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

[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

[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.

[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!

[JimSD]

Originally Posted by alain turgeon

The main difference IMO is that you can play lossless tracks very loud and the sound still remains clear and detailed without becoming agressive.

That is exactly what I've thought too. I noticed that especially with PotC: At World's End. It's often hard for me to pinpoint the exact difference of uncompressed audio, but a seemingly more enveloping sound and being able to play it louder without feeling fatigued are what I seem to notice.

[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.

[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.

[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..

[quest88]

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???

I use to think that the speakers that were installed on the tv were good enough.
I was about to purchase a bose cinemate just to enhance the tv speakers and then the guys on this forum got to me. All I heard was how good lossy audio was and what kind of receivers were a great buy. Now I can't imagine how I was
missing out on the other end of the blu ray experience just spend the extra cash
it is well worth it.

[bdizzle]

perfect timing for this thread...posted a new topic about this exact issue!!!
yes it makes a hugggggggggggggeeeeeeee difference, and from now on wont be going back!

[richterbon23]

i am going to get the onkyo 605 along with just about everyone else on this forum, and i know there is a htib with this and a set of onkyo speakers but not to many movies take advantage of 7.1 so is there a good set of 5.1 speakers at a decent price?

[Slec]

IMO the best HTiB is an Onkyo. The HT-SP908 which you mentioned is your best bet. By the time you add a 'decent' set of speakers to the 605 price, you'll be at or above this price anyway...

The 6.1 SKS-HT240 has gotten good reviews for speakers only, and the SKS-HT540 are a decent 7.1 set it seems.

Edit: While i've been looking at speakers to mate up the Klipsch Quintet III has been oft recommended. Your price range for everything will largely determine the types of responses you'll get to this.

[richterbon23]

thanks yea i figured i would end up getting the onkyo sp908, i am dying to hear lossless and uncompressed audio, i have always been amazed with prologic II, so i have huge expectations for this

[Kratos3]

Originally Posted by Slec

IMO the best HTiB is an Onkyo. The HT-SP908 which you mentioned is your best bet. By the time you add a 'decent' set of speakers to the 605 price, you'll be at or above this price anyway...

The 6.1 SKS-HT240 has gotten good reviews for speakers only, and the SKS-HT540 are a decent 7.1 set it seems.

Edit: While i've been looking at speakers to mate up the Klipsch Quintet III has been oft recommended. Your price range for everything will largely determine the types of responses you'll get to this.

+1 on the Klipsch Quintet III. I also have the Sub-10 and I love it!