I'm alive...
just very busy...... no rest for the wicked......
there is an alternative suggestion for getting decent surround...
presumably... since you're posting here.... you already own a computer.
most of which have a DVD drive built in.
SOME also have a decent graphics card... a LOT of Flat screen telly's have a VGA or DVi input, some cards even have an S-video or TV output...
it's easy enough to add a reasonable quality audio interface which will outperform any sensibly priced consumer DVD player's output D2A converters...
and easy to add some semi-pro active monitor speakers and a sub to that..... using balanced (& therefore noise free) cabling between them and the interface.
and come in at about the same budget as Martin's system, or less.....
and get superior performance. (arguably.... in some cases... definitely in others)
all of which, sadly, is normally pretty wasted in the average domestic listening environment...
which frankly, doesn't really rate anything better than a typical £250-£300 package from Richer sounds
HDTV is bringing surround to the masses on a huge scale... but no one is actually pointing out that it's a waste unless you also have audio equipment capable of making the best of it...
and as for the broadcasters.... well, let's put it like this... a mate of mine is currently spending most weekends training BBC engineers how to mix for surround... as they've only just realised they don't have the expertise in house any more.... and the Beeb ARE at the forefront in this area..... as to the rest.... I think they're hoping to poach the Beeb staff ..........
But the consumer is largely entirely unaware that to truly benefit form any of this, they need to arrange their room appropriately and treat it acoustically to control the listening environment adequately to actually hear the mix as it was intended to be heard..
which can cost several times more than their Surround system....... if they only want to buy ready made solutions, or can cost as little as £150 if they are prepared to do some research and a LOT of DIY.
Max
(currently working on building surround mixing facilities for Sony PS3 game audio production teams , and doing some of those mixes myself.)
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Topic: Some Audio Visual Questions... (Read 2553 times)