[James Tanner]

James! Tell him that needs an asterisk for "movies only", right? James??

Hi Grit

As you know I am not a fan of EQ when it comes to speakers that already have excellent polar response but it appears I am in the minority

james

[gbaby]

Hi Grit

As you know I am not a fan of EQ when it comes to speakers that already have excellent polar response but it appears I am in the minority

james

No you are not as you made a convert out of me. I understand.  In fact, I have a new saying that goes like this. You down with speaker EQ; hell no not me. 

[Grit]

Hi Grit

As you know I am not a fan of EQ when it comes to speakers that already have excellent polar response but it appears I am in the minority

james

It must be frustrating to have to include a feature others want that you don't personally believe in. For what little it is worth, I'm in your camp James!

[James Tanner]

It must be frustrating to have to include a feature others want that you don't personally believe in. For what little it is worth, I'm in your camp James!

Hi Grit

It is a little frustrating personally but I think if I explain my position and why at least it puts it out there for discussion. Custom installers would not purchase the SP-4 without it.

james

[witchdoctor]

In a "pull" system you want to give the customer what they want and how they want it. Think of "pulling" products off the shelf in the supermarket.
In a "push" system you create a product and then go out and try to find customers to "push" it to.

guess which one works better?

BTW James. will you be offering the new HDMI boards announced at CEDIA by Storm?

https://www.stormaudio.com/en/news/453-2019-july-26th-stormaudio-leaps-the-competition-with-implementation-of-channels-most-advanced-hdmi-card.html

[James Tanner]

In a "pull" system you want to give the customer what they want and how they want it. Think of "pulling" products off the shelf in the supermarket.
In a "push" system you create a product and then go out and try to find customers to "push" it to.

guess which one works better?

BTW James. will you be offering the new HDMI boards announced at CEDIA by Storm?

https://www.stormaudio.com/en/news/453-2019-july-26th-stormaudio-leaps-the-competition-with-implementation-of-channels-most-advanced-hdmi-card.html

Yes going forward but after much more testing.

james

[Rod_S]

I seen the Storm announcement but couldn't help but shake my head. Why, where the hell is HDMI 2.1?????? At this point in HDMI's evolution cycle, no new boards being developed should be anything but HDMI 2.1. If you were using off the shelf boards from MDS like you have been doing then you are at their mercy so sure I totally get and understand that because they have a huge lag in getting the newer tech to market. But when developing a board from scratch, in 2019, what gives?

It boggles the mind how LG is the only manufacturer actually implementing true HDMI 2.1 and no one has been able to match that with most manufacturers not even able to offer all 3 of the main HDMI 2.1 features via 2.0b i.e. ALLM, eARC and VRR. All the other manufacturers have been able to cobble together is 2 out of the 3 at most when all 3 are fully capable under 2.0b

[James Tanner]

Hi Folks,

From STORM:

James,
No HDMi chip currently supports 2.1, that is as simple as this.
When one does (it will certainly be Panasonic), we will work on an updated board.
Olivier

[Rod_S]

That's interesting and not what's available in the broader market. The 2019 LG OLED's are 2.1, with the 48Gbps that comes with the new spec along with features like eARC, ALLM and VRR. Granted those 3 are all available via 2.0b if manufacturers so choose to implement but 48Gbps is exclusively 2.1 which allows for 4k@120 or 8k@60.

The way the response is worded is that Storm isn't doing a ground up implementation but rather still using a 3rd party board as a starting point at least. It's possible LG did their own ground up design which is why they are 1st to market with 2.1. So if indeed the Storm board is not fully proprietary then I'm not seeing the advantage of moving away from MDS to another supplier because wouldn't firmware and/or hardware updates still be at the mercy of the supplier, not Storm?

[NekoAudio]

The 2019 LG OLED's are 2.1....

IIRC LG's higher end models typically use custom LG chipsets, even if the chipsets are manufactured by an SoC like MediaTek. Samsung uses their own stuff across the board (I might be remembering that incorrectly) but will still reserve the nicer features for their higher-end models. I don't know if that approach also applies to the HDMI chips, but both companies are leaders in releasing new video technology, especially given their competitive dynamic, with everyone else following. Mid-sized OEMs are going to use off-the-shelf solutions, and the small OEMs are going to use ODMs and just stick their brand on it.

I found this breakdown of the HDMI 2.1 features in 2019 Samsung and LG TVs.

[mv038856]

A question for James about Bryston’s Home Theater product strategy

At CEDIA Expo 2019, Storm Audio announced a new version of their pro/pro lineup.

Since the SP-4 is based on the Storm Audio platform, will there be an updated Bryston SP-4.1 with the new DSP  board?

Thanks

Markus

[James Tanner]

A question for James about Bryston’s Home Theater product strategy

At CEDIA Expo 2019, Storm Audio announced a new version of their pro/pro lineup.

Since the SP-4 is based on the Storm Audio platform, will there be an updated Bryston SP-4.1 with the new DSP  board?

Thanks

Markus

Hi Markus

No we are staying with the MDS board.

james

[Rod_S]

Why are you not staying with the Storm product development strategy? Staying with the MDS board now creates a separate skew for Storm to maintain firmware on. A fear would be that necessary non HDMI related firmware updates would be delayed, perhaps not even administered if you are going with a board they themselves are no longer using. Wouldn't their ability to test that their firmware remains compatible with Bryston variants be compromised? I can't see the Bryston units receiving the same priority and attention going forward. Initially it may not be that bad because they would still have the MDS boards around however once MDS releases their 1st hardware update post Storm's launch of their own board then they will no longer have the current MDS hardware to test on.

[James Tanner]

Why are you not staying with the Storm product development strategy? Staying with the MDS board now creates a separate skew for Storm to maintain firmware on. A fear would be that necessary non HDMI related firmware updates would be delayed, perhaps not even administered if you are going with a board they themselves are no longer using. Wouldn't their ability to test that their firmware remains compatible with Bryston variants be compromised? I can't see the Bryston units receiving the same priority and attention going forward. Initially it may not be that bad because they would still have the MDS boards around however once MDS releases their 1st hardware update post Storm's launch of their own board then they will no longer have the current MDS hardware to test on.

Hi

We do the software as well so no issues going forward.

james

[James Tanner]

MEMO: To All Bryston Customers
SUBJECT: Bryston SP-4 Processor – New Cubed Faceplate

November 2019

Hi Folks,

The Bryston SP-4 Surround Processor has been a very successful product for us over the past year.

We have decided to give it a ‘CUBED’ appearance to better fit in with our current Cubed Amplifier series.

Please see pictures below.

IMPORTANT:

We are currently backordered but should have more product available at the end of November.

Please let us know if you have any planned installed going into the new year.

[James Tanner]

[alexone]

...not sure about the black volume knob, but all in all the new look of the SP4 is very cool

al.

[Grit]

PLEASE just add an analog bypass. I'll buy one, promise!!

[gbaby]

PLEASE just add an analog bypass. I'll buy one, promise!!

Get an SP3.

[Grit]

Have one. I just want the processor to be faster. No qualms about the sound quality, though I would like subwoofer audio correction. SP4 w/o analog bypass is a no-go for me.