[iriverdude]

Quote:

Sure, they're not as good as well-mastered stereo recordings, but that's not a reason to experience them in lower fidelity

Dolby - Dolby TrueHD - The Ultimate Home Theater Audio Experience
DTS-HD Master Audio - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Sherwood]

The only facepalm I see here is a 15 post per day average member commenting on gear they haven't heard. Mmkay bye.

 

[iriverdude]

Quote:

commenting on gear they haven't heard.

What are you waffling on about? I'm replying about your comment that films don't have great quality sound tracks.

Get off your headphone high horse, things have progressed since Pro-Logic days.

 

[Sherwood]

Clearly they have, I never said they hadn't. I was responding to the OP's concern that high quality reproduction was not necessary for his source material, much of which is old movies. I'm advocating that he not be concerned with the quality of his sources, but get the best reproduction possible.

On the other hand, you're recommending he buy a 7.1 speaker setup and a new TV when he came to a headphone forum asking for a good headphone solution for his existing system.

One can assume that individuals not interested in headphones might find a better fit at AVSforum.

 

[themidsizelebowski]

Ok, I’m officially sold on the SVS. The amount of praise it’s gotten here and everywhere else I’ve looked has convinced me.

For the preamp processor, Sherwood, is there a reason you recommend the Emotiva UMC-1? Can you point me in the direction of a site where I could do some research on this and competitive products (ideally, professional reviews)?

Finally, how important is the quality of the cables I use to connect everything? If I’m going high-end, I want to do it right. Again, any recommendations for cables would be seriously appreciated, as would a good reference point to where I could do some research.

Thanks again!

 

[Sherwood]

Lebowski,

I chose the Emotiva because it's reasonably priced, VERY new, and a user here I very much respect (Edwood) recommends it. He uses it as the brain of a very high-end SVS system, and has good things to say.

It's by no means the only option, however. Anything with HDMI inputs and 5.1/6.1/7.1 analog output will do the job, with preference going to newer units able to decode newer sound formats like DTS-HD and Dolby TrueHD.

A good resource for more information on competing options is AVSforum.com -- those guys live for surround formats, and have better information than most of the posters here, who usually focus on stereo.

As far as cables go, that's a real can of worms. blujeanscable.com is a site that makes reaonably-priced, high quality cables in custom lengths, which is extremely useful. I've never heard a bad word about them, ever, and I love the few pairs of interconnects I have from them. Monoprice.com is a good resource for quality cheaper cables, and signalcable.com is a resource for quality (more) expensive cables. Take your pick, all sound the same in my book, and none of them will break on you.

 

[moonboy403]

I'm looking to taking the same path as the OP hopefully within a year. When are you getting the SVS Sherwood?

 

[Sherwood]

I may never, actually, but I was in the final stage of discussions with my wife a month ago before I learned that my job would ship my entire surround system overseas with me.

The SVS is like nothing else, Gary. You'd love it.

 

[moonboy403]

I was mesmerized when I tried it at Canjam 09! But aside from getting the SVS, I will still need to get a processor with 7.1 pre-out and a tactile transducer of some sort which would easily put it over $4000.

 

[n3rdling]

Very cool to hear Gary! If you want to capture my speakers when you get it, feel free

I'm also considering getting one in a year or so.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

The SVS will give you the BEST "out-of-head" speaker-like experience with movies and games when using headphones, regardless of the movie being mono, stereo, 2.1, 5.1 or 7.1 and whatever else there is.

My problem is I realized that I don't actually watch movies with headphones, or play games much. So I put of my SVS for later, but it's still near the top of my short list. For $1999 or less I would have already had one, so I've been hoping for a price drop someday.

 

[moonboy403]

Quote:

Originally Posted by n3rdling /img/forum/go_quote.gif Very cool to hear Gary! If you want to capture my speakers when you get it, feel free I'm also considering getting one in a year or so.

Thanks for the offer Milos, but I'll have to get my hands on a SVS first!

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeadphoneAddict /img/forum/go_quote.gif The SVS will give you the BEST "out-of-head" speaker-like experience with movies and games when using headphones, regardless of the movie being mono, stereo, 2.1, 5.1 or 7.1 and whatever else there is. My problem is I realized that I don't actually watch movies with headphones, or play games much. So I put of my SVS for later, but it's still near the top of my short list. For $1999 or less I would have already had one, so I've been hoping for a price drop someday.

I think I might've read this somewhere that we can actually share the profile/calibration of the SVS via USB drive. Can anyone confirm this? Also, have anyone done an a/b comparison between a reference level system and the a calibrated SVS profile of the same system?

 

[Sherwood]

Edwood has sought out a few excellent systems in his area to enhance his SVS profiles, and part of the process is undoubtedly A/Bing to ensure accuracy. The small system at CanJam was evidently completely seamless.

 

[blubliss]

I have the following chain:
PC (optical onboard sound) > Emotiva LMC-1 >Smyth SVS Realiser> HR Desktop DAC/Amp or RSA XP-7 > HD600.

It is unbelievable. I watched the Matrix for the umpteenth time last night (blu-ray rip) and the experience was the best I have had. It is just unbelievable to have a life-like virtual surround experience with headphones on. This is nothing like most everything else on the market. You have to actually take the headphones off to realize you are not listening to speakers.

You do have to consider where you will go for measurements for the Smyth. I love the MiCasa room that I am using.

 

[themidsizelebowski]

SVS is still my frontrunner, but I've done a lot more research on it today, and have begun to have some doubts.

This post by Edwood (an SVS Realiser owner) alarmed me:
"I only use the Realiser for multichannel content, movies, games, etc.
For regular 2 channel music with headphones, I prefer just listen directly out of a DAC to a headphone amp."
DSperber (another SVS owner) agreed with Edwood on both points.

Here's what I'm struggling with:
1) If Dolby 2.0 is stereo, then only ~30% of the PS2/PS3/Wii/360 games I play have multichannel audio.
2) I took a look at my Netflix rental history and queue, and only ~10-20% of the movies & shows I watch have multichannel audio.
3) If the majority of the time I won't be able to take advantage of SVS, $3k seems like a waste of money. I could use it to buy a much nicer set of headphones and amp than the Stax SR-202 that comes bundled with SVS.
4) Surround sound isn't really important to me...but I think that's because my experience with it has pretty much been limited to movie theaters. I've never experienced a quality setup before (maybe a few times at friends houses, but I wasn't paying attention). I have a feeling that the SVS would really make me appreciate/love surround.

Any feedback/insight would be greatly appreciated, especially from people who own SVS. I really do want to buy this thing, so hopefully someone can convince me that my fears are unfounded.

I would also love any recommendations for alternative amp+phone setups that might be better for suited for me, given the fact that I rarely listen to multichannel audio sources.