AVForums Podcast: Episode 265 - 3rd June 2019

Phil Hinton

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00:00:48 - What has the team done this week?
00:08:06 - Current Competitions
00:10:03 - Sony XG95 TV Review
00:24:18 - Samsung HW-Q70R & HW-Q90R Soundbar Reviews
00:39:47 - Ed's Playlist, Album & Vinyl for May
00:47:42 - Godzilla Review
00:55:17 - Film of the month
01:00:20 - Films released this week
01:04:49 - 4K & Blu-ray releases this week
01:10:26 - Discs of the month
01:13:30 - This week's streaming releases
01:15:09 - Best TV shows of the month
01:23:40 - With SW: Phantom Menace released 20yrs ago, has it aged well?
01:27:20 - Goodbyes

Presented by Phil Hinton with Steve Withers, Cas Harlow and Ed Selley.

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Time: 01:28:44 | File Size: 184mb | Direct Link
 
Great podcast.

I like the constructive criticism on the Sony TV review. I look forward to the video and discussion.

I just added ‘Chernobyl’ to my NowTV watchlist. Available until 4July on NowTV. Episode 5 available tomorrow-Tuesday. Not sure how many in total.

Game of Thrones - Season 1-6 was great. After that not sure what happened. Perhaps that is when things got flaky in story line.
 
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you really need to consider marking the XG95 down further, 7 is way too high for a high end TV with major PQ issues, especially as it has other issues.
 
Great show as always, cheers my dudes.

Agree completely with the sentiments about soundbar vs AVR + speakers. In a previous life working for a hifi shop, we sold tons of Bose gear to the “don’t care as long as it’s easy to use and looks good” punter with money to burn. We learned to avoid even broaching the topic of “better quality” alternatives because you would just confuse the customer and lose the sale.

The majority of people want something that looks good, is easy to set up and use, and just works to an acceptable level out the box. There are days when I think about dumping the AVR and associated gubbins and just buying a Sonos Beam.

Other than that, a big thumbs up for What We Do In The Shadows. Arrested Development for vampires.
 
Seriously guys ANOTHER week off? My dog is going to be well annoyed with me as his walk won't be as long :(
 
Hmm are you sure you were not a vampire in your younger days Ed, those open EYES haunting, haunting. :eek: Or were you on something. o_O Luv LT. :)
 
Great Podcast guys.

Agree with soundbar comments. I think a lot about trading in my receiver + speakers (will keep the sub) and going for a decent soundbar as I don't have a dedicated room. I can cope with a big screen on the wall as its so slim, but you cant ignore floor-standers (with upfirers on top). With kids, I can never get make full use, so for another decade it will be -35bB at most...Once they add more hdmi connections to the soundbars.

Glad Chernobyl is now getting the buzz it deserves, after ep1, many of us knew this was a little special.
 
@steviedr i hear you. I was thinking about a sound bar as i keep thinking 5.1 is overkill for Britain's Got Talent and films about chipmunks. However, my lot are now getting into marvel, so i'm pleased i held out :).

Thanks again for another good listen. Ill have to await the disc release of Chernobyl, it sounds excellent.

MB
 
Thanks gents, albeit I can't get used to your fortnight schedule at the moment.
Really do not understand manufacturers skimping on hdmi ports these days and must undermine some sales.
Has Steve changed his medication as his mind was somewhat wondering at times.
 
Great show and some stand out moments like always.

I can recommend "The Chernobyl Podcast" I got it from apple and is well worth a listen

Craig Mazin, creator, writer and executive producer of Chernobyl and Peter Sagal.

I will add please watch each episode due to the spoilers

Thanks
 
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Great show and some stand out moments like always.

I can recommend "The Chernobyl Podcast" I got it from apple and is well worth a listen

Craig Mazin, creator, writer and executive producer of Chernobyl and Peter Sagal.

Thanks

Just added to my podcasts. Thank you. Does it contain spoilers? If so I should watch the series first before listening.
 
@steviedr i hear you. I was thinking about a sound bar as i keep thinking 5.1 is overkill for Britain's Got Talent and films about chipmunks. However, my lot are now getting into marvel, so i'm pleased i held out :).

Thanks again for another good listen. Ill have to await the disc release of Chernobyl, it sounds excellent.

MB
Yeah, I know I’d regret it if I do downgrade.
It’s annoying most of Marvel is 12+ as my 5 year old loves Ironman, Captain America...however, with the Disney stream sub arriving this Christmas, they can catch up with most Pixar titles and I may have a chance to actually catch up with Marvel as I’m about 20 films behind !
 
Something I'm finding a little tedious is the constant, "Sony Android TV, it's terrible," like it's a major deciding factor. I completely agree (as an XE9305 owner) that it's terrible. Laggy, buggy, and clearly underpowered. In day to day use, does it affect me?

Not a jot.

I do not use the onboard OS at all. All my media consumption on the TV is funnelled through a seperate streaming device. At different times that has been Roku, Fire TV and finally a nVidia Shield (which I bought on the back of an AV Forums review.)

I'm not defending cost cutting on the OS processor. Or saying that manufacturers should be absolved of their responsibility to provide a well functioning OS. But it crops up regularly on the podcast - Android TV is bad, etc etc. And yet I'd hazard that a large percentage of AV enthusiasts (lets be honest, the only ones listening to the podcast) are using some sort of third party streamer with it, or would at least consider buying one at point of TV purchase to avoid using the onboard OS.

For 99% of consumers there's going to be compromise somewhere. For me it was a no brainer - better PQ and HDR etc over similarly priced competition in exchange for an extra £150 purchase of a streamer.

I personally feel that Steve and Phil put more weight on the importance of the OS of a TV than I would. I'm curious to see how others feel on the subject.
 
Something I'm finding a little tedious is the constant, "Sony Android TV, it's terrible," like it's a major deciding factor. .......

I'm not defending cost cutting on the OS processor. Or saying that manufacturers should be absolved of their responsibility to provide a well functioning OS. But it crops up regularly on the podcast - Android TV is bad, etc etc. And yet I'd hazard that a large percentage of AV enthusiasts (lets be honest, the only ones listening to the podcast) are using some sort of third party streamer with it, or would at least consider buying one at point of TV purchase to avoid using the onboard OS.
.
I can understand the importance people place on the UI and its speed. Is there any merit in timing certain functions as a part of reviews? These could include switching on to get a full screen, accessing menus and loading and playing a programme/film on a streaming service.
 
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Yeah, I know I’d regret it if I do downgrade.
It’s annoying most of Marvel is 12+ as my 5 year old loves Ironman, Captain America...however, with the Disney stream sub arriving this Christmas, they can catch up with most Pixar titles and I may have a chance to actually catch up with Marvel as I’m about 20 films behind !

Obviously a parents call, but mine now all watch them and they are 8yr+. I do sound out other people that have watched them before i go to the cinema. There's always the extremely useful BBFC website / app. This explains how any violence is handled in quite some detail (e.g. people get stabbed but no blood, or people get killed, but off camera), plus swearing and general tone / jeopardy. I find this invaluable as a parent with kids pushing to see 12 rated pictures.

I also sometimes will let them watch something on disc where i didn't let them go to the cinema for it, as the scary factor is much less in your own living room. The most recent Jurassic World film is a good example, where i thought the trailer looked pretty scary.

MB
 
I can understand the importance people place on the UI and its speed. Is there any merit in timing certain functions as a part of reviews? These could include switching on to get a full screen, accessing menus and loading and playing a programme/film on a streaming service.

I suggested this same thing last year. When it comes comparing PC’s vs Mac’s and with Mobile Phones there are numerous by side UI speed tests.

It would be greet to see side by side shoot out between [Android Oreo vs Web OS vs others]. No one is doing this
 
Good stuff as always, guys.

My experience of Android TV via an Nvidia Shield TV is that it's pretty slick and quick. Presumably the reason why it seems to be total arse on Sony televisions is because they just don't have the same processing horsepower?

Special shout out to @Ed Selley - always enjoy your HiFi and music-related contributions, reviews and recommendations. Re the Black Mountain album: music-wise it is a good 'un. However, having just listened to it via Qobuz (Studio tier) I'm afraid to say that, as per 99% of rock/pop albums over the past 25 years (or more) it suffers from considerable dynamic range compression. Sadly, I don't think this practice is ever likely to stop and in truth, it makes listening to this kind of stuff at anything higher than 320kbps (let alone HiRes) kind of pointless IMHO....
 
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@Ed Selley Apologies if I picked this up incorrectly from the Podcast but if you're still using Three's HomeFi 4G broadband and struggling for data they are now are now doing an unlimited data deal for less than the 100gb per month package and I've just switched to it. You put me on to 4G HomeFi service in the first place when you mentioned it on a Podcast back in the day so many thanks for that, hopefully this can repay the favour. Again if I've got any of this wrong my apologies :)
 
Is this 6 movie price a good deal on iTunes? Most of them are 4k HDR.

SEEMS quite expensive.


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@Phil Hinton and @Steve Withers Gentlemen, any chance that one of you could subsequently visit Sony's headquarters to review the KD-85ZG9 8K television please? I do realise that other journalists have got there before you, but that doesn't matter. Your input would still be very valuable. And I further hope that weekly, rather than the unwelcome recent trend of fortnightly, podcasts soon resume, please. :clap:

@tenohfive Regarding the Sony Android operating system - I don't actually watch my Sony 75ZD9 in the parlour very often since I got it in April 2018, but it has never crashed. However, I am about to do a yearly swap in the kitchen, moving the Samsung in my signature to a year's rest in the hall and re-install the Sony KD-75W855C that has been in the hall since April 2018. Which I'm not really looking forward to, because I watch whichever television happens to be in the kitchen much, much more than I watch the parlour television. And when the Sony KD-75W855C was previously in use, the Android system wasn't actually slow in switching between inputs (HDMI1, HDMI2 etc, and the Freeview tuner, which are my only modes of operation, I do not stream) but it did freeze and become unresponsive about once a fortnight. Upon which I would sigh and unplug the television from the mains, say several naughty words and then replug it. A nuisance indeed, but just about liveable with. So maybe the 75ZD9 has a better Android system than the much cheaper, non-4K 75W855C, which I suppose is just as it should be!
 
@Phil Hinton and @Steve Withers Gentlemen, any chance that one of you could subsequently visit Sony's headquarters to review the KD-85ZG9 8K television please? I do realise that other journalists have got there before you, but that doesn't matter. Your input would still be very valuable. And I further hope that weekly, rather than the unwelcome recent trend of fortnightly, podcasts soon resume, please. :clap:

I was invited to go down and review the ZG9 but I live in Durham and I am also incredibly busy, so getting down to Sony for a few hours just wasn't viable at the time of the invite. There is no direct route for getting to Weybridge either. I have asked Sony to let me know if I can pop down when I have more time and look at them, but I believe they are not at the HQ all the time. I also have to weigh up the interest of forum members against the time and resources of getting there and reviewing the TVs. If I am being honest I don't think I'll be reviewing them due to all those reasons.
The podcast should be weekly going forward until the next Bank Holiday.
 

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