HD Audio, But at what cost?

[dino2021]

I am seeing lots of debate around HD Audio and how great it is and how your life will be terrible if you can't make use of it but in all seriousness at what point do you start to notice the difference.

My Point being this I use B&W 603 floor standers at the front and 603 stand mounts at the rear, and centre and a sub, tied in to a Yamaha RXV1600 (was 2600 but upscaling was useless).

My point is I seriously doubt HD Audio going to 5.1 inputs on a 170 quid richer sounds special Yamaha amp coupled with some 200 quid speakers is going to match the sound of my system just using DD from a 360 hd add on.

SOoo long story short I wonder at what budget you start to notice the difference between normal DD and True HD audio???

[supermackem]

Well tbh you do notice a difference i have a cheaper 5.1 than yours £100 amp £100 speakers and the true hd soundtracks sound richer deeper and just have more punch to them. If audio is a big thing for you i would say its worth buying a standalone.

[dino2021]

don't take this the wrong way, but what I am trying to say is, if my system is already more punchy and vocal and everything because I have better speakers and a better amp, does it not mean it simply bring yours closer to the sound I already have, I hope that makes sense. I can understand it sounding better.

Guess I am looking at it like this if you have system A using true HD and 5.1 and budget of a £1000, can it make it sound like system B a £2000 DD only system.

[EddThompson]

its not going to make your system better, but it should "sound" better, you have to remember DD and even DTS are not even as good as normal cd, true hd should be better than cd and close to dvd-audio.

If you ask me you want the best source possible, doesnt matter what system you have.

edd

[Rasczak]

Agree with everything said above - no matter how cheap your system feed it with the best!

[EddThompson]

The only real question is, if you are satisfied with the quality of DD, is it worth the extra cost of an american hd-a1 or eurpean hd-ex1 over the 360 addon.

Im still not sure, for 130 quid the 360 addon is tempting, my main sticking point is the forthcoming region coding, id probably rather have acces to the full us catalogue.

edd

[dino2021]

I think some people don't want to answer the question, yes feed it with the best only use the best and so on, but most seem to be missing the point of the thread.

At what point is a system going to sound better than my £2k(for arguments sake) system would the richer bass and vocals from a set of speakers and true HD costing £1k match the rich bass I already have?

I guess what I am saying is in my eyes, just because something could sound better doesn't mean it will.

[Rasczak]

Dino, I think the point of this thread is you trying to convince yourself that the 360 addon is as good/better for your system than a standalone player - am I right?

If so the answer is, on the audio side, almost certainly not. The Toshiba players have excellent DACs and will really drive your receiver however cheap it may be. However if you are on a budget then the 360 drive will likely provide an excellent solution at the expense of the best possible audio - but you have to pay somewhere.

[EddThompson]

i dont think formats make a 1000 quid system sound like a 2000, or even 1500 quid system, to me it doesnt work like that. any problems ie lack of bass or power is going to be there what ever the source.

In theory, what you should get is better detail, better dynamics (assuming the source material is good). this should be obvious on any seperates system if you ask me. I dont think going from a 1000 quid system to a 2000 quid system will resolve much more detail from DD or cd.


If you are talking about only european players, then to me its the 360 versus the ex1, id get the 360 addon. (if you have a 360 already)

if you dont have a 360, id get an import hda1 with the 7 discs for 430 quid. best of every world.

[dino2021]

Originally Posted by Rasczak

Dino, I think the point of this thread is you trying to convince yourself that the 360 addon is as good/better for your system than a standalone player - am I right?

No. it will never be better than a stand alone.

You your self tend to love HD Audio and no doubt have a mega system to enjoy it on, after all your on your 3rd HD player soon, so you have to take AV seriously

take this example... AX1 connected to a goodmans amp via 5.1 connected to some Eltax speakers can't sound as good as a DVD player connected to a Tag Maclaren connected to some meridian actives.

This forum tends to view things in a very black and white way, yes HD audio will make your system sound better but if you have a good system it could still sound better than a True HD system.

I say it the other way standalone owners tend to be rubbishing the 360 add on because it doesn't have true HD.

[Bald Monkey]

Originally Posted by EddThompson

i dont think formats make a 1000 quid system sound like a 2000, or even 1500 quid system, to me it doesnt work like that. any problems ie lack of bass or power is going to be there what ever the source.
.

I agree, improving the sound format you are playing will lead to improvements in certain areas, if your speakers sound bad or good in certain areas they will still sound bad or good in those areas. they haven't changed.

As for wether a certain cost of system is worth the new formats or not, doesn't make sense to me, as price does not necessarliy indicate quality, and any improvements wether on a £1000 system or a £10,000 system should be noticable or I would'nt class them as improvements.

If your amp is capable of recieving 5.1 analogue imputs, then you should hear a difference, if it 'sounds better' or not is subjective.

If your asking should Mr A spend £500 on a HD-DVD player with 5.1 outputs, presuming he has a capable amp, or less on the 360 add on and spend the difference on the rest of his kit... it's impossible to answer as a general question. Which part to upgrade next and where to spend your money is to me part of the fun, and there is never an easy answer...

[dino2021]

Originally Posted by EddThompson

i dont think formats make a 1000 quid system sound like a 2000, or even 1500 quid system, to me it doesn't work like that. any problems ie lack of bass or power is going to be there what ever the source.

I know I was trying to be too scientific about it but it's hard to try and get what your thinking across.

Money is not really an issue I could buy any and all of the players out there, its justifying the purchase thats the tough bit.

I love the sound of my system now, its hard to imagine it getting better though I am sure it could.

I am left with the choice a add on with the same audio (I am happy with) or spend the extra and get better audio, but if I am already happy with audio I have now, should I bother?

[dino2021]

Originally Posted by Bald Monkey

If your asking should Mr A spend £500 on a HD-DVD player with 5.1 outputs, presuming he has a capable amp, or less on the 360 add on and spend the difference on the rest of his kit... it's impossible to answer as a general question. Which part to upgrade next and where to spend your money is to me part of the fun, and there is never an easy answer...

Not made any easier because my amp can take the TrueHD in digital form, via HDMI, sheesh what to do.

[Bald Monkey]

Originally Posted by dino2021

I say it the other way standalone owners tend to be rubbishing the 360 add on because it doesn't have true HD.

Do they?

Gits!

I thought this was a place where people try to share knowledge and experiences and that includes discussing differences, not to rubbish a product but to ensure we are all informed!

[Nic Rhodes]

I have read strong praise and support for the 360 add on, certainly no rubbishing going on in this forum. I think many are quite excited by the prospect. They are how realistic, like MS and Amir are, as to what to expect.

The XBOX 360 is fully TrueHD compliant with the HD DVD specification. It decodes the 2 channel spec that the format says in mandatory. Many of us use True HD on standalone players here but use the digital coax / tslink output, knowing full well that re encoding takes place but we still get good audio. As many people like DD+ at 640 mbs then I think they are going to love what the 'add on' can give, whether it is connected upto a cheap Panny plasma or the most expensive Proceed.