My popular demand. I'm starting a new thread on this topic for reviews. I now people have started reviewing on the bland's thread, but people specifically want a thread to focus Halcro HDMI MPCM, so here it is.

This is just a preliminary review, more detail to follow when I've had more time to listen to more MPCM and compare it to analog.

First a word about my set-up. My upgraded Halcro SSP-100 (200) is connected to my BAT VK51SE through a unity gain input for the main channels. I plan to compare to a direct Halcro output at a later time. My source is PS3 for blu-ray. I have an Esoteric DV50 for SACD, DVD, DVD-A.
My monitor is Pioneer 610 HD CRT RPTV, which does not have an HDMI input. In order to complete the handshake I had to plug an HD Fury into the RGB input, and set the Halcro for HDMI MPCM digital audio and HDMI video input and output for the PS3, and PS3 to HDMI PCM audio output and HDMI video output . Audio alone didn't work. I have Wilson speakers all around in a 5.1 set-up- WP7s and WATCH center and surrounds.

My first impression is WOW. I have never heard/felt such impact from any HT set-up before. This seems especially true at the higher end. I can hear every individual bullet move through space, making me want to duck and cover. Every sound has a discreteness I have never appreciated before- the crispness of a fire burning in the background, a clarity of vocals and a definite improvement in imaging. So far I've only listened to a few shoot em up demo blu-rays (Resident Evil, Casino Royale). As I have more time over the weekend to evaluate the system, I'll post further reports. (It's my birthday weekend, so there's much planned and I won't have a great deal of time, bt still getting this up and running finally is a great present to myself).

Happy Birthday Terry

Have a great Birthday weekend Terry!

I can concur with you WOW statement as it can really test the capability of your system. Dynamics a plenty with LPCM and clear as a whistle to boot.

Bulldogger has a great list which groups Blu-ray discs by audio format here:

http://mysite.verizon.net/ruvic/bluray-audio.htm

I will have to try Crank and The Descent when I get my back surrounds up again since they seam like the only good PCM 6.1 tracks.

I will add a more thorough review myself when I have had a chance to get more listening in but I look forward to your comments as well.

Does your Esoteric output DVD-A and SACD from the HDMI out? I would definatley be interested in your thoughts through the Halcro.

Have fun!

Mike

Thanks for the birthday greetings.
Unfortunately the Esoteric only has a DVI output (although it is HDCP compliant). For 2 channel listening I use the BAT, which is to the Halcro as MPCM is to Dolby Digital.

Happy Birthday...and glad to hear that your Halcro is finally performing as promised.
I have been reading the Halcro thread :)

RayJr

Why not try the PS3 for SACD (http://www.ps3sacd.com)? Did you buy the 40GB version? (Hopefully not)

If your receiver can handle multichannel PCM (like I gather) you can finally enjoy multichannel SACD which your Esoteric doesn't deliver.

I f you use the PS3, dont forget to enable the 176khz output.

You could also try to find a cheap OPPO player as it output both savd/dvda thru lpcm.

Give us your thoughts also on hdtv thru hdmi.

Actually the Esoteric does multi-channel SACD and DVD-A through the analog 5.1 outputs. I'm not sure if I would gain anything from the PS3 HDMI MPCM output, but I can't even test it as whenever I try to play MC SACD through the PS3 the Halcro has a meltdown. All my speakers pop and go silent, and the only way to get any sound back from the PS3 to to turn off the Halcro and turn it back on again. I'm not sure if there are any other settings on the PS3 that would work, but the auto HDMI and linear PCM settings do not seem to be working for SACD. Everything is working fine for BD, DVD and games. Any suggestions?

I'm not sure if I would gain anything from the PS3 HDMI MPCM outputWhen you play Blu-ray discs on your PS3, it doesn't matter whether the soundtrack was TrueHD or uncompressed PCM or whatever; the Halcro just sees it as multi-channel PCM and lets you apply everything to it (bass management, time alignment, surround processing, etc).

If you can get SACD to work the same way out of your PS3, then you'll gain usage of all the same features on your Halcro. BTW, the PS3 does a better job of converting DSD to PCM than pretty much any SACD player out there.

It doesn't matter what format is used on the disc; that's for only storage and delivery purposes. The goal should be to send everything in PCM form to the Halcro.

Sanjay

Ive been unable to get SACD to play through the HDMI MPCM on my PS3. I have a call in to Halcro, but I wonder if anyone else has been able to get it to work?
Last night I did a comparison of the MPCM and Dolby TrueHD tracks on Spiderman3. As I reported on theblands thread, I have heard a definite difference between the two on other disks, with MPCM being louder and having more bass. On Spiderman3, the volume and bass were much closer on the two different tracks, I would still give the edge to PCM, which seemed more "real"- crisper, with better separation, perhaps a bit edgier.
In all, I've been ecstatic with the sound of HDMI MPCM on the Halcro. My big disapointment with blu-ray until now has been the sound. DVDs on my Esoteric just sounded much better than blu-ray on the PS3. I can finally say after years of switching components that I am completely satisified with HT sound.
The PQ is another problem. I am finding huge fluctuations in black level and hue throughout playback. This is not the Halcro, as I tried plugging the PS3 directly into the HD Fury and it was even worse, with the picture going at times to all green then all blue then black. The fluctuating black levels are most prominent in darker scenes, with shadows losing all detail. I can only suppose that this is related to the HD Fury rather than inherent to HDMI. It has reached a point where it has become unwatchable, so I fear I am going to have to switch back to component and forgo the improved sound quality until I upgrade my TV. The sound of MPCM is such a huge improvement, that I'll be making that move sooner than I had planned.

I am able to play SACD with my PS3 through the MPCM HDMI. It sounds good but have not really spent too much time with it......sigh. The big improvement I hear is with Blu-ray PCM tracks. SACD through HDMI with the Halcro is not as significant a jump if at all compared with uncompressed PCM.

I have not yet tried Spider Man 3 but with Ghost Rider the PCM and TrueHD tracks sound very similar. I wish it was my slow season so I could play with my new toy more.

You may want to double check your PS3 settings as there are a lot and maybe something is off for SACD playback. Your PS3 seams to work fine for PCM and TrueHD (and hopefully soon DTS-HD MA) so it is odd that SACD is not coming through. I would suspect that your PS3 is doing something wrong as your Halcro is accepting MPCM just fine for the other formats. I do know that the Halcro will NOT accept DSD so you have to make sure the PS3 is set to convert DSD to PCM.

Did you try the automatic detection for HDMI audio with the PS3? If not then you should as it finds out exactly what the Halcro accepts. HDMI audio also has to be set to PCM in another area. I am not at home right now but I believe there is another setting for SACD as well, if anyone out there knows then please chime in.

Good luck

SACD does playback thru the Halcro. Check your settings on the PS 3.

Using your LPCM settings leave yourself a little space hole gap of about 2 feet between your side speakers. Opens up your sound field a lttle bit.

I have the HDMI set to automatic, and the sound setting to PCM, but no SACD. I get a few notes, then a digital error message on the SSP, a popping noise and then I have to turn off the SSP to get sound back. Any other settings I need to know about?

My video issues seem related to HDCP, as with some games and downloads the PQ is fine. On Blu-ray and DVD, however, I get wildly fluctuating black levels and hues, not unlike what I recall from the days of Macrovision on VHS.

Ive been unable to get SACD to play through the HDMI MPCM on my PS3. I have a call in to Halcro...It can't be the Halcro, because all it sees is a PCM signal. It has no idea what the PCM signal used to be (SACD, TrueHD, analogue) before being converted to PCM. Do you have the DSD decoding in the PS3 set to 176.4 or 88.2 sampling rate?

Sanjay

I'm not sure where the DSD decoding setting is. I have the HDMI set to Auto in the Sound settings, CD Output set to 88.2/176.4 in the music settings, and the HDMI set to PCM in the BD settings. Am I missing something?
If not, I'm beginning to suspect the problem may be with the HD Fury. It's clearly screwing up the video on copy protected material (extras on BD look fine, as do games- only the films themselves have problems, which vary according to film). It may be that without an accompanying video signal it's not forming a proper handshake. Just a guess.

CD Output set to 88.2/176.4 in the music settingsI don't own a PS3, but there should be a similar setting to what you describe above, except for SACD output. If it is set for 176.4, try switching it to 88.2. I'm beginning to suspect the problem may be with the HD Fury.Is your HD Fury drawing power from the HDMI cable or are you using its external power supply? The latter helps with stability and picture quality. It may be that without an accompanying video signal it's not forming a proper handshake.There should be some video signal accompanying SACD playback, even if it's just a menu of track numbers generated by the PS3.

Sanjay

My HD Fury didn't come with an external power supply, nor do I see anywhere to plug one in. I'm about to give up on this thing and order a Pioneer Elite 150-FD.

The $40 power supply can be ordered here:

http://www.curtpalme.com/HDFury.shtm

Cheaper than getting a Pioneer Elite 150-FD just to coax multi-channel PCM into your Halcro. But if you've been wanting to upgrade your display anyway, this sounds like the perfect excuse.

Sanjay

Ive been unable to get SACD to play through the HDMI MPCM on my PS3.

Have a look at the problem discussed in this thread:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=930051

It may be a similar issue here.

Thanks T7T.
It is the same issue. Changing the video setting to 480p from 1080i enables me to play SACD. Quite a PITA however to have to change the video setting whenever I go from SACD to DVD/BD.
Thanks again.

Hey Terry have you found any new Blu's to listen to that you would recommend besides Casino Royale, Resident Evil and Stealth?

Do you have any HD DVD's that you listened to that sound as good as uncompressed PCM from Blu-ray?

House of Flying Daggers sounds really good (although it looks bad) but Reign of Fire was not as good as I was expecting.

The Transformers on HD DVD only has a Dolby Digital Plus track but it does sound good. Batman Begins also sounds really good with it's TruHD track but most of the HD DVD's I have only use Dolby Digital Plus at best.
HD DVD's have generally disappointed me though for sound quality compared to uncompressed PCM from Blu-ray. It may have something to do with the players used, PS3 for Blu and Toshiba HD-A35 for HD DVD.

Unless the sound from HD DVD improves (TruHD at least PLEASE) I may just go Blu-ray only as the sound is addicting.

Got to find more time to watch and listen but if anyone has any HD soundtracks that need to be heard then please chime in. I did get Chris Botti Live by the way, thanks for the tip on that one Rayjr.