Uncompressed audio worth it? YES!

[Zaphod]

For all of those who have asked the question, "Is uncompressed or any HD audio tracks worth it over compressed audio?", the answer is a HELL YES!

My set-up before was a Onkyo TX-SR703 (no HDMI), with component and optical connections. I just purchased a Onkyo TX-SR605 last week and just got around to setting it up. After about and hour and a half disconnecting and reconnecting, I had to change many of the connections since I am now using HDMI, and then slid my POTC disc in and hit play. Once the movie started my jaw hit the floor. I could not believe the difference between regular Dolby 5.1 and uncompressesed 5.1. The difference to me was like night and day! I couldn't believe it, so I started popping in my other discs, one at a time and holy crap, I swear I kicked myself wondering why the hell didn't I do this before.

Now some of it may have been due to the receiver, since the output of 90w per channel had more punch than the 100w per channel receiver I had before, and then again it may just be the difference in the uncompressed audio. Also the speaker setup of the new Onkyo receivers is leaps and bounds better than they have been in the past and between that and the uncompressed audio it made my 7.1 system come alive and I forgot I was in my house. It truely made my room come ALIVE and sound pretty darn close to what you get in the theatre. The uncompressed audio sounded way better using only 5.1 channels than my other receiver using all 7 channels.

So in a word if you have the time, and the money, to upgrade your current system to a HDMI receiver, from a component and optical one, DO IT! You will not be disappointed! And I purchased the 603 for only $399.99 and at this price is a very good budget priced receiver that packs a helluva punch, since it includes also Dolby TrueHD and DTS-MA, and is well worth it!

[kjacobs03]

Hello,
I just bought the same Onkyo receiver on monday. I still need to upgrade my older RCA 5.1 speekers and get 7.1. I am at a loss of what to look for in speekers. The way you talk about your sound system makes me want to give the speekers your using a look. What set are you using?
Thank you

[Zaphod]

My fronts are Klipsch Reference RF-25's and center channel is Klipsch Reference RC-64, surrounds are Klipsch Reference RS-35's, and the subwoofer is the Klipsch Reference RW-10. I couldn't be happier with the speakers in the price range I was looking in.

[kjacobs03]

Thanks. I will have to check those out.

[Amel]

well I'm waiting for the Onkyo 875 to drop under 1k then I will upgrade

right now I'm a bit short with money

[Zaphod]

Originally Posted by Amel

well I'm waiting for the Onkyo 875 to drop under 1k then I will upgrade

right now I'm a bit short with money

I originally wanted the 805 but I just purchased the 703 about a year ago and didn't want to drop another $900 on a receiver so I purchased this one since it was such a great deal, I am throughly happy with my decision, I will probably wait until 2008 receivers come out to purchase either the 875, at a huge discount, or see what the new receivers have to offer.

[WriteSimply]

Originally Posted by Zaphod

It truely made my room come ALIVE and sound pretty darn close to what you get in the theatre.

Actually, a typical theater would use either Dolby SR, Dolby Digital EX, DTS ES or SDDS. All lossy formats. So unless the theater is a digital theater, at least with sound you're getting way better fidelity. Enjoy and take a walk outside once in a while.


fuad

[dobyblue]

Originally Posted by WriteSimply

Actually, a typical theater would use either Dolby SR, Dolby Digital EX, DTS ES or SDDS. All lossless formats. So unless the theater is a digital theater, at least with sound you're getting way better fidelity. Enjoy and take a walk outside once in a while.
fuad

All lossy formats you mean Fuad.

Originally Posted by kjacobs03

Hello,
I just bought the same Onkyo receiver on monday. I still need to upgrade my older RCA 5.1 speekers and get 7.1. I am at a loss of what to look for in speekers. The way you talk about your sound system makes me want to give the speekers your using a look. What set are you using?
Thank you

You can buy the Klipsch speakers at Best Buy and you should check out the prices on line. If they suit your budget that's great, if you have more to spend then here's some additional ideas.

Here's some advice I gave someone else based on a $2,500 budget for speakers.

Paradigm.
The monitor line, which is what I have, is probably the best bang for buck of any high definition speaker I've heard. Incredibly accurate. No option for directs here, the ADP will do a stellar job of creating a surround field that sounds like you have 7.1
To find a Paradigm dealer visit www.paradigm.com
Fronts - Monitor 9v5 ($849)
Centre - Monitor CC290 ($300)
Rears (surround) - Monitor ADP390 ($300)
Total - $1450

Klipsch
Fronts - RF63 ($500)
Centre - RC52 ($300)
Rears (direct) - RB61 ($400)
Rears (surround) - S3 ($450)
Total - $1200 (direct) or $1250 (surround)

Polk Audio
For the Polks I would consider looking at this set-up
Fronts - RTi12 ($700)
Centre - CSi5 ($400)
Rears (direct) - RTi4 ($270)
Rears (surround) - FXi3 ($350)
Total - $1370 (direct) or $1450 (surround)

Axiom
For online some of the most well reviewed speakers are from Axiom.
http://www.axiomaudio.com/
Fronts - FM60v2 ($960)
Centre - VP100v2 ($250)
Rears (surround) - QS8 ($420)
Total - $1630

For your subwoofer and to get maximum amount of depth, clarity and power under $1,000 there are two subs that will blow your mind and give you the realism that will have your system be the envy of all your friends.

Hsu
VTF-3 HO - $899
http://www.hsuresearch.com/products/vtf-3-ho.html
Bass extension of 16Hz and 500 Watts.

But the one I think would really suit you.

SVS Subwoofers
16-46 PC–Plus - $949
http://www.svsound.com/products-sub-cyl-plpow1.cfm
525 Watts with +/-3dB down to 16Hz and usable extension down to 12Hz.
This is a cylindrical subwoofer. The advantages are a much smaller footprint than the traditional cube subs and because of that a much larger WAF. (Wife Acceptance Factor.)

So these options would all put you into an audiophile level 5.1 system. My choice? The Paradigm set-up with the SVS Subwoofer. You'll have a shit-eating grin for days. The only negative thing I'd say about the Polks is that they concentrate a little too much on raw power and not enough on sheer sound reproduction. Having said that, I'm comparing it to the other speakers on the list, not to Yamaha and Bose speakers. Keep that in mind.

To the OP - Glad to hear you're getting lossless now. It's true, it's like a smack in the mouth or a good kick in the balls the difference between lossless and lossy. I'm not sure what Blu-ray player you have, but if it's the PS3 and any of your favourite artists have an SACD out, it will be the same difference between CD to SACD. Pure audio bliss. Amongst artists with SACD's are Depeche Mode, Nine Inch Nails, Toto, Dire Straits, Elton John, Sting, The Police, John Mayer, Bob Dylan, Rolling Stones, The Pixies, Pink Floyd, Ryan Adams, Billy Joel and many others.

[TJandBLU-RAY]

It's the way I roll with the sound. All through a SONY® 7.1 sound system, with SONY® speakers...two tall in the front, two medium in the back, two small for the extra two...good size center speaker. Nice sub, that is behind the couch, which gives me a massage when certain lows are on.

[atdm71]

I'm very interested (and eager) to hear the difference in sound. It's nice to see Onkyo crack the receiver market with HDMI 1.3 capabilities, but I might wait and see how it compares to Pioneer's offerings which are soon to hit the market. I'm very pleased with the bang for the buck I get out of my current receiver, but for the next upgrade I'm thinking Pioneer Elite, Marantz or Denon (apparantly the latter two are coming off the same production line now?). I've honestly heard mixed reviews about the Onkyo lines, so I'm a bit hesitant to jump just yet.

All said, nice to hear you're enjoying the lossless sound experience. I can't wait.

[Canada]

I have not listened to uncompressed audio but it should be great because to me DTS is leaps and bounds ahead of DD and DTS it is only 768kps. DTS MA is 1536 kbps!!!

[LeoneFan]

The 1.5mbps DTS track from Kingdom of Heaven is very good, but I can't wait to hear lossless if it's as good as you guys say it is.

[Canada]

Uncompressed sound should be Fuddling good.

For people who are not Canadian you might not get this so

A eupharism for "f you" originated by Canadian prime minister Pierre Trudeau. a little peice of trivia

If any one finds my post offensive I wll remove it.

[Canada]

I beilieve that the DTS track on Kingdom of Heavan is uncompressed. 99% sure.

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by Canada

I have not listened to uncompressed audio but it should be great because to me DTS is leaps and bounds ahead of DD and DTS it is only 768kps. DTS MA is 1536 kbps!!!

No it isn't.

DD is a completely different compression system and is much more efficient than DTS. DD at 640kbps > DTS @ 1536kbps.

DTS-MA is several megabits and requires significant DSP horsepower to decode.
Dolby TrueHD uses not only less bitrate but can be easily decoded by the majority of hardware out there.

DTS: The Bose of audio codecs.

[blitz6speed]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

No it isn't.

DD is a completely different compression system and is much more efficient than DTS. DD at 640kbps > DTS @ 1536kbps.

DTS-MA is several megabits and requires significant DSP horsepower to decode.
Dolby TrueHD uses not only less bitrate but can be easily decoded by the majority of hardware out there.

DTS: The Bose of audio codecs.

DTS sounds pretty good to me =)

[LeoneFan]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

No it isn't.

DD is a completely different compression system and is much more efficient than DTS. DD at 640kbps > DTS @ 1536kbps.

DTS-MA is several megabits and requires significant DSP horsepower to decode.
Dolby TrueHD uses not only less bitrate but can be easily decoded by the majority of hardware out there.

DTS: The Bose of audio codecs.

What does efficiency of compression have anything to do with it? The Bottom line is that to me DTS sounds better than DD. As far as DTS-MA and TrueHD go, I don't know since I have yet to hear either but seeing as though they are both technically "losslesss" then they should sound quite similar.

[frenchglen]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

No it isn't.

DD is a completely different compression system and is much more efficient than DTS. DD at 640kbps > DTS @ 1536kbps.

DTS-MA is several megabits and requires significant DSP horsepower to decode.
Dolby TrueHD uses not only less bitrate but can be easily decoded by the majority of hardware out there.

DTS: The Bose of audio codecs.

Woah that's real opinionated
Well I suppose that's what forums are all about

I find DTS a little more detailed. Although I haven't had a chance to hear DTS-HD MA, I'm sure it' identical to Dolby True-HD (if both at the same resolution) since both are lossless hence not losing any of the PCM information. That's of course if there's nothing like peak limiting/compression or anything stupid like that.

+ DTS-HD MA will eventually be on all nearly all blu-ray players, lets face it there's still quite a shile before it'll be mainstream so by then it will be very well-supported (and hopefully in the PS3!)

+ DTS-HD MA is much more flexible than Dolby TrueHD, able to have many channels if necessary, can downmix and even have different speaker configurations. I hope it takes off in the D-cinema market once that becomes established.

[WriteSimply]

Originally Posted by Canada

I have not listened to uncompressed audio but it should be great because to me DTS is leaps and bounds ahead of DD and DTS it is only 768kps. DTS MA is 1536 kbps!!!

DTS on DVD has two flavors, 768kpbs and 1.5Mbps. There is no DTS MA.

DTS HD High Resolution Audio (HRA - my acronym) is maxed at 6.0 Mpbs on BD and 3.0 Mpbs on HD-DVD. Basically, DTS Core 1.5Mpbs + HD Extension 4.5Mbps.

DTS HD Master Audio is maxed at 24.5 Mbps on BD and 18 Mbps on HD-DVD. DTS Core 1.5Mpbs + HDMA Extension 23Mbps.


Please refer to this page at DTS.


fuad

[jimfear]

I have a Pioneer VSX-10167XV-k receiver, it has HDMI inputs but is not 1080P. Right now i have my Sony BDP-S1 running right into my 40 inch Bravia with an optical cable running into my receiver.. Should i change over to straight HDMI? Will I notice the picture loss? Please help!

"There are two types of people in this world, those who fire guns and those who dig, i have the gun"-Eastwood.