Physical & Digital EST: The Future of Home Video Discussion Thread

[Steedeel]

Amy of you guys watched Strange New Worlds? Considering buying the first season on 4K disc.

[cheez avenger]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

Amy of you guys watched Strange New Worlds? Considering buying the first season on 4K disc.

I watched the first 5 episodes on P+, but since it was announced for a 4K disc release, I stopped. I'll resume next month when the set arrives.


It's really good, too!

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by cheez avenger

I watched the first 5 episodes on P+, but since it was announced for a 4K disc release, I stopped. I'll resume next month when the set arrives.


It's really good, too!

Thanks mate.

By the way, I often wonder if I have asked the same question before or posted about something already reviewed, mentioned. If it happens, apologies but my memory is incredibly bad, which has been the case for several years now (quite worrying!)

Just a warning to everyone in advance!

[gotmule]

Originally Posted by Steedeel

Amy of you guys watched Strange New Worlds? Considering buying the first season on 4K disc.

I plan on picking it up as well. Am almost done with the first season of Discovery currently and am enjoying that. I also tend to pick up any tv show I am mildly interested in that is released on 4K to support that strategy.

[alchav21]

TicketToParadise.jpg

Watched this Movie on Prime, really a fun Movie with George Clooney and Julia Roberts!

[cheez avenger]

My Second Sight Texas Chainsaw Massacre 4K disc set arrived today, so will watch that tonight. I finished S2 of Acapulco on ATV+ last night and that's such a great show -- the 4K DV/Atmos is stellar. I just started watching Truth Be Told S3, also on ATV+, and that's another great show, with 4K DV/Atmos.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by gotmule

I plan on picking it up as well. Am almost done with the first season of Discovery currently and am enjoying that. I also tend to pick up any tv show I am mildly interested in that is released on 4K to support that strategy.

I like the idea of the return to episodic, contained stories (ish).

[gotmule]

Wendell you will be getting a bill in the mail shortly. After several months of research and toying with the idea, I ordered the new MadVR envy extreme MKII today. Glad I waited as the new one has an insane amount of horsepower compared to the first gen.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by gotmule

Wendell you will be getting a bill in the mail shortly. After several months of research and toying with the idea, I ordered the new MadVR envy extreme MKII today. Glad I waited as the new one has an insane amount of horsepower compared to the first gen.

That’s one serious piece of kit, enjoy!

[JohnAV]

Originally Posted by bhampton

I read about how dedicated power amps are going extinct.

Makes sense for a lot of reasons including the availability of wireless powered speakers and sophisticated AVRs and sound bars.

I’m so happy I got one as it’s been one of the most rewarding upgrades ever. It may be a good time for used purchases given it's trending downward. Mine came from someone moving to a Sonos system.

So what are you suppose to use in you need a couple more active amps to work a Dolby Atmos, and that is very typical of making enough do because of your rooms design.

Now wireless powered speakers usually needs to deal with some bluetooth audio codec that negates lip sync issue.

Now as far a sophisticated AVRs, I am using one that is state of the art which is the Denon X4800H.

AVR-X4800H is manufactured in Japan, in their own Shirakawa Works factory and this allows them to make certain changes to its design compared to the X3800H which is still made in Vietnam facilities.

The unit features discrete high-current amplifiers on all channels with low-impedance drive capability, but the difference we get this time around is in its Monolithic Amplifier layout. This means that compared to the X4700H that used two boards for 5 channels and 4 channels each, the new X4800H is using an independent power amplifier board for each channel instead which means less crosstalk and less vibration.

This is an AV receiver with 9.4 channels of built-in amplification and 11.4 channels of processing capable of 125 watts per channel. It supports a huge list of audio formats and technologies including Dolby Atmos, DTS:X, IMAX Enhanced, Auro-3D, 360 Reality Audio and MPEG-H Audio along with the usual virtual and up-mixing tech like Dolby Surround, DTS Neural:X, Dolby Atmos Height Virtualization and DTS Virtual:X.

We also get Audyssey MultEQ XT32 along with future upgrades for Dirac Live support, 4 independent subwoofers outputs, High Resolution Audio, HEOS technology, AirPlay 2, voice control, custom integration, bi-amp capabilities, multi-room zones, Bluetooth Audio Transmission, Advanced Pre-Amplifier Mode, seven full 40Gbps HDMI 2.1 ports and HDMI upscaling. The design inside is clean compared to 2020 models. Yes it doesn't even get hot because of the redesign, it gets barely warm.




I should note the AVR’s GUI is 1080p. Running the new Audyssey MultEQ XT32 was pretty impressive as it got speaker sizes and crossovers right automatically. Movie vs TV series audio quality really kicked in using Dynamic volume and Dynamic range. I like that I video pass through is finally future proof to a large extent compared to the last 8 to 9 years of incremental improvements with multiple AVR models. Yeah it does make one think how much money acquiring different AVRs to be able to pass through what you needed. Fond memories of Dolby Atmos models but couldn’t pass 4K HDR.

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by gotmule

Wendell you will be getting a bill in the mail shortly.

See spoiler .

After several months of research and toying with the idea, I ordered the new MadVR envy extreme MKII today. Glad I waited as the new one has an insane amount of horsepower compared to the first gen.

. Stacey Spears procured one and uses it instead of DV on disc.

[Show spoiler]

Elvis Presley - Return To Sender (Official Audio) - YouTube

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by JohnAV

This is an AV receiver with 9.4 channels of built-in amplification and 11.4 channels of processing capable of 125 watts per channel.

As typical of most AVR's that spec is for only 2 channels driven. Hard to find a AVR that specs the power when all channels are driven.

[JohnAV]

Originally Posted by Wendell R. Breland

As typical of most AVR's that spec is for only 2 channels driven. Hard to find a AVR that specs the power when all channels are driven.

Of course. Gone are those class D pioneer AVRs, everything is back to class AB now.

But then we should always look at what speakers are providing deep bass on one's setup. For example I don't use a subwoofer because I use the very large Front left right Paradign ref series full frequency, so the bulk of the output is going to those, to a lesser degree the large center, but anything surround is not utilizing that much electrical energy. When reviewed (at ASR forums) this AVR did well enough that amirm is recommending it. Upon further usage it seems like this new AVR 2023 models have built in energy saving modes

[bhampton]

Yesterday I experienced Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind at Epcot.

It was spectacular and highly recommended.

I did use hearing protection and my watch recorded that it hit 117dB.

[Wendell R. Breland]

Originally Posted by JohnAV

But then we should always look at what speakers are providing deep bass on one's setup.

Lots of variables come into play, room, speaker efficiency, average listening level, peak level, distance to speakers, etc. In my home theater there is 9 dB (loss) difference between the 1 meter SPL and the SPL at the main listening position. Measured using band limited pink noise. For every 3 dB of SPL increase means you have to double the power supplied.

An example, a speaker (mine) with an efficiency of 89 dB @ 1 Watt @ 1 Meter (power left column, SPL right column).

1    89
2    92
4    95
8    98
16   101
32   104
64   107
128  110
256  113
512  116
1024 119

Ever checked how low you can go? My warble tones here (FLAC format). Starts at 16 Hz and steps in ⅓ octave to 250 Hz, voice announcement for each tone.

[gotmule]

Originally Posted by JohnAV

Of course. Gone are those class D pioneer AVRs, everything is back to class AB now.

But then we should always look at what speakers are providing deep bass on one's setup. For example I don't use a subwoofer because I use the very large Front left right Paradign ref series full frequency, so the bulk of the output is going to those, to a lesser degree the large center, but anything surround is not utilizing that much electrical energy. When reviewed (at ASR forums) this AVR did well enough that amirm is recommending it. Upon further usage it seems like this new AVR 2023 models have built in energy saving modes

I have always been a fan of Denon/Marantz gear, and have recommended it to others if they are in the market for a receiver. The one comment I don’t agree with however is the notion that surrounds don’t use much energy. My experience has proven otherwise, but it does depend on the source material. Not every movie obviously takes advantage of such capabilities, but there are several movies where there are full range signals and crazy dynamics sent to the rear 4 channels. There are processors out there that have a feature where you can map the bass output of a specific channel to a specific subwoofer in the room based on proximity to the speaker. You set the crossover accordingly and the processor handles the rest, which actually works really well. I don’t think companies would design and execute such a feature if it wasn’t for the fact that on occasion, there is source material to take advantage of it consisting of energy, dynamics, and frequency range. Once again, this is not criticism of your receiver as it is a helluva receiver…..just the thought that surrounds can’t and don’t bring the boom on occasion.

[Better in Blu]

Originally Posted by gotmule

I have always been a fan of Denon/Marantz gear, and have recommended it to others if they are in the market for a receiver. The one comment I don’t agree with however is the notion that surrounds don’t use much energy. My experience has proven otherwise, but it does depend on the source material. Not every movie obviously takes advantage of such capabilities, but there are several movies where there are full range signals and crazy dynamics sent to the rear 4 channels. There are processors out there that have a feature where you can map the bass output of a specific channel to a specific subwoofer in the room based on proximity to the speaker. You set the crossover accordingly and the processor handles the rest, which actually works really well. I don’t think companies would design and execute such a feature if it wasn’t for the fact that on occasion, there is source material to take advantage of it consisting of energy, dynamics, and frequency range. Once again, this is not criticism of your receiver as it is a helluva receiver…..just the thought that surrounds can’t and don’t bring the boom on occasion.

Good points, and why it is recommended to fully appreciate and get the most out of one's HT to add an integrated amp to have the mains or other speakers in the system not powered by the AVR.

[JohnAV]

Originally Posted by gotmule

I have always been a fan of Denon/Marantz gear, and have recommended it to others if they are in the market for a receiver. The one comment I don’t agree with however is the notion that surrounds don’t use much energy. My experience has proven otherwise, but it does depend on the source material. Not every movie obviously takes advantage of such capabilities, but there are several movies where there are full range signals and crazy dynamics sent to the rear 4 channels. There are processors out there that have a feature where you can map the bass output of a specific channel to a specific subwoofer in the room based on proximity to the speaker. You set the crossover accordingly and the processor handles the rest, which actually works really well. I don’t think companies would design and execute such a feature if it wasn’t for the fact that on occasion, there is source material to take advantage of it consisting of energy, dynamics, and frequency range. Once again, this is not criticism of your receiver as it is a helluva receiver…..just the thought that surrounds can’t and don’t bring the boom on occasion.

I agree that does happen on occasion with surrounds, still most of the presentation of this massive amount of bass is usually originating from the F+C+R woofers as that is you the audience usually hears that LFE output. Sometimes you run into a rotating bath of bass from all directions. Favorites bass moments take in are a couple of examples.

War of the Worlds (2005) – While the 1953 original remains a superior re-imagining of H.G. Wells’ classic tale, it’s hardly as technically advanced as this 2005 Steven Spielberg effort. And it’s nowhere near as sonically spectacular. The scene where the Martian machine emerges from the pavement early in the film is as likely to make your subwoofer (not to mention your house) cry for mercy as anything on this list.

Then there the nuclear explosion that takes place in Oblivion (2016)

[gotmule]

Originally Posted by JohnAV

I agree that does happen on occasion with surrounds, still most of the presentation of this massive amount of bass is usually originating from the F+C+R woofers as that is you the audience usually hears that LFE output. Sometimes you run into a rotating bath of bass from all directions. Favorites bass moments take in are a couple of examples.

War of the Worlds (2005) – While the 1953 original remains a superior re-imagining of H.G. Wells’ classic tale, it’s hardly as technically advanced as this 2005 Steven Spielberg effort. And it’s nowhere near as sonically spectacular. The scene where the Martian machine emerges from the pavement early in the film is as likely to make your subwoofer (not to mention your house) cry for mercy as anything on this list.

Then there's Total Recall (2012) bass dropping pitch moments just as it starts the movie. Careful with volume level, it can surprise you and the windows.

I may steal the expression “Rotating bath of bass” but will give you credit. War of the Worlds is an iconic scene, but be mindful that the 4K version neutered the bass a bit causing that scene to be somewhat controversial for bass heads out there. I don’t remember the scene in Total Recall you refer to. Maybe I was distracted by Kate Beckinsale and Jessica Biel. The third leg of that bass stool should be the opening on Edge of Tomorrow, which is system threatening and known to blow subs for those not careful.

[Steedeel]

Originally Posted by gotmule

I may steal the expression “Rotating bath of bass” but will give you credit. War of the Worlds is an iconic scene, but be mindful that the 4K version neutered the bass a bit causing that scene to be somewhat controversial for bass heads out there. I don’t remember the scene in Total Recall you refer to. Maybe I was distracted by Kate Beckinsale and Jessica Biel. The third leg of that bass stool should be the opening on Edge of Tomorrow, which is system threatening and known to blow subs for those not careful.

Jessica Biel often distracts me too, to be fair.