Customer Survey! (super short)

[par4ken]

Ken, the answer is "It depends."

- In general, I've found that 'infinite' separation across the rears is often desirable. If the separation isn't extreme, I sometimes get rear images that can appear to be coming from the front. However...

- I have had instances where I needed to bleed front-center vocals into the rears in order to bring the vocals out a bit into the room. (Lexicon Logic7 was uncanny at doing this.) I detest front-center vocals that are reticent between (or behind) the front sound stage while the rest of the presentation is 'in your face.' That's my complaint about the Azteca quad.

- Sometimes the mix is such that I use more than 12 dB front to back if I want to really emphasize elements in the rears. On the other hand, I've had songs that are immersive by their nature, i.e. The Moody Blues The Voice. With this song, I found that my homemade 5.1 sounded better with the rears blended a bit more into the fronts to maintain its immersive character.

This is all so much fun!

I wish that full centre vocal placement was a bit more common as was done in many of the earliest quad releases. I agree that it can add to the immersive character especially if the mix is otherwise rather sparse.

As a DIY project I'm thinking of taking 5.1 (from the Oppo) and mixing it to quad with the centre fed through a joystick. With that arrangement you could pan or mix the vocal to any location that you want. Keep it front and centre or move it more into the room. You could also change settings for each listening session depending on your mood! I would also like to blend the LFE channel equally into all four channels via an adjustment pot, just to make sure that I'm not missing anything down there. I always have a few projects on the go and many more in the thought/planning stage!

 

[chucky3042]

Speaking of Philips, their insistence on cross-compatibility is why we never had discrete quad cassettes. I'm with you all the way, Chucky. Will Involve be at the CES Show in January? More people, especially those in the audio and record industries, need to hear this system, and what it can do.

We want to be but it depends on $$$$$$$$$$$$

 

[chucky3042]

We want to be but it depends on $$$$$$$$$$$$

Just to elaborate, to have a small stand in the outer burbs of the show would cost say $10K but to get there and all the logistics for a crew of 3 would be another $30 K. If we wanted a better stand in a more trafficked area the total cost would be at least $60 K. Thats why we are looking for an investor.....hence the questionnaire.

 

[gene_stl]

Just to elaborate, to have a small stand in the outer burbs of the show would cost say $10K but to get there and all the logistics for a crew of 3 would be another $30 K. If we wanted a better stand in a more trafficked area the total cost would be at least $60 K. Thats why we are looking for an investor.....hence the questionnaire.

You have to sell a lot of Surround Masters to pay for shows like that.

 

[Sonik Wiz]

You have to sell a lot of Surround Masters to pay for shows like that.

They also sell MCH amps, and the amazing Y4 systems.

 

[barfle]

Speaking of Philips, their insistence on cross-compatibility is why we never had discrete quad cassettes.

Again, going off-topic.

Oh, my the memories! Early in my career, I worked at a company called GYYR. (Pronounced GUY-er). They made most of their mark making time-lapse video recorders for security systems, but they had one product (two generations) of a four-channel audio cassette deck. It ran at 15/16 ips, and was intended for courtroom recording - one channel each for judge, witness, prosecutor, and defense attorneys. Their big sale was to South Africa before the apartheid ban. I believe they sold a few jurisdictions in the US, but I sure don’t remember where. My job was the servo control of the reel motors, making sure they didn’t spin too fast for the processsor to keep track of the count number without risking a stall-out, and not having the rubber band drive cause false triggers when the reels stopped. Fun project for a not-quite engineer.

 

[Sonik Wiz]

Honestly, I didn't. I was listening for any difference in the overall effect. In my opinion, It was a virtual tie. That's how good SM technology is, why I'm a believer in its potential.

Quite some time ago I took Suzanne Ciani's Quadraphonic album using discrete FLAC files she offered & matrix encoded it. I don't have an Involve Smart Encoder but just did a QS (actually RM) encoding in AA3.

In my set up it is extremely easy to level match & switch between discrete or Involve decode by a simple push of the button on my Zektor, & I can do that from the listening position.

Doing so for maybe a split second I can sense something different between the sources but after a lot of trials the comparison was a dead match. Yes, I knew what I was choosing so it wasn't blind testing but I satisfied my own curiosity that matrix encode to Involve decode is completly transparent.

 

[par4ken]

Quite some time ago I took Suzanne Ciani's Quadraphonic album using discrete FLAC files she offered & matrix encoded it. I don't have an Involve Smart Encoder but just did a QS (actually RM) encoding in AA3.

In my set up it is extremely easy to level match & switch between discrete or Involve decode by a simple push of the button on my Zektor, & I can do that from the listening position.

Doing so for maybe a split second I can sense something different between the sources but after a lot of trials the comparison was a dead match. Yes, I knew what I was choosing so it wasn't blind testing but I satisfied my own curiosity that matrix encode to Involve decode is completly transparent.

Her Quadraphonic album is listed for sale on Discogs for $650 plus shipping! I have never heard her work but it must be fantastic for that price! Oh I forgot that the vinyl box included the Involve decoder! Discogs listing does not mention the decoder at all.

 

[chucky3042]

Her Quadraphonic album is listed for sale on Discogs for $650 plus shipping! I have never heard her work but it must be fantastic for that price! Oh I forgot that the vinyl box included the Involve decoder! Discogs listing does not mention the decoder at all.

I got one to!

 

[chucky3042]

Dear All

We terminated the survey of customer happiness today, my particular favorite comments were

Who are they?

Never heard of it?

I do not know what involve audio is?

"Never heard of Involve Audio, but I am out of audio quite a lot nowadays"

I don't do recommendations as its too easy to get into trouble with friends

Does not live up to the hype.......................hello Oxford Dickie, I think you still hate us!

"I work there, it's awesome."........................who was that?

The results were anonymous, do you fellas want to see the full results?

 

[chucky3042]

Just to elaborate, to have a small stand in the outer burbs of the show would cost say $10K but to get there and all the logistics for a crew of 3 would be another $30 K. If we wanted a better stand in a more trafficked area the total cost would be at least $60 K. Thats why we are looking for an investor.....hence the questionnaire.

For example we are doing a Zenaji solar battery show in Melbourne for 2 days this week (I am totally knackered and only 1 day in) and it cost us $17,000 for the space rental. Here are some industry contacts who posed for us today:

Here is John (accounts) with Ben (Aust sales manager) and tall dude is our old mate Nathan who popped in and said hi

 

[DuncanS]

No Zenaji sales in the UK yet? People over here seem to use ...... Tesla ones!

..... I am thinking of adding solar panels to the house later on (along with a thermal panel for water, no air source heat pumps though!) and would only want to do it with batteries added

 

[chucky3042]

No Zenaji sales in the UK yet? People over here seem to use ...... Tesla ones!

..... I am thinking of adding solar panels to the house later on (along with a thermal panel for water, no air source heat pumps though!) and would only want to do it with batteries added

We have distributors in France and Belgium and shortly in the UK. My tip to you is fill your roof with as many solar panels as possible (I have 73) and if you are on grid use the LEAST amount of batteries possible and really flog them hard. All other Lithium and flow batteries NEVER pay off, the LTO ones we do do pay off 3 - 4 times in there crazy long life.

 

[jaybird100]

Dear All

We terminated the survey of customer happiness today, my particular favorite comments were

Who are they?

Never heard of it?

I do not know what involve audio is?

"Never heard of Involve Audio, but I am out of audio quite a lot nowadays"

I don't do recommendations as its too easy to get into trouble with friends

Does not live up to the hype.......................hello Oxford Dickie, I think you still hate us!

"I work there, it's awesome."........................who was that?

The results were anonymous, do you fellas want to see the full results?

I'd be curious to see it.

 

[jaybird100]

I'd be curious to see it.

Chucky, have you considered running an ad in a magazine, perhaps like SOUND & VISION? I remember them running an article about the first Surround Master, which had some complimentary things to say about the unit, but word of mouth can only get you so far. An ad, in a magazine such as mentioned above, would get the word out there with more clout, and increase awareness of Involve. A picture of the unit wouldn't hurt, too.

 

[barfle]

Chucky, have you considered running an ad in a magazine, perhaps like SOUND & VISION? I remember them running an article about the first Surround Master, which had some complimentary things to say about the unit, but word of mouth can only get you so far. An ad, in a magazine such as mentioned above, would get the word out there with more clout, and increase awareness of Involve. A picture of the unit wouldn't hurt, too.

Half a lifetime ago, I had my own business building what amounted to a DVD chapter finder for VHS tape. There were markets that I sold into that had trade magazines, and I certainly contacted several of them. Unfortunately, their ad rates were bwyond the scope of a self-financed enterprise. Of course, I have no insight into the financials of Involve Audio, but the fact that they’re looking for outside investors indicates that money is kind of tight. I wish them a far better fate than Gaslight Video suffered.

 

[kfbkfb]

AVTech Media owns Stereophile + Hi Fi News + Sound & Vision mags:
http://www.avtechmediausa.com/contact.htmlhttps://www.hifinews.com/contact-us
Maybe there's a way to buy the same ad in all 3 publications for a lower price than buying in just 1.


Kirk Bayne

 

[jaybird100]

Half a lifetime ago, I had my own business building what amounted to a DVD chapter finder for VHS tape. There were markets that I sold into that had trade magazines, and I certainly contacted several of them. Unfortunately, their ad rates were bwyond the scope of a self-financed enterprise. Of course, I have no insight into the financials of Involve Audio, but the fact that they’re looking for outside investors indicates that money is kind of tight. I wish them a far better fate than Gaslight Video suffered.

Well, another possible solution would be to contact them, and see if they'd be interested in reviewing the SM. If so, you could send them one to test, along with some recordings, encoded in the Involve matrix. I'd guess they have other quad records still around their lair, or someone who works there does. Worth a try!

 

[Overture]

Thanks for your help all, much appreciated.

 

[chucky3042]

I'd be curious to see it.

I have attached the results of the survey, unfortunately there were a few contributors that were not actual owners and in fact never heard of us, it distorts the result a bit.

Re advertising - its all about budget and presently all our cash is being strangled by the growth of our battery company and their slow paying of our R+D invoices (hard to debt collect on ourselves). I am actively seeking investors in various paths. Its been hard in recent years due to flight restrictions during COVID to travel to where the money is. In Australia we understand rocks and property but not technology.

Thank you all for participating the results were used to generate a NPS (Net Promoter Score)

You get the actual score as follows:

Count the Detractors: people who rated you 0 to 6

Count the Passives: people who rated you 7 or 8

Count the Promoters: people who rated you 9 or 10

Your NPR is the % of Promoters minus the % of Detractors, so lies in the range -100% to +100% (they normally drop the %, giving a range of -100 to +100).

..................................................................%
Detractors (0- 6)........7 ....................7.7

Passives (7-8)..............6......................6.6

Promoters (9-10)......78....................85.7

TOTAL............................91

Promoters- detractors NPR 78



If we remove the obvious shitheads that don't own one and include Oxford Dickies hate mail, and deleting one that gave a high score but did not own it, we get

...................................................................% Detractors (0- 6)........1.....................1.2 Passives (7-8)...............6....................7.1 Promoters (9-10)........77 ...............91.7 TOTAL.............................84 Promoters- detractors NPR 90.5 Which is apparently amazing! The review replies are a bit long but have a read, they are contained in the "review your results " attachment