Headline: Theta - Page 2  

Originally Posted by els

For CB3 owners with 8 channels of superior DACS, where might we fall in this announcement.

Would we be led to believe that we will have to move to new superior II DACS?

Originally Posted by tyree91

Beat you at the wire. Norm

Originally Posted by Ash Sharma

Here's the full article You guys owe me one as it was a b**ch typing this:
Theta Digital Debuts Casablanca III HDMI 1.3b Upgrade
Theta Digital (booth 469) is introducing an HDMI 1.3b upgrade for its acclaimed Casablance 3 Music and Cinema controller, which now supports HDMI 1.3b audio and video signals.
Capitalizing on the flexible, card based architecture of the Casablanca 3, the HDMI 1.3b complaint hardware and software will provide four 1.3b inputs ad one HDMI 1.3b output. New formats such as Dolby TruHD and DTS-HD Master Audio are now able to be accessed, leveraging Theta's legendary expertise in D/A conversion technology, providing the highest levels of performance possible. The Xtreme D-2, Superior II and Premium DAC cards for the CB3 are already capable of processing signals of this caliber - yet another indication of Theta's forward thinking designs.
This HDMI 1.3 b upgrade will also allow the CB3 to switch and pass full HD video signals from sources to to a display device at resolutions up to 1080p with no artifacts or degradation.
True to Theta Digitals long- standing tradition of providing upgrade paths, owners of previous generation Casablanca I and Casablanca II units can upgrade to Casablanca III, to gain access to this HDMI 1.3b option.
(there is a picture of the Casablanca III with a caption - Theta Digitals's Casablanca III music and Cinema Controller now supports HDMI 1.3b Audio and Video Signals)

Originally Posted by thebland

Steve, your Theta HDMI 1.3 shouldn't bother at all with your video if it is properly designed. Run your audio and video right through it.

Originally Posted by LJG

Norm:

Thanks for the info, what about Extreme Dacs vs Extreme Dac D-2, any indication of what would need to be done?

This HDMI 1.3 b upgrade will also allow the CB3 to switch and pass full HD video signals from sources to to a display device at resolutions up to 1080p with no artifacts or degradation.

Originally Posted by tyree91

Jeff, since it has been anounced as an HDMI 1.3b machine, it will have to handle LPCM as well as DD+, True HD, & DTS-MA bitstreams. Come to think of it DSD as well. With the right transport this could make one heck of an SACD combo. Regards, Norm

Originally Posted by Steve Bruzonsky

You will have to upgrade your DACs to at least Premium, or Superior II, or Extreme. The original Superior DACs are old technology circa 1997-1998.

Originally Posted by Steve Bruzonsky

Q: What company's top line high end surround processors over the years maintain the highest resale value:

A: Theta Digital

Why: Because Theta Digital has and is following a truly upgradeable path, having just announced that its Casablanca 3 surround processor will be upgraded with HDMI 1.3b with audio processing for the new high resolution formats!

Originally Posted by tyree91

Kal, if you read the press release it states that the unit will access the new codecs. You are correct that 1.3b only means that it is capable of decoding them not requiring it. I will say we have not seen any company issue a 1.3 unit that is not designed to decode the new bitstreams, and it would be foolish of Theta to have waited for a 1.3 solution and not utilize it fully to decode them. I guess we shall see at CEDIA. Regards, Norm

Originally Posted by Stephan

I just checked Thetas website which is completely outdated, but they're listing the Superior DAC as 96kHz. Guess that's the old DAC, I thought the Premium and Superior II DACs are both 24/192? I know the Extreme is 24/384. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but anything less than 24/192 doesn't make much sense, does it?

but anything less than 24/192 doesn't make much sense, does it?

Originally Posted by DaveN

List price Superior II DAC?

Originally Posted by Steve Bruzonsky

"It uses a true differential balanced output circuit. It has a Burr Brown 24/192 DAC, and can play DTS 24/96 recordings.

Originally Posted by DougWinsor

As long as the DAC supports 24/96 you will be alright for blu ray and HDMI 1.3, I would say anything over 24/96 does not make sense.

Originally Posted by Steve Bruzonsky

Since the CB3 HDMI 1.3 upgrade will allow four HDMI inputs and one output,
with video switching and pass through but no processing:

This is fine with me! My Lumagen Radiance or my Sim2 C3X 1080 projector do the best video scaling and processing, anyway.

But its important, that like my Intega 9 .8 preamp/processor, Theta have a menu item to turn off the video display pass through so that the video passing through the CB3 remains as pure as the original source signal. Otherwise those of us with top dog video monitors will notice a degradation of picture quality if we pass the HDMI signal through the CB3 prior to video processing whether in the display or a separate video processor.

Originally Posted by htfan123

But for us who value more the audio and prefer to connect the source to the preamp and then the video signal to the video processor...any potential issues?

Well, I guess that depends on what you throw at it. dts-HD MA supports up to 8 channels of 24/96 audio, but it also supports 6 channels with 24/192. So if you end up with a 6-channel 24/192 track, you'd have to downsample it to 24/96 without the proper DACs.