Smyth A16 - I'm so excited, I just can't hide it . . .

So cool @DigiPete!

Can’t wait to hear your feedback!

I experienced one year ago courtesy of Dr. AIX. Very interesting piece of kit.

4 minutes ago, JoeWhip said:

I experienced one year ago courtesy of Dr. AIX. Very interesting piece of kit.

It's more than interesting, it's magnificent but also scary complicated.

It's like the polar opposite to a pair of Apple AirPod Max.
Universally applicable (for immersive) but also insanely complicated to set up and use.
The ultra nerdy user manual is 149 pages (single language!!!) and steps and procedures must be followed to the point.

I'm as scared as I am excited 🫣
But I suppose I'm also the one seasoned digital surround Audiophile who absolutely should have one . . . 


 

1 hour ago, DigiPete said:

It's more than interesting, it's magnificent but also scary complicated.

It's like the polar opposite to a pair of Apple AirPod Max.
Universally applicable (for immersive) but also insanely complicated to set up and use.
The ultra nerdy user manual is 149 pages (single language!!!) and steps and procedures must be followed to the point.

I'm as scared as I am excited 🫣
But I suppose I'm also the one seasoned digital surround Audiophile who absolutely should have one . . . 


 

Do you need to get your hrtf from a third party?

16 minutes ago, DigiPete said:

 

No, the A16 measures the HRTF with you in your room.

It goes like this:

• You sit down in your listening spot, with your immersive rig connected to the A16
• Put the supplied binaural microphones into your ears
• Unit runs sweeps from all speakers while recording what you hear including influence from pinna, head, torsoe.
• HRTF is then calculated from those measurements.

Additionally it's recommended to run a similar headphone EQ procedure with the binaural microphones still in place, maintaining the exact same reference.

For better and worse, your listening experience will be a reflection of, and as good (or bad) as the quality of your rig and room.

In case you don't have a surround and / or immersive rig, you have a few options:

• Contend with running the A16 with no more channels than you have in your rig.
• Do a "stop motion" kind of calibration using one or two of your speakers, moving them around between sweeps up to 24 channels. 
• Go to a studio or friend with a better bigger rig (more channels) and do the calibration there.
• Use one of the available free calibrations (that will not match your exact HRTF) or even buy one.

This unit obviously comes with a lot of pros and cons, but it's performance is SOTA so far.
I hope and expect that it will be equalled slowly over the coming years, as the world outside our insane little bubble deserves the quality immersive experiences we have come to love.


Fun fact: The A16 substitutes you regular immersive receiver and is fully Atmos / Auro 3D / DTS:X, rendering 24 (HP) and outputting 16 (speaker) channels available through unbalanced, balanced, AES/EBU and Dante. HP in unbalanced & S/PDIF.

So cool. 

10 minutes ago, DigiPete said:

So I got the A16 and everything is working.

Well, it makes sound and the image is stable (head tracked).
Now I just need to calibrate my own HRTF and figure out all the millions of settings and how to make it play nice with USB and HDMI out on the Mac.
And get Netflix to deliver full Atmos.

Still scared and excited 🫣

HDMI on the Mac will be problematic, at least until Passthrough is released (soon). 

1 hour ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

HDMI on the Mac will be problematic, at least until Passthrough is released (soon). 

Sigh . . thanks Chris.

On 6/13/2024 at 12:24 PM, DigiPete said:

Sigh . . thanks Chris.

some news. Although not sure if/how other non-Apple apps will use the feature. 
 

https://www.macrumors.com/2024/07/03/macos-sequoia-supports-hdmi-passthrough/

This is major major news, and first time I've seen it somewhere I trust.
The pass-through shouldn't violate any Dolby patents or make them mad in any other way, so there is hope that this will be a universal feature and be embraced by all streaming services.

This is also the next logical step if Apple is serious about making Atmos the standard for their own streaming.
It seems that I bought a Smyth Realiser at the perfect time 😃.

Btw. It's performing way better than any of my other virtual surround/immersive solutions, and I'm far from done learning, calibrating and tinkering with the setup. I'm still both fascinated and scared!

Thanks Chris, I can't wait to try out macOS Sequoia when it's released to us plebs.

32 minutes ago, DigiPete said:

This is major major news, and first time I've seen it somewhere I trust.
The pass-through shouldn't violate any Dolby patents or make them mad in any other way, so there is hope that this will be a universal feature and be embraced by all streaming services.

This is also the next logical step if Apple is serious about making Atmos the standard for their own streaming.
It seems that I bought a Smyth Realiser at the perfect time 😃.

Btw. It's performing way better than any of my other virtual surround/immersive solutions, and I'm far from done learning, calibrating and tinkering with the setup. I'm still both fascinated and scared!

Thanks Chris, I can't wait to try out macOS Sequoia when it's released to us plebs.

I can't wait to hear more about your experience with the A16. You're getting me fascinated about it!

TLDR: Don't buy the exorbitantly expensive A16 - wait a few years and virtualisation will be cheap and everywhere.


I think we should think of the A16 as SOTA solution, that is likely only relevant right at this moment.
It's a forerunner and only relevant for the early adopters.
The bigger picture is slowly emerging with solutions like the AirPods in the Apple system.

Virtualisation in headphones relies on a lot of components to have any chance of being convincing:

• Quality multi channel stream (even if it works works a stereo signal)
• HRTF that is generated from your personal physicality
• Head tracking of high resolution and no drift
• Virtualisation SW of high standard
• Virtualisation of a room that is sonically similar to where you are
• Quality headphone, likely EQed on your own head
• Quality multi channel stream (even if it works works a stereo signal)

All this is necessary to have a chance of tricking our brain, because our brain is constantly working on detecting discrepancies between our different sensory inputs. Why do you hear deeper and more 3 dimensional into a 'mix' in a darkened room? Because our brain isn't as confused by hearing something, say a church hall,  that isn't consistent with what we see.

The A16 shortcuts HRTF and room virtualisation by simply measuring it all with a pair of tiny microphones inside your ears. It misses the inner ear, as there is a limit for how deep you can put the microphones. And you need a good rig and acoustically treated room!

I see a bright future for all this being done without dedicated SW, opening the door for a much wider audience.
Along the solutions of immersive in AirPods, with HRTF from (lidar) scanning of head, torso, pinna and inner ear and choices of rooms to virtualise.
Preferably working with any headphone you already have and expanding to headtracing and emulating while you move around in the sound scape. 

I'm not patient enough, so I got myself a (pre-loved) A16 . . . . and its magnificent.

 

10 minutes ago, DigiPete said:

Don't buy the exorbitantly expensive A16 - wait a few years and virtualisation will be cheap and everywhere.

You're telling this to a guy who purchased 12 Wilson speakers 🤣

10 minutes ago, DigiPete said:

I think we should think of the A16 as SOTA solution, that is likely only relevant right at this moment.
It's a forerunner and only relevant for the early adopters.
The bigger picture is slowly emerging with solutions like the AirPods in the Apple system.

I think you're right. However, it's hard to say when mainstream solutions will equal the A16, or if that happens, will the A16 get even better in version 2, 3, 4... Who knows. All really neat stuff. 

Did you see this?

New IR Camera-Equipped AirPods to Enhance User-Device Interaction and Strengthen Apple’s Spatial Audio/Computing Ecosystem

https://medium.com/@mingchikuo/配備ir相機的新款airpods可望提升人機交互體驗與強化apple空間音訊-空間運算生態-new-ir-camera-equipped-airpods-to-enhance-2daa96913d7f

4 hours ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

Did you see this?

 

New IR Camera-Equipped AirPods to Enhance User-Device Interaction and Strengthen Apple’s Spatial Audio/Computing Ecosystem

 

https://medium.com/@mingchikuo/配備ir相機的新款airpods可望提升人機交互體驗與強化apple空間音訊-空間運算生態-new-ir-camera-equipped-airpods-to-enhance-2daa96913d7f

 

Innovative app developers will no doubt find many ways to utilise cameras if they are accessible.
May even address some of the points raised here enhancing better sound virtualisation. 
 

I can feel your excitement through your posts! Congratulations on your acquisition. I hope it brings you much joy.

Great news. More options for me other than the Nvidia shield.

Preordered my Smyth A16 in 2017 , wonder if i will get it or i just got ripped off ?

Many people didnt get there devices

HDMI Passthrough is finally here for the masses. 

Awesome!