An old beginner needs answers to basic queries!

[dontlaugh]

Hi All,

Just moved back into a house after seven years on a narrowboat and limited audio capabilities. I downsized everything and "made do" with a TEAC Reference 100 system and KEF Cresta speakers. Prior to that I had a surround setup, but this was about the time when Dolby Pro-Logic was new and most only had Dolby Surround. Remember then?

Things have moved on apace and I am now able to think about some larger kit.

The Samsung 32" LCD came first - something of a step up from the Sony 14" portable - and I have a Toshiba DVD Recorder which was an impulse buy from my local discount electrical hypermarket just before Christmas.

With reference to current reviews, I am looking at an Onkyo/Denon/Sony receiver which I will audition together with something like the Q Acoustics 1010i package.

I have to watch the budget a little and spending too much in one go is not likely to go down too well!

So down to the queries then...

All the new surround formats... Does the player or the receiver decide how it is going to decode or does this have to be selected manually by the user? Do discs come with just one or a variety of encodings so that you have to choose the best one for your system?

5.1 or 7.1? Most speaker packages seem to be 5.1, but most receivers are 7.1 capable. Is there much benefit to adding the extra two speakers - in your honest opinion? Discuss!

SACD - I have just taken delivery of an SACD/CD recording of the organ in Notre Dame, Paris and just HAVE to hear it in surround and probably LOUD too! Having been out of touch for a while, is SACD one of these phenomena which will be gone in a couple of years? Is it worth forking out for the hardware just for a couple of SACDs?

My Toshiba DVR17 DVD-Recorder allows me to change "HDMI Modes" - 576p, 720p and 1080i. Any ideas on what effect this will have, either recording or playing? Should I just stick it on 1080i and leave it there? I have tried recording (from Freeview) and playing back in all modes and it doesn't seem to make much difference either way. The manual is no help whatsoever apart from telling me where the button is on the remote!

There will be more no doubt - as I get to grips with this seemingly ever changing technology!

Thanks in advance for helping me out - from out of my depth!

 

[FuzzyinLondon]

As far as the surround formats go, it depends on the player and the receiver that you are using. As you know, most DVD discs come with a choice of formats - usually a couple of the Dolby formats (surround and stereo) and sometimes have a DTS option along with the usual choice of languages etc. With Blu-Ray discs, you now have the option of choosing one of the new HD formats - PCM, Dolby True HD and DTS HD Master audio, along with Dolby Digital which is usually on there as a back-up for those with equipment incapable of handling the new formats. The whole issue of HD surround codecs is still a little bit of a minefield at the moment due to the major manufacturers only now starting to implement decoding for all the formats in the players. If you're a new full-spec player and a new mid-range receiver, the chances are that both machines will be capable of decoding almost all of the surround formats. This leaves you to choose (in the player's set-up menu usually) whether you want the player to do the decoding (sending decoded audio data to the receiver as Linear PCM) or the receiver (sending raw compressed audio data to the player as bitstream). It's worth playing around with it to see which method sounds best to you. There's no wrong method.

 

[professorhat]

On 5.1 / 7.1 - personally I don't really see the point of getting a 7.1 system until more titles come with native 7.1 soundtracks. You can use processing modes to simulate the 7.1 sound and use all the speakers but it doesn't seem worth it to me - mind you I haven't heard one in action so maybe I'm missing out! With your Q Acoustics package though, you have the advantage that you can always add another couple of speakers from the same range at a later date if you want to.
SACD never really took off - if you can find a player you like with SACD compatibility built in, then fantastic, but I wouldn't compromise other formats for this if you only have a few discs.
On your HDMI modes, what model Samsung TV do you have? If it supports 1080i then in theory this should be the best, but your best bet is as you've done - try all the modes and see which looks best to you. Basically, it refers to the resolution of the TV, so 576 means it displays 576 horizontal lines, 720 means 720 horizontal lines etc. etc. so the higher the number, the more detail there is in the picture. The i stands for an interlaced image and p for progressive. Since this is on a DVD recorder, basically it's talking about upscaling the standard definition image you get from the TV broadcasts you record so they fit your TV's native display. If you use the 576p option, the TV will upscale the image to fit its display depending on what resolution your TV has.
Hope this helps, let me know if anything is unclear.

 

[dontlaugh]

Thanks for the prompt responses all!

I hadn't considered that only some titles will come with a 7.1 soundtrack - I sort of assumed they all would if they were encoded in surround at all; so thanks for that tip.

The vast number of surround encodings is certainly confusing - perhaps the magazine could host a league table of surround modes so that us novices know what is what. Does the equipment (be that the player or the receiver which is chosen to decode) automatically sense which mode is most appropriate and choose the highest quality format available to match the disc and the equipment - or do I have to know this stuff and be able to tell my PCM from my DTS and so on, in order to tell it what to do?

For the record, my TV is the Samsung LE32R87BD which I bought at a very good price and I am very happy with it. Of course, it was marked down a star in the magazine in the very next issue! Sods law states. Once I had input some alternative picture settings (cribbed from another site) and got rid of the garish and far too bright default settings, it was much less scary and in your face and is now perfectly watchable - it's a good job I knew enough not to accept the defaults as the best it could offer. The last TV only had adjustments for colour, contrast and brightness!

Thanks again.

Any further hints - keep 'em coming!

 

[professorhat]

Hi again,
Virtually all surround amps should be able to automatically switch to the correct decoder based on the signal it's receiving so you should generally just have to choose your sound format of choice on the DVD / Blu-Ray disc and the amp should take care of itself.
Just had a look at your TV and it's an HD Ready set so in theory, 720p is the best choice but you're best off having a look at each one and going with the one which looks best to you.