Date: Mon, 27 Nov 2000 01:53:16 +0100 From: Brad Knowles <blk@skynet.be> To: cjclark@alum.mit.edu Cc: freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: DVD Players, and Not in a PC Message-ID: <v0422081eb64758caebd6@[10.0.1.3]> In-Reply-To: <20001126153123.J70192@149.211.6.64.reflexcom.com> References: <20001126143720.I70192@149.211.6.64.reflexcom.com> <v0422081db64743b1f2d4@[10.0.1.3]> <20001126153123.J70192@149.211.6.64.reflexcom.com>
next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
At 3:31 PM -0800 2000/11/26, Crist J . Clark wrote: > I don't have any laser disks (old girlfriend has 'em and I'm not going > to get them), so that is not a option I would look for. Fair enough. > The only thing I definately want is good regular ol' CD audio. This > will be the primary audio CD player too, but I have yet to see a DVD > player that does not claim to play audio CDs. Since it will be doing > that, I want it have a reasonably sized changer, say >=5 > DVDs/CDs. I've already got a good AV receiver, so it does not need its > own mega-amp for speakers. Keep in mind that stereo audio systems and multimedia audio systems tend to be optimized for different things, and the same is true for CD players versus DVD players. When you look at the benchmarks, there is very little measurable difference between any of the modern CD players -- they all come pretty close to meeting or exceed what most test equipment can reliably measure, leaving the quantifiable differences way down in the noise. However, there is not a DVD player on the planet (for which I've seen a review) that comes anywhere close to providing the quality of CD performance as even the *worst* "real" CD player. Now, you may not have the ears to be able to distinguish between them, but all the reviews I've seen have seriously marked down the DVD players on this issue. Therefore, I would recommend either using this as merely an interim CD player (until you can afford to get a "real" one), or deciding from Day One that you simply won't even try to use this thing to play CDs, and will instead focus your attention on getting just the DVD features you want/need for the price you want/need. The same goes for the sound system. Very bloody few of them do well at both jobs, because they try to achieve diametrically opposed goals. A good stereo system will try to ensure maximum separation of the channels and maximum resolution of the sound stage, so that you can *precisely* place the solo flute player and distinguish that position in your mind from the solo violin player. Contrariwise, a good multimedia sound system will try to seamlessly merge everything together into one all-encompassing sound envelope, with multiple speakers firing sideways or even backwards to help spread the sound out even more, so that you cannot locate any particular sounds unless the director specifically wants you to. They want to give you a feeling of being in a phone booth, a concert auditorium, or otherwise right in the middle of the action, and the way they do that is by very carefully controlling the time delays and the volume used between when a particular sound comes out of one speaker and when it comes out of another. Therefore, a good multimedia sound system tends to make a poor stereo sound system, and vice-versa. Of course, you may not care. But this is still an issue you should be aware of, and at least have the option to make a conscious decision. > As for price, the thing is that they are all so scattered with little > direct correlation to options. I don't want to pay an extra $100 for a > little name on the front when the hardware in the box is the > same. (That's the same as the PC world.) It's hard for me to come up > with a target when I have no real feel for the prices. I try to get a > feel, say at buy.com, and they range from $150 to $350 on the banner > page. Quite reasonable you say. Go to their 'Top of the Line' page and > we're up to $1500... So where is the reasonable middle (OK, all of the >>$1k choices look a bit out there: "From its hermetically sealed door > to its all copper chassis"?) I'd recommend that you decide the options you want first, and the brand names you're willing to buy from second. I wouldn't go with any brand names you don't recognize, even if today they may be built by a company whose name you do, and on a production line side-by-side with the more expensive components. The reason is simple -- the no-name brand vendor could change tomorrow who their supplier is, and the result could very well be pure crap. And your after-sales support is likely to suck, too. Once you've decided what options you want and what brand names you're willing to look at, I'd recommend checking out some magazines such as _Stereo Review_ (now _Stereo Review's Sound and Vision_), _Stereophile's Guide to Home Theater_, _What HiFi_, etc... and do some more research on the issue. As far as this sort of thing goes, absolutely nothing can replace doing your homework. Once you've done your homework and you have a revised list of features you want and brand names you are willing to look at, then you need to go down to a store that actually has the equipment in question and try it out. Bring along your own DVDs and CDs that you know very well, and play the sections you think will stress the equipment the best, showing either its weaknesses or its strengths. Better audiophile shops will let take equipment home and try it out, and if you're not happy you can bring it back (but you have to do so within a reasonable period of time). They do this because they know that satisfied customers are more likely to be repeat customers, and that's where they make most of their money (they also make some by selling installation/customization services for people who are unable or unwilling to put everything together themselves). > I guess what would really like would be some good URLs. When searching > for info on this kind of stuff, first you get overwhelmed by hits on > seller sites. Once you get those cleared out its still hard to figure > out who knows what they are talking about and what is just baiscally > an ad posing as a critique or someone venting on how bad the hardware > is when they really can't read an instruction manual. Sorry, I know some magazines I like for this sort of stuff, but I don't know of any web pages that are useful. I can give you links for the above-named magazines, however: Stereo Review's Sound and Vision: <http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/SoundandVision/index.html>; (well-rated at e-pinions, see <http://www.epinions.com/mags-Stereo_Review_s_Sound___Vision>) Stereophile Guide to Home Theater: <http://www.guidetohometheater.com/>; (not quite as widely reviewed at e-pinions, see <http://www.epinions.com/mags-Stereophile_s_Guide_to_Home_Theatre>) What! HiFi: <http://www.whathifi.com/>; See also the mozilla.org directory at <http://directory.google.com/Top/Recreation/Audio/HiFi/Publications/>. Most any of these that are associated with a print magazine are going to be at least decent. -- These are my opinions -- not to be taken as official Skynet policy ====================================================================== Brad Knowles, <blk@skynet.be> || Belgacom Skynet SA/NV Systems Architect, Mail/News/FTP/Proxy Admin || Rue Colonel Bourg, 124 Phone/Fax: +32-2-706.13.11/12.49 || B-1140 Brussels http://www.skynet.be || Belgium "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." -Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania. To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?v0422081eb64758caebd6>