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StormAudio ISP 16 MK2 Review (AV Processor)

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amirm

amirm

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Amir has stated that is the company sends it to him, he gives them the privilege of checking the measurements beforehand, and to make necessary changes if they see fit. Any changes would thus be in a software fix, so existing owners will benefit.
That's correct. It is a carrot for companies to send products in, rather than waiting for their customers to do so. I know there are pros and cons to this but that is my current strategy.
 

Ron Texas

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It performs, but $15k is a lot of money for a complex piece of electronics which might not be repairable. Thank you @amirm
 

MZKM

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It is a carrot for companies to send products in
1617912385669.png
 

HighImpactAV

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It performs, but $15k is a lot of money for a complex piece of electronics which might not be repairable. Thank you @amirm
It is a modular design and any single board can be repaired or replaced. I upgraded my MK1 to a MK1.5 which included four new FPGA boards (not DSP chips) and a new decoder board. I also upgraded its HDMI board and have added AVB output. All US repair or upgrade is done in California.
 

HighImpactAV

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Will it accept multichannel audio via USB or LAN?
The USB ports on the back are for firmware updates via USB dongle and a USB microphone. There is no USB audio input. Since it accepts multichannel audio via HDMI it can work just fine with an HTPC or laptop.
LAN - It is not a DLNA device. It is a Roon end-point, but I use JRiver and have never tested Roon. The ISP will accept 32 channels of audio via the upcoming AES67 card over a LAN.
 

Kal Rubinson

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The USB ports on the back are for firmware updates via USB dongle and a USB microphone. There is no USB audio input. Since it accepts multichannel audio via HDMI it can work just fine with an HTPC or laptop.
LAN - It is not a DLNA device. It is a Roon end-point, but I use JRiver and have never tested Roon. The ISP will accept 32 channels of audio via the upcoming AES67 card over a LAN.
Thanks. Does the LAN input accept multichannel from Roon?
 

Helicopter

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Thanks Amir. This seems like the best option for a cost-not-considered home theater. Combine it with some Audiophnics Hypex monoblocks and Focal speakers for the ultimate Francophile home theater, or with Benchmark amps and Revel Performa Be speakers for ultimate ASR certified performance. If this is more than 5% of your budget for the system, then a Denon AVR might be a better choice.
 
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ac3dtsthx

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I own HTP-1 and Storm. HTP-1 is very good, but does not reach the performance of Storm.
Agreed completely. I also came from a HTP1. First unit was returned because it won't boot after a month of use. Replaced by Monoprice but with a hefty shipping charge as it came from the Philippines. sold it after 6 months and bought the isp24 mk2 last January. Performance is above what you get from the HTP1.
 

jam

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I have one to test....
Oooh... how wonderful Amir. We've waiting for so long for you to get your hands on a Trinnov processor so you can measure it.
Do you know if the Altitude 16 uses the same DACs and analog output stages as the Altitude 32?
I can hardly wait.
 

apgood

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Can you explain what the Focal does that the unit Amir reviewed does not?

The Focal has 12 Power Amps inbuilt (it is actually the same as the old StormAudio I.ISP with a nicer case). These are high power with a beefed up power supply to drive them. Then there are 4 lineouts for an extra 4 channels these can be used for whatever channels you want but assume one at least would be used for a subwoofer

From what I understand Focal went into an exclusive agreement with StormAudio to sell the I.ISP as their own.
 

pma

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We can see spikes well in ultrasonics that is causing this graph to look the way it does. Since they are not audible, this is strictly a measurement hygiene issue.

This so called “hygiene” may easily result in intermodulations in the next amplifier, as the ultrasonic components are equal or well below 100kHz and thus below the action of the usual input RC filter. This is a bad feature and should not be overlooked by an experienced test person.
 

TimoJ

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I'm wondering this in general: I assume "SINAD vs measured level" is always measured by setting master volume control to some fixed value. Or is this incorrect assumption? In this case volume is set to maximum and then input signal level is adjusted to get the SINAD values with different output voltages. But is the result at all identical to what you get when you actually adjust the volume control? e.g. input -10dBFS signal, adjust volume to get 2V output and measure SINAD.
 

mant

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Thanks. Does the LAN input accept multichannel from Roon?
ROON kommer att spela multikanal på Storm, datumet kunde inte nämnas av stödet ännu, dessutom kommer det att finnas möjlighet att fungera, till exempel för att hoppa i en spellista.
 
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amirm

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I'm wondering this in general: I assume "SINAD vs measured level" is always measured by setting master volume control to some fixed value. Or is this incorrect assumption? In this case volume is set to maximum and then input signal level is adjusted to get the SINAD values with different output voltages. But is the result at all identical to what you get when you actually adjust the volume control? e.g. input -10dBFS signal, adjust volume to get 2V output and measure SINAD.
Your assumption is correct. But implementations vary. Sometimes the position of the volume control makes no difference. Other times the firmware switches gain stages and produces different results based on position of the volume control. Here is an example:

index.php


I don't recall now why I did not run the storm at different volume levels. I ran the tests a few days ago and already forgot. :)
 

TimoJ

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Your assumption is correct. But implementations vary. Sometimes the position of the volume control makes no difference. Other times the firmware switches gain stages and produces different results based on position of the volume control. Here is an example:

index.php


I don't recall now why I did not run the storm at different volume levels. I ran the tests a few days ago and already forgot. :)
So, the results may or may not reflect real life SINAD values. But I assume the regular THD+N, SINAD is always done with 0dBFS signal and with device's master volume adjusted to get 2V or 4V?

About implementations: for example the Monoprice HTP-1 allows to separately adjust max. output voltage (reducing fixed gain after the analog volume control) but it's master volume control also adjusts digital headroom in addition to analog gain. But it adjusts digital headroom only to -11dB mv scale and below that it uses just analog gain. To fully measure such thing would take a long time.
 
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