[JonFo]

While many of us wait for their A16.. has anyone compared the JVC XP-EXT1 vs. the AirpodsMax for Atmos movies only? I have Firestick 4K and AppleTV4k. I know the APMs dont support Atmos with Firestick.

​

I can comment on the A16 vs the APM (source ATV4K) for Atmos movies/shows.

First, I love the APM, they are a pretty amazing headset, sound-quality-wise, they are balanced. They have incredible low-end, almost too good. Watching YouTube videos of people reviewing EV's, the road rumble is palpable, with some serious output down in the 20Hz range. Very low distortion overall, thanks to complete vertical integration of drivers, electronics, and headset.
Of course, the ANC and wireless link are attractions, but I use them hardwired to a laptop (yes, extra D/As and all that) and run them for hours.

Watching movies/shows on the ATV, the APM renders a good immersive bubble, and the head tracking is decent. After a few minutes, I get sucked into the movie and it sounds fine, but I'm aware of hearing a headset, not listening to in-room speakers.

With the A16, not only do I hear the 'signature' of my own Home Theater, it is so natural, that after 10 minutes, I forget I'm wearing a headset and repeatedly am surprised by banging into the tracker, or reaching up to scratch an ear and hit the ear-cup, the illusion of in-room speakers is so strong, one forgets about the headset.

As for positional rendering accuracy, the A16 seems to be much better than the APM thanks to a PRIR and HPEQ, so the HRTF is perfect, and the EQ helps by improving the FR of these old ears.

So for accuracy, the A16 is the winner, but the APM is sooo convenient, since I do not even need to fire up anything except the ATV4K and the TV to watch a Drive To Survive (Netflix F1 show) early on Sunday mornings before a real race, I just pop on the APM and enjoy.

 

[JonFo]

personalized rendering of Dolby atmos went public beta.
Time is ticking for Smyth.

Links?

Yes, they need to get bought by Trinnov or someone like that to gain access to customers (not just high-end audio people, but recording / production industry).

 

[frank2908]

I can confirm that hpeq works via external dac/amp via spdif out.

 

[makan]

Hi there. For the last year, I have been using the A16 with optical stabilization for movie watching thinking that it is the best option. I noted from the manual that there is an option to not use any stabilization or us magnetic stabilization. I will just be sitting watching a movie without much head movement....is no stabilization adequate. It would be nice not to have the set-top tracker green light on all the time when I watch a movie...it can be distracting. Wanted to see if no stabilization or magnetic stabilization is the way to go. Thanks

 

[jk6661]

Hi there. For the last year, I have been using the A16 with optical stabilization for movie watching thinking that it is the best option. I noted from the manual that there is an option to not use any stabilization or us magnetic stabilization. I will just be sitting watching a movie without much head movement....is no stabilization adequate. It would be nice not to have the set-top tracker green light on all the time when I watch a movie...it can be distracting. Wanted to see if no stabilization or magnetic stabilization is the way to go. Thanks

There's an ongoing debate about whether you need the head tracker at all. I never use mine for movies or music, but some people swear by them.

 

[sander99]

It would be nice not to have the set-top tracker green light on all the time when I watch a movie...it can be distracting.

You can switch the green lights off in the HT Settings menu. From the manual:

5.3.2 HT Settings
...

5.3.2.4 Set-top display
This sets the light intensity of the green LEDs on the set-top device. It can also be set OFF. This does not affect the intensity of the IR source in the set-top used for optical stabilisation.

 

[makan]

You can switch the green lights off in the HT Settings menu. From the manual:

Very helpful!!! I feel like a dork now

 

[Richter Di]

Question: Is there anyone living in or close to Eindhoven the Netherlands who has an A16?
You can answer by PM if you prefer.

Not close, but close enough.
About time we do a new measurement

 

[Richter Di]

Hi, need some help here.

• In the past I used my Smyth Realiser A16 with my Windows 10 Asus Gaming Laptop (bought in 2017, Asus ROG G752VT-GC032T). I used the internal display and the HDMI out for the A16. This worked perfectly.
• Later I upgraded to an external monitor which had HDMI and Display Port (Samsung UHD Curved Monitor U32R592CWR, 32 inch), a graphic Card NVIDIA Geforce 3070 TI and a Razer Core X external graphic card enclosure for the NVIDIA graphic card. The external graphic card was connected via USB-C to the ASUS laptop, the Samsung monitor via Display Port from the Razer Core X and the A16 was connected via HDMI. Again this worked perfectly.
• Now I have upgraded to a Windows 10 Tower PC with Intel i7-12700K, board ASUS TUF Gaming Z690 Plus D4, power supply 750 Watt BeQuiet Straight Power 11, reusing my Nvidida 3070 TI. While in gaming (I play only Cyberpunk 2077) everything is fine I have some strange sound stuttering while listening to music and working on the PC.

The work load for the CPU does not seem to be the problem, as little as changing windows in Google Chrome is enough to cause the stutter.
I already tried:

• Tidal / Spotify via LAN or WLAN (the same)
• Using flac files on the PC via Groove Music App (the same)

I was able to reduce the problem by board firmware update plus updating all board drives. Especially the newer realtek audio drivers have made a difference. But the problem is persistent. It is less but it stays. Any ideas?

 

[musicreo]

Most of this audio problems are caused by bad drivers. You can check this on your PC with LatencyMon.

 

[GeorgeA]

By reading the entry of 2 April 2022 at Archimago's Musings
http://archimago.blogspot.com/2022/04/demo-tears-for-fears-no-small-thing-low.html#more,

I’ve found two links to papers dealing with immersive audio. The first paper: Fundamental and Technological Limitations of Immersive Audio Systems was published in May 1998 and it explained the nature of limitations in immersive audio systems. At that time, one of the limitations was “the conversion of spatial sound cues into level and time differences and direction-dependent frequency-response effects caused by the pinna, head, and torso through a set of amplitude and phase transformations known as the HRTF’s.”

The second paper: Immersive audio, capture, transport, and rendering: a review was published in 2021 and it covered the advance in the field. With respect to virtual surround, the author highlighted binauralization and crosstalk cancellation. For delivering immersive audio experience through headphones, the author gave some examples as industry trend. The paper had 64 references, but none for Smyth Virtual Surround, Realiser A8 and Realiser A16. Ossic×headphone was given as an example of a failed Kickstarter project.

Maybe Smyth Research Realiser A16 haven’t been a success story for many prospective customers, but I still think it could’ve been mentioned as a remarkable technical achievement.

 

[travis-bickle]

Links?

Yes, they need to get bought by Trinnov or someone like that to gain access to customers (not just high-end audio people, but recording / production industry).

Course https://www.mixonline.com/blog/dolb...ries,Head Related Transfer Function algorithm

 

[Flash676]

Hi, need some help here.

• In the past I used my Smyth Realiser A16 with my Windows 10 Asus Gaming Laptop (bought in 2017, Asus ROG G752VT-GC032T). I used the internal display and the HDMI out for the A16. This worked perfectly.
• Later I upgraded to an external monitor which had HDMI and Display Port (Samsung UHD Curved Monitor U32R592CWR, 32 inch), a graphic Card NVIDIA Geforce 3070 TI and a Razer Core X external graphic card enclosure for the NVIDIA graphic card. The external graphic card was connected via USB-C to the ASUS laptop, the Samsung monitor via Display Port from the Razer Core X and the A16 was connected via HDMI. Again this worked perfectly.
• Now I have upgraded to a Windows 10 Tower PC with Intel i7-12700K, board ASUS TUF Gaming Z690 Plus D4, power supply 750 Watt BeQuiet Straight Power 11, reusing my Nvidida 3070 TI. While in gaming (I play only Cyberpunk 2077) everything is fine I have some strange sound stuttering while listening to music and working on the PC.

The work load for the CPU does not seem to be the problem, as little as changing windows in Google Chrome is enough to cause the stutter.
I already tried:

• Tidal / Spotify via LAN or WLAN (the same)
• Using flac files on the PC via Groove Music App (the same)

I was able to reduce the problem by board firmware update plus updating all board drives. Especially the newer realtek audio drivers have made a difference. But the problem is persistent. It is less but it stays. Any ideas?

Is the problem only over HDMI or also USB? Unrelated - be advised that the channel mapping can vary between USB and Nvidia / AMD / Intel via HDMI.

 

[Richter Di]

Is the problem only over HDMI or also USB? Unrelated - be advised that the channel mapping can vary between USB and Nvidia / AMD / Intel via HDMI.

USB does not allow Dolby Atmos on Windows 10 (at least in my experience with the A16) therefore it is HDMI.

Most of this audio problems are caused by bad drivers. You can check this on your PC with LatencyMon.

Great tip. Will try it tomorrow.

 

[Flash676]

USB does not allow Dolby Atmos on Windows 10 (at least in my experience with the A16) therefore it is HDMI.

Correct, but it does present itself as 7.1 capable and I didn't see anything in your question specific to Atmos.

I don't remember if Windows wraps all audio in an Atmos container when configured to use Dolby Atmos for Home Theater or not, but I would see if the problem exists when using 7.1 LPCM over HDMI and/or USB.