[Rod_S]

Right now it's the internal 48kHz that's a deal breaker for me. I was so looking forward to this as it's a less expensive option to the Trinnov units but at 48kHz internal that's undoubtedly one major reason for that.

Maybe I'm a bit different to most but even listening to music an analog bypass is no good to me because I often like to apply matrix surround processing to my music and I wouldn't be willing to drop my high res files down to 48kHz. Unless your source is a turntable the file starts as digital anyways not analog so keeping it digital all the way through to the speaker out is an advantage and being able to apply any processing and EQ at the higher resolutions is the desired option. One could argue though that for ripped CD's 48kHz is upsampling to a higher resolution so there could be an ever so slight advantage there however that's only true of CD's as I believe most low resolution digital files from say HDTracks are at 48kHz vs 44.1 like a CD although there certainly are 44.1 files on HDTracks.

[witchdoctor]

In case you didn't know these units are essentially Storm Audio units which have been a around for a while so there is some information out there. These aren't Bryston designed machines. Bryston will bring their own add on modules to the platform later on like the discussed analog module but the unit will always remain a Storm Audio manufactured device.

Thanks. I have never owned a Storm Unit but have been using Auro 3D for the last few years. Auro 3D used to own Storm Audio so I have been following what is going on over there for as well. Have you seen all of their awards?
https://www.stormaudio.com/en/news/reviews-and-awards/

[dminches]

Those awards do not address the concerns some of us have regarding the Storm's lack of an analog-only signal path.

[witchdoctor]

Just another opinion on the Auomatic upmixer for listening to music with the Storm processor:

page 2/3 paragraph 3:

" As usual, Auromatic made music sound so great I stopped listening to stereo music in stereo mode, preferring the Auromatic option for every type of music I tried"

https://www.stormaudio.com/media/wsr_stormaudio_iisp_3d1612_review_december2017lowres__067250400_0949_22122017.pdf

[Grit]

Thanks Gary, thats exactly what I wanted to know.

I know time estimates are always subject to unexpected delays, but do you have a ballpark? Is this a "within a year" goal, or more like 2-3 years, or?

Yeah, the plan is to let the bypass module double as the front left right. Ideally, we'd like to be able to switch it in and out of the DSP path. One of the really great things about the SP4 is that you can setup different "profiles" for your theater. So, for 2 channel listening, you could have a profile where the bypass module is straight analog passthrough. Then you could switch over to a movie profile where the front left and right outputs are fed from the DSP so you could have EQ, Dirac Live or whatever in the path for front left and right.

[NekoAudio]

From what I see you need a smart phone or tablet to navigate the menus options, no sure if this unit can be fully controlled from the front panel?

You can use the front push buttons to switch through some of the items shown on the front screen, like the active configuration or input. You can't use the front push buttons to setup or configure.

[witchdoctor]

For those of you contemplating the SP4 here is something to consider re: speakers. Yes, you will want to install height channels but what speakers should you get? FWIW a LOT of the 4K BRD having Atmos or DTS soundtracks are kind of lame when it comes to the use of the height channels. What they mixed is what you get, like it or lump it. Auro 3D is the only format that allows you to tailor the sound for your room. You can dial in how much to use the height channels from 1-16. You can dial in the size of the room from small, medium and large. The end result is you might prefer the auromatic processing to the native Atmos/DTS mix,
So first thought is do you want an Auro or Atmos layout. Do you want to cut holes in your ceiling? Do you want "upfiring" Atmos speakers? I opted to use the same speaker series I use for bed channels.
IMO if you are using Bryston speakers those on wall TOW speakers would make perfect height channels.

[Anonamemouse]

Right now it's the internal 48kHz that's a deal breaker for me. I was so looking forward to this as it's a less expensive option to the Trinnov units but at 48kHz internal that's undoubtedly one major reason for that.

Maybe I'm a bit different to most but even listening to music an analog bypass is no good to me because I often like to apply matrix surround processing to my music and I wouldn't be willing to drop my high res files down to 48kHz. Unless your source is a turntable the file starts as digital anyways not analog so keeping it digital all the way through to the speaker out is an advantage and being able to apply any processing and EQ at the higher resolutions is the desired option. One could argue though that for ripped CD's 48kHz is upsampling to a higher resolution so there could be an ever so slight advantage there however that's only true of CD's as I believe most low resolution digital files from say HDTracks are at 48kHz vs 44.1 like a CD although there certainly are 44.1 files on HDTracks.

So it only sounds good when you listen to at least 24/96? I am willing to bet that in a controlled environment, with the focus purely on the music, you will not even be able to hear the difference between 320 mp3 and 24/192 flac.
How can I be so sure? Because trained mastering technicians can barely tell the difference, and they know what to listen for.
You're not a dog, a cat or a bat. 24/48 is plenty, and well over the limits of your hearing range.
Good sound comes from recording, mixing and mastering, not from resolution.

[dminches]

Because trained mastering technicians can barely tell the difference, and they know what to listen for.

That’s BS. Plus, people who listen to music several hours per day can develop a pretty good ear too.

[brucek]

You're not a dog, a cat or a bat. 24/48 is plenty, and well over the limits of your hearing range.
Good sound comes from recording, mixing and mastering, not from resolution.

Exactly.

brucek

[Rod_S]

So it only sounds good when you listen to at least 24/96? I am willing to bet that in a controlled environment, with the focus purely on the music, you will not even be able to hear the difference between 320 mp3 and 24/192 flac.
How can I be so sure? Because trained mastering technicians can barely tell the difference, and they know what to listen for.
You're not a dog, a cat or a bat. 24/48 is plenty, and well over the limits of your hearing range.
Good sound comes from recording, mixing and mastering, not from resolution.

I don't want my music library down sampled, period. My Lexicon MC-12 from the early 2000's runs at 96kHz with room EQ on 10 channels. I just think that almost 15 years later that a high end SSP can't equal or better that kind of internal processing is lacking.

Now please correct me if I'm wrong, I don't think it's because of Dirac that the Storm/SP4 runs at 48kHz but rather a design choice of Storm because I believe the Dirac implementation in the Theta Casablanca runs at 96kHz. If I'm wrong and it is running at 48kHz then it would seem that either a) Dirac is the weak link, b)DSP based designs in general simply do not have the horsepower or c) both a and b

[Rod_S]

For those of you contemplating the SP4 here is something to consider re: speakers. Yes, you will want to install height channels but what speakers should you get? FWIW a LOT of the 4K BRD having Atmos or DTS soundtracks are kind of lame when it comes to the use of the height channels. What they mixed is what you get, like it or lump it. Auro 3D is the only format that allows you to tailor the sound for your room. You can dial in how much to use the height channels from 1-16. You can dial in the size of the room from small, medium and large. The end result is you might prefer the auromatic processing to the native Atmos/DTS mix,
So first thought is do you want an Auro or Atmos layout. Do you want to cut holes in your ceiling? Do you want "upfiring" Atmos speakers? I opted to use the same speaker series I use for bed channels.
IMO if you are using Bryston speakers those on wall TOW speakers would make perfect height channels.

I believe I read somewhere over on AVS that Dolby is considering locking down their content so that only their own post processing can be applied to their sound tracks so that means that neither Auromatic or dts:x will no longer be able to be applied.

[gbaby]

Right now it's the internal 48kHz that's a deal breaker for me. I was so looking forward to this as it's a less expensive option to the Trinnov units but at 48kHz internal that's undoubtedly one major reason for that.

Maybe I'm a bit different to most but even listening to music an analog bypass is no good to me because I often like to apply matrix surround processing to my music and I wouldn't be willing to drop my high res files down to 48kHz. Unless your source is a turntable the file starts as digital anyways not analog so keeping it digital all the way through to the speaker out is an advantage and being able to apply any processing and EQ at the higher resolutions is the desired option. One could argue though that for ripped CD's 48kHz is upsampling to a higher resolution so there could be an ever so slight advantage there however that's only true of CD's as I believe most low resolution digital files from say HDTracks are at 48kHz vs 44.1 like a CD although there certainly are 44.1 files on HDTracks.

Unless you need ATMOS, Auro, or room correction, the SP3 is what you need. The SP4 was designed for folks needing those codecs.

[gbaby]

So it only sounds good when you listen to at least 24/96? I am willing to bet that in a controlled environment, with the focus purely on the music, you will not even be able to hear the difference between 320 mp3 and 24/192 flac.
How can I be so sure? Because trained mastering technicians can barely tell the difference, and they know what to listen for.
You're not a dog, a cat or a bat. 24/48 is plenty, and well over the limits of your hearing range.
Good sound comes from recording, mixing and mastering, not from resolution.

I can certainly hear a difference. Its in the high frequencies.

[Rod_S]

The SP3 is basically my MC-12 with HDMI switching but no Logic7 or room EQ so at best it's a lateral move but I personally see it as a lesser SSP so I can't justify the cost of that type of move just to get HDMI, I would need to gain a lot more.

[witchdoctor]

I believe I read somewhere over on AVS that Dolby is considering locking down their content so that only their own post processing can be applied to their sound tracks so that means that neither Auromatic or dts:x will no longer be able to be applied.

Link?

[witchdoctor]

Another great speaker setup for the SP4 5 would be 5 mini T's as bed channels and 4 mini A'a as height channels.
With 9 or more speakers in the room I think towers are not really needed. I would prefer adding 2 more mini T's as wide channels, then maybe two more as surround back channels if you have the room.
BTW, the VOG channel in Auro is sublime. If you are going this route defintely add that channel. You could use another mini A with the right speaker bracket.

I was just watching concerts on Qello in Auro 3D this evening and was switching back and forth to 2 channel on the remote to compare. 2 channel sounds great until you switch back to immersive audio. Then it sounds just like the wheels came off the system in comparison.

[witchdoctor]

Here is a pic of the VOG in my system, that is a Paradigm Shift A2 active speaker pointing down above the sofa. You can see the Paradigm Active 40 rear bed channel and the Active 20 rear height channel on the right side stand above it. I used height stands because active speakers are so heavy, passive speakers would mount easily high on the wall or ceiling with a better WAF :

[Rod_S]

Link?

I'll search for it, it would have been in the Theta, Datasat or Trinnov threads. Apparently it's something that Dolby could have done many years ago but never did, thankfully. I could only see doing something like this as a death strike to Dolby because unlike the DVD era where they basically all had Dolby soundtracks in the Blu-ray era it's dts that has the majority share so most would never even get to use a Dolby product.

[Rod_S]

Wow, it was further back then I thought, back in May. Looks like it was originally posted over on Audioholics then brought up in the Trinnov thread on AVS where it was discussed briefly.

Here's both links

https://www.avsforum.com/forum/86-ultra-hi-end-ht-gear-20-000/1516103-trinnov-altitude-147.html#post56282298

https://www.audioholics.com/audio-technologies/dolby-non-native-upmixing-atmos