Welsh Whirlwind
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I've recently bought the Sony HTD-870RSF DVD recorder/HDD amp package which comprises of of the HTSF1200 (Aka HTSF2000) and the RDRHX870 DVD recorder/HDD.
I've decided to do a (albeit amateur) review of the HTSF1200 (Also relevant for HT SF/SS 1300/2000 owners) as there are numerous highly recommended reviews of the RDRHX870 DVD HDD on these forums already – Just make sure you follow the steps to upgrade to the latest v1.65 firmware to avoid the ‘EPG link' problem. Find instructions on how to do this (Plus a region unlock procedure) HERE
Briefly though, the player itself is an absolute joy to use – Very user friendly, and up-scales a beautiful picture. I'm running it at 1080i due to my panel's resolution limitations, although you're probably aware the player is capable of upscaling to resolutions of 1080p, and from what I gather its scaler is one of the best on the market at the moment. I literally don't have a single bad word to say about it as of yet.
An independant review is posted HERE
If anyone would like further info on the player I'll be happy to answer any questions!
Ok first of all I'm gonna get all the ‘bad' points of the 1200 out of the way…
1) Setting up the speakers is very, very fiddly. And don't rush as I did placing the speakers incorrectly. Each speaker has a specific assignment Front left, back left etc. The front speakers are also magnetically shielded due to their position near the TV, the surrounds are not. Particularly important if your using a CRT TV.
2) The amps remote is, well pretty atrocious, small, poorly labelled and hard to see buttons. Sometimes unresponsive.
3) The Amp always selects DD5.1 by default. For DTS soundtracks you have to manually select the audio on the DVD.
4) Only 8m cabling for back speakers
5) Some sound ‘popping' on higher volume levels from central speaker… Although I'm sure, with a little tweaking, I may be able to reduce this.
***EDIT See post 6 below***
Now for the Good points!
1) Auto Calibration is just an absolute Godsend, making setting up the amp incredibly easy. Just pop the provided mic at your seating position, press a button and all distances, sound calibration is calculated in about 30secs! None of this manual inputting, measurements etc. going on here! Although of course, the Test Tone function is still there and everything can be done manually if you'd prefer.
It's a dream for me as my Sofa tends to move around and slide against my wooden floor, so my listening position is not constant, so I simply plug in the mic, and 30secs later my speakers are at their optimum levels. Nice.
**EDIT**
After a long period of use I feel I must add that on occaision the auto-cal mic can produce dreadful results. It seems the technology can be pretty hit and miss at times. And to add, the mic was at 'ear height', the room was completely quiet, nothing was inbetween the mic and the speakers, speakers were 'turned in' to face the mic, all exactly as the manual suggests...
I live next to a road and I'm wondering if the (albeit fairly quiet) traffic noise effected my results. My now perfect calibration was done at 1am in the morning with no background noise whatsoever.
Also Enviromental acoustics play a huge part in getting good sound. Some people just can't seem to get a decent auto-calibration due to their hard/tiled floor 'echoey' enviroment (The included mic just can't equalise the multi-directional inputs of sound it recieves).
So to be honest, for me it's been a simple case of if you don't succeed 'try, try and try again'. Perciverence seems to be the key, when it does work you can get quite brilliant results.
2) Just remember to manually adjust your speaker height and position on the amp, as the auto cal function does not make that particular calculation. The default speaker position is set to ‘side low' so make sure if your wall mounting you refer to page 41 of the manual and select one of the 'high' parameters. This is massively important to get correct, and integral to the C.ST.EX. soundfields, so experiment!
I selected 'behind low' on my surround speakers, both of which are placed slightly behind me, the difference in surround presence was phenomenol when changed, massively improving my cinematic experience.
3) Next I tried the following DVD's
The Matrix:
Settings used: DD 5.1 (selected by AFD auto) and C.ST.EX.(cinema studio EX) mode ‘B' – Recommended sound field for Sci-Fi and action movies.
Yes it was time to test the almost obligatory hallway scene! And I'm happy to report I could here every tiny little piece of concrete chipping away, every bullet ricocheting around and every deep thudding kick. None of the effects seemed to interfere with other or drown each other out; the speakers seem to have a great frequency spectrum. In short – pretty damn mind blowing!
But! For even better surround results, and that definative 'show your system off scene' go straight for chapter 30. My god, listen as the agents firing position changes throughout the whole speaker range, then, leave it run into scene 31 (Where Neo drops in in the Helicopter with a minigun) and listen in awe as you hear the helicopter blades thud deeply behind you all in slow-motion, and the bullets tinkle like glass 'hundreds n' thousands' infront of you... I literally 'Whooped' like a kid with a proper new toy after experiencing that piece of audio bliss!!!
A tale of two Sisters:
Settings used: DD 5.1 (selected by AFD auto) and C.ST.EX.(cinema studio EX) mode ‘A' – Recommended sound field for standard all round viewing.
Being a massive psychological/scary movie fan, I was really looking forward to be scared witless by a movie which made good use of the rear surround speakers. A tale of 2 sisters did not disappoint! Throughout the film footsteps creak on floorboards behind you, slowing making their way right around the surround spectrum. Thuds and bangs come from upstais, it's all very convincing and unnerving… All in all I was impressed, although films like these hardly push the system to its limits. But my gosh, you'll wanna' watch all those scary DVD's again!
X-Men 3
Settings used: DTS and C.ST.EX.(cinema studio EX) mode ‘A' – Recommended sound field for standard all round viewing.
Now then, looking back I forgot to change the C.ST.EX. mode to ‘B' (Recommended for action SCI-FI movies) so maybe it would have helped what I'm about to describe…
All was going pretty well until I reached the scene where the X-Men are practicing their skills in that giant simulated holodeck, quite early on in the film. There's a hell of a lot going on, and I was looking forward to good use of the 5.1 spectrum. Initially all was going well but then, the centre speaker started to ‘pop' and buzz more than once a little as if it was struggling with all the effects. Now I'm no AV genius, so quite possibly with a little adjustment this issue could be solved. Since this incident I haven't had any time to play about with it and try again. Slightly disappointed for the time being… ***EDIT See post 6 below***
There is one other C.ST.EX. setting 'C' Which I haven't tried as of yet. The description of this calibration explains: 'This mode is ideal for watching musicals or films where Orchestra music is featured in the soundtrack'
***UPDATE***
Just thought I'd add some more great films to showcase this system!
Jurassic Park DTS
Remember the T-Rex scene? Chapter 11, sit back and enjoy...
Now skip to chapter 14 for the Gallimimus stampede scene!
U571 DTS
The depth charge scene. Prepare that sub for a good'ol workout! Absolutely stunning, and great use of the surround speakers.
Star Wars Episode 1
Pod Racing! Great surround and brilliant engine bass!
Das Boot Superbit edition DTS
This is one brilliantly re-mastered classic film. The DTS soundtrack is just absolutely brilliant, the full spectrum of speakers are almost constantly in use, even in the quieter dialogue scenes you'll hear the 'drip, drip' of a leaking pipe behind you. And, when the rickets start to burst under pressure as the sub sinks, they really fire accross the room, front to back, back to front - it's a brillant effect. Plus you just can't beat those quieter scenes when your listening to the destroyers propeller noise as it passes above, again, amazing use of the audio spectrum, creating some really tense moments...
Lethal Weapon 4
The first 10mins of this film are absolutely brilliant! Particular note goes out to the intro credits when the Lethal Weapon 4 title bursts onto the screen (Great positional use of the surrounds) And the tanker 'bass-bloody-tastic' explosion thereafter! Crank it up!!!
The Eye DTS
What a brilliant DTS ES track this film has, massively scary surround moments! Watched it last night, sh*t my pants!
Try scene 6 the "Why are you sitting in my chair?" Bloooooommiiinnn' 'Elllll!! - Trust me, that moment's gonna stay with you for a while...
Saving the best 'til last...
Saving Private Ryan DTS
TAKE COVVVVVVVERRRRR!!!!!!!!
Literally. The beach landings are still the benchmark when it comes 5.1 surround. A few others come close, but none beat it as far as showcasing a system is concerned, a true assault on the senses.
Scarily realistic, almost a little too much at times, you really can begin to imagine what it must have been like participating in such a campaign, absolutely bloody terrifying. It can actually amount to quite an uncomfortable experience...
The sound truly makes this film come to life, to the point where I'd say if you haven't watched this movie in a surround format, then you simply haven't watched this movie...
Switch on your amp and prepare yourself for a bass induced A.S.B.O.
PS2 - ***See post 9***
HD audio:
The amp will play uncompressed PCM (HD Audio) tracks (Over HDMI) if the source decodes it, and sends it to the receiver via LPCM (PS3 does this). DTS MA/ DD THD sound incredible on this setup! If your using a PS3 be sure to switch off THIS setting before you listen to a HD track.
Gameswise, two words 'DEAD SPACE' - The most incredible audio I've ever heard on a game and on the 1200 it sounds absolutely divine.
Note: If the sampling frequency is higher than 48khz or you pass PCM or LPCM (decoded HD audio) into the reciever C.ST.EX. (AKA 'Theatre' presets on the HTSS/SF 1300) soundfields are not supported, 'Not Used' is displayed. These will only work when transferring 'Bitstreamed' audio into the amp.
CD's and MP3
The amp has various sound fields that you can play around with ie ‘Hall' ‘Jazz' ‘Live Concert' and ‘portable audio' which is supposedly ideal for mp3.
Popping in a CD the sound seems fine, I used the ‘Live Concert' effect whilst playing an rock soundtrack and that seemed to work well. I then switched the receiver to it's multi channel stereo setting where the signal is 2 channel, and bass frequencies output from the subwoofer, this actually didn't sound as good as just the 2 channel front and subwoofer setup, why I don't know, but to my ear the sound was clearer solely coming from the front.
Playing around further I switched the AFD mode to Pro-Logic 2 Music and this proved to be the definitive setting for CD playback.
Mp3 playback again was more than capable, but setting the sound field to ‘portable audio' (as recommended for Mp3 playback) made the sound too ‘tinny' for my liking. ***Update*** Since writing this review I have begun to enjoy the benefits of this setting, and it does 'tidy up' alot of poorer mp3/4 recordings that I have on my computer.
USB Port (On RDRHX870 DVD Recorder played back through the HTSF1200 Amp set to 2ch A.F.D.)
Well, it works! I basically loaded a load of albums onto a USB stick and used it as a 'portable jukebox' - Satisfactory sound results, hardly mind blowing, but your results will depend on the quality of the download.
Other things:
*HDMI Repeater (As opposed to the HTSF1100's switcher) - The HTSF1200 can decode DTS, DD5.1 and LPCM soundtracks over HDMI so you don't actually have to connect it up with optical or coax connections.
*Full 1080p & 24fps passthrough support.
*Changeable button assignments on the remote control so it can be used to control your Sony DVD player.
* AV audio sync.
*Height adjustable speakers.
*See attached picture for amp connectivity options.
*HDMI Bravia theatre sync. - Link your peripherals via HDMI leads, switch on 'HDMI control' on all Sony systems, then all of your peripherals can be powered up/down with the press of a button.
*Assignable digital inputs. (N/A for 1300 owners)
And that's about all I can tell you at the moment! If anyone has any questions/ tests they'd like me to try then just ask!
I've decided to do a (albeit amateur) review of the HTSF1200 (Also relevant for HT SF/SS 1300/2000 owners) as there are numerous highly recommended reviews of the RDRHX870 DVD HDD on these forums already – Just make sure you follow the steps to upgrade to the latest v1.65 firmware to avoid the ‘EPG link' problem. Find instructions on how to do this (Plus a region unlock procedure) HERE
Briefly though, the player itself is an absolute joy to use – Very user friendly, and up-scales a beautiful picture. I'm running it at 1080i due to my panel's resolution limitations, although you're probably aware the player is capable of upscaling to resolutions of 1080p, and from what I gather its scaler is one of the best on the market at the moment. I literally don't have a single bad word to say about it as of yet.
An independant review is posted HERE
If anyone would like further info on the player I'll be happy to answer any questions!
Ok first of all I'm gonna get all the ‘bad' points of the 1200 out of the way…
1) Setting up the speakers is very, very fiddly. And don't rush as I did placing the speakers incorrectly. Each speaker has a specific assignment Front left, back left etc. The front speakers are also magnetically shielded due to their position near the TV, the surrounds are not. Particularly important if your using a CRT TV.
2) The amps remote is, well pretty atrocious, small, poorly labelled and hard to see buttons. Sometimes unresponsive.
3) The Amp always selects DD5.1 by default. For DTS soundtracks you have to manually select the audio on the DVD.
4) Only 8m cabling for back speakers
5) Some sound ‘popping' on higher volume levels from central speaker… Although I'm sure, with a little tweaking, I may be able to reduce this.
***EDIT See post 6 below***
Now for the Good points!
1) Auto Calibration is just an absolute Godsend, making setting up the amp incredibly easy. Just pop the provided mic at your seating position, press a button and all distances, sound calibration is calculated in about 30secs! None of this manual inputting, measurements etc. going on here! Although of course, the Test Tone function is still there and everything can be done manually if you'd prefer.
It's a dream for me as my Sofa tends to move around and slide against my wooden floor, so my listening position is not constant, so I simply plug in the mic, and 30secs later my speakers are at their optimum levels. Nice.
**EDIT**
After a long period of use I feel I must add that on occaision the auto-cal mic can produce dreadful results. It seems the technology can be pretty hit and miss at times. And to add, the mic was at 'ear height', the room was completely quiet, nothing was inbetween the mic and the speakers, speakers were 'turned in' to face the mic, all exactly as the manual suggests...
I live next to a road and I'm wondering if the (albeit fairly quiet) traffic noise effected my results. My now perfect calibration was done at 1am in the morning with no background noise whatsoever.
Also Enviromental acoustics play a huge part in getting good sound. Some people just can't seem to get a decent auto-calibration due to their hard/tiled floor 'echoey' enviroment (The included mic just can't equalise the multi-directional inputs of sound it recieves).
So to be honest, for me it's been a simple case of if you don't succeed 'try, try and try again'. Perciverence seems to be the key, when it does work you can get quite brilliant results.
2) Just remember to manually adjust your speaker height and position on the amp, as the auto cal function does not make that particular calculation. The default speaker position is set to ‘side low' so make sure if your wall mounting you refer to page 41 of the manual and select one of the 'high' parameters. This is massively important to get correct, and integral to the C.ST.EX. soundfields, so experiment!
I selected 'behind low' on my surround speakers, both of which are placed slightly behind me, the difference in surround presence was phenomenol when changed, massively improving my cinematic experience.
3) Next I tried the following DVD's
The Matrix:
Settings used: DD 5.1 (selected by AFD auto) and C.ST.EX.(cinema studio EX) mode ‘B' – Recommended sound field for Sci-Fi and action movies.
Yes it was time to test the almost obligatory hallway scene! And I'm happy to report I could here every tiny little piece of concrete chipping away, every bullet ricocheting around and every deep thudding kick. None of the effects seemed to interfere with other or drown each other out; the speakers seem to have a great frequency spectrum. In short – pretty damn mind blowing!
But! For even better surround results, and that definative 'show your system off scene' go straight for chapter 30. My god, listen as the agents firing position changes throughout the whole speaker range, then, leave it run into scene 31 (Where Neo drops in in the Helicopter with a minigun) and listen in awe as you hear the helicopter blades thud deeply behind you all in slow-motion, and the bullets tinkle like glass 'hundreds n' thousands' infront of you... I literally 'Whooped' like a kid with a proper new toy after experiencing that piece of audio bliss!!!
A tale of two Sisters:
Settings used: DD 5.1 (selected by AFD auto) and C.ST.EX.(cinema studio EX) mode ‘A' – Recommended sound field for standard all round viewing.
Being a massive psychological/scary movie fan, I was really looking forward to be scared witless by a movie which made good use of the rear surround speakers. A tale of 2 sisters did not disappoint! Throughout the film footsteps creak on floorboards behind you, slowing making their way right around the surround spectrum. Thuds and bangs come from upstais, it's all very convincing and unnerving… All in all I was impressed, although films like these hardly push the system to its limits. But my gosh, you'll wanna' watch all those scary DVD's again!
X-Men 3
Settings used: DTS and C.ST.EX.(cinema studio EX) mode ‘A' – Recommended sound field for standard all round viewing.
Now then, looking back I forgot to change the C.ST.EX. mode to ‘B' (Recommended for action SCI-FI movies) so maybe it would have helped what I'm about to describe…
All was going pretty well until I reached the scene where the X-Men are practicing their skills in that giant simulated holodeck, quite early on in the film. There's a hell of a lot going on, and I was looking forward to good use of the 5.1 spectrum. Initially all was going well but then, the centre speaker started to ‘pop' and buzz more than once a little as if it was struggling with all the effects. Now I'm no AV genius, so quite possibly with a little adjustment this issue could be solved. Since this incident I haven't had any time to play about with it and try again. Slightly disappointed for the time being… ***EDIT See post 6 below***
There is one other C.ST.EX. setting 'C' Which I haven't tried as of yet. The description of this calibration explains: 'This mode is ideal for watching musicals or films where Orchestra music is featured in the soundtrack'
***UPDATE***
Just thought I'd add some more great films to showcase this system!
Jurassic Park DTS
Remember the T-Rex scene? Chapter 11, sit back and enjoy...
Now skip to chapter 14 for the Gallimimus stampede scene!
U571 DTS
The depth charge scene. Prepare that sub for a good'ol workout! Absolutely stunning, and great use of the surround speakers.
Star Wars Episode 1
Pod Racing! Great surround and brilliant engine bass!
Das Boot Superbit edition DTS
This is one brilliantly re-mastered classic film. The DTS soundtrack is just absolutely brilliant, the full spectrum of speakers are almost constantly in use, even in the quieter dialogue scenes you'll hear the 'drip, drip' of a leaking pipe behind you. And, when the rickets start to burst under pressure as the sub sinks, they really fire accross the room, front to back, back to front - it's a brillant effect. Plus you just can't beat those quieter scenes when your listening to the destroyers propeller noise as it passes above, again, amazing use of the audio spectrum, creating some really tense moments...
Lethal Weapon 4
The first 10mins of this film are absolutely brilliant! Particular note goes out to the intro credits when the Lethal Weapon 4 title bursts onto the screen (Great positional use of the surrounds) And the tanker 'bass-bloody-tastic' explosion thereafter! Crank it up!!!
The Eye DTS
What a brilliant DTS ES track this film has, massively scary surround moments! Watched it last night, sh*t my pants!
Try scene 6 the "Why are you sitting in my chair?" Bloooooommiiinnn' 'Elllll!! - Trust me, that moment's gonna stay with you for a while...
Saving the best 'til last...
Saving Private Ryan DTS
TAKE COVVVVVVVERRRRR!!!!!!!!
Literally. The beach landings are still the benchmark when it comes 5.1 surround. A few others come close, but none beat it as far as showcasing a system is concerned, a true assault on the senses.
Scarily realistic, almost a little too much at times, you really can begin to imagine what it must have been like participating in such a campaign, absolutely bloody terrifying. It can actually amount to quite an uncomfortable experience...
The sound truly makes this film come to life, to the point where I'd say if you haven't watched this movie in a surround format, then you simply haven't watched this movie...
Switch on your amp and prepare yourself for a bass induced A.S.B.O.
PS2 - ***See post 9***
HD audio:
The amp will play uncompressed PCM (HD Audio) tracks (Over HDMI) if the source decodes it, and sends it to the receiver via LPCM (PS3 does this). DTS MA/ DD THD sound incredible on this setup! If your using a PS3 be sure to switch off THIS setting before you listen to a HD track.
Gameswise, two words 'DEAD SPACE' - The most incredible audio I've ever heard on a game and on the 1200 it sounds absolutely divine.
Note: If the sampling frequency is higher than 48khz or you pass PCM or LPCM (decoded HD audio) into the reciever C.ST.EX. (AKA 'Theatre' presets on the HTSS/SF 1300) soundfields are not supported, 'Not Used' is displayed. These will only work when transferring 'Bitstreamed' audio into the amp.
CD's and MP3
The amp has various sound fields that you can play around with ie ‘Hall' ‘Jazz' ‘Live Concert' and ‘portable audio' which is supposedly ideal for mp3.
Popping in a CD the sound seems fine, I used the ‘Live Concert' effect whilst playing an rock soundtrack and that seemed to work well. I then switched the receiver to it's multi channel stereo setting where the signal is 2 channel, and bass frequencies output from the subwoofer, this actually didn't sound as good as just the 2 channel front and subwoofer setup, why I don't know, but to my ear the sound was clearer solely coming from the front.
Playing around further I switched the AFD mode to Pro-Logic 2 Music and this proved to be the definitive setting for CD playback.
Mp3 playback again was more than capable, but setting the sound field to ‘portable audio' (as recommended for Mp3 playback) made the sound too ‘tinny' for my liking. ***Update*** Since writing this review I have begun to enjoy the benefits of this setting, and it does 'tidy up' alot of poorer mp3/4 recordings that I have on my computer.
USB Port (On RDRHX870 DVD Recorder played back through the HTSF1200 Amp set to 2ch A.F.D.)
Well, it works! I basically loaded a load of albums onto a USB stick and used it as a 'portable jukebox' - Satisfactory sound results, hardly mind blowing, but your results will depend on the quality of the download.
Other things:
*HDMI Repeater (As opposed to the HTSF1100's switcher) - The HTSF1200 can decode DTS, DD5.1 and LPCM soundtracks over HDMI so you don't actually have to connect it up with optical or coax connections.
*Full 1080p & 24fps passthrough support.
*Changeable button assignments on the remote control so it can be used to control your Sony DVD player.
* AV audio sync.
*Height adjustable speakers.
*See attached picture for amp connectivity options.
*HDMI Bravia theatre sync. - Link your peripherals via HDMI leads, switch on 'HDMI control' on all Sony systems, then all of your peripherals can be powered up/down with the press of a button.
*Assignable digital inputs. (N/A for 1300 owners)
And that's about all I can tell you at the moment! If anyone has any questions/ tests they'd like me to try then just ask!
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