AVForums Podcast: Episode 183 - 26th June 2017

Phil Hinton

Editor
Staff member
Joined
Jan 18, 2001
Messages
11,710
Reaction score
12,831
Points
6,435
Location
AVForums
This week we discuss:

00:00:37 – Did we enjoy the summer?
00:02:58 – Current Competitions
00:03:57 – Ed’s thoughts on the Technics SL1200 turntable
00:08:08 – Steve reviews the Panasonic EZ952 OLED TV
00:20:05 – Phil’s views on the Q Acoustics M3 soundbar
00:32:42 – Ed’s album, vinyl release and playlist of the month
00:37:30 – Phil and Steve review Transformers: The Last Knight
00:49:44 – Films of the Month
00:50:43 – Films opening on Friday – Baby Driver, Wish Upon and Despicable Me 3
00:53:00 – Blu-ray of the Month
00:54:14 – Blu-rays released this week – Fifty Shades Darker and Patriots Day
00:55:16 – Ultra HD Blu-ray Round-up
00:56:54 – TV Shows of the Month
01:05:39 – Star Wars News – Han Solo directors are sacked by Lucasfilm
01:10:42 – Goodbyes

Presented by Phil Hinton with Steve Withers, Mark Hodgkinson and Ed Selley

Note:
If you are having problems with subscription services and Apps, please deselect and then re-subscribe to the podcast feed, thanks.

Subscription link: AVForums Podcast


Time: 01:11:48 | File Size: 94mb | Direct Link
 
Another great podcast and thank you for tackling the thorny issue of calibration and colour accuracy. It would be great if you did a separate feature on this, and explain what is noticeable and what is not. The problem with this area is there seems an obsession with numbers (delta errors) rather than what the eye can really distinguish. It is not helped when some TV reviewers out there are focused on generating business for their calibration services, and appreciate Steve's honesty here about the trends.

In general, you seem to spent a lot of time talking about picture quality, but it would be great if you could spend more time in future talking about the performance achieved by dedicated sound systems. You touched on this when discussing sound bars versus dedicated systems. The reason this is so topical is that the 2017 OLEDs are so similar in picture quality performance and yet there are huge differences achievable in upgrading sound. Is it time for more focus on surround sound audio?
 
Last edited:
Transformers "The Last (K)night" or should that be "Goodnight", er i'm guessing by your reviews it's not that good then!!! :rolleyes:

It will still make shed loads of money though especially in the Far East. The first one, imo, was actually quite good, less Transformers and a reasonable storyline. But number two (let alone the others) gave me brain overload and a headache, apart from anything else there was no real form of a cohearent story line. All those fast cuts, shakey handheld camera type action shots ect, etc.... Bleedin' 'ell. As was said.... an expensive commercial for "Hasbro" merchandise. :boring: :suicide: :zonked: Nice poddy though. :)
 
Last edited:
Steve, out of interest, before you made your recent purchase, did you have the EZ onsite?
I'm stuck deciding between the two??

Great show again lads, you should have had a photo of Ed with a tash for the podcast image!
 
Steve, out of interest, before you made your recent purchase, did you have the EZ onsite?
I'm stuck deciding between the two??
No I bought the B7 before I'd seen the EZ952 but it wouldn't have changed my decision, apart from anything else I wanted Dolby Vision so that I can review DV discs. That's not to say that the EZ952 isn't a cracking TV but as I said in last week's podcast the B7 ticks all my boxes.
 
Great podcast, once again I got weird looks as I listened to it whilst walking to the gym.

On the subject of dolby vision, I seem to remember a report/comment on AVF last year, that said "Pan" tracked better in dolby vision than hdr10 on the Oled, I think it said it Didn't clip as much.

I could be talking cobblers but if I do remember correctly this would make dolby vision really important on oled, would it not? Happy to be corrected.
 
Forged in fire is a must in my house, I sit waiting to see how long its going to be, before my little girl does the "Doug" bow to me and says "It will Kill".... classic

Oh shes also picked up on how Will always stands with his finger tips together making a triangle.... Shes obviously watching closer than me!
 
Forged in Fire is ace. If nothing else you get to see characters dressed up in some sort of oriental gear, proclaiming to be an expert in Japanese steel, then fall flat on their face when they cant measure how longer their frickin' blade is. Or having furnaces and metal gear worth $$$$ only to be beaten by a bloke whose furnace consists of a metal dustbin lid and hairdryer.

Dont cut the podcast too much @Phil Hinton. I'm liking the extra 10 mins+. Not heard anyone complaining on here yet!

ON the subject of soundbars, I remember you guys talking about them (as in why??!) when it was obvious they were getting some good sales. As you say sometimes, AVForums members are a tiny proportion of the TV buying public. Some simply dont have the money for a better set-up. More simple don't want the "perceived" hassle of a separates system, or dont get told about it when buying a TV. Selling a sound bar is easy compared to saying "look, you'll get a far better sound this way and it's really not that complicated, here I show you". The rest just really dont want it/be allowed it.

However, I think you need to at least be happy that people want better sound from the TV's puny speakers. All these purchasers are at least getting better sound, they are actually unhappy with the drop in sound quality we have got with thin TV's....except you 2015 Sony. it may not be fancy or getting the best out of TV/disc/streaming etc, but at least seems they have a little passion beyond whatever the TV can do.
 
The Star Wars news with the behind the scenes dramas on Rogue One and Han Solo are more interesting then the films! Lucasfilm just can't seem to do right for wrong. At least Matthew Vaughn realised before he signed the contract that he wouldn't have much freedom and walked back when he was at the top of the list for Force Awakens after Abrams initially passed on it. It'll be interesting how the Han Solo film comes out given that you'd be hard pressed to think of two vastly different styles than Ron Howard and Lord/Miller.

One blu-ray which came out this week which might have slipped under the radar is the terrific The Autopsy of Jane Doe, about a father/son corner team investigating a body brought into them. Really a two-hander with Brian Cox and Emile Hirsch with amazing support by the actress paying the body who starts to reveal what happened to her, this might be like a feature length Twilight Zone but there's never anything wrong with that. Scary, inventive and it more than delivers the good.
 
"This was utter pish Ed...

it was truly, truly, truly utter pish"

:)
 
Top podders as per usual,
Please keep going off piste with the ramblings, it's what makes it fun....

I thought the unseen review of the latest Panny oled by Phil was very funny and telling...
 
One blu-ray which came out this week which might have slipped under the radar is the terrific The Autopsy of Jane Doe, about a father/son corner team investigating a body brought into them. Really a two-hander with Brian Cox and Emile Hirsch with amazing support by the actress paying the body who starts to reveal what happened to her, this might be like a feature length Twilight Zone but there's never anything wrong with that. Scary, inventive and it more than delivers the good.

Second this. Great little movie.
 
Great pod guys as usual but did you need to spend SOOO much time stating the obvious about how cr*p Transformers is :facepalm:
 
Cheers, I've converted this to a Spotify Playlist as well (Maybe that's a bit cheeky?)
Spotify
I used this Playlist Converter - Convert your music playlists and it seems to have matched all but 1 song.

@Eddy555 - Could be me being a bit thick....how exactly did you get it to convert into a Spotify playlist. I pasted the link into the section marked 'Convert from plain text', converted it then 'Convert to Spotify so that the Track List source is the link to the playlist. It just seems to be stuck on 'Converting tracks' .....:confused:
 
@Eddy555 - Could be me being a bit thick....how exactly did you get it to convert into a Spotify playlist. I pasted the link into the section marked 'Convert from plain text', converted it then 'Convert to Spotify so that the Track List source is the link to the playlist. It just seems to be stuck on 'Converting tracks' .....:confused:
I copied the tracklist from the Tidal page, and edited it a bit to get the track name and artist on 1 line.
Le Breakbeat tranquille - C.R.K.
etc.
Then pasted that list into the Plain text and clicked on Convert and the Convert to Spotify and it worked it's magic.
 
I copied the tracklist from the Tidal page, and edited it a bit to get the track name and artist on 1 line.
Le Breakbeat tranquille - C.R.K.
etc.
Then pasted that list into the Plain text and clicked on Convert and the Convert to Spotify and it worked it's magic.


Perfect! Thank you!
 
No I bought the B7 before I'd seen the EZ952 but it wouldn't have changed my decision, apart from anything else I wanted Dolby Vision so that I can review DV discs. That's not to say that the EZ952 isn't a cracking TV but as I said in last week's podcast the B7 ticks all my boxes.
Thanks for another enjoyable podcast gentlemen.

Steve - Are you going to join the B7 owners thread? I'm sure it will be appreciated by everyone.
 
If that's anything like the E6 owners threads, get comfortable as it will be a long haul! :D

Looking forward to some more sound bar reviews. I've only heard a Sonos Playbar+Sub+Pair of Play1s, and although blooming expensive for an SD sound setup, they were really impressive and I can understand why they are growing in popularity.

Totally different subject and a little heads up, have you seen Breakthrough on Nat Geo? I'm finding it fascinating. The last show was about drones (quadcopters etc) and how sophisticated they have become.
 
One blu-ray which came out this week which might have slipped under the radar is the terrific The Autopsy of Jane Doe, about a father/son corner team investigating a body brought into them. Really a two-hander with Brian Cox and Emile Hirsch with amazing support by the actress paying the body who starts to reveal what happened to her, this might be like a feature length Twilight Zone but there's never anything wrong with that. Scary, inventive and it more than delivers the good.
This one completely slipped past me but I bought it on your recommendation and watched it last night. Absolute gem, very scary and really enjoyed it.
 

The latest video from AVForums

Is Home Theater DEAD in 2024?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom