[mythtvnz] New Amplifier

[AlanP]

At 09:27 a.m. 18/06/2008, you wrote:
>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.

I've heard too many bad stereos, where the frequency response looks like a 
cross-section of the Himalayas to buy one with not a word on that. F'r 
instance, ones that play songs where the bass roars out loud, the highs are 
penetrating, and you can't hear a thing of what the singer is saying.

>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.

Do you *have* seven speakers and a sub?

I'm horribly lazy. I let the media PC do all the heavy lifting as far as 
sound mixing and conversion goes. It cuts down on headaches for me.

>Has anyone played with the above? Does it work? Does HDCP rear it's ugly head?
>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.

Well, the only reason I know that people of my acquaintance have Blue-ray 
disc drives at *all* is because they come with Playstation 3.

I'd say we're in no danger of blue-ray becoming widespread.

>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.

This is again where my lazy nature shines through. The only time that our 
tv is ever changed from the media PC is when someone feels historic and 
wants to watch an old VHS tape. The media PC does everything, so passing it 
through a switch like that is unnecessary. We don't even have a console -- 
everyone games on PC.

>Thanks,
>Dylan


Depending on how addicted you are to flash stuff like HD-DVD, Blu-ray, ten 
bazillion consoles etc etc etc, you might not need this.

--
Alan Podjursky                  ICQ 24423014
"Yay, evil evil! Happy torture!" -- Gwyneth
"When in doubt, use brute force." -- Ken Thompson
http://www.fanfiction.net/~mercva