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Got an audio question that doesn't deserve its own thread? This is the place to ask it.
King Hotpants fucked around with this message at 20:29 on Mar 21, 2007 |
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Mar 21, 2007 20:21
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I've got an LCD TV (specifically an Olevia LT42HVI), and it uses normal speaker wire to connect the speakers to the TV. The speakers themselves are okay, but nothing particularly great. I was wondering if it was at all a good idea to buy a pair of cheaper bookshelf speakers, and hook them up to the TV instead. The total wattage rating of the speakers connected to the TV right now is 50 watts, so I'm guessing it should at least power some bookshelf speakers decently. I eventually want to get a receiver, but it's not in the budget right now. Would this be worth pursuing?
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Mar 21, 2007 21:05
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I'm in the market for a HTIB system. What I'm basically looking for is a system with just the receiver and the speakers (I use my PS3 as my DVD player, so I have no need for another one), that actually decodes an HDMI signal (not just passthrough). The closest thing I found is the Onkyo HT-S894, but it's simply way too god drat expensive. Is there something cheaper out there? Or am I going to have to wait it out? Or is there a cheaper solution by buying the receiver and the speakers seperately? Any help is appreciated, thanks!
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Mar 21, 2007 22:28
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Inept posted:I've got an LCD TV (specifically an Olevia LT42HVI), and it uses normal speaker wire to connect the speakers to the TV. The speakers themselves are okay, but nothing particularly great. I was wondering if it was at all a good idea to buy a pair of cheaper bookshelf speakers, and hook them up to the TV instead. The bigger concern is that you match the impedance. It seems like most TV speaker outs are 6 ohm whereas most home speakers are 8 ohm (nominally). What that means is that the power output of the amp in the TV will drop slightly and that's not good for a bigger speaker that probably needs more juice. If the speaker is reasonably sensitive you should still get decent output. How good it will sound is another issue entirely. It might sound fine or it might not. It might not be much of a difference from the regular speakers. That being said you could always try a set of good but easily driven speakers (such as the Paradigm Atoms) but stay open to buying a separate receiver or amp. Even an older, used receiver would sound fine with the Atoms. 
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Mar 21, 2007 22:59
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I have a PS3 which apparently is capable of decoding Dolby TrueHD tracks from Blu-Ray movies. Do I need a receiver that can decode TrueHD also, or just a receiver with HDMI inputs/output that can pass audio through the HDMI? Can anybody recommend a good receiver for this purpose?
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Mar 22, 2007 02:47
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Carl Winslow posted:I have a PS3 which apparently is capable of decoding Dolby TrueHD tracks from Blu-Ray movies. Do I need a receiver that can decode TrueHD also, or just a receiver with HDMI inputs/output that can pass audio through the HDMI? Can anybody recommend a good receiver for this purpose? Apparently the PS3 has a builtin TrueHD decoder so it will be able to decode it internally and pass the output as PCM over HDMI to any HDMI receiver.
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Mar 22, 2007 05:28
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I work in a kitchen, which has a crappy stereo/CD player. My car has nothing but a radio and a non-functioning cigarette lighter. I've got an iPod shuffle, which I would like to listen to at work and in the car, though at work is more important. So what's the best setup for making this happen? - Do they make iPod speakers for shuffles? Should I just suck up and buy a real iPod?
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Mar 22, 2007 06:01
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Turkeybone, You don't really need specially-made speakers. In fact, you may even be able to pull it off with the setup you have with the addition of one 1/8" (stereo) to RCA cable. Check on the back of the CD player, look for an RCA in. If you don't have this, I know you can find one for <$50, as long as you're not going after the ultimate audio experience. As for your car, the process would be much the same: buy a new head unit with an RCA in and use a 1/8" (stereo) to RCA cable.
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Mar 22, 2007 13:48
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I am trying to decide between two HTIBs. I am not an audiophile, Ive lived the last 25 years using only TV speakers and I want to spend less than $400. I have a friend that can get me a discount on this system: http://www.sherwoodamerica.com/prod_hts6500.html Its a Sherwood 600 Watt 5.1 system w/ a powered Sub. I can get it for $215. The other system Ive been looking at is this one: http://www.amazon.com/Sony-HT-DDW900-Complete-5-1-Channel-Passthrough/dp/B000ES8C2G Its a Sony 900 Watt 5.1 system. It runs about $249. To me, it seems like I should probobly go with the Sony, because its only $35 more and its 300 watts more powerful. I dont know much about surround sound systems, so I thought I would ask and make sure my logic is sound and make sure there isnt something I am missing on either of these.
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Mar 22, 2007 15:37
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I hate it when I'm watching TV in the front room and my wife is in bed because I'm trying to hear dialogue on the center channel and then someone gets shot or an engine revs and the whole house shakes because I have to have the volume jacked up. or else it gets too quiet to hear the dialogue that is coming out of the center channel. Then my wife gets pissed and bitches at me to come to bed, but I don't want to come to bed. I want to watch TV. Is there any general advice for this or would I need to go into detail on my setup?
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Mar 22, 2007 17:27
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I'm looking at a car charger dock for my Ipod. I see alot of good ones with built-in FM tuners but I don't need that since my audio deck has a aux out. I found this one on the BB website http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8231656&type=product&productCategoryId=pcmcat108500050015&id=1168042838908 which looks good but I am unfamiliar with the brand. Anyone got any recommendations?
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Mar 22, 2007 18:38
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Hungryjack posted:I hate it when I'm watching TV in the front room and my wife is in bed because I'm trying to hear dialogue on the center channel and then someone gets shot or an engine revs and the whole house shakes because I have to have the volume jacked up. or else it gets too quiet to hear the dialogue that is coming out of the center channel. Then my wife gets pissed and bitches at me to come to bed, but I don't want to come to bed. I want to watch TV. Raise the level on your center channel? I assume your receiver can do that.
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Mar 22, 2007 20:27
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King Hotpants posted:Raise the level on your center channel? I assume your receiver can do that. That would be far too easy OK, I'll dig out the manual and jack with the settings.OK, here's another quick one: I have a receiver in my front room for my home theater (A) and a receiver in my computer room for my computer (B) and a receiver in my garage for working out there and BBQs and such (C). I have stereo RCA cables strung through my attic connecting these three receivers together in a mesh topology so that I can tune any of them in to whichever source is playing on the other. This is nice for streaming web music out to my living room or listening to the game when friends are over and I'm outside turning the steaks. My challenge is that my home theater receiver is my best receiver and it does not convert audio between sources (RCA/digital coax/optical) and so unless the source I want to hear is hooked up via RCA, there will be no sound. Is there a box that I can run an optical sound into, a digital coaxial into, and RCA stereo into and it will convert and put out sound to the RCA cables? Alternately, could I also hook up all of my audio sources via RCA in addition to their current hookups and get the same result? Hmm, help me out on option 1 and I'll try option 2 tonight when I get home.
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Mar 22, 2007 20:38
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pennywise969 posted:I am trying to decide between two HTIBs. I am not an audiophile, Ive lived the last 25 years using only TV speakers and I want to spend less than $400. Wattage is relatively meaningless at this level. Listen to both (if you can) and buy the one you like best. Just be aware that neither of them will probably not have long service lives - inexpensive HTiBs rarely last more than a few years. Hungryjack posted:I hate it when I'm watching TV in the front room and my wife is in bed because I'm trying to hear dialogue on the center channel and then someone gets shot or an engine revs and the whole house shakes because I have to have the volume jacked up. If it's a Dolby Digital movie you might be able to use the dynamic range control (sometimes called "night mode" or something similar).
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Mar 22, 2007 21:57
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What is your favorite Phono/Cartridge/Preamp combination? What's better, SACD or DVD-A? What are the advantages over high-resolution DVD-Video?
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Mar 22, 2007 22:15
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Mermaid Autopsy posted:What's better, SACD or DVD-A? Pull a single hair from your head. Now split it.  Now I'm sure that I have enraged the audiophiles, I can tell you quite honestly that the differences between SACD and DVD-A compared to plain Jane CD audio are slim. The only nice thing is that most of the hi-res discs are remixed and remastered with musicality rather than sheer loudness in mind. What that means is that you'll get a less "bright n' boomy" presentation and there seems to be a LOT less compression/maximization. So the improvement in sound quality has a lot more to do with production values than the extra data. It's nice, but is it worth buying into two formats that are essentially dead? I can't say that I'm convinced, and I've owned a DVD-A player for almost five years. In that time I've had the dubious pleasure of waiting for decent titles (and sometimes ANY titles) to come out, higher prices and poor availability. All this for a difference in sound quality that would be miniscule in a studio listening enviroment with a direct A/B comparison. There are much better values for your money. If your listening room is untreated, buy some basic acoustic treatments to damp spurious echoes and bass nodes. It's a one-time (and relatively low cost) investment that works with all the music you already have and will have. It's a far bigger difference in sound quality and a far better expenditure of your hard-earned money. quote:What are the advantages over high-resolution DVD-Video? The uncompressed or losslessly compressed audio tracks should have more detail than Dolby Digital or DTS.
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Mar 22, 2007 22:31
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Not exactly the correct domain for this but I thought someone here might know. Does anyone know a cheap place online where one could find a 3' 1/4" guitar audio cable?
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Mar 22, 2007 22:59
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Every once in awhile I like to hook my laptop up to my TV to view things a bit larger. That works fine, but when I plug my audio into our receiver (3.5mm? headphone jack -> l/r rca jacks) there is a lot of background static on the line. I can get this to stop if I unplug my laptop from the power source, but it's a beast of a laptop and the battery needs replaced, so that doesn't really work. Can I buy a different type of audio cable to combat this, or am I just SOL? the power supply's been replaced once before, and it's done it with both. The laptop is a dell inspiron 9100, the receiver is a Harman/Kardon AVR 335 though it does it regardless of the receiver.
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Mar 22, 2007 23:00
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Hungryjack posted:I hate it when I'm watching TV in the front room and my wife is in bed because I'm trying to hear dialogue on the center channel and then someone gets shot or an engine revs and the whole house shakes because I have to have the volume jacked up. or else it gets too quiet to hear the dialogue that is coming out of the center channel. Then my wife gets pissed and bitches at me to come to bed, but I don't want to come to bed. I want to watch TV. A nice pair of 5.1 headphones may be worth looking at. I think Sennhesier may have some nice ones that are also wireless. Such as the RS130 https://www.sennheiserusa.com. Becareful because the headphones are not closed back and will bleed out sound, but it won't be as loud as your surround sound system. There is also a set of wired surround sound headphones that support digital coax and optical audio. They are made more for computers and console gamers but I've heard nothing but good reviews. http://www.trittontechnologies.com/products/TRIGA600.htm
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Mar 22, 2007 23:44
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Anti-Hero posted:I'm looking at a car charger dock for my Ipod. I see alot of good ones with built-in FM tuners but I don't need that since my audio deck has a aux out. I found this one on the BB website http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8231656&type=product&productCategoryId=pcmcat108500050015&id=1168042838908 which looks good but I am unfamiliar with the brand. Anyone got any recommendations? Check out http://www.proclipusa.com/home/home.aspx a useful site for mounting all sorts of gadgets in your car.
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Mar 22, 2007 23:47
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Hungryjack posted:I hate it when I'm watching TV in the front room and my wife is in bed because I'm trying to hear dialogue on the center channel and then someone gets shot or an engine revs and the whole house shakes because I have to have the volume jacked up. or else it gets too quiet to hear the dialogue that is coming out of the center channel. Then my wife gets pissed and bitches at me to come to bed, but I don't want to come to bed. I want to watch TV. There should be something called dynamic range compression (DRC) or 'night mode' on your reciever. Set it to one of the other options than full and it will maintain the same voice level, but the loud stuff like explosions wont be as loud.
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Mar 23, 2007 00:01
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Coredump posted:Check out http://www.proclipusa.com/home/home.aspx a useful site for mounting all sorts of gadgets in your car. Badass! Thanks!
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Mar 23, 2007 16:20
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deviant. posted:Pull a single hair from your head. Now split it. I can't disagree with the majority of your arguments; all things being equal, there are many easier ways to improve sound quality than to upgrade to SA-CD or DVDA. However, there is one major improvement to the new formats that CD can't match, and that is multi-channel capability. While some MC mixes are gimmicky and not necessarily an improvement over redbook CD, when implemented correctly, multi channel music can far surpass its two channel counterpart. This is of course a moot point if one does not already have a multi channel setup for home theater. But there are already many people that have 5.1 setups to listen to movies, and would probably enjoy listening to music in multichannel simply by owning a universal player and playing a hybrid (or dual) disk. In these cases, there is no extra money spent for being able to access either SA-CD or DVDA, but there can be a great improvement in the listening experience. On the other hand, if you are going for an all out assault on state of the art, and cost is no object, SA-CD and DVDA can offer significant improvements over redbook CD. This is true in two channel, and even moreso when comparing a state of the art 2 channel playback system to a SOTA multi channel playback system.
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Mar 23, 2007 17:05
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silversum posted:Every once in awhile I like to hook my laptop up to my TV to view things a bit larger. That works fine, but when I plug my audio into our receiver (3.5mm? headphone jack -> l/r rca jacks) there is a lot of background static on the line. You are experiencing a ground loop. To get rid of it, you'll need to isolate the two grounds of the systems, by using a ground loop isolator, surprisingly . Radioshack sells one for $17. It should be adequate, but does cause some loss in quality.
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Mar 23, 2007 19:44
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Suqit posted:I can't disagree with the majority of your arguments; all things being equal, there are many easier ways to improve sound quality than to upgrade to SA-CD or DVDA. However, there is one major improvement to the new formats that CD can't match, and that is multi-channel capability. While some MC mixes are gimmicky and not necessarily an improvement over redbook CD, when implemented correctly, multi channel music can far surpass its two channel counterpart. Well yes, and I have heard some amazing multichannel mixes. Of course you can get those with Dolby Digital or DTS, and although part of me dislikes lossy compression the fact of the matter is that it's hard to pick out flaws with either format. Of course the flipside is that universal players are so drat cheap right now that it's pretty easy to wind up with both formats anyway. I just wouldn't go nuts buying software.
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Mar 23, 2007 22:37
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Where can I get a decent M->F RCA audio cable for a good price? I can't find any in local stores or at my usual online cable supplier.
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Mar 24, 2007 01:15
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deviant. posted:Well yes, and I have heard some amazing multichannel mixes. Of course you can get those with Dolby Digital or DTS, and although part of me dislikes lossy compression the fact of the matter is that it's hard to pick out flaws with either format. I can't remember a time where I accidentally purchased a dual-disc CD + DTS or DD hybrid and thought I had picked up the CD + SACD or DVD-A instead. I'm half-deaf, and even I can hear the difference between DSD/MLP and DTS/DD. Granted, there are some stellar DTS 96/24 tracks out there, but I'd be hard-pressed to say that it's a wash between DTS/DD and SACD/DVD-A. With that said, to the original poster about DVD-A versus SACD, just get a universal player and enjoy both. Both formats ultimately lost the multichannel audio war, but there are some incredible mixes to be had on both formats. Get them now before they disappear forever and show up on eBay as "!*!*!*!UBER_RARE!*!*!*!*" auctions. If you want multichannel recommendations across various genres, drop me a PM.
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Mar 24, 2007 01:57
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pastis posted:I can't remember a time where I accidentally purchased a dual-disc CD + DTS or DD hybrid and thought I had picked up the CD + SACD or DVD-A instead. I'm half-deaf, and even I can hear the difference between DSD/MLP and DTS/DD. Granted, there are some stellar DTS 96/24 tracks out there, but I'd be hard-pressed to say that it's a wash between DTS/DD and SACD/DVD-A. Have you ABX'd them?
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Mar 24, 2007 02:28
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Yes. I accidentally (read: through poor choices of websites) picked up some US-released dual-disc DDs that were releases as dual-disc SACDs in other territories and instantly knew something was up once I fired them up. Most notably would be a pile of Depeche Mode duals and a John Mayer dual. I gave *all* of them a A/B just to see what I was getting with my premium purchase. There just simply wasn't a comparison. The DDs were a bit flat and missed some nuances that the MLP/DSD remixes had. I also had the same experience when I first purchased the 2-channel SACD of Nashville Skyline and compared it to my oft-played CD version. "Lay Lady Lay" just opened up finally. Audio environments and listening preferences are both subjective, but I feel it's a great disservice to disregard both DVD-A and SACD as worthless or equal formats to DTS and DD remixes. pastis fucked around with this message at 02:57 on Mar 24, 2007 |
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Mar 24, 2007 02:50
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I mean double blind. It's easy to look for differences (or imagine them) when you know what you're listening to.
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Mar 24, 2007 02:54
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Yes again. I really don't any other way of saying it. If your experiences are different, so be it. It's not the end of the world.
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Mar 24, 2007 02:57
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pastis posted:Yes again. I really don't any other way of saying it. If your experiences are different, so be it. It's not the end of the world. No it isn't. You'll also note that I never said there isn't a differnece. It's just that the most audible differences are likely due to the different mixes and masters and are really not worht the asking price.
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Mar 24, 2007 03:12
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deviant. posted:Wattage is relatively meaningless at this level. Listen to both (if you can) and buy the one you like best. Just be aware that neither of them will probably not have long service lives - inexpensive HTiBs rarely last more than a few years. Okay, so I want to stay away from HTiBs. I have a friend who has given me a fairly new pioneer receiver. What about speaker systems like this one? http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Polk-Home-Theater-Speaker-System-RM6750BK/sem/rpsm/oid/124847/catOid/-16881/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do They seem like a more affordable way to get speakers, but do they fall into the same catagory as HTiB? Right now Ive got ~ $300 I can spend. Should I pick up something like the system above or just buy a pair of front speakers and a sub and build on my system a little at a time or what? You guys know way more about home audio that I do, so if you could point me in the right direction, I would really appreciate it.
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Mar 24, 2007 05:29
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pim01 posted:You are experiencing a ground loop. To get rid of it, you'll need to isolate the two grounds of the systems, by using a ground loop isolator, surprisingly Thanks! Now I must find a Radioshack that has some in stock. Is this a problem with most/all laptops, or is it not very common?
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Mar 24, 2007 06:07
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pennywise969 posted:Okay, so I want to stay away from HTiBs. I have a friend who has given me a fairly new pioneer receiver. What about speaker systems like this one? If you're only going to watch movies on this system and space is limited, then that wouldn't be a bad way to go. However, if you plan on listening to music at all through your receiver stay away from speaker setup's with small satellites. They have bad business all over them. The problem comes in with how these speakers handle the range of sound we can hear. Humans hear on a range of 20hz to 20khz. Bass at 20 hz is more of a rumble than a sound. Bass at 50hz-80hz is the nice punchy bass you get from drums and such. Those little satellites can't support any midbass. The most than can down to is probably 200 hz or so. That means the sub has to be tuned to play up to 200hz to be able to play the full range. A sub just doesn't sound good at 200hz, it sounds buzzy. Even if a sub and a full ranger speaker can both play a 100 hz tone, that tone is going to sound different depending on which speaker is playing it. You want to look at speaker sets that have woofer that can play a fuller range. That means a 5 inch woofer minimal in my opinion. I've yet to do this myself, but you could go to pawn shops and buy an older set of speakers for cheap. Then swing by https://www.zaphaudio.com and replace the individual speakers as they go out with MUCH better speakers, better than what you would find in the store. That way you don't have to fabricate anything, just replace same size speaker with same size speaker. The only thing you would have to pay attention to is a crossover. A tweeter is a small speaker meant to play the upper range of hearing, so 20khz to 2000hz or so. If you send a bass singal at that tweeter, 200 hz or so, it will damage the tweeter. A crossover sends high sounds to the tweeter, and low sounds to the woofer, and cuts out low low sounds completely so the sub can play them.
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Mar 24, 2007 11:43
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silversum posted:Thanks! Now I must find a Radioshack that has some in stock. Is this a problem with most/all laptops, or is it not very common? It's a huge problem with houses with older wiring. I'm currently fighting 4 independent loops(cable tv, cable internet, office circuit, a/v circuit) that all are different. If you're feeling up for some troubleshooting, you can check that your cable* ground is grounded with your house ground. Try unplugging the cable with everything else hooked up and see what it does. Try putting everything is on the same circuit, including the laptop if you aren't already. Also, does it hum with other sources (cable etc) when the laptop is fully hooked up? *assuming you have cable/satellite to that tv. They often are grounded somewhere other than the main ground and so have different potentials.
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Mar 25, 2007 03:15
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I've got an acoustic electric guitar. I'm a beginner and because of certain events, my university is letting me finish the semester at home. However, my guitar professor doesn't want to let me study at home because it's a 'hands on' class. Which is perfectly understandable. But I thought maybe I could record all my stuff onto my computer and email it to him. How would one go about doing this? Thanks 
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Mar 26, 2007 02:12
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Drewski posted:I've got an acoustic electric guitar. I'm a beginner and because of certain events, my university is letting me finish the semester at home. However, my guitar professor doesn't want to let me study at home because it's a 'hands on' class. Which is perfectly understandable. But I thought maybe I could record all my stuff onto my computer and email it to him. How would one go about doing this? Thanks 1)Download Audacity and LAME. Install both and point Audacity to the LAME directory in Preferences. 2)Plug in a mic and record yourself. Export as MP3. (I'm not sure if you can use the line in without a direct box or a line out of a guitar amp). Email. 3)????? 4)Profit.
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Mar 26, 2007 02:28
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What should I look for in speaker stands?
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Mar 26, 2007 05:17
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Apologies if the solution here is glaringly obvious, but I'm one of those sad people who had everything hooked up through RF until a couple years ago. I have an old stereo TV that only has mono sound input. What sort of cable would I need to get stereo sound when hooking something up through the component audio/video? Just something to plug the left and right channel cables into, which would then go into the TV's audio input?
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Mar 26, 2007 05:41
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