is lossless all its cracked up to be

[cembros]

i have never actually heard a movie with lossless audio, but i do have a dolby digital dts system and love it. Is lossless really that much better, is it worth the hundreds extra???

[ryoohki]

Originally Posted by cembros

i have never actually heard a movie with lossless audio, but i do have a dolby digital dts system and love it. Is lossless really that much better, is it worth the hundreds extra???

Depend on you're system. The more advance it is. . the more you'll notice it. I tought Dreamgirls on BluRay was good (DD at 640kbps) until i heard Disney Movies in PCM .... It feel different, it's weird to describe actually LOL!..

[cembros]

what would you consider an advanced system i have a 10 inch energy xl10 sub thats about 5 yrs old, 2 polk 5inch rt600i fronts, 4 polk m10 5 inch surrounds and a polk CSM center channel

[181]

It depends on your own biological sensitivity too.

When you compress audio, you are removing what you believe are inaudible sounds. These include extremely high and extremely low frequencies. You also find patterns in the audio data to perform the compression. Since audio generated for a movie is pretty random, you may need to cut a lot of corners to meet your target size for audio at the expense of audio quality. This is why you don't see lossless audio on DVD's or HD DVD's. It won't fit in the alloted space.

People's senses and their exposure to different levels of quality result in different perceptions of lossless audio. This is more of a "you have to hear it to believe it" mentality. Similar to how you thought DVD's were good enough before experiencing Blu-ray.

[Slec]

I felt the same way for quite some time. I read about what a difference it made but I couldn't pull the trigger on the purchase. My wife bought me an Onkyo 605 for christmas this year and yes there is a difference. Some movies take advantage of it better than others but there is a BIG difference on the better utilized BD.

My wife was skeptical (and she still bought it for me, how awesome is that?) but I popped in Dave and Tim , and at the splash screen she was taken aback, let alone during the setlist. IMO, it's the best disc to show off lossless audio, it is nothing short of spectacular. I have been spoiled by it, to be honest.

ryooki is right, it just feels different when watching a movie...in a good way

[cembros]

ya i know its alot of money to make the step up thats why im nervous about doing it without hearing the difference on my own system first.

[ryoohki]

Originally Posted by cembros

ya i know its alot of money to make the step up thats why im nervous about doing it without hearing the difference on my own system first.

What are you looking for/at ? as far as loseless..

[Slec]

I think the system quote was geared more towards what BD player you have... If you're looking to buy a receiver, then you just need to make sure you can get the capabilities you are expecting out of it through PCM or bitstream.

As long as your speakers are in good condition, you'll notice a difference. Do better speakers make more of a difference? I don't know, I'm still using cheap ones

[181]

It also may not be just hundreds of dollars in upgrades...

If your speakers can't produce the wider range of sound provided, you'd need to purchase new ones as well. depends on your set up

[dobyblue]

Originally Posted by cembros

ya i know its alot of money to make the step up thats why im nervous about doing it without hearing the difference on my own system first.

It's absolutely not an expensive step up. It can be, but it doesn't have to be.
Is it worth it? Hell yes.

I first noticed the difference when I bought a DVD-A/SACD player and hooked it up through RCA cables. Comparing the DD of NIN's Downward Spiral to the DVD-A portion, the difference was immediate.

At the time I had a $300 5.1 JBL system.

[cembros]

i have a ps3, and im looking at either the Onkyo TX-SR605 or the sony STR-DG2100 (ya i know thats a huge price difference, but i would only get the sony if will be better in the long run ie. i get a getter blu ray player in the future that will take advantage of a better receiver, is this a good idea?)

[dobyblue]

Originally Posted by 181

These include extremely high and extremely low frequencies.

It's very rare that low frequencies are lost.
The DVD of The Incredibles has frequencies hitting 5Hz.

High frequencies require higher sampling rate, which is why they are the ones to go. Low frequencies do not take up much bandwidth at all.

[dobyblue]

Originally Posted by cembros

i have a ps3, and im looking at either the Onkyo TX-SR605 or the sony STR-DG2100 (ya i know thats a huge price difference, but i would only get the sony if will be better in the long run ie. i get a getter blu ray player in the future that will take advantage of a better receiver, is this a good idea?)

The Sony receiver is not worth the extra money over the TX-SR605.

[Slec]

Originally Posted by cembros

i have a ps3, and im looking at either the Onkyo TX-SR605 or the sony STR-DG2100 (ya i know thats a huge price difference, but i would only get the sony if will be better in the long run ie. i get a getter blu ray player in the future that will take advantage of a better receiver, is this a good idea?)

Go with the 605... Also, the good thing about the PS3 is that you'll be able to be upgraded to decode almost any audio codec. Some say the picture is slightly better on the newer set tops but I couldn't be happier with my PS3. Some will say "the PS3 doesn't bitstream for receiver decoding" but I'm so impressed with how PCM sounds that I can't imagine bitstreaming making a big difference. others will disagree.

[sj001]

A nice set of speakers will help also in hearing the difference between a lossless track and PCM uncompressed, I can definitely hear the difference.

[ryoohki]

Originally Posted by dobyblue

It's very rare that low frequencies are lost.
The DVD of The Incredibles has frequencies hitting 5Hz.

High frequencies require higher sampling rate, which is why they are the ones to go. Low frequencies do not take up much bandwidth at all.

That and the Dynamic Range, also the Imaging. Just like MP3 overcompressed kill the imaging precision.

Compression can also give false bass frequence depanding of the level. You loose the nuance..

[dobyblue]

Originally Posted by sj001

A nice set of speakers will help also in hearing the difference between a lossless track and PCM uncompressed, I can definitely hear the difference.

Don't you mean lossy track?

[sj001]

Originally Posted by dobyblue

Don't you mean lossy track?

DOH! Yep, lossy!

[alain turgeon]

Originally Posted by Slec

I felt the same way for quite some time. I read about what a difference it made but I couldn't pull the trigger on the purchase. My wife bought me an Onkyo 605 for christmas this year and yes there is a difference. Some movies take advantage of it better than others but there is a BIG difference on the better utilized BD.

My wife was skeptical (and she still bought it for me, how awesome is that?) but I popped in Dave and Tim , and at the splash screen she was taken aback, let alone during the setlist. IMO, it's the best disc to show off lossless audio, it is nothing short of spectacular. I have been spoiled by it, to be honest.

ryooki is right, it just feels different when watching a movie...in a good way

I agree with you a 100%,concert discs benefit the most. I have this one too and it really blew me away.If you want another one just as good try Shakira oral fixation tour.The main difference IMO is that you can play lossless tracks very loud and the sound still remains clear and detailed without becoming agressive.

[Switched2BD]

I traded in my Denon 2807 for an Onkyo 875 and Love it.



Lossless FTW!