Dolby Digital 5.1

hacktavist

I was gonna post this on the Films / TV board but i thought the people here might be a bit more tech minded
But I was just wondering if anyone knew anything about it,
I know you need a decoder to use it and they come built into most dvd players but I can you buy them seperate rater than pay £300 for a dvd?

gandalf

Well it really depends on what power of speakers you want. Do you also want DTS as well as DD5.1.

For Example my setup is a Sony DTS/DD5.1 Home Theatre Amp which set me back around £400, a set of Mission Speakers with a Sub-Woofer for around £500. Unfortunately I haven't had a chance to ramp this setup up to full volume as the neighbours would revolt (hang on my neighbours are revolting).

As regarding DVD players with Decoders they are normally not a good idea and normally they don't come that cheap either. If your looking for a budget 5.1 setup go for the Digitheatre setup or http://www.scan.co.uk do a setup of their own (don't know how good it is saw it browsing their site the other day).

Gandalf.

hacktavist

So your saying you can buy decoders seperate..
1. How much ? like for a fairly cheap one nothing crazy
2. Who makes them links to online shops?
What about for speakers..
Mabey a couple of low to medium powered speakers 150 the most.
what price would I be lookin at for a alrightish setup?

yankinlk

Gadalf, maybe u can answer this question for me that I posted on the cable/mmds forum....

Is Chorus Broadcasting a digital signal?
Hello, I think that I may be the last person in this country to be still using the Chorus television service.

I just want to know why my new Dolby Digital Amplifier that is connected to my DVD and to my TV will automatically support/detect DD and DTS when I play "The MAtrix" but if I watch any channels on Chorus (antenna on the roof, fancy digital box with a remote that promises web and email but doesnt deliver) it doesnt detect any sory of Dolby, not even Pro Logic.

Is it the case that:

A. My setup is wrong? see below.
B. Chorus is not actually broadcasting in Digital?
C. Maybe I havent watched a programme that is in DD yet?
D. What channels would always be DD? (I tried the 3 movie channels)
E. Is the SKY box any different?

My setup is as follows:

My TV is scart to chorus box.
My DVD is scart to TV.
My DVD is Optical to Sony HTK215 Amplifier
My Chorus crapbox is "Red and white cable" to Sony Amplifier

Any help would be greatly appreciated and I would hope your comments of " what u idiot? u still with crapus?" would be kept to a minimum.

gandalf

Firstly hacktavist that Digitheatre one has some kind of decoder in place. THey talk about it alot on the dvdhardware forums on http://www.thedvdforums.com/.

Yankinlk don't know what Chorus are sending out as a signal. I presume you get basic stereo at least. I have heard that sky movies are broadcasting in DD. You would really need to check the Satellite box/Decoder and see if it has a digital audio out socket (?).

Gandalf.

_CreeD_

Hacktavist, try www.richersounds.ie, they have decent entry level amps. And definitely get one with DTS aswell (A there are a lot of music CDs recorded in DTS aswell as movies). Sony do a very good range of surround amps, it just depends on your budget (And just what 'fairly cheap' = ). Separates will always be better than an integrated system for the same money, and they give you more flexible upgrade options.