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#121 (permalink) | |
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It's Good to Play Together
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: NJ, USA
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For every shadow, no matter how deep, is threatened by morning light. |
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#122 (permalink) | |
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Producer/Admin
Tenacious "OB" Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: Spanaway Washington
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"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love, and be loved in return" Christian, Moulin Rouge |
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#125 (permalink) |
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DVDFile HT Award Winner
Join Date: Jan 2007
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My impressions of music streamed through the Denon AVP
I finally got to try out the music streaming abilities. And I'm happy to report that it works great!! Sound quality is superb! I am using Windows Media Player 11, and it's integration to the Denon AVP was seamless. You go into network setup on the Denon and find out what the info is for your preamp (MAC Address, etc), and configure your router to accept the address. Then open up Windows Media Player 11, click the Library tab, then click in media sharing and turn sharing to on.
After this the Windows Media Player automatically recognizes the Denon and adds a Denon icon in it's sharing window. It then asks to allow or deny access, select allow and that's it! You're done! WMA Player 11 will allow streaming of WMA Lossless, flac (with special download software), and .WAV. I have been comparing the sound quality on both flac and WMA Lossless and have found them both to sound virtually identical, which is to say they both sound excellent!. Just for kicks I compared flac and WMA Lossless to .WAV, and while flac and WMA Lossless sound amazing, the .WAV did edge them out just a bit. The sound with .WAV was a bit more detailed, and offered a deeper and a tad wider soundstage. It was also a bit smoother, especially in the upper midrange. I did all my comparisons using Direct mode. In comparing flac, WMA Lossless, and .WAV to the original CD, I found .WAV to sound nearly identical. Flac and WMA Lossless were both tied and came in a close second to .WAV. But for most listening I believe that either WMA Lossless or flac will do a splendid job. So for most of my music I will use WMA Lossless, and for my reference CD's I'll use WAV. I have found the sound quality to be so good that it may just replace my CD player for critical listening. I am very impressed. For my listening tests I used the following albums: Peter White- Confidential Strunz & Farah- Stringweave Johannes Linstead- Cafe' Tropical Michael Buble'- It's Time John Mayall and Friends- Along for the Ride Another thing that really impressed me about streaming music, is that if a certain CD was HDCD encoded, that encoding is also in the ripped version. So when that music is streamed, the Denon decodes it automatically (a small HDCD logo shows up in the Denon's display window) and gives an even higher quality of sound. This is excellent as I own quite a few HDCD encoded CD's that I have ripped to my PC. Also with the Denon, using Windows Media Player 11 on a PC, all cover art, album title, artist info, track listing, track time etc., is displayed on your TV. All album info is also displayed on the Denon's display window (except cover art). When using WMA Lossless and .WAV through Windows Media Player 11, all album info is automatically tagged. And through the Denon's GUI one can select artist, album, genres, and playlists. So now I can totally say that the Denon AVP-A1HDCI more than lives up to it claims. It's one heck of an amazing performer for all things. Movie soundtracks, 2 channel music, multichannel music, streamed music, DVD upsampling using HQV Realta. And to top it all off, it is highly configurable to to satisfy the needs of pretty much anyone. I can't recommend this preamp highly enough. As you can tell I'm loving it! Seth Last edited by zepherman : 04-03-2008 at 09:51 PM. |
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#126 (permalink) | |
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It's Good to Play Together
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: NJ, USA
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Quote:
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__________________
For every shadow, no matter how deep, is threatened by morning light. |
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#127 (permalink) | |
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DVDFile HT Award Winner
Join Date: Jan 2007
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Quote:
Seth |
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#132 (permalink) |
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DVDFile HT Award Winner
Join Date: Jan 2007
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The worlds first pro review?
This is a reprint from a review in Home Cinema Choice Magazine UK.
Denon AVP-A1HD & POA-A1HD | Our Review | TechRadar.com |
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#135 (permalink) |
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DVDFile HT Award Winner
Join Date: Jan 2007
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Realta scaler/processor impressions
Well I really got to put the Realta Video processing to the test. Got the S-Video cable that I had been waiting for, and connected my Pioneer DLV-919 Laser Disc player. After setting the scalers options and going through the various picture adjustment settings, I did a thorough evaluation.
The LD's I used were Cutthroat Island, Grumpy Old Men, and Eyes of an Angel. All of these have poor or mediocre picture quality and always exhibited a very grainy and dull picture. Through the iScan Ultra the PQ was an improvement, but still not very good. Now for the first time I can actually see myself enjoying these movies on LD. While nothing could make these LD's look as good as what we are now accustomed to seeing with up-converted DVD, they are however, the best I have ever seen them. Color fidelity, a much sharper image, a lot less grain, and better contrast, really breathed new life into these old LD's. Since I own many LD's that have never been released on DVD, HD DVD, let alone Blu-ray, at least I can now once again enjoy them. The Realta scaler/processor really impressed me.Seth |
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#137 (permalink) | |
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DVDFile HT Award Winner
Join Date: Jan 2007
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Quote:
I have to admit that I wasn't aware of this. Well now I need to get a 12 foot composite video cable, and once I do I will do some A/B comparisons between composite and S-Video. But after reading a lengthy article about composite vs. S-Video for LD playback, you are probably correct that composite is indeed the way to go. |
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#138 (permalink) |
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It's Good to Play Together
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: NJ, USA
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Also for another bit of info, if you want to squeak the most out of the Realta processor in your Denon preamp you should get a Blu-ray player which natively outputs interlaced signals for DVD and interlaced BDs. The Denon 2500 bobs 30fps 1080i material when the player is set to 1080p, resulting in huge loss of detail. So for 30fps Blu-ray material like Nine Inch Nails Beside You in Time, Galapagos, Nature's Journey, and most other documentaries/concerts with the exception of Planet Earth and a few other high budget ones, you should get a player that can natively output 1080i so you can use your Realta to properly deinterlace them. Remember, the only progressive source Blu-ray can display is 1080p/24fps, 1080p30 sources must be encoded as 1080i60 for Blu-ray to be within spec.
And the DVD upconversion of the Denon 2500 is poor, as well, compared to if you used a good DVD player like the Oppo 980H or Toshiba HD-A2 and fed the Denon preamp 480i over HDMI for Realta upconversion... Denon 2500 is not capable of native 480i over HDMI, at best you'll get 480i > crappy 480p deinterlacing > 480i re-interlacing.
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For every shadow, no matter how deep, is threatened by morning light. |
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#139 (permalink) | |
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DVDFile HT Award Winner
Join Date: Jan 2007
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Quote:
But I plan on using my 2500 for some time. It has performed flawlessly and gives me superb PQ and sound (bitstreamed to the Denon AVP) from Blu-ray discs. And yes many have complained about the BD30's up-conversion, but the 2500 IMO does a very good job with DVD's, so I have no complaints. But if I wanted to use a stand alone DVD player and output a 480i signal, my Yamaha DVD S2300 player fits that bill perfectly. I tried this player out doing just that, and it looked amazing going through the Denon's Realta processor. So I'd say I've got my bases covered pretty well.![]() |
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#140 (permalink) |
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DVDFile HT Award Winner
Join Date: Jan 2007
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Professional review of the AVP-A1HDCI
Here's the first professional US review of the Denon preamp.
Denon AVP-A1HDCI 12CH Home Theater Processor Review — Audioholics Home Theater Reviews and News |
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#141 (permalink) | |
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Ex-BadHumor Man
Join Date: May 2002
Location: New Jersey, USA
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Have you been able to decipher it's unprecedented set up options yet or should I check back next year? ![]() |
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#142 (permalink) | |
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DVDFile HT Award Winner
Join Date: Jan 2007
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Quote:
Check back next year. Seriously, that's not too far off, as I am still learning new things about it, and will probably continue to do so for a while. It's that loaded! But in a way that what makes it fun also.![]() |
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#143 (permalink) |
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DVDFile HT Award Winner
Join Date: Jan 2007
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Audyssey Dynamic Volume upgrade coming in October
A large feature upgrade will be available for download in October. While not mentioned in this European press sheet, Denon will be making this a free upgrade for AVP owners in the USA. This will be a must have feature for me. Kudos to Denon.
![]() http://www.dm-holdings.com/brandnews...Upgrade_EN.pdf Seth |
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#144 (permalink) | |
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It's Good to Play Together
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: NJ, USA
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Quote:
As an FYI, the Dynamic EQ feature is actually already a part of the Dolby TrueHD codec and is on by default with most receivers using that codec. However, it will be helpful for DTS & PCM soundtracks that do not have this feature if you live in an apartment and may be listening at low levels.
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For every shadow, no matter how deep, is threatened by morning light. Last edited by Ruined : 06-27-2008 at 04:44 PM. |
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#145 (permalink) | |
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DVDFile HT Award Winner
Join Date: Jan 2007
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Quote:
Also Dynamic Volume is excellent for those times one is watching a high def program on Satellite or cable when the program goes into commercial and not having to scramble for the remote to lower the volume. I see this as a major plus. ![]() Seth |
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#146 (permalink) |
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DVDFile HT Award Winner
Join Date: Jan 2007
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Denon AVP-A1HDCI Fully Balanced Circuitry
Gene DellaSala over at Audioholics, added the following page to explain the benefits of its balanced design.
AVP-A1HDCI Balanced Transmission Further Explored — Reviews and News from Audioholics |
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#147 (permalink) | |
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It's Good to Play Together
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: NJ, USA
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Quote:
Technically something like Audyssey Dynamic Volume is a software algorithm so any Audyssey-capable receiver should be able to handle it (except maybe something like the Onkyo 605 which is DSP-power limited). However, mass-market manufs may attempt to use it as an upsell to get people to upgrade to the new model - and simply not include the feature. Then again, Onkyo has been pretty good about adding features (they added Audyssey Pro to some receivers that were only marketed as standard Audyssey receivers to begin with). I believe Denon also will be upgrading some of their entry level receivers with Audyssey Dyn. Volume.
__________________
For every shadow, no matter how deep, is threatened by morning light. |
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#148 (permalink) | |
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DVDFile HT Award Winner
Join Date: Jan 2007
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Quote:
Dynamic Volume is a very cool feature that I plan on using. And being that it will be a free upgrade, that is just the coolest! |
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#149 (permalink) |
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DVDFile HT Award Winner
Join Date: Jan 2007
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Podcast interview with Denon's Jeff Talmadge
Here is the first in a series of Techcast interviews held by Gene DellaSala of Audioholics. The following is a lengthy discussion about the Denon AVP-A1HDCI and Denon POA-A1HDCI. But the interview also covers other Denon products in development (including what could very well be the ultimate universal Blu-ray player). An excellent listen.
Podcast interview with Denon's Jeff Talmadge |
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#150 (permalink) |
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DVDFile HT Award Winner
Join Date: Jan 2007
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AVP gets one serious update!
Well after waiting since the announcement was made many months back that Audyssey Dynamic Volume would be available this October, the day finally arrived for me to do the update. This update is by far the longest update available for the AVP to date, a whopping 110 minute update!
The first update I did for my AVP took one hour, and the second took 15 minutes. So what all goodies did the engineers at Denon give? In a word LOTS! Besides the new Dynamic Volume feature (which is way cool BTW ), they also enhanced the Realta VP to allow 1080p/24, and it's a forced 24Hz.Also made the AVP Sirius Radio capable. And many many firmware updates to the DSP boards, etc. It is just so convenient to be able to do these updates via its Ethernet connection. Over the many months that I've had my AVP, it just keeps on impressing me. With the ButtKickers in the new HT seats, I was able to use the AVP's "Transducer" connection option. It worked great! And streamed music for me is as good as it gets! It's been over a month since I actually listened to a physical CD through the system. And I found out that not only will the AVP stream HDCD but also multichannel DTS!So I have to say that the more I use my AVP the more I'm enjoying it! Seth |
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LinkBack to this Thread: http://forums.dvdfile.com/audio-hardware/63284-holy-grail-processors.html
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| Posted By | For | Type | Date | |
| Untitled document | This thread | Refback | 03-06-2008 12:25 AM | |
| Untitled document | This thread | Refback | 03-05-2008 10:53 PM | |