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5.1 DD/DTS Amp and Speaker Advice
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Deacon1972
21-09-2008
If the dialogue is inaudible over the fan noise you can increase the centre channel but this will throw out the overall sound of the system, it's not just dialogue that comes through the centre channel, 70% of the soundtrack does.

You may find using the dynamic mode better as it doesn't alter channel levels, it's cuts out certain low/high frequencies. You will be able to turn up the whole system up which in turn will higher the centre channel/dialogue making it easier to hear, but keeping all other channels in balance, the dynamics of the soundtrack are still there but they are more controlled.

Try both settings and see which you prefer.

I don't know if you are aware but HD DVD has kind of left the scene, Bluray is seen to be the wining format. Even though Toshiba are still making HD DVD players and a few discs are still being released, I think it's only a matter of time before it pulls out all together. You can pick up some good bargains, there are some very cheap discs and players about. If you are looking for something that will be around for the foreseeable future I'd have to say you should be looking at Bluray.
steven123
21-09-2008
Thanks, I will try the dynamic range compression first. Seems on the Cambridge there are four levels (well five if you count zero). I imagine the default will be none so I might try setting it at the mid point (2/4) as a starting point next time I use a HD DVD.

I am aware of HD DVD being discontinued; indeed, it is that which allowed me to enter the HD scene, after all places like HMV (online) are selling off the films at far less than the price of the equivalent DVD. With all the same (and sometimes more) features and far better AV quality, it seems mad not to buy them up whilst they are still in good supply. Besides many of the films available are ones I am interested in seeing anyway so getting them on a far better quality format for less is a real bonus, even if in a few years time there will be no trace of the players/films in any shops outside of eBay.

Of course, I will end up getting Blu-Ray too eventually, probably inside the next year in fact, most likely in the form of the PS3 as I am a games player too and the PS3 seems the most future-proofed Blu-Ray solution. Though before I actually buy any Blu-Ray films the pricing will have to reach sensible levels, I noticed some of the films are over £20, some even approaching £30, which is ridiculous.

Only real annoyance with my HD DVD viewing is the noise of the 360, I heard that the fan would not spin up much when watching HD DVDs but it does, I do not think it is an issue of heat/high CPU usage either as the 360 runs noisy when playing standard DVDs or even just audio CDs. I tried it completely outside of my AV unit too for better ventilation but it ran just as noisy, seems it’s just meant to be noisy unfortunately.
Deacon1972
21-09-2008
I don't blame you taking advantage of a discounted format, some very cheap movies to be had.

Bluray can still be expensive, as with HD DVD there are some very good deals to be found online for Bluray too.

New releases at around £15, and two for three offers on back catalogue and recent releases where discs work out at about £10.

When you are ready for Bluray I can highly recommend the PS3, it's a very good player as well as a games machine and media centre. It's also very quite, well the one I own is.
MrGriller
21-09-2008
DRC set to 0 is off as you thought,4 being the maximum. Not all soundtracks are coded to enable the use of drc,so you won't always gain anything from it.

DRC is only available on DD,dts does not use it.

Dolby Digital also has something called dialnorm that should mean dialogue is at a constant level in relation to the rest of the soundtrack. When you cannot have the volume at a level where the dialogue is clear without the louder effects requiring you to turn the system down,set drc to 4 (on your amp) and select the dolby digital track rather than dts.

You could also set the centre channel to +1 or +2,this can help the dialogue without having too much impact on the overall sound.

Have look here for some good information,
http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volum...on-6-2000.html
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