I have recently received my $40 coupons. I have read through the reviews on this site. I need two different converters since I have a VCR and TV in the same room both on the same tower antenna, so I purchased both units. The Zenith from CC and the Digital Stream from Radio Shack.

Here are my comparisons...

Both pick up the same number of stations and have about the same signal strength/loss. Both are fairly easy to setup. I have found that I favor the Digital Stream.

1. Its smaller (about the size of a standard vcr tape.)
2. It works better with my remote (could not get the Zenith to turn on from my remote, off, but not on. go figure.).
3. The remote that comes with the DS is nicer. It has (TV) on/off, (TV)input button, (TV)vol Up and (TV)vol Down. Right on the top of the remote. So for a simple remote on an existing TV is is great.
4. EPG - The guide is a lot better. It shows TV shows for hours ahead, and if you push the select button on any of the future shows, it displays a detailed message stating what the show will be about. This feature only shows for the channel you are on, but it is more complete. The Zenith will show only the current show and 1 hour ahead. It will try and show multiple channels, but only if you have previously viewed each channel. On the Zenith when you turn on the box it will only show info for the channel you are on (for others it instructs you to click on though the channels before info will show).
5. The DS also will show 14:9 which I find fills 90% of the screen most often. I find a lot of channels where this is perfect. You can switch to 16:9 when needed by just hitting the zoom button. It also has Zoom (Cropped) and Anamorphic.
6. It has settings for emergency alerts. This feature is either missing from the Zenith or not adjustable.
7. The Info button shows program info and signal strength in one display. There is also a Meter button, that shows it separately.
8. It has a factory re-set. (If you put in a PIN number it will not re-set until it is entered. Keeps it safe from the kiddies.)

Ok, there were a few negatives, but, they are not as important.

1. no composite cable, only antenna.
2. No way to add channels manually. you have to use the auto scan, but you can remove any you do not want easily.

So there you go... my 2 cents worth.

By the way the Zenith is dated Jan 2008, and I don't have the left speaker issues.

Gary

2. No way to add channels manually. you have to use the auto scan, but you can remove any you do not want easily.

Gary


Actually, you can add them manually. If you tune to them via RF tuning, which is accomplished by pressing the "Period" ( . ) key, you can then go in to the menu and add them to your channels list. See if it works for you, it did for me. You just need to know which RF channel frequency they are broadcasting on.

6. It has settings for emergency alerts. This feature is either missing from the Zenith or not adjustable.What are these emergency alerts for?
Are they news updates or a program reminder?
What do they look like?

According to the Digital Stream DTX-9900 ATSC D2A Converter Box thread
Volume level is higher than zenith
Most complete IR code listings
Signal meter stays on screen when you call it from the menu
Adding unscanned channels not as easily as with the Insignia/LG
Converter box has smaller depth than zenith
The menus aren't as sharp as the zenith.
The box is plastic, but doesn't seem cheap.
The warranty is 6 months parts and labor.
Digital Stream chops few pixels off the top and a lot more on the bottom then Zenith

The emergency alerts are for the EAS (Emergency Alert System), an outgrowth of the old Emergency Broadcast System, which itself was an outgrowth of CONLRAD. It's to let you know about floods, tornadoes, tsunamis, enemy attacks, and such.

TJ

I've finally received my first coupon. After reading and re-reading user comments over the last couple of months, I seem to recall claims that the DS DTX-9900 is not quite as good as the DTT-900 in maintaining solid reception in weak signal/multipath situations. But is this correct, or am I mis-remembering a comparison between the Zenith and some other CECB? I can't seem to find the posts I'm recalling.

I like some of the features of the DS better than the Zenith/Insigna, such as selectable 14:9 picture ratio, and numeric signal strength indicator. But I'm 40+ miles from most of my market's transmitters. So performance on weaker signals is more important.
If the two are close to equal on this score, I'd opt for the Digital Stream. But are they or aren't they equal performers?

Your observations would be helpful.

I bought a DS converter for my mother. She has an analog station (ABC) that is unwatchable because of multipath, but the DS decodes the digital channel perfectly. She's only 25 miles or so from the transmitter, though.

Brad

So performance on weaker signals is more important.
If the two are close to equal on this score, I'd opt for the Digital Stream. But are they or aren't they equal performers?

My observations on reception are on the DTX thread at:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=13594220#post13594220

Basically, I consider the difference in the two boxes to be insignificant. I was able to test an additional channel this morning (RF 27 @ 71 miles) with similar results.

Be cautious with regards to comparisons of reception. Most comments that I've seen don't detail how the comparison was made. Comparisons need to be made side-by-side with as much common signal routing as possible to be meaningful. The atmosphere is dynamic so tests separated in time are useless. This is particularly true if the tester just indicates that the autoscan for box A picked up a station that box B did not. That simply means that box A had a good signal for the 1 second that the scanner was trying to tune the channel and that box B did not have a good signal during it's one second window. Also, a lossy cable can skew the results so it's best to test with cabling swapped to eliminate cable loss as a factor.

How well does do these sets work on a 16:9 TV?

I have a HDTV with only a NTSC tuner in it that is 16:9.

I know the Zenith has a 16:9 or 4:3 setup option, and the DS has an anamorphic option. Any thoughts on what might be better on an older analog CRT 1080i60 57" RPTV that only has a NTSC tuner ?

How well does do these sets work on a 16:9 TV?

I have a HDTV with only a NTSC tuner in it that is 16:9.

I know the Zenith has a 16:9 or 4:3 setup option, and the DS has an anamorphic option. Any thoughts on what might be better on an older analog CRT 1080i60 57" RPTV that only has a NTSC tuner ?

This CECB is designed for extending the life of SDTV with NTSC tuner. If you have an HDTV already, there is really no reason to save a few ten bucks and get a converter box to receive lower resolution image with signal lost in digital-to-analog conversion.

HD capable ATSC tuners cost a bit more than $10 more than a CECB box after the $40 coupon. I already have a HD cablebox, but for local reasons between the CBS affiliate and the cable company they do not carry the CBS HD cable signal, only a very lousy analog feed.

Apologies for the cross postings.

HD capable ATSC tuners cost a bit more than $10 more than a CECB box after the $40 coupon. I already have a HD cablebox, but for local reasons between the CBS affiliate and the cable company they do not carry the CBS HD cable signal, only a very lousy analog feed.
if you're interested in some hd boxes i have two. pm me and i will give you details.

I asked before what box to use with an HDTV without a NTSC tuner as a cheap ATSC alt

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I use a cable HD box for my older HDTV, but I had one poor CBS channel not available in HD, so I wanted to see if a CECB would help for that one station.

My recommendation is the DigitalStream DTX9900 using the 75 ohm coax out can do surprisingly well. Still better to use a real HD ATSC tuner, but for $25bucks the DS box does quit well. I was kinda impressed.

What is best CECB box to use on a 16:9 RPTV 57" NTSC tuner CRT HDTV?

The Winner is : DigitalStream DTX9900 using the ANT (75 ohm) out !

Wow. Interesting findings here.

I first connected the DigitalStream DTX9900 using the composite connection (using both a 6 foot set of high quality RCA composite cables and then a set of component cables) . I was less than impressed with the SD digital channels being sent and OK with the 1080i HD 16:9 result. But I saw some clear shimmer, dot crawl and clay face lose of color depth compared to a true 1080i60 HD signal. The Zenith CECB looked better at first using its composite a 75 ohm outputs.

But then I switched to the ANT (75 ohm) output of the DigitalStream DTX 9900 and plugged that into my ANT1 input to my Toshiba 57HDX82 NTSC 16:9rear projection HDTV.

Wow.

Night and day difference. No looks even better than the Zenith did. As a matter of fact, it now looks better on the 1080i60 down converted to 480i60 by the DigitalStream CECB (using anamorphic mode) and then back upconverted back to 1080i60 by the HDTV.

Standard def digital channels now look even better than the Zenith and the shimmer is gone. Their might have been cross talk on the 6 foot composite cables or the HDTV is optimized for upconverting on the ANT (75ohm) in.

Either way, I happy with the result.

Most amazingly, this down convert upconvert kludgey chain works extremely well on actual native 1080i60 HD material. I was able to compare a HD channel of my SA8300 HD cable box and the OTA HD 1080i60 version processed thru the DS box which down converted to anamorphic 480i60 an then feed thru the cable ANT out back to be upconverted by my HDTV. The result was astonishing on the 57" rear projection HDTV. Not quite HD , but I had to look hard to see the background difference. Certainly very watchable and light years beyond the crappy 4:3 analog version of CBS that I lived with before.

I am a real happy camper. All of the digital stations I can grab now are superior to their analog versions on my HD cable box. Not quit HD , but very much better than I expected.

The DigitalStream DTX9900 CECB using the ANT (75 ohm) out (do not use the composite out, is the clear winner here when connected to a larger NTSC tuner based HDTV.

I also connected it to the 27 and 32 inch 4:3 CRT TVs I have as well. Overall the Digitalstream DTX9900 looked good there too.

It will be my clear recommendation between the two.

I actually tried your idea but it looked even worse than video out of my DS box. I think I'll pick up the Zenith box to compare PQ using composite out.
Not sure why you are getting better PQ using RF, but besides being mono audio it is worse than composite, at least on my 32" Panasonic LCD HDTV. When I get the Zenith I'll post any differences. Note I'm not saying the DS looks poor but it sure isn't anything near HD, or even as good as my Panasonic ES-28 DVDR w/digital tuner output. I'll try the Zenith.

I actually tried your idea but it looked even worse than video out of my DS box. I think I'll pick up the Zenith box to compare PQ using composite out.
Not sure why you are getting better PQ using RF, but besides being mono audio it is worse than composite, at least on my 32" Panasonic LCD HDTV. When I get the Zenith I'll post any differences. Note I'm not saying the DS looks poor but it sure isn't anything near HD, or even as good as my Panasonic ES-28 DVDR w/digital tuner output. I'll try the Zenith.continued conversation on jjeff's comment here:

What is best CECB box to use on a 16:9 RPTV 57" NTSC tuner CRT HDTV? (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=13661852#post13661852)

It may be that my older HDTV is upconverting the RF coax input differently than the composite input as many earlier HDTVs were optimized to upconvert cable.

This could be a YMMV issue as our HDTVs are upconverting the RF and composite inputs differently.

Note I'm not saying the DS looks poor but it sure isn't anything near HD, or even as good as my Panasonic ES-28 DVDR w/digital tuner output. I'll try the Zenith.Let us know how the Zenith compares to that Panny's tuner, too.

Wish I could try the Zenith myself, but no one around here has it. CC's out of them, and RS never had them. There are a couple of other CC's further away I could try if I get a chance to go to this weekend.

just to add to my post above

I can now get pretty good pictures on both boxes using composite.

Played with both the DigitalStream and Zenith CECB boxes on different settings.

Once I cranked down the contrast and sharpness settings for both boxes I compared them both on RF coax and composite. So I was switching A-B-C-D to compare.

I could now get all 4 inputs to look about the same on the HD channels, with addition of course of stereo sound on composite. The Zenith had less moire and shimmering on the SD digital channels and properly showed them in 4:3 aspect ratio. My HDTV was over compensating , but when I cranked down the contrast and sharpness, it could make all 4 inputs look pretty good.

So I'm back to keeping the Zenith, cause I don't care about the EPG and it properly displays 4:3 digital content automatically while I change channels.

I would try the Zenith in 16:9 TV aspect mode if you have a 16:9 HDTV.

Of course by using the composite inputs I get stereo again.

Bottom line: Zenith and DigitalStream look about the same on HD stations. Zenith 16:9 TV aspect ratio setup allows proper aspect ratio display of 4:3 content with side pillar boxes on a 16:9 HDTV display with slightly better display of SD content.

I still like the DigitalStream remote EPG and menus, but the 16:9 TV Aspect setting works for me in my particular situation.

Went to CC again last night and they had gotten quite a few Zenith's in. Didn't get one yet, but may later today.

If my Sony RDR-HX900's IR blaster will control it (if it has the right LG satellite box code), I might keep it if the audio's OK. I'm not going to use a coupon on it yet, though.

Went to CC again last night and they had gotten quite a few Zenith's in. Didn't get one yet, but may later today.

If my Sony RDR-HX900's IR blaster will control it (if it has the right LG satellite box code), I might keep it if the audio's OK. I'm not going to use a coupon on it yet, though.
Should be no problem buying it cash at local CC , and then returning it and buying it with a coupon. A CC sales person actually suggested that to me today in a conversation and the return desk confirmed they would do it. The return desk person said that even if there was a issue, using cash, you could always return it and a walk out the door and come back later.

Another tip I saw was to look at the build date on the side of the Zenith box and buy the newest manufactured.

One poster on the DTX9900 thread noted a lack of low end audio from the box. Would folks who have both the Zenith and the DS compare the low/mid-range audio levels and report how they compare. That poster said he adjusted the CECB and TV volume levels appropriately before noticing the lack of lows.

One poster on the DTX9900 thread noted a lack of low end audio from the box. Would folks who have both the Zenith and the DS compare the low/mid-range audio levels and report how they compare. That poster said he adjusted the CECB and TV volume levels appropriately before noticing the lack of lows. YMMV

I tested both on a 27 CRT TV and a 57 inch HDTV with a analog tuner with better speakers.

Both eventually sounded the same for me on both displays. But the Zenith IIRC output was initially lower in volume and the TV sound had to be adjusted louder to get useful range out of the Zenith sound settings.

Did not notice any real audio range difference even with A-B comparisons.

Its real easy in audio comparisons to mistake volume output differences for other perceived quality issues.

YMMV of course.

YMMV

I tested both on a 27 CRT TV and a 57 inch HDTV with a analog tuner with better speakers.

Both eventually sounded the same for me on both displays. But the Zenith IIRC output was initially lower in volume and the TV sound had to be adjusted louder to get useful range out of the Zenith sound settings.

Did not notice any real audio range difference even with A-B comparisons.

Its real easy in audio comparisons to mistake volume output differences for other perceived quality issues.

YMMV of course.

Thanks for the head-to-head check, Kosty!

I am using the RCA output and I also notice the audio signal from the Zenith converter to be rather low even with the maximum setting. I have to set the volume on my TV to ~20% higher than usual. In addition, a couple subchannels have even lower audio output levels. Other than that, I do notice any other audio issue.

Let us know how the Zenith compares to that Panny's tuner, to
I purchased both the Digital Stream D9900 and Zenith 900 and this is my comparison. I also own a Panasonic DVDR EZ-28 w/digital tuner and will compare that as well.
My display is a Panasonic 720p 32" LCD. To get the fairest test for all 3 I fed the DS into Line input 1 of DVDR and the Zenith into the Line 2 input of the DVDR and the DVDR fed my TV via HDMI upconverted to 1080i. This way I was able to select from the DVDR either the DS, Zenith or it's own built in SD tuner, all outputted to the same HDMI input on my TV.

PQ:
Neither box was as good for 480i, 720p and 1080i programs as the DVDR's tuner. The DVDR was a little sharper on 480i, MUCH sharper on 720p and sharper on 1080i broadcasts. I'm not sure what's up with the DVDR's tuner on 720p channels because I have tried NUMEROUS times on MANY programs and 720p programs tuned through the DVDR is actually "slightly" better than my TV's true HD tuner. Both are great but for whatever reason the DVDR's output is actually slightly sharper(noticeable in hair and something like a tweed jacket or peoples faces). Yes the TV inputs have all been calibrated and should be similar with the same source. Their is a slight amount more noise via the DVDR's tuner vs. the TV's and NO if recording the end DVD does not look as good as the passthru signal(but pretty darn good if using 1 or 2 hr speed).
The Zenith box is maybe 10?% sharper than the DS box. Not much but at times noticeable if I'm looking for it.
Testing RF out of both boxes, they both were a step down in PQ from composite. The Zenith box did have about a 20% drop in volume level via RF out. Otherwise no problems with audio fidelity on either box.

Following are a some other misc. notes about each box:

Overscan:
DS box cuts off the bottom 3/4" of the screen. Cuts off part of the ticker on some channels. The Zenith box did not do this via composite but did cut off about 5/8" using RF out.
RF:
Zenith box was MUCH better on getting a channel that I have severe multipath problems with. On my older Panny TV I get ~50-80% signal on this channel. On my DVDR I get about 80-90% on the Zenith it got 85-95% and on the DS it only got 15-40%. It would break up at times(like my TV occasionally does). For comparison I tried swapping the DS and Zenith RF cables and the same findings. The signal is strong but does have multipath problems. This tells me the Zenith box has a much better tuner for multipath although without the multipath the DS would be just fine. Both boxes worked just fine on a my weakest channel coming in at 60% consistently.
Heat:
Both boxes draw <1 watt off and 5 watts on(measured) but the plastic cased DS got quite warm to the touch. The metal cased Zenith ran cool and was also heavier so it didn't slide around as much.
UI/display:
The DS box's OSD was slightly cartoonish, the lines weren't smooth but jagged. The Zenith was clearer and not jagged.
Remotes:
The Zenith remote was nice and small/skinny. The DS remote felt a little cheaper by comparison although this can be subjective. The DS controlled my TV's volume, channel, input and power. The Zenith only controlled my TV's power.
Guide:
The biggest thing going for the DS box, and to me this IS a big thing, the 30 hr EPG. The DS will go out 30 hrs(if the station goes out that far) while the Zenith is only NEXT/NOW and has NO description of the next show, unlike the DS which gives descriptions for even coming programs. One plus on the Zenith is it's ability to stay on a channel and display all the NEXT/NOW for the other channels. On the DS you actually had to tune to that channel to see the guide.
Signal meter:
Both boxes have a nice 0-100% signal meter, the DS box stays on the screen until you push the SIGNAL button again. The Zenith has a audio beeping feature(like a giger counter) which would be handy for working behind the boxes if you can't see the screen. The beeping gets faster when the signal is stronger. The Zenith signal meter times out after a couple minutes.
Aspect ratio:
The DS box if setup for WS output will display 16:9 programs correctly but will stretch SD programs to 16:9. No way to turn this off except to change in setup menu to 4:3 display, but then you don't get 16:9 programs in full screen.
The Zenith box handled this much better. If you setup the box for 4:3 you get the most flexibility. You have a choice to stretch 4:3 to fill 16:9 screen or leave as 4:3. You setup each channel independently. Most SD channels I setup for 4:3 output but one, our local 4:3 weather channel I prefer to fill the screen. If you setup the box for 16:9 in the menu 16:9 programs comes out full screen and 4:3 programs are always 4:3, you don't get the option to stretch to fill 16:9 screen.

summary:
I liked everything about the Zenith box better than the DS except one important thing to me. I REALLY like the 30 hr EPG on the DS, but I will keep the Zenith because of everything else. I'm still waiting for my ideal box. One with full EPG, and S-video out. I'll keep looking, but for now the Zenith is pretty darn good. I'm going to give the DS to my mother for her 13" CRT TV. She'll appreciate the guide and not care about any of the Zenith features I like.
For someone with a 16:9 TV I would suggest the Zenith. For someone with a 4:3 TV (and no severe multipath problems) I would suggest the DS box. They are both pretty decent boxes.

Pretty much with the above observations.

The DS can properly display the 4:3 channels on a 16:9 display if you turn off anamorphic mode and then g back to your 16:9 displays aspect ratio and turn it back to normal mode from its anamorphic DVD (widescreen full etc,) watching mode. In that case you may get grey pillerboxes from your display. To get 16:9 widescreen back in the DS box , you would have to toggle back to anamorphic and switch your display to its anamorphic mode. YMMV

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=13683661#post13683661

More conversation on using these boxes on 16:9 sets here.

Kosty, you can look on Fleabay for a DishNetwork Vip211 for around $100 or so. It's cheaper than the Samsung. It has an ATSC tuner in it. I don't think you even need to activate it to get ATSC reception. You won't get listings w/o subscribing to Dish. This is purely FYI.

Pretty much with the above observations.

The DS can properly display the 4:3 channels on a 16:9 display if you turn off anamorphic mode and then g back to your 16:9 displays aspect ratio and turn it back to normal mode from its anamorphic DVD (widescreen full etc,) watching mode. In that case you may get grey pillerboxes from your display. To get 16:9 widescreen back in the DS box , you would have to toggle back to anamorphic and switch your display to its anamorphic mode. YMMV
So the DS will work for 4:3 but then you lose 16:9 if it's available? I guess I still prefer the Zenith. With that box you can setup each channel the way you want. Stretch, full screen or pillar box. A little more flexibility. My biggest surprise was how poorly the DS handled multipath, granted most people won't have it but if they do the Zenith is the one to get. I'm just lucky(for the test) I had it, otherwise I'd have assumed they were both the same. That's why I swapped the coax. With the drastic differences I wanted to make sure their wasn't something wrong with the feed, their wasn't.

I received my coupons yesterday:D and yes I ran out to the local ratshack (only place that actually had anything in stock in this little town) and bought the DS 9900.

I was surprised it's ok I like the epg it has also. It works great on the analog tv I have. It also will power on/off the tv plus the volume very useful. I am receiving the the same stations that I was receiving on my other tuners.

I wanted to try the Zenith receiver but the DS was all they had in stock.

I think the ECHOSTAR receiver has been listed as having the full epg but the way I understand it it won't be out until june or july. My other coupon will expire in July:( I want to get one of these

I just wished Hisense had just jumped back on the bandwagon and retooled the 2010 and had it certified the epg audio and video was great plus you could just about output it to any tv except the ones with rf in only, even then all you had to do was get a modulator

I have the RatShack DigitalStream and like it. Unprecedented IR sensitivity to the remote, seriously.

Why does it have a menu option to select cable or antenna input? These boxes don't do QAM as far as I know.

Why does it have a menu option to select cable or antenna input? These boxes don't do QAM as far as I know.I wondered that myself. It's too bad they didn't at least sneak a 5.1 audio out on an obscure coax connection. I had it hooked up last night and I could have swore my audio receiver was decoding it. It was late and I got tired of messing with it probably just dreaming will check it out later

I hooked Dig. Stream to cable TV and did a scan all the way past 100 and it found nothing. I scanned it on cable mode with my OTA antenna hooked up and it only found the local station that broadcasts on channel 10, and none of the UHF signals...

I wondered that myself. It's too bad they didn't at least sneak a 5.1 audio out on an obscure coax connection. I had it hooked up last night and I could have swore my audio receiver was decoding it. It was late and I got tired of messing with it probably just dreaming will check it out later

Digital stream doesn't output 5.1-it just has a flag in the info bar that shows when a station is sending out Dolby dig. 5.1

Digital stream doesn't output 5.1-it just has a flag in the info bar that shows when a station is sending out Dolby dig. 5.1I kind of figured it was my imagination. I figured it might be that even - though it has dolby digital on the frontplate I figured it did a 2 channel downmix that my receiver might decode it, it will take a stereo inputs and do a surround simulation. i guess they put the dolby digital emblem on there because they at least do a downmix from dolby digital sound received from the stations

Yep - a requirement of ATSC. Gotta have Dolby Digital decode so you can get sound. Doesn't mean the CECB will OUTPUT DD - just that it recognizes it.

So the DS will work for 4:3 but then you lose 16:9 if it's available? I guess I still prefer the Zenith. With that box you can setup each channel the way you want. Stretch, full screen or pillar box. A little more flexibility. My biggest surprise was how poorly the DS handled multipath, granted most people won't have it but if they do the Zenith is the one to get. I'm just lucky(for the test) I had it, otherwise I'd have assumed they were both the same. That's why I swapped the coax. With the drastic differences I wanted to make sure their wasn't something wrong with the feed, their wasn't. You don't actually lose anything. You get 16:9 properly with the DS also. Both can do both 4:3 and 16:9 OAR correctly, its just the Zenith is easier as you don't have to adjust the display for some of the 4:3 stations that you may have to do using the Digital Stream CECB box.

It just that with the DS some of the 4:3 sub channel stations do not anamorphically squeeze. They stay at 4:3 while the main 4:3 channels and the HD 1:9 anamorphically squeeze. So if you have your 16:9 set set to anamorphically stretch that input , some 4:3 channels get short fat people mode as normal 4:3 aspect ratio channels are stretched and extended to 16:9. But of course you could just toggle from anamorphic /full /widescreen/ DVD watching mode to normal mode for those channels. The way to correct that is for those channels you go back to normal aspect mode on your display. How big a pain in the butt that is depends on you display, so YMMV.

So even with the DM, you can watch all channel in correct 4:3 or 16:9 OAR, you just have to switch your display stretch mode for some of the 4:3 stations.

With the Zenith , it seems to do so automatically in its 16:9 TV aspect ratio up mode. YMMV

With the Zenith it seemed easier to get a better effective 16:9 HD picture on the 1:9 display, but the end results were about the same.

I have the RatShack DigitalStream and like it. Unprecedented IR sensitivity to the remote, seriously.

Why does it have a menu option to select cable or antenna input? These boxes don't do QAM as far as I know. Legacy of the development firmware? I think they may have took out the feature to get FCC CECB approval.

Someone said changing the setting may affect audio or tuning somehow.

I just purchased a Digital Stream DTX9900 today at Radio Shack. I replaced the Maganvox TB100MW9 I had previously purchased at Walmart and the Magnavox definitely has the edge in displaying a picture with a weak signal. The local PBS station here channel 12 would not come in at all on the Digital Stream while on the Magnavox it comes in albeit with some dropouts. Other channels that displayed good picture qaulity with Maganvox had dropuots with the Digital Stream. While the Digital Stream has a nicer feature set the Magnavox has a big edge in signal reception.

I hooked Dig. Stream to cable TV and did a scan all the way past 100 and it found nothing. I scanned it on cable mode with my OTA antenna hooked up and it only found the local station that broadcasts on channel 10, and none of the UHF signals...
How about if you use the OTA hookup and scan in antenna mode? Or were you just confirming no QAM tuner?

I just purchased a Digital Stream DTX9900 today at Radio Shack. I replaced the Maganvox TB100MW9 I had previously purchased at Walmart and the Magnavox definitely has the edge in displaying a picture with a weak signal. The local PBS station here channel 12 would not come in at all on the Digital Stream while on the Magnavox it comes in albeit with some dropouts. Other channels that displayed good picture qaulity with Maganvox had dropuots with the Digital Stream. While the Digital Stream has a nicer feature set the Magnavox has a big edge in signal reception.

Questions:

1. How much time passed between your observations of each model?

2. Do you detect any of the stereo audio distortion that has been reported in one channel of the the Magnavox?

I am using the RCA output and I also notice the audio signal from the Zenith converter to be rather low even with the maximum setting. I have to set the volume on my TV to ~20% higher than usual. In addition, a couple subchannels have even lower audio output levels. Other than that, I do notice any other audio issue.

billcsho,
On the Zenith unit, switch the audio to monaural and not stereo. This will correct the sound level.

billcsho,
On the Zenith unit, switch the audio to monaural and not stereo. This will correct the sound level.
Yes, it does. Thanks.

How about if you use the OTA hookup and scan in antenna mode? Or were you just confirming no QAM tuner?

I was just confirming no QAM. I keep it in antenna mode and I get all my stations, and even one that I am outside of it's viewing area all day.

I found the Digital stream to be superior to the maggotbox in the tuners ability to get fringe stations also, which contradicts the above posters comparison. I get much higher signal levels on all channels with the Dig. Stream.

I've had the Magnaox for a week and have'nt detected any sound problems. I set up the new Digital Stream and scanned the channels and quickly determined it is not usable with my current old roof top antenna with 300 ohm twinlead split to four televisions. I plan to upgrade to a Winegard HD7084 antenna rg6 caox and ampified splitter.

I recently got both the Digital Stream DTX9900 and the Zenith DTT900, I really don't see much difference between the two. The Zenith was quicker scanning available channels, and seems to have better reception than the
Digital Stream, but that's about it. I think the picture quality is about equal.
I also noticed the apparent audio degradation reported common with the Zenith in the Digital Stream box when there was low signal strength. To me it sounds like digital distortion caused by the signal transmission and decompression method, rather than a defect in the tuner itself. The downconverted HDTV pictures of both units are superior to the standard definition digital cable box 480i output signal I have, but not quite up to par with the same HDTV material output from my LG HDTV tuner downconverted to 480i. I suspect that DVD recorders and dedicated set top box HD tuners do a better job of downconverting HDTV signals.
For people who still have analog TV's, both these units seem to fit the bill
just fine. The Digital Stream seems to have more flexibilty in aspect ratio and in the advanced program guide, but I think I prefer the Zenith, even with it's garbled audio. The Zenith has a one year warranty as opposed to the Digital Stream's six months. Radio Shack just had the Digital Stream, and Circuit City only had the Zenith in stock, I was surprised there wasn't a larger selection of these new converter boxes available from these major retailers.

Kosty, you can look on Fleabay for a DishNetwork Vip211 for around $100 or so. It's cheaper than the Samsung. It has an ATSC tuner in it. I don't think you even need to activate it to get ATSC reception. You won't get listings w/o subscribing to Dish. This is purely FYI.

The E* boxen won't work without being connected to a dish. I tried that once with an old 811 before upgrading to the vip211.

both had harsh sounding left channel decode.
zenith has more overall polish. digital stream gave a general feeling of cheapness in all aspects. it isn't total garbage, it is competent, but its like its made by people that dont care. though obviously none of the companies care considering the audio issue that isn't being addressed by any of them.

please move to new CECB forum

For the past few days I've been comparing these units side-by-side. Reception-wise, the Zenith has outperformed the Digital Stream with two very weak out-of-market stations. One station @ 99 miles decoded video and displayed PSIP info via the Zenith while the Digital Stream did display some video but did not display any PSIP info. Another station @ 59 miles fully decoded (with video and PSIP) via the Zenith while the Digital Stream was unable to decode anything (video or PSIP). The signal for these tests came from two Triax Unix 100 UHF antennas horizontally stacked @ 30 ft. AGL with the CM 7775 preamp.

Steve

Since both the Zenith and Digital Stream suffered from the left channel audio chirp problem, I was going to get one of each.

Now. according to the DTT900 thread, it appears the Zeniths with a manufacture date of April 2008 have had the audio problem fixed so am not sure if I should just get two Zeniths DTT900 units or one of each.

If you're going to be using both in the same room, get two different brands. You don't want a situation where the same remote controls both of them.

Good point but they will be in seperate rooms.

I just brought Digital stream from Radio shack and I took it home to test it out.

The result was very good, and I was able to get KCHF-DT channel 10.1 "Church station" at 38 to 50 percent on the signal meter and it's 50 miles away by just using a Silver Sensor antenna inside my apartment!:eek:

The rest of other TV stations come in great at 90 to 100 percent about 10 miles from the antenna farm on the Sandia Crest mountain.

I plan to use the box for 2 things TV DXing and back up tuner just in case my HDTV tuner breaks down. "H20 Directv model":)

I am debating weather to get Zenith for more extreme TV DXing when I move to my town house and hook up outdoor VHF-low, VHF-hi and UHF antenna.

Any best brand antenna to chose from, and it has to be small or mid sized antenna since the local signal here is farly strong in Albuquerque metro areas?

But the good news after the analog shut down date channel 2 to 6 will be open for extreme TV DXing fun!!

5-24-08

You've already got the best set top indoor antenna there is. Do you mean a non-set top type? Maybe the DB2 or DB4. Or 4220 or 4221. You could try a 4228, but that thing would be huge in an apartment. Still, for 50 miles, that may be the ticket. You could hang it on the wall like a tapestry.

Hello Rammitinski,

I ment to say move out of my apartment, and move to my new town house and put up real outdoor antenna.:)

As for these models what store do carry and how much the cost?

Thanks for responding back fast!!:)

5-24-08

Sorry, I didn't read closely enough. Just sort of skimmed through the second half.

At 50 miles, you'll need something fairly large, but not necessarily huge. There's a nice, Winegard UHF/hi-VHF model available that came out recently, but I can't remember the model # offhand. Check www.solidsignal.com. They're a very reputable outfit to order from, and have a good selection.

(edit: check out the 7694,5,6,7,8 P models.)

Thanks Rammitinski!!

Will look in to it.......:)

5-24-08

Both boxes perform close enough that only the following points stand out.

[TV format - Winner is Zenith]

Digital Stream - does not remember each channels setting so whatever format you're watching on one channel will remain for other channels unless 1) you manual change it on the fly or 2) its forced to use the one and only format available in the current channel signal.

Zenith - can be set for each individual channel so you never have to change it.


[Volume bar interface - Winner is Digital Stream]

Zenith - volume bar range has 100 steps so changing the volume via the box requires a lot of button presses to make an acceptable difference in the volume. Owners will likely adjust using the TV's volume.

Digital Stream - volume bar range has 20 steps so changing the volume via the box requires less button presses to make an acceptabl difference in the volume. I figure one button press is equivalent to Zenith at a ratio of 5 to 1 volume steps.


[Controlling TV by box remote - Winner is Digital Stream]

Zenith - remote only provides an On/Off button for controlling the TV.

Digital Stream - remote provides On/Off, Volume Up, Volume Down, and one other that escapes me at the moment, possibly Input. Funny thing, the Zenith remote should really provide the Volume Up/Down as their volume interface is horrible.


We tried both boxes before using the coupons and before reading any reviews. We returned the Zenith and ended up with two Digital Stream boxes. Unfortunately one of the remotes is not remembering the TV code now and has to be reset every day. I have a support email out with Digital Stream.

Digital Stream - remote provides On/Off, Volume Up, Volume Down, and one other that escapes me at the moment, possibly Input.Yes, it's input selection, but I found that the setting that worked for controlling power and volume on our Funai televisions wouldn't control it.  The setting that controlled power and volume for a Daewoo TV did also control input selection.  So I had the DS box connected to the Daewoo TV until I returned it for subjective reasons.

Unfortunately one of the remotes is not remembering the TV code now and has to be reset every day. I have a support email out with Digital Stream.

My email has gone unanswered so I will be calling them about my remote issue. Meanwhile, I picked up a Digital Stream DTX9950 CEB from Radio Shack that has Analog Pass-Through. For more info, see the thread I started, "DigitalStream DTX9950".