Why only 5 in's on the SP2?

sikoniko · « **on:** 9 Feb 2006, 12:32 am »

I am in the market for a new pre/pro. I started with great interest in the Arcam av9, but when I found out that its hdmi was only for video switching and had no audio capabilities I decided to look into the SP2.

My needs are to have an hdmi solution for video switching between 3 devices and great audio for 2 channel/ht. I would like to have balanced out option, but it is not essential.

Why do I want 7.1 audio in? because should I decide to become an early adopter of HD/BD, I need it to play 7.1 for the new formats since there is no hdmi 1.1, which could receive the audio via pcm.

If I am going to spend $5, I am looking for it to last hopefully 5 years. $1k a year depreciation.

Bryston seems to fit all of my needs with a plan for hdmi 1 year down the road, but I don't understand why they did not add 7.1 audio to begin with. my sacd player has 7.1 audio support...

It has made me look into considering the classe ssp 300 to be honest. it might be the deal breaker. I really like brystons proven track record of upgrading. I sent an email to classe to see if they will tell me their plans for hdmi. depending on their answer, it may sway me.

the MAJOR dilemma I have is that noone local has either the bryston or the classe, so I can't listen to either. I have to go on what everyone else says.. major leap of faith. There is a local bryston dealer, but they do not have an sp2 and I dont like their loaner program. there isnt a classe dealer for 300 miles.

what to do...what to do.. it is a tough time to be a consumer right now. too much change happening.

sorry to come across whining.

caleb · « **Reply #1 on:** 21 Feb 2006, 06:08 pm »

I presume that you are in the market because you are a TAG McLAren user and are getting upset at the TAG situation?

I am also in your situation inthat case, and as I already have Brystons for my fronts (2 x 7B SST) I though about the new SP2 as a good combination.

nicolasb · « **Reply #2 on:** 22 Feb 2006, 05:06 pm »

Bryston apparently has plans to offer HDMI input to the SP2 "some time" - but there's no telling how long you'll have to wait.

gostan · « **Reply #3 on:** 22 Feb 2006, 07:34 pm »

Quote from: nicolasb

Bryston apparently has plans to offer HDMI input to the SP2 "some time" - but there's no telling how long you'll have to wait.

Good things come to those who have the patience to wait.

James Tanner · « **Reply #4 on:** 22 Feb 2006, 08:19 pm »

Hi All,

Explain to me again why you would need 7.1 analog in?

james

sikoniko · « **Reply #5 on:** 22 Feb 2006, 09:21 pm »

Quote from: James Tanner

Hi All,

Explain to me again why you would need 7.1 analog in?

james

2 reasons:

1. my SACD/DVDA player supports 7.1 audio (onkyo SP1000a)

2. and more importantly, should I decide to become an early adopter of HD/BD. The new players decode DD+ and DTSHD (or whatever the new codecs are) in the player itself. So the current generation of Pre/Pro's do not require to do the decoding. the audio is sent via pcm to the pre and i guess sent directly to the speakers. There are 2 ways to acheive this:

1. audio send via hdmi 1.1
2. using the audio in's on your pre

Now, if the pre had 7.1 in, I could take advantage of my 7.1 system for the new codecs, or my SACD players ability to do 7.1. Otherwise, all I can do is 5.1.

I hope I explained this properly.

nicolasb · « **Reply #6 on:** 23 Feb 2006, 09:37 am »

The reason why the SP2 is to acquire an HDMI input is precisely so that it will be able to decode formats like DD+ and DTSHD itself, rather than making the player do it.

Are there actually any DVD-A or SACD discs that are encoded in 7.1 rather than 5.1? Maybe those extra outputs are only used when the player is playing back film soundtracks?

sikoniko · « **Reply #7 on:** 23 Feb 2006, 02:18 pm »

Quote from: nicolasb

The reason why the SP2 is to acquire an HDMI input is precisely so that it will be able to decode formats like DD+ and DTSHD itself, rather than making the player do it.

yes, but again, it is limiting to think that one must wait for the hdmi to come out before he or she can enjoy 7.1 on the new formats by allowing the players to decode. as it stands, i am about to purchase the new parasound hdmi switcher to acheive the video switching, since i am not able to wait for the spv2 to come out.

Quote

Are there actually any DVD-A or SACD discs that are encoded in 7.1 rather than 5.1? Maybe those extra outputs are only used when the player is playing back film soundtracks?

technically, no. but my player creates a matrix for the rear two.

James Tanner · « **Reply #8 on:** 23 Feb 2006, 03:23 pm »

technically, no. but my player creates a matrix for the rear two.

Hi All,

This brings up a really interesting point.

I have always felt that the purpose of home playback was to "recreate" as close as possible the "intent" or "experience" that the recording engineer intended you to hear.

So the movie director wants you to see the movie in Widescreen and the music recording engineer wants you to experience the "soundfield" as they intended.

So am I wrong in assuming that a 5.1 SACD or DVDA should be listened to in 5.1 not 6 or 7 or 8 or 9 or 10.1?

james

sikoniko · « **Reply #9 on:** 23 Feb 2006, 03:52 pm »

I understand your point, but why not let the customer decide?

My primary purpose was for the ability to use 7.1 on the new codecs more than the multichannel audio.

thats not even to say I am going to be an early adopter, but it would give me the flexability to do so if i wanted to.

Thanks James for listening to me.

to get a bit off topic:
I also am a pro tools user, and in their forum, they have a "requested features" thread. Would you object to us doing that here? I think it would be great for both the consumer and bryston, and a good way to get some free market research.

also, i have pretty much decided to buy the bryston sp2 (rack version) over the classe but i was wondering how long the backorder is currently.

Quote from: James Tanner

This brings up a really interesting point.

I have always felt that the purpose of home playback was to "recreate" as close as possible the "intent" or "experience" that the recording engineer intended you to hear.

So the movie director wants you to see the movie in Widescreen and the music recording engineer wants you to experience the "soundfield" as they intended.

So am I wrong in assuming that a 5.1 SACD or DVDA should be listened to in 5.1 not 6 or 7 or 8 or 9 or 10.1?

james

James Tanner · « **Reply #10 on:** 23 Feb 2006, 04:04 pm »

Hi,

Sure I am open to all and any input from our customers - does not mean I can do all that is asked of course.

Any new orders for the SP2 would be about 2 weeks.

james

nicolasb · « **Reply #11 on:** 23 Feb 2006, 05:02 pm »

Quote from: James Tanner

Hi All,

This brings up a really interesting point.

I have always felt that the purpose of home playback was to "recreate" as close as possible the "intent" or "experience" that the recording engineer intended you to hear.

So the movie director wants you to see the movie in Widescreen and the music recording engineer wants you to experience the "soundfield" as they intended.

So am I wrong in assuming that a 5.1 SACD or DVDA should be listened to in 5.1 not 6 or 7 or 8 or 9 or 10.1?

Well, that depends, doesn't it? Do you always listen to stereo sources in stereo? Maybe you do, but many people don't: some Lexicon owners like to run stereo through their Logic 7 systems; if I owned a Meridian system I would definitely listen to stereo music using Trifield rather than plain stereo - it sounds much nicer. Some people like to engage Dolby PLII Music mode to listen to CDs.

If you listen to a film or TV soundtrack that's encoded with Dolby surround, the recording is (at best) a 3-channel source - left, right and surround - but Dolby PLII does a pretty good job of converting that into 5 channels. Hardly anyone thinks that Dolby PLII does a worse job than plain Dolby Pro-Logic, and the original Dolby surround system (with no centre speaker) was even worse. If it's reasonable to interpolate a front-centre channel, why not a rear-centre channel?

If, for some reason, you were reduced to listening to a film soundtrack on headphones, would you prefer to listen to the stereo track fed straight to the 'phones, or the 5.1 soundtrack fed through Dolby Headphone processing? I'd much prefer the latter.

There are lot of "DSP modes" in products that I can't see the point of - the standard "church", "party", "stadium", etc. for example - but, equally well, there are some that are good at what they do - such as Dolby PLII, Trifield and Dolby Headphone. Whether any given person uses these or not is going to be, at best, a matter of personal preference. I don't think it's healthy to try and make that decision for other people.

James Tanner · « **Reply #12 on:** 23 Feb 2006, 05:09 pm »

I realize my standards for Music listening are much higher than Movie watching but I find that on movies I can live with the 2 channel being manipulated to 5 or 6 or 7 but on Music I really find the result way to "soupy" and "arbitrary".

james

Levi · « **Reply #13 on:** 23 Feb 2006, 05:44 pm »

I agree. I would stick with 5.1 channels for movies and 2ch for music.

Quote from: James Tanner

I realize my standards for Music listening are much higher than Movie watching but I find that on movies I can live with the 2 channel being manipulated to 5 or 6 or 7 but on Music I really find the result way to "soupy" and "arbritrary".

james

MOZ · « **Reply #14 on:** 23 Feb 2006, 05:48 pm »

I'm a 2 channel person also, especialy with the Bryston analogic qualities !

But i put 5.1 music on 7.1...