[Got the Shakes]

Alright, so I did some more testing and I think I have an interesting theory. Maybe I’m crazy, but I only actually have presets 1 and 2 configured with custom rooms. Preset 1 is my personal 7.1 PRIR and preset 2 is my 3DSoundShop PRIR. Presets 3-16 are just filled with whatever the default rooms are after doing the full factory restore. I power my A16 on and it boots to preset 1 which means I’m getting the no sound issue. Instead of switching to preset 16 which I know will get the sound back, I decide to test going in the other direction. Flip to preset 2, no sound. Flip to preset 3, and the sound comes back. My working theory, which I think I’m going to toy with some more, is that the no sound issue happens when my A16 boots to a preset that has my personalized listening rooms attached, and the sound will only come back once you switch to a preset with the default rooms loaded.

I hoping I’m on to something here, all though all of this might just be coincidence. I’m trying to get as much info as I can to try and point the Smyths in the right direction, because James told me today that they can’t replicate the issue on their end.

 

[Camano]

And, I assume, you no longer have access to DTS: X?

No, and I never tried DTS because of all the other problems. I’m hoping there’ll be a working DTS firmware some day..

 

[esimms86]

No, and I never tried DTS because of all the other problems. I’m hoping there’ll be a working DTS firmware some day..

The Smyth brothers are very capable software guys and I’d be shocked if they weren’t already working on a fix. Patience grasshopper(said one frustrated grasshopper to another).

 

[Om ma Ni]

I get good results with both my LCD Xs and my HD800s. I do find that a manLOUD helps even with the PRIRs. I think it helps take care of the ear canal resonance which is actually very important. Also getting the in ear mics properly seated and situated is important. I would definitely advise using the Dekoni tips rather than the yellow foam ones. Sitting yourself done in one fixed spot and getting the angles right if you're using the Audiohobbit method is also very important. Always check your speaker levels to be sure you're not under or oversaturating. Check the quality after by pressing test before saving to be certain S/N is acceptable and you've actually captured both channels.
Finally, be sure to configure your listening room. I use LFE, but not use normalize volume levels if the levels were the same on the level check of the speakers going in. Also, if you find one side is louder than the other, the A16 allows you

Talking about PRIR capture etc..there is detailed explanation regarding the denoise function in the new updated A16 manual..
Did anyone use this function for PRIR capture yet? If yes, does it have a positive effect on the Impulse response recordings?

 

[phoenixdogfan]

Talking about PRIR capture etc..there is detailed explanation regarding the denoise function in the new updated A16 manual..
Did anyone use this function for PRIR capture yet? If yes, does it have a positive effect on the Impulse response recordings?

I used it for my Meta capture. That's a very good sounding PRIR.

 

[Om ma Ni]

I used it for my Meta capture. That's a very good sounding PRIR.

Did you have a chance to compare PRIR with the denoise desactivated?

 

[GeorgeA]

Alright, so I did some more testing and I think I have an interesting theory. Maybe I’m crazy, but I only actually have presets 1 and 2 configured with custom rooms. Preset 1 is my personal 7.1 PRIR and preset 2 is my 3DSoundShop PRIR. Presets 3-16 are just filled with whatever the default rooms are after doing the full factory restore. I power my A16 on and it boots to preset 1 which means I’m getting the no sound issue. Instead of switching to preset 16 which I know will get the sound back, I decide to test going in the other direction. Flip to preset 2, no sound. Flip to preset 3, and the sound comes back. My working theory, which I think I’m going to toy with some more, is that the no sound issue happens when my A16 boots to a preset that has my personalized listening rooms attached, and the sound will only come back once you switch to a preset with the default rooms loaded.

I hoping I’m on to something here, all though all of this might just be coincidence. I’m trying to get as much info as I can to try and point the Smyths in the right direction, because James told me today that they can’t replicate the issue on their end.

I second your findings. My findings are pretty similar.

I used preset 8 because there I set the listening rooms for dolby atmos and dts:x. Any switching up or down, even one preset, from preset 8 enabled sound in preset 8. In other words, no sound in preset 8, switch to preset 7 – sound can be heard, switch back to preset 8 – sound can be heard. A16 turned off and then after 5 minutes turned on. Preset 8 – no sound, switch to preset 5 – sound heard. A16 turned off and then after 5 minutes turned on. Preset 5 – sound heard.

I’m not quite sure yet whether based on these findings one can conclude that my A16 didn’t work properly on preset 8, because the listening rooms for dolby atmos and dts:x were set there. This situation didn’t occur prior to installing dts:x. I’ve sent these findings to James Smyth as he wrote me that “we have no way of reproducing this problem.”

 

[audiohobbit]

My working theory, which I think I’m going to toy with some more, is that the no sound issue happens when my A16 boots to a preset that has my personalized listening rooms attached, and the sound will only come back once you switch to a preset with the default rooms loaded.

Not sure if this is the cause.
I also have the no-sound issue for some time now. And I'm still running an older FW (before 2.0).
What I do: I use preset 5 and upper, I leave presets 1-4 alone. They are the factory presets afair (which also means that they are reset with a factory reset, or any one of those different resets/restores, I'm confused... and).
Since I use presets 5,6,7 etc. for my personal rooms I cannot remember to have the no-sound issue, but I may be wrong here. I still don't have much time for the hobby and mainly watch a movie here and there from a streaming sevice using y Fire Stick plugged right into one of the HDMI inputs of the Realiser, and mainly use one preset. From time to time I watch a disc and use another preset and HDMI input (coupled to the preset). So far I can not remember that the no-sound issue occurred over the last months.

 

[dsperber]

Is the "no sound" symptom truly that the A16 has properly determined what the HDMI input stream is from the selected HDMI source, and properly displayed all the information (e.g. Dolby Audio, or Dolby Atmos, or DTS:x, or PCM, plus details) on the Speaker Map presentation and simply not put out any sound to the headphones? Speaker Map looks perfect but there's no sound?

Or is the "no sound" symptom really indicative of the fact that the A16 hasn't actually properly detected the input stream characteristics at all yet even though it really should be arriving by now from the selected source, with the Speaker Map presentation showing "no HDMI"? This suggests more kind of an HDMI handshake "input" kind of problem rather than a "no sound output"? So when you alternate to another preset and then back (probably switching to a different HDMI source input and back in the process) you're actually also reinitiating the HDMI handshake because of the input source changing, which this time is now successful, and "now it works and you have sound" such that the Speaker Map presentaion now also displays the proper input stream characteristics.

 

[Got the Shakes]

Is the "no sound" symptom truly that the A16 has properly determined what the HDMI input stream is from the selected HDMI source, and properly displayed all the information (e.g. Dolby Audio, or Dolby Atmos, or DTS:x, or PCM, plus details) on the Speaker Map presentation and simply not put out any sound to the headphones? Speaker Map looks perfect but there's no sound?

Or is the "no sound" symptom really indicative of the fact that the A16 hasn't actually properly detected the input stream characteristics at all yet even though it really should be arriving by now from the selected source, with the Speaker Map presentation showing "no HDMI"? This suggests more kind of an HDMI handshake "input" kind of problem rather than a "no sound output"? So when you alternate to another preset and then back (probably switching to a different HDMI source input and back in the process) you're actually also reinitiating the HDMI handshake because of the input source changing, which this time is now successful, and "now it works and you have sound" such that the Speaker Map presentaion now also displays the proper input stream characteristics.

My speaker map looks and functions exactly the same whether the no sound issue is happening or not. It displays the type of audio stream it is receiving and lights up the appropriate speakers that are outputting sound. It just doesn’t actually send any sound out to the headphones until doing the dance of switching presets.

 

[GeorgeA]

I don’t think it’s an HDMI handshake "input" kind of problem because the no sound issue occurred also when I pressed the test button on the remote. The test function seems to be not related to switching sources.

Today, I’ve received an email message from James Smyth and he suggested to perform a full factory restore. I’ve carried out the full factory restore and the issue is still there. I’ve also carried out a first batch of investigations. Tomorrow, I’m going to do more tests. I’ll report here the results and also send my findings to James Smyth.

 

[phoenixdogfan]

I don’t think it’s an HDMI handshake "input" kind of problem because the no sound issue occurred also when I pressed the test button on the remote. The test function seems to be not related to switching sources.

Today, I’ve received an email message from James Smyth and he suggested to perform a full factory restore. I’ve carried out the full factory restore and the issue is still there. I’ve also carried out a first batch of investigations. Tomorrow, I’m going to do more tests. I’ll report here the results and also send my findings to James Smyth.

This is why I'm keeping 2.0 firmware for the time being.

 

[dsperber]

One more no-sound symptom question: are you using the A16's built-in DAC/amp to feed your heaphones?

Or are you using optical/coax out, to an external DAC/amp?

 

[Camano]

Is the "no sound" symptom truly that the A16 has properly determined what the HDMI input stream is from the selected HDMI source, and properly displayed all the information (e.g. Dolby Audio, or Dolby Atmos, or DTS:x, or PCM, plus details) on the Speaker Map presentation and simply not put out any sound to the headphones? Speaker Map looks perfect but there's no sound?

In my case, when my Tivo is the HDMI source, it will be playing properly. After pausing for 2 minutes and resuming, there is no sound and no activity shown on the speaker map (not frozen, just showing no output) but it still says "Dolby Digital", not "NO HDMI".

Changing the input away and back to HDMI 1 restores the sound and map activity. I'm attaching 2 BMP file showing the HDMI information for when the sound is working and when it's not. Switching back to firmware 2.0 fixed this problem.

 

[arnaud]

Is the "no sound" symptom truly that the A16 has properly determined what the HDMI input stream is from the selected HDMI source, and properly displayed all the information (e.g. Dolby Audio, or Dolby Atmos, or DTS:x, or PCM, plus details) on the Speaker Map presentation and simply not put out any sound to the headphones? Speaker Map looks perfect but there's no sound?

Or is the "no sound" symptom really indicative of the fact that the A16 hasn't actually properly detected the input stream characteristics at all yet even though it really should be arriving by now from the selected source, with the Speaker Map presentation showing "no HDMI"? This suggests more kind of an HDMI handshake "input" kind of problem rather than a "no sound output"? So when you alternate to another preset and then back (probably switching to a different HDMI source input and back in the process) you're actually also reinitiating the HDMI handshake because of the input source changing, which this time is now successful, and "now it works and you have sound" such that the Speaker Map presentaion now also displays the proper input stream characteristics.

Good point, I get the No HDMI red flag when I the source change fails. No handshake with optical input though and this one is just as problematic as the HDM1 I recall. I‘ll do more test but it clearly seems the issue I am having is different from that reported after recent FW update.