Shed of Infinite Darkness

Given that the only job is to pass digital information to the Lumagen (and what the Lumagen can do), then I'd say it's pretty poor it can't do that properly.

How does the ACE calm down picture noise?



You can get a bluray player for £50. Once you get to the prices of the units you're talking about it's not a given that you get a picture quality improvement when you double the price. So I wouldn't expect a unit at twice the price of the ACE to give an improvement either. The Lumagen is doing much more work with the image, but most of the time I see people comment on an improvement from the 4 to 5 they're talking about audio.



That's also weird - if it's easy to tell the difference, it's quite surprising if people don't believe it.
Have a read here

 
You’re correct on the vc-1, if you rip through the nasrip though it solves the problem for some reason. Even Zappiti don’t know why.

See….some people don’t believe it.

MUCH better power supply, the lumagen can’t do anything about this. Remember I’ve also got a separate external power supply for the lumagen. They all make a slight difference.

You might not notice it on some displays, but the higher up the food chain you go, the more obvious these little things become.

Agreed. I think size and contrast have a big effect on this stuff.

On my OLEDs & on my PJ setup, different nuances are much more apparent based on quality sources and content. With your cinema room, you have the best of both worlds; the near ultimate reference level contrast alongside a massive screen. This culminates in your room and gear being able to extract the full potential of higher end media playback devices and observe the visible benefits.

Smack them on a 55'' LCD screen, and it'd be much more difficult to probably tell apart an appreciatable difference.. but in the right setup; I imagine its well worth the cash.

Although I'm using far cheaper gear, I can easily tell the difference between a MADVR playback of a video file via MPC-BE compared to a 'lite' VLC player app. Its worlds apart. On my smaller OLED, I couldn't; and on my old LCD it wasn't as apparent either. On the PJ screen... it is and my Epson is only low contrast.
 
See….some people don’t believe it.
I've not said that. I haven't been in a position to test one vs the other, so I can't say whether or not there's a noticeable difference. Some others have been able to test, and they can't see a difference. You notice a big difference, and that is quite unusual compared to what others have found.
 
I've not said that. I haven't been in a position to test one vs the other, so I can't say whether or not there's a noticeable difference. Some others have been able to test, and they can't see a difference. You notice a big difference, and that is quite unusual compared to what others have found.
Who else has tested the ACE edition against anything else that you know of?

How does it calm down the picture noise? The best way of describing it is that the mosquitoe noise you get on scenes is more solid and doesn’t buzz about as much, making it less obvious, which in turn makes the image look cleaner.

The lumagen 5348 vs the 4242 does the same thing, we’re not talking about cheap crappy build quality on the 4242 but the 5348 is an absolute no nonsense approach to remove jitter and any interferences from the picture.

How does it do it? I don’t know, I’m not an engineer, I’m just reporting what I’m seeing. I have no bias, I actually like the Zidoo interface, I’m sure if I got used to it, I’d probably prefer it, it’s quicker and has some nice neat features that the Zappiti doesn’t have, plus I could sell the ACE for more than the Zidoo, but in terms of outright picture performance (audio is separate as I’m letting my lumagen deal with that at the moment, although that might change for a completely different reason), the ACE is simply better.

Did you read the review I linked?
 
Who else has tested the ACE edition against anything else that you know of?
No I was referring to people not believing that digital signals can be different (I don't subscribe to that view, but at a certain level it becomes increasingly difficult to tell differences), so I was saying many people will have tested different digital sources, through something like a Lumagen.
 
I’ve just got a credit card with a massive limit. I have no intention of paying any of it back!! 😂😂😂😂😂

around the late nineties, didn't the islands only have Switch and Solo? from what i remember there was no weeza or matturcard right? or was it just super niche? i swear i recall it being switch and solo only.
 
Very interested to hear your thoughts on the comparison - I'd been looking forward to them. I'm not surprised in the outcome really, given all the tweaks in the ACE.

The UHD3000 is probably indistinguishable from the £180 Z9X for your use case though. Most of the difference is in the DAC and related 'hi-fi' stuff (and the UI to an extent). Video and RAW audio performance should be identical. There's a power supply difference, but it's not of the same order of power supply fidelity as the ACE. So really, this is a comparison between performance that could be had for £180 and performance that costs 10 times as much.

I should say, that price difference doesn't invalidate anything and the comparison's still very useful/interesting. Some of us would be happy to pay 10 times the price for an improvement in PQ. I'd certainly consider it if the new Zapp's weren't in orbit.
 
Who else has tested the ACE edition against anything else that you know of?
I have the ACE Oppo 203 Signature version and it is a massive step up from the standard Oppo 203, so I can totally see that ACE it will have a big impact on the Zappiti Pro.

To answer the question of how it calms down noise, I would say a combination of all the modifications. How's that for a non answer. :cool:
 
I’m a Luddite here, so please excuse my ignorance.

You take a 4K UHD Blu-ray and rip it, uncompressed to a NAS.

You play that exact same file back from the NAS, using the Zappiti, and the picture is noticeably better?

When you say noise in the image, what does that look like?
 
I’m a Luddite here, so please excuse my ignorance.

You take a 4K UHD Blu-ray and rip it, uncompressed to a NAS.

You play that exact same file back from the NAS, using the Zappiti, and the picture is noticeably better?

When you say noise in the image, what does that look like?
The source material is identical, disc or via the NAS.

Picture noise is the same as film grain, certain players and displays accentuate it.
 
I’m a Luddite here, so please excuse my ignorance.

You take a 4K UHD Blu-ray and rip it, uncompressed to a NAS.

You play that exact same file back from the NAS, using the Zappiti, and the picture is noticeably better?

When you say noise in the image, what does that look like?


You can literally mimic this using a HTPC.

Play a film via different media players and you get slightly different results. Same would apply to media players based off their components and processing capabilities.
 
Mark, the self adhesive blackout material you used on your 1961 Heights, do you know if it would peel off without any damage to the finish of the speaker?

I could do to add some to the bevelled edges on my front 1723 Height S speakers.
 
Mark, the self adhesive blackout material you used on your 1961 Heights, do you know if it would peel off without any damage to the finish of the speaker?

I could do to add some to the bevelled edges on my front 1723 Height S speakers.
It would possibly stain the paint work. It wouldn’t damage it per se, but you may see where it was. I’d imagine the 1961 finish would be better than the 1723 though.
 
It would possibly stain the paint work. It wouldn’t damage it per se, but you may see where it was. I’d imagine the 1961 finish would be better than the 1723 though.
I do prefer the black finish of the 1961 speakers to the 1723 S black. Less sheen, less reflective.
 
I do prefer the black finish of the 1961 speakers to the 1723 S black. Less sheen, less reflective.


I like both but strangely enough I've found every 1961 speakekr I've bought has had some form of scratch or poor wear to them whilst the satin of the 1723/S remains flawless... I would have thought it'd be the opposite as the 1961s feel a lot more robust and hard wearing and the 1723s feels silky and fragile.
 
The 1723 S have a beautiful finish. The 1961 finish is more practical for a batcave, if any type of reflections bother you.

I solved the side of the speakers which are giving off a reflection by attaching some spare black velvet I use for the acoustic ceiling panels that the 1723 Height S are set in. The magnetic grilles come in handy for anchoring the fabric at the front side edge. They now completely disappear in the black velvet acoustic panels. Very happy with them. Looked huge at first, without the panels around them.
 
Hi

Sorry a little off topic by the looks

When you built your room did you feed an internet cable in or are you running wirelessly.
Been experimenting with bt black discs but think it will be better hard wired

Any advice would be much appreciated
 
Hi

Sorry a little off topic by the looks

When you built your room did you feed an internet cable in or are you running wirelessly.
Been experimenting with bt black discs but think it will be better hard wired

Any advice would be much appreciated
All hard wired mate, DO NOT rely on WiFi.
 
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All hard wired mate, DO NOT rely on WiFi.
Did you do anything special or just lay unground
Kinda looking a laying some sort of piping but but sure if this is over kill
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Did you do anything special or just lay unground
Kinda looking a laying some sort of piping but but sure if this is over kill
No mate, it’s wired externally using outdoor cabling.
 
The reality with all things that improve the sound and image when they are processing or low signal pieces is they are actually simply reducing the undesired effects that the lesser products do. It's a constant reminder to me that my time with power supplies and changing components is worthwhile. Glad I'm not a somewhat lonely voice any more :) go AudioCom !
 
Agreed IWCDopplel. A few years back I used a battery pack psu for a chord qutest dac. It made a night and day difference in terms of pure resolution. Probably the best £300 I’ve ever spent on hifi or home cinema equipment.
 
Mark can you post any close up phots of the curtains? Did you paint the track black to minimise its appearance?
 

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