HHT perspective · 3 November 2026
AudioControl has released firmware v1.2.0 for the Hyperion APR-16, the immersive processor that won a CEDIA award in September. It installs on processors already in the rack and changes what an APR-16 can do in a cinema without any new hardware.
What does firmware v1.2.0 change?
The APR-16 now has 20 processed output channels, up from 16. The final four RCA outputs can run independently of their matching XLR outputs, and each new channel has its own crossover, parametric EQ, delay and level control. AudioControl suggests using them for extra surrounds, height speakers or subwoofers, and gives 9.4.6 as an example layout. Existing 16-channel set-ups carry over unchanged. The processor still decodes up to 16 channels, so the gain is in how many outputs you can place and tune in the room.
Dirac ART is supported across all 20 channels, including bass management. Dirac’s calibration features are licensed separately.
Speaker profiles and saved layouts
The web interface now includes more than 2,000 speaker profiles for specific makes and models. Each applies tuned EQ, crossover and level settings before room correction begins.
Installers can also save and recall complete speaker layouts, each with its own calibration. AudioControl’s examples are an immersive cinema, a bar-area TV and a party set-up using several speakers for music.
Smaller changes include refined HDMI standby and TV audio controls, better clip detection, separate XLR and RCA output trims and reliability work across HDMI, networking, control and DSP.
The Hidden Home view
“We’re using the AudioControl in a cinema we’re installing now,” says our director, Dan Crick, “so we can say we first-hand recommend it.”
A processor that gains channels through firmware rewards anyone who chose the APR-16 early. For a new room it widens the layouts we can design around one processor, especially where extra subwoofers are part of the plan. The saved layouts are the feature we expect clients to use most. A room that is a cinema at night and a music room by day can keep a calibrated layout for each and move between them.
AudioControl dealer in Bath
Hidden Home Technology supplies and installs AudioControl as part of our home cinema design and installation work. If you have an APR-16 and would like the update applied and the system recalibrated, or you are planning a cinema around one, contact us or call Dan on 07736 454506.
