Tired! Sore muscles, and my back hurts....but results? Most satisfying!



Sony Bravia 40X200A, Sony US PS3, Pioneer SE-DIR800C, Onkyo DV-HD805 HD-DVD player, Onkyo TX-SR605, Onkyo SKS-HT235.

The Pio headphone spits out DD5.1 & DTS via Dolby Headphone, itself hooked up to the Onkyo HD-DVD player via coaxial, PS3 via optical. The primary audio drivers are by the SR-605 + SKS-HT235 combo definitely, but for those late nights, the Pio does its duty. Have to switch the audio out from both the HD-DVD player and PS3 manually though, since they are both set to output audio via bitstream to the SR605 for one-to-one audio reproduction.



Close-up on the left column stack. Splitfish FragFX sits on top after my daily fragfest on UT3.



The rear speakers does not come with a stand, had to get em separately. The front speakers comes with the stand that sits nicely on the entertainment cabinet. Nice heavy glass bottom for that lower C of G (center of gravity) but the bottom of the glass are embedded with 3 conical points to reduce speaker-induced vibration.



But im most ecstatic when this shows on the SR605, makes all that effort and grunting and heaving these things, and all the back-pain worthwhile. Got this lighted up on the receiver while running Pan's Labyrinth on HD-DVD, with audio bitstream passthrough from the HD805.

Ran the Audyssey SQ microphone soundfield check to determine the calculative audio placement, and am impressed with now newbie-friendly it is. I admit, im a noob myself when it comes to this, but the ease of use, and prompt-tp-prompt instructions had me turning from "intimidated" to "informed".

Ran the Digital Video Essential HD-DVD, and during the audio tests, Dolby TrueHD lights up appropriately, so that works nicely.

Mr. & Mrs.Smith on Blu-ray however, only lights up as "Multi PCM", but sounded just as good to my ears anyway. Had it running on the 5.1 DTS HD-MA but with the PS3's inability to either decode DTS HD-MA or send the lossless audio via bitstream, you can only expect DTS HD-core from the PS3. Dolby TrueHD should be one-to-one via bitstream on the PS3, although it is internally decoded by the PS3 and fed to the receiver as Lossless PCM.

Next stop? Nintendo Wii video upscaling to 720p.

EDIT: I see listings of Media Center PCs as well as keyboards? If that's the case then:-

Toshiba Qosmio G40 AV Media Center laptop with HD-DVD burner, 1080p screen and 500GB storage.

Logitech diNovo Edge BT keyboard.

White PS3 still in the box, courtesy of Bernard.

That's what only available here, the LA home is still work-in-progress, but already had the Toshiba HD-XA2 running on a 1080p Samsung M8, with audio driven by Polk Audio speakers and last-gen Yammy receiver. Soon to change to either Martin Logan or Kef, and that old Yammy to the new Yammy VX3800 or the Onkyo TX-SR875.

But your setup looks much nicer, cabinet and all.

The wireless headset comes with the receiver unit, as you can see from the second pic. That receiver unit has jacks behind it that accepts optical and coaxial inputs. I run my setup like this:-

PS3 ----------------primary input = HDMI --------TX-SR605 ------------- Multi PCM
PS3 --------------- secondary input = optical-----Pio SE-DIR800C------ Dolby Digital 5.1 or DTS

Onkyo HD-DVD----primary input = HDMI --------TX-SR605 ------------- Dolby TrueHD & DTS HD Master Audio
Onkyo HD-DVD----secondary input = coaxial-----Pio SE-DIR800C------ Dolby Digital 5.1 or DTS

The transmission method however is still line-of-sight IR, but the audio is punchy and defined. Just dont block the line of sight to the receiver.

I was considering the Tritton AX360, i tried that on while i was at J&R in New York, but the arrangement of wires are a mess! You are tethered by wires to the pre-amp unit, and not that suitable for me lounging on the bed while i watch my movies. Plus the build quality of the Tritton feels plasticky cheap. The Pioneer here really has heft, and feel nicely built.

The good part of this is i can continue enjoying late night movies (as i always do, after lepak with friends at mamak) without scaring the neighbours. The not so good part is that i have to manually change the audio output from both the PS3 and the Onkyo HD-DVD player to optical and coaxial respectively, since they had been set to output on HDMI. This was not a problem with my previous receiver, as that Sony receiver has optical out. Not the SR605.

The wireless headphone is very comfy, and powered by two rechargable batteries. You'd think that you need to buy batteries every so often, but Pioneer has devised a clever solution. They built in a charging compartment into the receiver unit to charge the included rechargable batteries. That way, your batteries stay charged and ready to be used for that late night movies.

I had to admire from far away too once, this was especially painful when you take into consideration that i hang out at Mediaplex often and every once in a while, new receiver models come in and i can only stand there and look. Finally got enough credit, and hopefully made the right decision with the receiver + speaker combos.

This post has been edited by stringfellow: Jan 3 2008, 10:29 AM

What? The Pio headphones?

J&R had them listed at USD399 on their webpage, but i dropped by their store while i was in NY. They had this year-end sale going, and they tagged the Pio at USD279. I was pleasantly surprised.

This post has been edited by stringfellow: Jan 3 2008, 10:45 AM

Ahahah, it felt less hurtful on the wallet though, since they treat customers nicely and wish a merry Christmas. Holiday season has this weird effect on people, and it is especially weird to see New Yorkers being nice.

There are others with much better setups than i am. Mine is simply basic.

Dont lah like that boss. 5.1 is simple what? We all have to start somewhere, im just lucky i can score the HD-DVD player and receiver at a cheap price, otherwise i couldnt move on with this plan.

Still "shit" boss, not holy yet.

Dilemma now, weighing in the different BD standalone players, and I kept getting back to PS3 as the most reliable/future-proof BD player on the market.

Samsung BD-P1400 is Profile 1.0, but allows HBR bitstream of Dolby TrueHD & DTS HD-MA via HDMI. This means it works wonders on the audio side, virtually identical to the Onkyo HD-DVD player, but is crap when it comes to playing those BD-Java games such as the Liar's Dice on the Pirates Blu-ray.

Panasonic DMP-30K is Profile 1.1, which means Java games and PiP works as it should, and allows HBR bitstreaming to supported receiver. Perfect, right? Except.........it is nowhere to be found in Malaysia! Damnit!

The next option is the PS3 of course, in which we know its strengths and weaknesses.

The other models, such as the Sharp branded BD player, or the overpriced Sony ones are either lacking in features, or in the case of the Sony ones, craaawwwwwllling in loadtime and waaaaaayyyyy overpriced.

If anyone can help find me the Panasonic DMP-BD30K locally, i'll be in your debt.

And no, am not interested in hybrid players. Jack of all trades, master of none.

The PS3 lacks DTS-HD MA, only DTS-HD for the time being. DTS-HD MA internal decoding, like TrueHD decoding, is promised, but we'll never know if that promise would be delivered. That , along with its inability to output HBR-as-per-its-iteration, are the only two weaknesses. Some of us want to see that HBR tag light up on our receivers.

There are others with better setup, my room is small.

Oh gosh, I'm sorry! I'm so used to the monikers used by the AVS folks that I brought them here instead.

HBR = High Bit Rate, which is the term used to describe the two higher end lossless formats, Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD MA.

---

Added on January 3, 2008, 10:32 pmOh gosh, I'm sorry! I'm so used to the monikers used by the AVS folks that I brought them here instead.

HBR = High Bit Rate, which is the term used to describe the two higher end lossless formats, Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD MA.

This post has been edited by stringfellow: Jan 3 2008, 10:32 PM

Give and take, bro. You got a swank PC rig there, i have none. Priorities plays its role on different people different ways.

Huge difference. Definition, punchiness and discreteness enhanced a few times fold.

Watched Mr. & Mrs.Smith? That gunfight inside the house? I thought i blew a hole on top of my wall when Jane blasted that wall with the shotgun! Remember Live Free or Die Hard? When the car flipped over McClane and Farrell in the tunnel, i "hear" it flipped over my head and "behind" me! When McClane drove that cop car into the helicopter? Earthquake!!!

Yeah, mine's 1080p60 only. I dont really see much difference between 1080p24 and 1080p60 to warrant a TV upgrade.

I can borrow, but i need collateral, just in case. Where you located?

Yup, but BD Profile 1.0. Such a killjoy when it does almost everything i wanted.

Nope, the hardware is not there. For 1.0 to be upgradable to 1.1, you need onboard 256Mb of persistent memory, for all those Java-related extras. For the jump to BD-Live or Profile 2.0, you need 1Gb as well as ethernet/internet connection. Which explains why the PS3 is the most future-proof BD player in the market.

Hey, we stay close by! Im in Keramat!

Come to think of it, i think i'll pass. There are other options like rental service that just popped up there, and others selling their BDs, give that a try, bro.

The Harvey boys are selling it, RM2999 now for the 605. 705 goes into the higher RM3k end.