If you don't have a great sound system, is lossless audio a mostly worthless Blu-ray

[Jar Jar Stinks]

Can you notice lossless with just tv speakers or a sound bar?

Mods: Can you fix the thread title? It got cut off in TapaTalk. Thanks!

[Supernaut]

Opinion: TV speakers - No. Soundbar - depends on the quality.

But that's all a moot point, the thing is, you need room to move and want a reason to upgrade your sound system.

[bhampton]

Lossless should sound better through either but ...

TV speakers or sound bar is pretty lame ...

How long would anyone go without putting together a reasonable sound system?

I assembled mine maybe 10 years ago and I don't have any plans to ever upgrade any of it... It sounds amazing as is.

[Todd Tomorrow]

Originally Posted by Jar Jar Stinks

Can you notice lossless with just tv speakers or a sound bar?

No, you can't notice the difference.

[bhampton]

Most blu rays have lossless audio ..... Are you suggesting seeking out rental copies with lossy audio because you think you will save money or because you thing it's better to match bad sound to bad speakers?.... I can't figure out why you would want lossy audio at all.

You seem to have a blu ray collection so why not hook one up and compare the lossy and lossless track yourself?... I just can't imagine why you would want to know...

I can tell lossless from lossy audio on headphones (usually)

[kidglov3s]

I really think under no circumstances do you want audio to be compressed. I think you don't really need much besides decent R/L speakers to be able to at least enjoy the benefits of the lossless sound, and I think that's enough within the reach of anyone that lossless should be yknow demanded and expected.

[AlexIlDottore]

TV Speakers are certainly lame. A decent (usually expensive) soundbar that can decode the lossless audio is a huge upgrade, and you'd definitely notice the difference.

Best thing, if you have the space, is to save up and go for a real sound system.

[The Great Owl]

I can spot and appreciate really good audio (Skyfall) or really bad audio (Secret Beyond the Door).

[cb1]

on my cheapo system I can tell the difference, even with tinnitus.

lossless is just "smooth" sounding to my ears

[Jar Jar Stinks]

I don't know that I've been able to discern the difference between the two with my Panasonic SC-HTB10 2.1 Sound Bar.

[varmintx]

Assuming you have the space and are merely on a budget, get a cheaper home theater in a box that has a good receiver, then work your way up replacing the speakers/sub; you do not have to spend a fortune on the speakers either for them to sound good, just make sure they match. You're missing half the experience without a home theater of some sort.

[St.ylo]

I would have guessed no, but I'm not sure. I mean, when it comes to music, from what I understand, the vast, vast majority can't tell the difference between, say, 256kbps or 320kbps mp3s and FLAC/lossless/CD quality unless they have a really high end sound system or headphones (in the many hundreds of dollars range). Of course, I'm sure many here do have very high end sound systems for their TVs.

Unless it's different with cinema sound? Would it be easier to notice defects with a movie's sound, due to it being surround sound and more complex and such, compared to stereo music? I'd be interested in learning.

[HotRats]

Depends on your hearing. While TV speakers have got worse as the TVs got thinner, soundbars have improved vastly and there are now some very good ones. Even a halfway decent pair of headphones will let you appreciate the difference between good and bad audio. You can find several places on the 'net that present the same snippets of music at differing bitrates so you can judge for yourself. If you're willing to pay for the premium picture quality that blu ray offers, why wouldn't you want premium sound quality?

[solarrdadd]

i would think that whatever your using, as long as it's not straining to try to reproduce the source at a given volume you happen to have it at, should sound pretty good with a good quality source, i.e. lossless.

i was pleasently surprised to hear a soundbar/sub combo, playing a lossy soundtrack to a movie and it really sounded good. i also heard music from that same setup and it sounded good too.

i'm saying that if the system/soundbar can produce enough sound so that at higher volumes the drivers aren't being rattled or the systems amp isn't straining to reproduce what your asking it to, and also understanding that it is a soundbar and not a tower speaker, you will have a pretty nice sounding thing.

most tv's don't sound good because, they don't have the power and they have no subwoofer to handle mid's to low's so the speakers sound thin and then they don't have the power to have the volume raised and they sound strained.


they do make a couple of tv's that do actually have pretty nice sounding speakers and i believe they make a couple that have sub out's on them or were designed to work wirelessly with a sub.

another important thing is if the tv has digital out's then that's good because you can connect it to an external soundsystem, i.e. a pair of speakers with digital inputs that are self powered. also, another biggie is the DAC in the tv or in the soundbar, what can it handle resolution wise, is it a good quality DAC. all of these things are important and relevant to what you are going to hear which can dictate how much you will enjoy it.

i say do the best with what you have and/or can afford or save for what you want later. remember, no matter what you have, if you don't have good source material, it's not gonna sound good, in fact the better the system, the worse bad sourced audio sounds.

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by Jar Jar Stinks

Can you notice lossless with just tv speakers or a sound bar?

Mods: Can you fix the thread title? It got cut off in TapaTalk. Thanks!

If you don't have a lossless system it's definitely worth saving to properly upgrade. I got my first lossless system December 2008 and in April 2012 my receiver died from a known faulty HDMI board. Until I got a new receiver a few weeks later it was absolutely unbearable watching stuff through my TV speakers due to the lack of low end, horrible fidelity, and lack of surround. I even have lossless on my PC. Even though a PC BD drive does not bitstream it still converts the signal to LPCM before going to my headphones.

[Dex Robinson]

This reminds me of the DVD arguments I used to have over a decade ago.

In the days before Blu-ray, I was a big proponent of anamorphic DVDs for widescreen presentation. But, back in 2003 or so, people would always say to me that it was a worthless feature for them because they didn't own widescreen TVs. If they couldn't take advantage of anamorphic widescreen DVDs, why should they care about buying them. For those folks, plain letterboxed DVDs looked just as good as anamorphic DVDs on their 4:3 TV sets.

My standard reply was, "Do you think your will NEVER own a an HDTV? Will you ALWAYS watch your discs on a 4:3 TV?"

It's the same situation with lossless sound. Is a feature "worthless" just because you can't use it today? Will you NEVER have a good sound system?

Electronics come an go but discs can last a very long time...I won't say "forever" but I have CDs that are near 30 years old, DVDs that are 14 years old and BDs that are 7 years old. I don't necessarily buy a disc for the feature I can use today; I buy it for features I expect I can use in the future as well.

[cricepng]

Have never been able to tell the difference myself on TV speakers. But that is just my own experience and not very objective. Seems to me if you are concerned enough to ask the question, then you'd be better off investing in something that would truly give you a better audio experience. I personally have steered away from soundbars as you can get a halfway decent 5.1 system (htib) for less than the price of an adequate soundbar (IMO). Some good ones can be had for $390-600. Just be sure that they aren't including proprietary connections and a passive sub. If space is an issue, then get a 2.1 or 3.1 setup with a receiver and sub.

[Packerfan75]

It doesn't need to be great, as in expensive to sound great. A good solid receiver that decodes HD audio and decent speakers can be had for a reasonable price these days.
I started out with an all-in-one system and slowly upgraded one piece at a time. My whole system now would only be about $1000 and it rocks the house.
5.1 is definitely the way to go. I'd steer clear of soundbars. It's like having home theater but not at the same time and won't provide that movie experience.

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by Packerfan75

It doesn't need to be great, as in expensive to sound great. A good solid receiver that decodes HD audio and decent speakers can be had for a reasonable price these days.
I started out with an all-in-one system and slowly upgraded one piece at a time. My whole system now would only be about $1000 and it rocks the house.
5.1 is definitely the way to go. I'd steer clear of soundbars. It's like having home theater but not at the same time and won't provide that movie experience.

Go 7.1 if you can swing the space. Listening to the native 7.1 mixes is pure bliss.

[Blades1370]

I bought an Onkyo TX-SR608 receiver and Onkyo SKS-HT870 7.1 Speakers in early 2011 for around $750, which at the time was a very large investment. Neither are what I would call top of the line, but the sound is 100 times better then my TV speakers and has a much better sound quality then the VIZIO S4251w-B4 5.1 Soundbar I bought for my parents for Christmas this past year.

If I were using the VIZIO soundbar in a bedroom it would be perfect for sound and space saving purposes.

I also spent around another $300 or so in Monster M1000 cables for my needs, yes I know they are overpriced, but they are well constructed and provide excellent shielding. Other less expensive cables I used were getting "noise" from other devices.

Even though it does require a significant investment, in the long run if you truly love watching movies, you will not be sorry you made that investment once you hook it up and are blown away by the huge upgrade over a TV Speaker/Soundbar setup.