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Thanks everyone for your comments :)<BR>
<BR>
I think by the time I had finished writing up the email I had made up my mind. <BR>
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I decided to make a conservative purchase on the grounds that if I really need those features at some point in the future I can spend the money I saved on the initial purchase :)<BR>
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I was looking at a Sony amp, the STR-DA1200ES. On paper it is very similar to the amp I'm replacing (also a Sony ES) so I figured it was a good place to start. <BR>
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I popped into LV Martins to see if they had it in stock, and if I could wrangle a cash discount... After a lengthy chat with one of the sales droids the manager walked over, saw the model I was considering, and offered a $350 discount. It's an old model and I suspect they were keen to see the back of it!<BR>
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So I've now got a shiny new amp :) It's not doing any hdmi mangling or anything else like that, so the only interaction with the media pc is via an optical SPDIF cable, which is working very nicely :)<BR>
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Now all I'm waiting for is the misses and child to go out so I can turn it up loud enough to give it a *real* test...<BR>
<BR>
Dylan<BR>
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On Wed, 2008-06-18 at 09:27 +1200, Dylan Hall wrote:<BR>
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<FONT COLOR="#000000">Hopefully this isn't too far off topic :)</FONT><BR>
<BR>
<FONT COLOR="#000000">I find myself needing a new home theatre amp because my current one has died after many years of loyal service...</FONT><BR>
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<FONT COLOR="#000000">It seems in the intervening 9 years a lot has changed. The amps no longer seem to be trying to differentiate themselves on sound quality or power output, but rather codec support, DSP prowess, number of connectors, quality of their GUI, and video handling.</FONT><BR>
<BR>
<FONT COLOR="#000000">After a little research and some foot work I find myself with two choices, a basic "old school" audio amp ($1000-1500) or a flash does everything amp ($2000-3000).</FONT><BR>
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<FONT COLOR="#000000">In my mind the two main differences are codecs, and video handling. These are the topics I'm after peoples opinions on :)</FONT><BR>
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<FONT COLOR="#000000">Codecs: </FONT><BR>
<BR>
<FONT COLOR="#000000">The flash news amps have introduced new versions of Dolby Digital (DD+ and Dolby True HD) and DTS (insert acronym). The new codecs provide native 7.1 encoding (upto 14 channels I think, and I think higher bit rates), and also lossless encoding. The caveat seems to be that these new codecs are only supported via an HDMI cable. They won't work over SPDIF. I've heard of, but never seen or played with PC hardware that allows your sound card to insert it's audio into an HDMI port on the video card.</FONT><BR>
<BR>
<FONT COLOR="#000000">Has anyone played with the above? Does it work? Does HDCP rear it's ugly head?</FONT><BR>
<FONT COLOR="#000000">What are the chances of actually finding myself with media on the media PC that uses one of the above codecs? I think currently the only source is Blu-ray disks.</FONT><BR>
<BR>
<FONT COLOR="#000000">Video Handling:</FONT><BR>
<BR>
<FONT COLOR="#000000">The other new feature of the flash amps is video handling. Most of them will convert/upscale an analoge video source to HDMI (720p/1080p) and some will also upscale HDMI inputs. The upshot is that you only need one cable (HDMI) to your TV and you can change video sources with a single button press. They also seem to throw in an onscreen GUI for good measure.</FONT><BR>
<BR>
<FONT COLOR="#000000">Has anyone played with running a media PC through the above? I'm particularly interested in how the amp will handle an HDMI input that actually comes from a DVI on a video card. The specific concern is that the video card output isn't "standard", e.g. it's running at 1360x768 rather than 720p/1080p etc. Again, does HDCP rear it's ugly head?</FONT><BR>
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<FONT COLOR="#000000">Thanks,</FONT><BR>
<BR>
<FONT COLOR="#000000">Dylan</FONT><BR>
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