Kickstarter phase is over.

 

[phoenixdogfan]

Though there are 330 Kickstarter backers, someone has posted that the numbers go up to 356(as some people canceled, their numbers were not omitted). Based on #179 receiving their pre-shipping email, one could extrapolate that the Kickstarter units are likely(?) to have all been delivered by some time in August(a guesstimate- also, I don’t work for Smyth Research so don’t hold me to it). That would make it a year start to finish for the Kickstarter shipments. Hopefully, SR will post information on pre-order numbers once the Kickstarter phase is over.

I think once the kickstarters and the prepaids have their orders fulfilled (big if, I know), we'll find out if the Smyths intend to run this as a going concern, or if now free of their biggest obligation, they decide to fold the tent.

 

[sander99]

Its sound process unit seems to be an A16 minus the immersive audio decoders...

And as far as I can tell from that webpage: minus headtracking, minus dual user.

 

[phoenixdogfan]

Looks like they have integrated the measuring mics into the headphones of JVC XP-EXT1. Its sound process unit seems to be an A16 minus the immersive audio decoders...
https://www.us.jvc.com/headphones/home_theater_solutions/xp_ext1/

If it wasn't wedded to their headphones, and had headtracking, they'd have a winner.

 

[Mach10]

Has anyone added a bass shaker / tactile transducer to their A16 (or A8) setup yet? I was wondering where this falls on the scale of making your listening to your PRIR experience more convincing/fun? Is it like "must have", or "depends", or "nice to have but not necessary"? I am imagining that at least from a certain volume level upwards you're going to miss the tactile feedback, at least when watching movies?

 

[phoenixdogfan]

Has anyone added a bass shaker / tactile transducer to their A16 (or A8) setup yet? I was wondering where this falls on the scale of making your listening to your PRIR experience more convincing/fun? Is it like "must have", or "depends", or "nice to have but not necessary"? I am imagining that at least from a certain volume level upwards you're going to miss the tactile feedback, at least when watching movies?

I own a Subpac S2 tactile subwoofer. Have had one for four years, used it w OOYH, and yes, it makes a big difference. Everything seems to go at least half an octave deeper with it in use.

Since it has its own amplifiers, all I've had to do was split off the output of my headphone amp, and send one leg to the subpac. Since the A16 has a separate amp for shakers, I'll undoubtedly experiment with it as well. As soon as I get it back from Smyth.

 

[Fox1977]

I own a Subpac S2 tactile subwoofer. Have had one for four years, used it w OOYH, and yes, it makes a big difference. Everything seems to go at least half an octave deeper with it in use.

Since it has its own amplifiers, all I've had to do was split off the output of my headphone amp, and send one leg to the subpac. Since the A16 has a separate amp for shakers, I'll undoubtedly experiment with it as well. As soon as I get it back from Smyth.

The S2 is strapped on an armchair ? I’m watching from a couch. I thought about the Subpac M2 but I’m afraid it might not be comfortable if I’m resting my back on the couch with the M2 strapped on myself