|
Post by buckoa51 on Sept 14, 2011 15:55:02 GMT
|
|
mick_aka
Kickin' it lively!
"Mick is moderately adequate."
Joined: April 2007
Posts: 9,817
Location:
XBL: mickloaf
PSN: mickloaf
Nintendo ID: segamick
|
Post by mick_aka on Sept 14, 2011 15:59:24 GMT
I have a panasonic surround amp but older consoles get run through my marantz power amp and big sony floor standers.
I've always found Marantz and Denon to be the best stereo power amps, and I've had a lot of amps.
I tried piping the Saturn through my valve pre-amp before and it sounded horrible, which I kind of expected.
|
|
|
Post by Syntesis on Sept 14, 2011 16:10:10 GMT
I use 5.1 PC speakers that I've had for 10 years hooked up to a dinky little decoder box that does 5.1 and DTS. Cheap and cheerful.
|
|
|
Post by zyrobs on Sept 14, 2011 16:20:31 GMT
Cheap Orion 5.1 set. Solid for it's price, but really just entry level.
I want to build a proper set one day, but any time I have some money to save up, I just blow it on more saturn games.
Also, once I get an amp with digital input, I'll have to do a spdif mod for my saturn.
|
|
|
Post by prabmire on Sept 14, 2011 20:03:37 GMT
In the den i've got a sony dav 300, which is 5.1 however the euro spec didn't get a coax in or optical in so anything i connect to it is pro logic, still pro logic gaming is good for older systems , in my room i have a pioneer hifi with inbuilt prologic which the imac and ps3 run into, and in the lounge i have the wii and 360 going via my panasonic 1 box blu ray setup, and it does sound pretty amazing Prab
|
|
|
Post by prabmire on Sept 14, 2011 20:04:31 GMT
Cheap Orion 5.1 set. Solid for it's price, but really just entry level. I want to build a proper set one day, but any time I have some money to save up, I just blow it on more saturn games. Also, once I get an amp with digital input, I'll have to do a spdif mod for my saturn. most amps with digi input, still have analogue inputs aswell, but you can just get a converter that converts phono to spdif so no need to mod the saturn
|
|
|
Post by buckoa51 on Sept 14, 2011 22:08:45 GMT
Ah but if you tap the audio off as digital directly then you potentially get better quality and also eliminate things like white buzz that plague most SCART cables. However every amp I've ever used suffered from audio drop out when using digital with non dolby digital/DTS sources. The audio will start but the amp will take a half a second or two to wake up, meaning that the start of the music/audio is lost. Affects some games more than others.
I hear really good things about Marantz gear Mick, that setup sounds great. I don't have room for floor-standers unfortunately. My folks have an Onkyo and I ran a 360 through that once and it just didn't sound as good as my old Cambridge Azur 540r.
|
|
|
Post by zyrobs on Sept 15, 2011 15:13:49 GMT
Cheap Orion 5.1 set. Solid for it's price, but really just entry level. I want to build a proper set one day, but any time I have some money to save up, I just blow it on more saturn games. Also, once I get an amp with digital input, I'll have to do a spdif mod for my saturn. most amps with digi input, still have analogue inputs aswell, but you can just get a converter that converts phono to spdif so no need to mod the saturn Why would I bother to use analog stereo when I can use spdif instead?
|
|
|
Post by buckoa51 on Sept 15, 2011 18:20:57 GMT
because hacking your Saturn is a pain and SPDIF, while having slightly better sound quality, has the audio drop-out problem?
|
|
|
Post by clerksfan4life on Sept 19, 2011 2:33:06 GMT
I switch between my main Home Theatre set up which is stereo surround with 10 speakers around the room and a Hitatchi boom box. the boom box is usually for when I'm playing at night but it sound good enough for regular use.
|
|
|
Post by zyrobs on Sept 19, 2011 2:41:38 GMT
because hacking your Saturn is a pain and SPDIF, while having slightly better sound quality, has the audio drop-out problem? This is the first I've heard of the drop-out problem. Maybe the mod you did was wrong somehow? In theory, the spdif connection should start up once and stay active, as long as the console is turned on. And it's not a difficult mod... Well, you need to think about where you put the cables inside the console, since the connectors you need are right at the bottom of the board, and your only other choice is to solder to the ic pins directly.
|
|
|
Post by buckoa51 on Sept 19, 2011 7:53:51 GMT
It wasn't a modded console, every amp I've used with optical and SPDIF has this problem when sending standard stereo or 2.1 down the digital connection from any source.
|
|
redraider
Saturn Player
Wreck'em Tech
Joined: September 2011
Posts: 86
Location:
|
Post by redraider on Sept 21, 2011 23:20:04 GMT
It wasn't a modded console, every amp I've used with optical and SPDIF has this problem when sending standard stereo or 2.1 down the digital connection from any source. I've been running stereo signals (2 channel), via S/PDIF, out of my Denon DVD-2900 to my Yamaha RX-V3300 since 2003. Never once have I experienced any sort of audio 'dropout', nor have I ever heard a mention that 2 channel audio is unable to be passed via S/PDIF without having dropout. Your problem lies with either your source or receiver brother. I highly recommend Yamaha RX series receivers. My RX-V3300 has been a great piece of audio hardware, still going strong after 8 years. The Yamaha's have a much more musical/natural sound than other receivers and are loaded to the gill with input options. Marantz also makes a very musical receiver. My suggestion is to stay away from Onkyo receivers, especially if your receiver is in a closed in cabinet without proper ventilation, as they tend to run hot. I also have never cared much for Denon receivers, as they tend to compress the sound when pushed with heavy loads. I will be passing the RX-V3300 down to my son later this year, as I plan to purchase a dedicated pre/pro. Really want to try out balanced connectors from the pre/pro to my amplifier. Looking at either the Onkyo PR-SC5509 or Integra DHC-80.3. They are basically the same units internally, yet the Integra is black/silver and the Onkyo is straight black. The Integra also has a 5 year warranty, versus 2 years for the Onkyo. My home theater, for movies/tv/gaming: Yamaha RX-V3300 Sunfire Cinema Grand Martin Logan Aeon Martin Logan Cinema Infinity Outriggers Cheap arse 12" subwoofer (soon to be replaced with a Seaton Submersive)
|
|
|
Post by buckoa51 on Sept 22, 2011 8:24:01 GMT
It's not so much dropout as being slow to kick in, if you will. Poor choice of words I suppose. Chances are if you are just listening to music you'll never have noticed it. However, play a game where the audio goes completely quiet for a moment, then comes back in, you will then lose a fraction of a second of the audio while the amp wakes up again. It's actually rare to experience it because I can only think of the PS2 that regularly sends standard 2 channel audio via the optical out. The original Xbox usually used Dolby Digital which is not affected and of course anything later than that used DD or DTS or HDMI for audio.
That said there may be amps/receivers that don't suffer from this problem, but I can confirm that it happens on various models from Yamaha, Cambridge Audio, Onkyo and some cheap piece of crap I forget the branding of that Richer lent me when my unit was being serviced. In fact I've yet to encounter a unit that doesn't have this issue.
Ah, actually just remembered a way to make it happen, on the PS3, hook it up via the optical out and navigate the menu slowly. You'll notice that you won't get a sound every time you move to an option, due to the receiver being slow to 'wake up'. Doesn't happen on 360 since that outputs DD all the time.
|
|
redraider
Saturn Player
Wreck'em Tech
Joined: September 2011
Posts: 86
Location:
|
Post by redraider on Sept 23, 2011 12:31:21 GMT
I own a PS3. I have it hooked up via glass toslink. I have never experienced what you have regarding audio delay.
|
|