Smyth Research Realiser A16
May 24, 2021 at 6:33 AM Post #11,581 of 15,951
Even if you only calibrate at your own ears using a pair of crap speakers in the bathroom, you have to do it to discuss what the A16 is all about. Which is fully custom impulses. No need for incredible rooms and 30 speakers to try a few different measurements, mic placements and EQ, until it feels just right.
Then you’re testing a Realiser, and not another flavor of the Audeze Mobius. Which is way more affordable, if that's good enough for you.
 
May 24, 2021 at 11:03 AM Post #11,582 of 15,951
Even if you only calibrate at your own ears using a pair of crap speakers in the bathroom, you have to do it to discuss what the A16 is all about. Which is fully custom impulses. No need for incredible rooms and 30 speakers to try a few different measurements, mic placements and EQ, until it feels just right.
Then you’re testing a Realiser, and not another flavor of the Audeze Mobius. Which is way more affordable, if that's good enough for you.

Kinda reminded me that I don't think I have seen a single review of A16 where the reviewer actually had done the bare minimum needed to talk about what the A16 is about -> done a PRIR. You are not reviewing A16 unless that is your starting point.
Any of that kind of reviews around? Anyone seen one?
 
May 24, 2021 at 12:23 PM Post #11,583 of 15,951
Kinda reminded me that I don't think I have seen a single review of A16 where the reviewer actually had done the bare minimum needed to talk about what the A16 is about -> done a PRIR. You are not reviewing A16 unless that is your starting point.
Any of that kind of reviews around? Anyone seen one?
My review: The A16 is a magical machine... I have a how to video of sorts coming soon... lol
 
May 24, 2021 at 12:42 PM Post #11,584 of 15,951
Kinda reminded me that I don't think I have seen a single review of A16 where the reviewer actually had done the bare minimum needed to talk about what the A16 is about -> done a PRIR. You are not reviewing A16 unless that is your starting point.
Any of that kind of reviews around? Anyone seen one?
Check out reviews by @jazzfan on Headfi.org and linked from the Smyth Research Facebook page, and also Stephen Haikio(@Got the Shakes ), also on the Smyth Research Facebook page.
 
May 24, 2021 at 12:59 PM Post #11,585 of 15,951
Check out reviews by @jazzfan on Headfi.org and linked from the Smyth Research Facebook page, and also Stephen Haikio(@Got the Shakes ), also on the Smyth Research Facebook page.
Thanks a lot. The review by jazzfan was really thorough. A very nice one. Maybe reading that should be the starting point for anyone wanting to write a review of A16.. and then start by making their own PRIR :).
 
May 24, 2021 at 5:01 PM Post #11,586 of 15,951
Agree, reviewers must perform a PRIR and even some HPEQ before they can be considered to have experienced what this product is all about.
Having finally done my own PRIR, it is definitely not for the faint of heart. It takes some serious studying and planning to get it done the first time.
Now that I've done a couple, it goes quicker each time.

UI and usability are not this product's strong suits. the results make the effort worth it though.
 
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May 24, 2021 at 6:12 PM Post #11,587 of 15,951
I love to see fans of a product supporting it this much, pretty fresh in the audio world :)

Since I did a beginner's take on A16, I think I will do a little more in-depth article when I'll have done a PRIR, but I stand by my decision to have made the [first] article a bit simpler, easier to understand, as there was nothing beginner friendly out there for it and people have been asking some really basic questions about it, which I wanted to answer without overwhelming them.

It is like reading a review about something you have had for a while. If you have had it for a long while, most of the basic info will look redundant, and you'll be looking for the spicy parts. But someone completely new to it needs to first learn what it is, how it works, what it does, then some advanced features.

Kinda like skipping three GPU or CPU generations, you have to re-learn everything from scratch, from zero. I had a 9700K for three years or so, and learning how 5800X and 5950X works has been overwhelming, with so much new stuff. Despite it being still a CPU.
 
May 24, 2021 at 6:34 PM Post #11,588 of 15,951
Hi folks!. What sources are you guys using for playing your own digital movie files with encoded atmos successfully on the A16? I don't mean through Netflix and other streaming services, more like files that you already have on a hard drive.

I just got an atv4k and have been trying to use the downloadable vlc app for this but I don't seem to be having success with playing atmos from it. I'm able to get maybe 5.1 at best but the atmos metadata doesn't seem to be detected by the a16. Seems however I can stream atmos metadata fine like with tidal and prime for example. Which by the way doesn't actually show as atmos on the a16 for some reason, but rather 8-channel (only able to tell its reading atmos by the speaker icons that show movement).

So are other sources (i.e Nvidia shield) better for this purpose, or is it doable with an atv4k and perhaps I'm just doing it wrong?
 
May 24, 2021 at 7:04 PM Post #11,589 of 15,951
Even if you only calibrate at your own ears using a pair of crap speakers in the bathroom, you have to do it to discuss what the A16 is all about. Which is fully custom impulses. No need for incredible rooms and 30 speakers to try a few different measurements, mic placements and EQ, until it feels just right.
Then you’re testing a Realiser, and not another flavor of the Audeze Mobius. Which is way more affordable, if that's good enough for you.
Maybe I should write a review b/c I've actually done a 16 channel Prir of my Kef LS 50s + Svs SB 2000 in my own listening room.
 
May 24, 2021 at 7:08 PM Post #11,590 of 15,951
Hi folks!. What sources are you guys using for playing your own digital movie files with encoded atmos successfully on the A16? I don't mean through Netflix and other streaming services, more like files that you already have on a hard drive.

I just got an atv4k and have been trying to use the downloadable vlc app for this but I don't seem to be having success with playing atmos from it. I'm able to get maybe 5.1 at best but the atmos metadata doesn't seem to be detected by the a16. Seems however I can stream atmos metadata fine like with tidal and prime for example. Which by the way doesn't actually show as atmos on the a16 for some reason, but rather 8-channel (only able to tell its reading atmos by the speaker icons that show movement).

So are other sources (i.e Nvidia shield) better for this purpose, or is it doable with an atv4k and perhaps I'm just doing it wrong?
I use the NVIDIA shield to play Netflix atmos files and it does indeed do 16 channels. Right now I don't have any digital ATMOS files, and I don't have enough space (or desire) to start accumulating (again :frowning2: ) mountains of disks that I have to pay for, store and curate just to max out on the ATMOS experience. The more expensive NVIDIA can utilize a PLEX server which may be able to play ATMOS if that's what you need.

As for ATV4k, we had discussion on this thread around 4 months ago indicating the developers "improved" the firmware rendering it incapable of doing 16 channel ATMOS. I was contemplating buying the ATV4k at the time, but learned about that upgrade, and did a hard pass, opting for the NVIDIA unit instead.

Apple was working the problem around then to restore 16 Ch ATMOS, but I can tell you on general principles one of my absolute, ballistic pet peeves (more like a trigger for ultra violence, actually) is some !%$#@&* developer messing with some piece of firmware that I have on my system, that works and plays nice with all my software, that absolutely is in no way broken, and CHANGES IT SO IT NOW NO LONGER DOES WHAT I PAID FOR IT TO DO IN THE FIRST PLACE. Since Apple chooses to do those kind of updates, they can as far as I'm concerned, take their ATV4K and stick it where the sun don't shine.
 
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May 24, 2021 at 8:50 PM Post #11,591 of 15,951
I use the NVIDIA shield to play Netflix atmos files and it does indeed do 16 channels. Right now I don't have any digital ATMOS files, and I don't have enough space (or desire) to start accumulating (again :frowning2: ) mountains of disks that I have to pay for, store and curate just to max out on the ATMOS experience. The more expensive NVIDIA can utilize a PLEX server which may be able to play ATMOS if that's what you need.

As for ATV4k, we had discussion on this thread around 4 months ago indicating the developers "improved" the firmware rendering it incapable of doing 16 channel ATMOS. I was contemplating buying the ATV4k at the time, but learned about that upgrade, and did a hard pass, opting for the NVIDIA unit instead.

Apple was working the problem around then to restore 16 Ch ATMOS, but I can tell you on general principles one of my absolute, ballistic pet peeves (more like a trigger for ultra violence, actually) is some !%$#@&* developer messing with some piece of firmware that I have on my system, that works and plays nice with all my software, that absolutely is in no way broken, and CHANGES IT SO IT NOW NO LONGER DOES WHAT I PAID FOR IT TO DO IN THE FIRST PLACE. Since Apple chooses to do those kind of updates, they can as far as I'm concerned, take their ATV4K and stick it where the sun don't shine.
Big fan of the atv4k I see, ha! I do believe the atv4k is capable of rendering atmos metadata, as far as streaming goes anyway, since as I mentioned I'm able to see the speaker icons reflect that. I guess perhaps there was another "update" since that time to rectify the issue. But as I said, it doesn't actually say atmos on the a16 but instead 8-ch. I'm thinking that may be more of a software issue of the a16's though since it's the same occurrence with my Xbox one in gameplay (atmos audio but no icon). Does your a16 show the atmos icon?

So you haven't used it for digital files. Ok, how's the audio when streaming atmos, sound okay? & do you need a specific version of the shield that's atmos capable?

I'd have no problem switching over to the shield (or some other source) if it would offer me this feature of being able to play my atmos encoded files.
 
May 24, 2021 at 9:22 PM Post #11,592 of 15,951
I have a 7.1.4 Trinnov based system in my current home that is extends to 10Hz. The room and speakers sound amazing. We are moving soon and I would like to have PRIR measurements made. I have a Realiser 8 but have not decided in the 16 yet. In exchange for making measurements for my wife and me you would have the opportunity to have a great system for your use. I am in Knoxville TN. My system has been professionally calibrated and the reviews from two speaker manufacturers have been quite positive. Feel free to PM for more details about my setup.
 
May 24, 2021 at 9:30 PM Post #11,593 of 15,951
I do believe the atv4k is capable of rendering atmos metadata, as far as streaming goes anyway, since as I mentioned I'm able to see the speaker icons reflect that. ... But as I said, it doesn't actually say atmos on the a16 but instead 8-ch.
I would think then that you don't get Atmos, and you have the upmixer switched on.
If you are in the speaker map display (with the speaker icons) and then press the arrow-up button you should see a list with things like:

Stream PCM or Dolby or Atmos​
Decode ?.?.?​
Listen ?.?.?​
Upmixer on or off​
Legacy on or off​

What values do you see there? [Edit: while playing from the atv4k]
 
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May 24, 2021 at 10:07 PM Post #11,594 of 15,951
I would think then that you don't get Atmos, and you have the upmixer switched on.
If you are in the speaker map display (with the speaker icons) and then press the arrow-up button you should see a list with things like:

Stream PCM or Dolby or Atmos​
Decode ?.?.?​
Listen ?.?.?​
Upmixer on or off​
Legacy on or off​

What values do you see there? [Edit: while playing from the atv4k]
Nope, never turned on any upmixers. Also sure as hell sounds atmos, and like I’m getting audio from the corresponding speakers which do turn on on the map, especially during a gameplay (i.e helicopter flying above and things like that). I’ve attached some pics of those values. As you can see I’m getting more than the stated 8channel.
 

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May 24, 2021 at 10:30 PM Post #11,595 of 15,951
Nope, never turned on any upmixers. Also sure as hell sounds atmos, and like I’m getting audio from the corresponding speakers which do turn on on the map, especially during a gameplay (i.e helicopter flying above and things like that). I’ve attached some pics of those values. As you can see I’m getting more than the stated 8channel.
Okay, you are right. Indeed strange that "HDMI PCM Discrete 8-CH" message on the left.
 

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