[CaptainFunk]

Yes, John's PRIRs are just amazing, I see no need for me to go through the hassle to get my own measurements.

Actually, a Realiser Lite that would just do the Atmos/DTS/Auro decoding, include some of John's PRIRs and a more user friendly manLOUD process would be amazing and do the job for most people.

 

[kh36267]

So far I have been a strong advocate for in person PRIR. None of the generic PRIR had worked me so far. Downloaded PRIR from the Realiser Club did not sound right. Sound demos on 3DSoundShop did not work for me either.

After my disaster at msm Munich … okay wait, if you have read my initial post here https://www.head-fi.org/threads/smyth-research-realiser-a16.807459/page-917#post-17048264 you would rightfully say, you said the process was less than ideal but the result was good. Actually, it is not. Unfortunately. There is no clear pinpointing for all loudspeakers and the Dolby Atmos experience I get when listening to music via Tidal (Amzon Fire Stick with LAN) is not really enjoyable.
I have contacted ForTune (the German distributor) and Smyth about it and got mixed messages. After checking my PRIR ForTune agreed the measurement was not correct. I send them a list of proposals how to make the next measurement better ( it is a very long drive for me and I need to stay over night in Munich, which is quite expensive), but they never answered. Also my second try did not lead to any response. I will publish my translated email later. Anyhow, going on …

After my disaster at msm Munich I kind of had given up to ever get a great PRIR.
So now testing the Omega from 3DSoundShop I was not too hopeful.

I have no idea how John @Litlgi74 from 3DSoundShop has done it but having tried out the Omega on my own A16 with my own HPEQ optimized via manLoud for the Omega PRIR I can say it is finally the result I was looking for. Everything is crystal clear and every sound source properly located. It sounds great with film and music (of all genres).
I am so happy I could jump around. Finally audio heaven. Took a while.
Thank you John!!!

are you partial to one of the distance options (65 vs 96) over the other for the Omega PRIR [assuming you bought both versions]?

 

[esimms86]

Yes, John's PRIRs are just amazing, I see no need for me to go through the hassle to get my own measurements.

Actually, a Realiser Lite that would just do the Atmos/DTS/Auro decoding, include some of John's PRIRs and a more user friendly manLOUD process would be amazing and do the job for most people.

I purchased a couple of John’s PRIRs and then later traveled to his studio for an in person. Like you, I’m very fortunate that his PRIRs work for me but, even with that being true, the in person PRIR that he made for me is better still. I also have to be completely honest in saying that I could live very happily with one of PRIRs optimized with manLOUD.

While I consider the probability of a Realiser Lite to be exceedingly low, the inclusion of Atmos/Auro/DTS:X would be a minimum price increase of 600+ USD to cover licensing fees. I assume that your proposed configuration would also include “garden variety” stereo, 4.0, 5.1 and 7.1. There is a niche consisting of A16 users who are only interested in stereo.

 

[VandyMan]

This is fun to think about. If I were making the decisions for Smyth...

I'd take an off the shelf Intel NUC or similar mini-PC w/ two-channel analog, SPDIF digital, and HDMI outputs. I would add an HDMI input board (I'm pretty sure they exist). I would drop head-tracking, port the A16 software to Android, improve the web interface, and install Android TV on the NUC.

I would sell the NUC + a measurement kit + an Android TV remote for as low a price as feasible including licenses and a coupon for a 3D Sound Shop PRIR. Maybe 2K. Most users would just use the streaming and music apps on Google TV. Others could use the HDMI input.

You could use the NUC's headphone output, run the two-channel analog to your headphone amp, or run the digital out to a DAC/Amp.

And they can pre-install a web browser that defaults to the A16 web interface.

 

[shmau]

This is fun to think about. If I were making the decisions for Smyth...

I'd take an off the shelf Intel NUC or similar mini-PC w/ two-channel analog, SPDIF digital, and HDMI outputs. I would add an HDMI input board (I'm pretty sure they exist). I would drop head-tracking, port the A16 software to Android, improve the web interface, and install Android TV on the NUC.

I would sell the NUC + a measurement kit + an Android TV remote for as low a price as feasible including licenses and a coupon for a 3D Sound Shop PRIR. Maybe 2K. Most users would just use the streaming and music apps on Google TV. Others could use the HDMI input.

You could use the NUC's headphone output, run the two-channel analog to your headphone amp, or run the digital out to a DAC/Amp.

And they can pre-install a web browser that defaults to the A16 web interface.

They'd have to rewrite basically their whole stack. Even if the algorithms stay the same it would be a huge amount of effort. NUCs aren't super cheap either and HDMI boards themselves with appropriate licenses are going to be expensive. Audio and video routing would have to be completely redone. Furthermore, they'd still have to keep and maintain the old codebase for current devices. Every feature would now have to be implemented twice. I don't think what you said makes any financial sense for a niche product.

 

[VandyMan]

They'd have to rewrite basically their whole stack. Even if the algorithms stay the same it would be a huge amount of effort. NUCs aren't super cheap either and HDMI boards themselves with appropriate licenses are going to be expensive. Audio and video routing would have to be completely redone. Furthermore, they'd still have to keep and maintain the old codebase for current devices. Every feature would now have to be implemented twice. I don't think what you said makes any financial sense for a niche product.

This is just fun speculation. No one is actually building such a product (they are not even building regular A-16s at this point!), so it seems a little pointless to argue the technical details. I disagree with some of your analysis, but let's not get into it here.

 

[Richter Di]

are you partial to one of the distance options (65 vs 96) over the other for the Omega PRIR [assuming you bought both versions]?

Yes, I have both but only have tested so far 65.

 

[Camano]

Yes, I have both but only have tested so far 65.

I bought John's Genelec PRIR a year ago and felt that the speakers, also around 65", were too close. Whose home theater has all the speakers only 5' away? I was interested in the Omega 96, but didn't feel that the HD800 demo was better than the Surrey PRIR I've been using (with the center channel replaced with one of my speakers recorded at a 10' distance to match my TV). I'd be interested to hear your impressions of the 65 vs 96.

 

[Got the Shakes]

I bought John's Genelec PRIR a year ago and felt that the speakers, also around 65", were too close. Whose home theater has all the speakers only 5' away? I was interested in the Omega 96, but didn't feel that the HD800 demo was better than the Surrey PRIR I've been using (with the center channel replaced with one of my speakers recorded at a 10' distance to match my TV). I'd be interested to hear your impressions of the 65 vs 96.

I will hopefully post some more detailed impressions later this weekend after I get more than a few hours of use, but the 65 and 96 are the two most amazing things I have used on my A16, and that is coming from someone who has the D&D. I think so far, upmixing to Auro3D, that I would say I prefer the 96 slightly over the 65. I am completely blown away by both though.

 

[GeorgeA]

I bought John's Genelec PRIR a year ago and felt that the speakers, also around 65", were too close. Whose home theater has all the speakers only 5' away? I was interested in the Omega 96, but didn't feel that the HD800 demo was better than the Surrey PRIR I've been using (with the center channel replaced with one of my speakers recorded at a 10' distance to match my TV). I'd be interested to hear your impressions of the 65 vs 96.

Actually, Genelec speakers/monitors were designed for near field listening, weren’t they?

 

[Richter Di]

Correct. My post at AVSForum was from that day#1 experience where I'd just installed the firmware update permission file and didn't realize that, as you point out here, I had to also explicitly activate Auro3D (Settings -> System -> Misc settings -> Auro 3d = ENABLE). There's no such explicit activation for DTS:X so (in the absence yet of any A16 documentation for Auro) I wasn't even looking for this switch to turn on Auro processing. I just assumed if I'd applied the Auro firmware update that this would be sufficient to automatically enable Auro... as why else would I have installed the firmware unless I wanted the functionality?

As you show in your picture 03, if that switch is not enabled the underlying 5.1 inside the Auro bitstream from the player is what will be played by the A16, as PCM. I did experience just that.

I didn't discover this magic switch until day#2 when I got around to creating my Auro listening rooms and updated my presets, and even then had no real idea that it was this Auro 3D "master switch" that was the magic key.

Well, I'm a convert!

Finally figured out that unfortunately it is true that you have to use the Misc Settings -> Auro 3D "global" on/off switch to enable AuroMatic. And when it's on, the preset-specific PCM Audio management "upmixer" settings are disabled. So if it's on, that's the only type of upmixing you can demonstrate. In order to sample Dolby Surround or DTS: Neural you have to turn OFF the Auro3d "global", to bring PCM Aurio management within each preset back to life.

Thank you so much! Have bought the DTS and Auro 3D upgrade.
Without your help I would have never figured out why Aurot 3D did not work initally.

 

[Richter Di]

Listening to normal Stereo tracks on Tidal is a very different experience with the Auromatic on using the Realiser A16. A bit too much bass but other than that a wonderful immersive experience with sound comming sometimes from very surprising points. But it never sound gimmicky, more like being in room with a big system with multiple speakers. Thank you so much John @Litlgi74 for making this amazing PRIR (including the Auro Setup).

 

[weijiangnan]

Thanks to John for producing Prir, after months of hard work John's Omega Series Prirs are on schedule and I'm proud to be his first Omega Prir customer!
During this time, due to projection changes and projection colour correction, although I built the corresponding listening room soon after receiving Prir, and then did Hpeq and manload, the time to test Prir was a bit short; I was only able to test a few clips from films I had previously watched; I was impressed not only with the atmos title test videos, but also with films such as Supernatural I was impressed not only by the atmos opening test video, but also by the mind-blowing sound of Splinter Cell in the opening credits, the distance of the vocal dialogue in Gravity, and so on.
As I have never built my own speaker system, I have always used headphones in my AV room to watch movies, previously the sony 700ds, then last year I bought the JVC ext1, and this year I finally got a 16-channel version of the A16, and with the help of John, I created a listening room with the factory BBC PRIR, and by capturing the HPEQ of my HD800s headphones and manload, I got a good result. and manload it, with good results! Overall, the surround sound is ok, the sky channel is relatively inactive, but it's already much better than the multichannel headphones I was using before.
I wanted to buy John's Prir after I received the A16, my initial target was the D&D PRIR, but John suggested I wait for his new Prir with all the black technology, and finally I got my wish! The new Prir surrounds, sky sound, are perfect and have me engrossed in movies in no time!
Finally, thanks again John!

 

[CaptainFunk]

I bought John's Omega PRIRs and had some time to set everything up. I was mainly interested in the 96 version because I always felt that his other PRIRs had the speakers a little too close for my taste and I wanted something slightly wider. I definitely appreciate the closeness and intimate sound you get from having the speakers that close, but it always felt a bit odd that the center speaker is not aligned with my TV. Before the Omega I was using the Focal PRIRs and I thought it would not get any better than this in terms of sound but the Omega is just on another level. It sounds awesome, exactly what I have hoped for. The sound is wider, more balanced and precise and the bass is just fantastic. In my opinion it does not sound any less intimate than his other PRIRs or even the Omega 65 version, but perhaps in an A/B test you would notice some differences. Overall, I could not be happier with the Omega's and even though they are slightly more expensive than his other PRIRs, they are still a steal for what you are getting. I definitely need to get the Auro update now...

Just to make it clear, I am not sponsored by John in any way.

 

[Dixter]

Thought I'd send this out in case some have not gotten the email.... good deals for Johns setups...

Only One Day Left!!!

Sale and Website Details:

• Early Black Friday through Cyber Monday sale. With coupon code: BLACKFRIDAY... save up to 60% on individual and PRIR Paks. Details below
• Discounts Availiable:
• PRIR Multi-Pak: (Get Everything) Save an addition 15%
• PRIR 3-Pak: Save an additional 15%
• 5.1 / 7.1 Remapped Channels: Save 15%
• Individual PRIRs: Save 15%
• Omega Series PRIR Bundle: Save 25%... No coupon necessary.
• Introduction of the Omega Series bundle... an all new Premium 35 Channel Universal PRIR. It will include two PRIR formats. These formats were created with both movie and music lovers in mind... Now with optional added distance from the main listening position.
• New PRIRs also include properly recorded Auro-3D channels!
• I have spent hundreds of hours creating a new and personalized online experience.
• New Online & Offline demos for HD800 owners as well as all other headphone brands and types
• Sale pricing will end on Nov 29th at midnight EST.