130 replies to this topic

[steve.childs]

The 4th and 5th Picture looks like my ex's new BF. Cool pics.

[Mark Shaw]

Spectrum, on 08 May 2011 - 09:04 AM, said:

Did you get a matching sub? If so, how / what is it? If not, how do you find the floor standers perform on their own?

I decided on one big bruiser in the end. After some setting up I have to say it rocks, literally. The whole house was shaking during Tron Legacy and Terminator Salvation.

[ryanedward85]

Of all the many cameras I have owned, I have to say that my Fuji HS10 is my favorite. The 24-720MM lens is superb. The only problem I have is keeping the camera still when photographing fast moving wildlife. I just keep practicing on local wild life.

[Mark Shaw]

Maybe you should sign up for a workshop.

[ryanedward85]

I have just become the proud owner of a MacBook Pro Aluminum 13" i5.. Absolutely loving it.

[steve.childs]

Congratulations and enjoy.

[Mark Shaw]

Handed over a small fortune to have an ISF Guy come round and professionally calibrate my HT. It has made the world of difference. My movie soundtracks sounded great before, now they sound so much better.

[ryanedward85]

That is why digital down loads for movies will NEVER take off. Who wants to be left with DD surround at best when you can hear your movie soundtracks in Hi-Def 7.1 or 9.1.

[ryanedward85]

Upgraded my MBP with OS X Lion and all is well. Just getting used to the reversed scrolling. My battery life has taken a bit of a knock though. Was up to 10 hrs now I'm lucky to get 7.

[Mark Shaw]

Turbo Broiler: My girlfriends mum bought it for us and it is gonna be well used. Cooked up a storm last night. My new fave toy.

[ryanedward85]

I've been intrigued by those things for years. Does the chicken not dry up in those things?

[ryanedward85]

Had a very embarrassing day yesterday. During the day I noticed that the keyboard backlight was not working on my MBP. So I call Apple support for help. Over the next 30 minutes or so we are trying everything to get the light working. He has me run a sequence of keystrokes that don't work, although they did get my battery up from 5-6 hours back up to 9-10 hours so can't complain. Eventually he admits defeat and advises me to take my unit into the nearest service center. I do this and explain to the young lady my dilemma. I tell her how the tech guy was unable to get the thing working. She takes my lappy out back then returns 2 minutes later. She then shows me 2 little buttons on the top row of my keypad that turn on/ off/ reduce/ increase light. I felt such a TIT. But saying that the tech guy didn't know either and he works for Apple. My GF was laughing so loud her head almost dropped off. I went puce.

[Spectrum]

Mark Shaw, on 12 July 2011 - 10:19 PM, said:

Handed over a small fortune to have an ISF Guy come round and professionally calibrate my HT. It has made the world of difference. My movie soundtracks sounded great before, now they sound so much better.

Curious to know what they did. How much control does you home theatre pre-amp provide? Is it just volume levels, or does it allow one to EQ each speaker for a better match?

I've not looked at home theatre kit for about 8 years, though good to see HDMI and component upscaling becoming the norm as the idea of switching video sources *and* audio sources separately has never appealed to me (though handy when wants visuals for a CD, for example).

ryanedward85, on 20 July 2011 - 09:01 PM, said:

That is why digital down loads for movies will NEVER take off. Who wants to be left with DD surround at best when you can hear your movie soundtracks in Hi-Def 7.1 or 9.1.

Again, I'm a bit out of the loop, but what is the surround sound standard for Blu-Ray?

http://en.wikipedia....-ray_Disc#Audio

OK, but what are movies generally being released in?

And I see even 9.1 isn't present, so that's normally a buzz promoted by the likes of Yamaha, yeah, to stand out from the competition, using 1980s Dolby Pro Logic matrix technology to simulate the additional channels?

And personally, I struggle to see the need for so many channels. Controversial? Possibly.

It's as if the sound in front is less important than the sound from behind. In what audiophile universe is that acceptable?

And we only have two ears. And yet we have little trouble 'seeing' the phantom centre mono image from just two stereo channels.

And have someone click their fingers behind you, then try to imagine the sound isn't just coming from directly in front of you, if only a little muffled.

And is it important that the ricocheted bullet or dog bark was emitting from directly behind the pot plant, two feet from the left of the book case... or just from 'somewhere over there'?

Not to be raining on anyone's Dolby 18.5 23-speaker parade (yep, that's 5 discrete sub woofer channels for supreme realism) just kinda reminds me of the quest for ever-improving shaver technology, the Gillette 3000 (from the beloved 90s Aussie skit comedy show Late Show')...




Also, on the topic of downloads, isn't it possible for the multi-channel content to be made available in the downloaded version? It's just digital data on a Blu-Ray disc, yeah? So include that in the online, downloadable version. Or not?

[ryanedward85]

Spectrum, on 13 August 2011 - 08:24 AM, said:

Curious to know what they did. How much control does you home theatre pre-amp provide? Is it just volume levels, or does it allow one to EQ each speaker for a better match?

I've not looked at home theatre kit for about 8 years, though good to see HDMI and component upscaling becoming the norm as the idea of switching video sources *and* audio sources separately has never appealed to me (though handy when wants visuals for a CD, for example).




Again, I'm a bit out of the loop, but what is the surround sound standard for Blu-Ray?

http://en.wikipedia....-ray_Disc#Audio

OK, but what are movies generally being released in?

And I see even 9.1 isn't present, so that's normally a buzz promoted by the likes of Yamaha, yeah, to stand out from the competition, using 1980s Dolby Pro Logic matrix technology to simulate the additional channels?

And personally, I struggle to see the need for so many channels. Controversial? Possibly.

It's as if the sound in front is less important than the sound from behind. In what audiophile universe is that acceptable?

And we only have two ears. And yet we have little trouble 'seeing' the phantom centre mono image from just two stereo channels.

And have someone click their fingers behind you, then try to imagine the sound isn't just coming from directly in front of you, if only a little muffled.

And is it important that the ricocheted bullet or dog bark was emitting from directly behind the pot plant, two feet from the left of the book case... or just from 'somewhere over there'?

Not to be raining on anyone's Dolby 18.5 23-speaker parade (yep, that's 5 discrete sub woofer channels for supreme realism) just kinda reminds me of the quest for ever-improving shaver technology, the Gillette 3000 (from the beloved 90s Aussie skit comedy show Late Show')...




Also, on the topic of downloads, isn't it possible for the multi-channel content to be made available in the downloaded version? It's just digital data on a Blu-Ray disc, yeah? So include that in the online, downloadable version. Or not?

Hi there
Unfortunately there is no standard as far as Audio for Blu-ray is concerned. Until recently Warner Bros were being lazy and not even putting Lossless (PCM/ dts HDMA/ Dolby True HD) on their Blu-rays. Fortunately it seems that all studios now are opting to use Lossless audio. Most BD's utilize 5.1, although a few (Lions Gate and Disney) use 7.1. There are no 9.1 soundtracks available as of yet. The good thing about today's receivers is that you can matrix to 9.1 or even 11.1 and it sounds totally natural. Downloads can only carry legacy sound tracks (Dolby Digital/ dts) they cannot carry Hi-Def (Lossless) Audio. Lossless can only be carried by HDMI (Digital) and analog if you have the correct equipment. Lossless cannot be carried by fibre optic or co-axial.
When I watch a movie with my system correctly set up it makes the world of difference.

[TonyG]

Unfortunately Digital downloads can only carry so much information. If you overload it you get all those nasty digital artifacts, mosquito noise etc. At least with physical medium as long as the disc has enough room it's good to go.

[Mark Shaw]

Spectrum: My receiver allows me to individually adjust and fine tune the levels for each speaker. I have so many pre-sets it's embarrassing. I also have THX Settings on my receiver for Movies/ Music and Games.

[ryanedward85]

Spectrum: Having a system that is greater than the standard 5.1 is fine, so long as you have enough room to accommodate it. There is clearly no pint in having a 9.1 HT if you watch your rooms in a tiny bedroom. I thoroughly made sure that my HT room could accommodate the 9.1 and that the speakers were properly placed and separated in order to provide a clear and clean surround sound experience.

[TonyG]

I would never go to Downloads for my movies, at least not for home viewing. I may download them to put in my laptop for my travels.

[TonyG]

My Caffitaly Hot Beverage maker. It makes super coffee using single serving discs and makes the best coffee I have ever had. It looks so Italian and is even Ferrari Red and Chrome. Want a coffee or tea, simply put a disc into the maker press a button and you're done.

[ryanedward85]

My new favorite toy is my Hitachi 3LCD Projector. I'm waiting for my screen to arrive, should be sometime next week. I played it onto my wall and it still looks damned awesome. Have a backlog of cool movies to watch on it. Thor being on the top of my list.