Are my speakers good enough to hear the benefits of HD audio?

admin_exported

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Hi All,

I've currently got a Sony STR-DA1200 hooked up to a set of Tannoy FX5.1 speakers and sub, and a Sony BDP-S350 Blu-Ray player. I've so far been very pleased with Blu-Ray even though I'm only hearing standard DD / DTS soundtracks. For reasons of aesthetics I was "forced" into getting the Tannoy speakers. However, overall I've been very pleased with them.

I'm considering upgrading to the STR-DA2400. With the Tannoy speakers will I be able to hear much of a difference with the amp playing the HD audio? Or do I need to look at getting better speakers first?

All help and advice much appreciated..

Many Thanks....
 
A

Anonymous

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Hi

I would say if you want to hear the audio formats just go for it get the amp !

I was using a pc to my onkyo amp and could not get the new true hd etc, my speakers are Mission and are older than my kids(but as good as the day they arrived) and the sound was great. but i got sick of waiting for a sound card to do True HD and sold the pc to fund a stand alone player, que the Sony s350 If you can't tell the diference your deaf !

Its is quite simply stunning !!!

Two things of note though, 1, some soundtracks are better than others (which is always the case) some studios take more care than others. 2, I've found some tracks have low speach volume, so you turn it up and then the action starts and you jump as the volume hits you!

The s350 is a fantastic bit of kit for the price !

If you do it that way you could still get better speakers later, thats my next step.

Bc.
 

grdunn123

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Sep 24, 2007
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briinthesky:

Hi

I would say if you want to hear the audio formats just go for it get the amp !

I was using a pc to my onkyo amp and could not get the new true hd etc, my speakers are Mission and are older than my kids(but as good as the day they arrived) and the sound was great. but i got sick of waiting for a sound card to do True HD and sold the pc to fund a stand alone player, que the Sony s350 If you can't tell the diference your deaf !

Its is quite simply stunning !!!

Two things of note though, 1, some soundtracks are better than others (which is always the case) some studios take more care than others. 2, I've found some tracks have low speach volume, so you turn it up and then the action starts and you jump as the volume hits you!Am I missing something or do you need 7.1 to hear Dolby HD sound? I have the 1200ES Sony amp with a 5.1 speaker set up........could I simply upgrade the amp to receive HD sound through my Mission 5.1 set up??

The s350 is a fantastic bit of kit for the price !

If you do it that way you could still get better speakers later, thats my next step.

Bc.
 

grdunn123

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Sep 24, 2007
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grdunn123:briinthesky:

Hi

I would say if you want to hear the audio formats just go for it get the amp !

I was using a pc to my onkyo amp and could not get the new true hd etc, my speakers are Mission and are older than my kids(but as good as the day they arrived) and the sound was great. but i got sick of waiting for a sound card to do True HD and sold the pc to fund a stand alone player, que the Sony s350 If you can't tell the diference your deaf !

Its is quite simply stunning !!!

Two things of note though, 1, some soundtracks are better than others (which is always the case) some studios take more care than others. 2, I've found some tracks have low speach volume, so you turn it up and then the action starts and you jump as the volume hits you!Am I missing something or do you need 7.1 to hear Dolby HD sound? I have the 1200ES Sony amp with a 5.1 speaker set up........could I simply upgrade the amp to receive HD sound through my Mission 5.1 set up??

The s350 is a fantastic bit of kit for the price !

If you do it that way you could still get better speakers later, thats my next step.

Bc.
SORRY! What I meant to say was that I also have the Sony 1200ES amp and I'm running a DD/DTS 5.1 surround sound.......am I missing something?? I thought Dolby True HD required 7.1 set up? Can i buy a new amp (Onkyo/Sony e.g.) and get Dolby HD sound through my existing 5.1 set up???
 

professorhat

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Dec 28, 2007
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Indeed, the HD audio formats aren't about 7.1 (in fact virtually every soundtrack on Blu-Ray is still in 5.1) - it's all about the bitrates! Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD Master Audio are basically lossless formats meaning the sound isn't heavily compressed with loss of detail from the tracks as a result like the Dolby Digital and standard DTS soundtracks are. A PCM soundtrack generally runs at about 4.6 Mbps while the Dolby Digital is normally 512 Kbps on DVD so it's in the order of 10 times more detail.
If you're familiar with MP3 / lossless compression formats in music, it's similar to comparing a 192 Kbps or a 320 Kbps MP3 file with a track stored in Apple lossless or FLAC format i.e. there's a lot more detail and it therefore sounds a lot better.
 
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Anonymous

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SORRY! What I meant to say was that I also have the Sony 1200ES amp and I'm running a DD/DTS 5.1 surround sound.......am I missing something?? I thought Dolby True HD required 7.1 set up? Can i buy a new amp (Onkyo/Sony e.g.) and get Dolby HD sound through my existing 5.1 set up???

If you've got a Blu-Ray player with onboard decoding, then you won't need to upgrade the 1200ES. You'll be able to send the decoded audio directly to via the 1200ES's Multi-CH input.

I'm still unsure whether my Tannoy's are good enough to justify the expense of upgrading the amp in order to hear True HD soundtracks.
 
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Anonymous

Guest
Hi

It was not my intention to confuse you.

What i was trying to say is the equipment you have should be ok, as I say my speakers are about 17yr old but they can still pump it out!

As the other posters have said if you use the Sony to decode the HD audio it should sound better than normal DD etc, but my main point in suggesting the amp is you will hear a massive diference even with 5.1 set up (which is what I use) I know an amp is an expensive bit of kit (especially if your on a small budget like me!) I sold some stuff to fund buying the Onkyo after reading the review in the mag, I was sceptical about spending that much money but hey am I glad I did ! I have cineworld in my front room now !!

Bc.
 

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