Special AVS Deal From AIX Records - Page 11

DVDA playback is very solid now, though it's always possible that a problem disc may crop up now and then. OPPO is usually very proactive in fixing such things in a timely manner.

USB is also very easy to do for the fw upgrades. OPPO has the instructions for step by step procedures on how to perform the upgrades. They are available on their website, and are also always included with any current fw revision notification.

Dr. AIX
My congratulations to you and Oppo for putting together and shipping without my even asking,(WOW) an excellent disk. All 7 cuts are very good and as usual, feature your great AIX sound! I am looking forward to your expanded sampler when it becomes available. My current AIX material also sounds great on the 83.

I have the new AIX- BR music & Calibration disc. and the Oppo BR83'.
I have done many calibrations on my system with a few discs. SO I have learned few things about how my system sounds with different calibration techniques. [Trying to make a silk purse out of a pig’s ear].

I have a few AIX DVD-As and think they are some of the best recordings I have heard. * I have more SACD than DVD-As.
This BR Sampler is one of the best also.
I calibrate for both 5.1 MCA and the D2ch. Analog; with RS SPL and the AIX calibration test ones. {But not S/PDIF yet for cable/TV listening] I have a very basic Mid-low end system. All I can say is, at this time, my system sounds the best I have ever heard it. I’m not sure, if it is because the AIX test tones are better than other disc? [Not really sure how one tone can be better than another tone-I’ll let someone else comment]. But I am very Pleased. The disc is simple and straightforward to use and calibrate with. The 96/24/2.0PCM test tone really has made the D2ch. Stereo sound fantastic. I have played SACD/DVD-A/Cd/ BR movies and the sound quality is very very good.

Note; I feel the test tones –length- are rather short, leaving you with little time to navigate to the Oppo speaker trim menu to +/- dB. It is rather frustrating, this with the Oppo 83’ so do not know how other players are setup. A more detail tutorial on what you are testing and suggestions on how to correct it would be helpful. And a few other small issues come up. One really needs to read the AVS calibration thread first to get a better handle on how to get the most out of this disc. Other than that it’s a keeper!!

db

Beta Tester #9

Just to put a post in with a bit of a twist....
Dr. AIX, I have a couple of AIX RECORDS DVDA discs and love them. After hearing the new Blu-ray sampler disc, I am now inspired to buy a couple more.
One of my favorites that I already own, is Moonlight Acoustica.
One of my favorites on the new Blu-ray disc, aside form the awesome Carl Verheyen and Albert Lee, was a surprising liking for the voice of Destani Wolf. Her voice does not waiver... just spot on.

How about some personal favorites of Dr. AIX?
Any recommendations Doctor?

Dr. AIX, would you mind also commenting on how the audio was mixed on the Blu-ray?
I notice that the sound seems to be focused on the front and rear stages, with the surrounds acting as low level ambient type sound when listening to the full 7.1 mix.
I have never heard tracks mixed like that before.
Care to comment on why you went that direction?

Thanks Mark. Just to clarify, I am getting FULL sound from the front stage, and then also full sound from the 6th and 7th channels, with the 4th and 5th channels being low level ambiance.
I thought that to be away from the norm, and interesting.

This is one of my absolute favorites as well. Probably in my top 3 of all music I own of any genre in any format. Smarty, the more I find out about you, the more I wish we lived in the same town. I think we could be buds.

Have a great weekend.

I'm sold already. Don't see it on the web site at the moment; when is it scheduled for release? Do you take pre-orders?

Everything about the setup is correct as far as I can tell. When I use the test tones on the the AIX disc, the tones come out of the correct speakers.
I am using the BDP-83 as the source. I doubt it is the player, being as mature as it is by now. Unfortunately, I don't have any other BR player to test it on right now.
Another peculiarity, is that I have heard no one else mention this other than myself.
I can check things over again later tonight, but I am 99.999% sure that everything is setup ok on my end.
(My AVR is the Onkyo TX-SR805)
Another thing to test may be the difference between PCM and bitstream decoding.
Like I said, I'll go over it a bit more thoroughly tonight.

Well, since this would have been on my mind all evening, I went ahead and fired up the system and checked everything again.
All is the same as I reported above.
Using the THD speaker identification test on the disc, everything comes out of the correct speakers as it should.
I also performed an overhaul of the player, clearing persistant storage and resetting to factory default and plugging in all new settings.
Also whether PCM or bitstream makes no difference.
The primary surround sound is still coming out of the 6th and 7th channels.
I wonder if maybe there is a batch of bad discs???
Like I said, I have heard no one else mention this.

I listened to "A High-Resolution Audio Experience" the other night. I probably only did so once when I first got it. Now I have to buy "Moonlight Acoustica" and "Now is the Month of Maying". Both are spectacular.

Hey everybody- Black and Decker (BDK) is on a tear! I bought it at 51.91/share and sold it at 83 about 5 years ago. It went up over 90. Recently I bought some at 48 and it fell. So I put in a buy order at 34 and it fell right through that to $20.53! That was about 4 months ago. Recently up to 28 for about 10 days and then up to 39.40 last thursday. Then Friday up to $41.50! Its 52 week high is 69. Very sensitive to the economy, consumer spending and especially construction. They issued glowing financials a couple weeks ago with their second qtr results. I passed the CPA exam so I can sort of make sense of them. When the economy ignites, BDK will go back over 60, I think. So make 50% on your $$ in a couple years perhaps? A hundred shares doing that is a $2,000 gain, enough for an Oppo 83 now and a Pio SC-27TXH receiver around X-mas probably. I told my dentist on April 3 that he should buy a million shares at 33. Two weeks later when I returned it was 38. Sorry to be OT, and I'll be sparing in that, but it's fun to get all this equipment the easy way.

So... No way for us non-Oppo-owners to buy a disk?

That depends... How much are you willing to pay?

You can get a disc - for $399+ S&H. and they will throw in a Free BR DVD player--
but only if you call in the next 15 min. Have your CC ready..........
db

Looks like I just missed out on a great sale.
($100 of regular price)

PM sent! Thanks!

I'm not sure I'd call it a switch. There is generally more sound in the back channels. But sometimes I hear an instrument more from the side too. I hear ambiance sounds in both. Being a "stage mix", I'm not sure what was intended but from a normal seating position the effect is quite good. It centers the band in the middle of my room with slightly less sound from the sides.

For me it is a lot more dramatic. With the surround in all four surround speakers as a whole, I'd say the music is probably 80-90% in the 6th and 7th channels, with the 4th and 5th channels having maybe 10-20% of the sound.

You're not being clear at all. There are 7 speakers at work. Are you saying that all the sound is coming only from the sides and back channels? It doesn't matter what channel a particular sound comes from most, what matters is the total surround stage and where that instrument is located on your stage. All I can say is that from my sweet spot, the stage is well-balanced and the bulk of the band is in the center of my room.

As has been discussed from the beginning, we are talking about the surround and surround back speakers. The front stage sounds fine.
With all 7 channels firing, it sounds like half the sound is in the front, and half the sound is in the rear, with almost nothing in between.
It does not feel as if the music is surrounding me, because the surround speakers are too weak.
It sounds like music in front, and music in back.

Which is not the reaction I have at all. It IS weighted to the rear more than the sides, but is consistent and well-balanced to my ear. I can locate some instruments in the side, some in the back, and some in between. But the whole sound stage is well-centered in the room.

I did a little recalibrating with my SPL over top of my Audyssey settings.
My surround back speakers were running a pinch hot, but they were supposed to be that way, because of the distance to the primary seating location.
However, lowering the level in them a little does make it not so dominate in the rear row too.
After doing that, it does sound better, but still a bit too dominate in the rear speakers.
I will have to see how this setup sounds with 7.1 movies now.
I suspect it will be ok for now.
Incidentally, the levels that the speakers were previously at is where Audyssey set them.

For the "center stage" surround experience, all 4 surrounds in the 7.1 mix should be fairly equal IMO. All of the DVDA and SACD discs that I own and have heard do not sound like this. So it's different... well, ok, but I prefer to be surrounded, not sandwiched.

I don't know what else to say except that the sound stage on all the audio tracks is forward of my seat with only ambiance or rather "room sounds" from the performance in the rear. It's as good a soundstage as I have heard. It does change if I move around though, I have to stay in the sweet spot.

I don't know what else to say either. We can just wait and see what Mr. Waldrep has to say about it the next time he signs in. He did mention that he may be on vacation too, so I don't know if that means a vacation from AVS too or not.

I got the chance to meet Laurence Juber and chat for a few mins at GuitarTown in Copper, CO.... I told him I really enjoy the DVD-A and bonus material. He was very nice to meet. I picked up his Beatles disc and he graciously signed it for me. Nice to meet your heroes and find out they are good guys. Oh, an he absolutely played his set like a pro, what an incredible talent.