Is HD audio worth it?

Associate
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Hi

I have been looking into the costs of getting a full 5.0 surround system. I already have a 2.0 setup with a Bluray player. So want to add a AV receiver, centre speaker and surround speakers.

From looking on a few sites it seems that there is a bit of a price difference between the amplifiers that do DTS-HD and Dolby TrueHD and those that don't.

So my question is, will I notice a difference? I cannot play movies too loud as I live in a flat, which is why I don't really want a sub.
 
Man of Honour
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For you, I'd say don't bother.

HD Audio decoding amps start at under £200. Decent branded non-HD Audio decoding amps are available for £150 or less. If £50 is going to blow your budget then it's unlikely you'll be able to afford speakers good enough to show you the benefit.

Stick with a standard DD & DTS amp... perhaps even something secondhand but a bit more upmarket than the current entry-level products.
 
Soldato
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I personally think Hd sound is worth it even in a flat.

Second hand is a good way of picking up some good kit much cheaper or look at last years ranges. You should be able to pick up an amp and the 3 speakers that you need but bare in mind that the front 3 speakers should be the same brand and model type, eg all mission 3 series etc. I would also recomend a small sub as you will miss a lot of the low end effects as the main speakers wont be able to reproduce the low effects. If your worried about your neighbours you can mount the subwoofer on a Auralex Gamma isolation platform for approx £40. (google it) BK electronics make superb small subs.

What are you using at the moment?? have you got a budget in mind??
 
Associate
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Okay thanks guys, might have a look about for second hand amps.

I already find my 2.0 system good for movies except that the dynamic range of the movies means that some speech can be too quiet so I turn it up then an action scene kicks in and it is far too loud (or too loud so the neighbors can hear anyway).

How good are AV amps in their quiet modes? Do they flatten out the dips and peaks in the output? I don't want to have to use this setting all the time just at times when other people might be sleeping.
 
Associate
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What are you using at the moment?? have you got a budget in mind??

Panasonic BD-35 Bluray
Cambridge Audio 340A Amp
Cambridge Audio S30 Speakers

The Cambridge Audio centre speaker is £100 and the small surround speakers they do are £100 for a pair. So they are £200, so I guess maybe I could stretch to £150-200 on the AV amp.
 
Soldato
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Don't bother with HD, which seems a bit pointless if you then need to switch in a dynamic range compression on the amp !!!!
Just get DD/DTS done as well as you can, (with older S/H kit) difference will not be noticed, actually the DD/DTS will probably give a better sound when using older higher quality kit.
 
Soldato
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Don't bother with HD, which seems a bit pointless if you then need to switch in a dynamic range compression on the amp !!!!
Just get DD/DTS done as well as you can, (with older S/H kit) difference will not be noticed, actually the DD/DTS will probably give a better sound when using older higher quality kit.

Second hand amp will still do hd audio if the source has component out and the amp accept multi channel inputs.
 
Associate
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HD sound is better than lossy codecs, however you have to spend quite a lot of money before you max out even what lossy can give you. Check the AVForums for the Arcam AV9, available now 2nd hand for about £1k, 2.5k new. It performs excellently with lossy codecs (doesn't process HD itself), and is allegedly than HD equipped receivers available for half the price.

So, HD is good if you can afford to make it worthwhile. And even if you can afford, is it important enough to you to spend that cash?
 
Soldato
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Second hand amp will still do hd audio if the source has component out and the amp accept multi channel inputs.

Yes but don't assume it will be better..... The analogue out from the on board dac on budget players are nothing special compared to a good spec "oldie" AV amp.
Ok my set-up is hardly what everyone goes out and buy's but I hook the BD player up by SP/DIF and use DD/DTS in the amp, because it sounds better than the onboard HD sound.

Like others have said you need a good set up to gain any benefit, IMO it's more marketing tool when applied to budget gear. The more logo's you can print on the front the better...right ?? ;)
 
Soldato
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even if you include BD player. amp and 5.1 speaker setup......you still need no where near this much.

i dont agree, Mongy is right you need to be spending a serious wedge before hd is appreciably better than normal audio. the problem is, better amps still sound much better with normal audio than cheap amps do with Hd and if thats the case then that makes HD pretty much irrelevant at the bottom end, or even mid range stuff. There's a price point where that all changes but it isnt this side of a thousand quid. there are many av amps out there than are better with normal audio than my 805 is with HD, for example, and that was £800 at launch. no speakers.
 
Soldato
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Personally I got a 1k+ Onkyo system with KEF speakers, TrueHD, MasterHD, it's nice when the light comes on but I honestly can't hear the difference :p
 
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