Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems One Box Solution

Here is my christmas story about the average consumer.

About 2 years ago my brother asked me which TV he should buy. I suggested the 40" Toshiba and that is what he got. He had a 480i only player so I gave him a 480p DVD player. (Toshiba SD-5109) I hooked it all up and did a full calibration.

I went over his house this year and he got rid of the 5109 and is now using an Xbox. The Xbox is not 480p. Next I noticed cross-color on screen and found out he was using the composite video out of the Xbox.

His receiver does not offer component but it does offer S-video switching. He does not want to change the input on the TV and on the receiver. The problem is he owns a VCR and it only has composite out. The receiver does not offer a comb filter so he feeds composite out of everything because it is easy.

He also watches everything in full mode because he does not like bars on the side.

I could not get him to go back to 480p even after I showed him all of the issues. Quality takes a back seat.

He had no interest in DVD-A or SACD. He is happy with MP3s on his PC. I don't think he even buys CDs anymore.

What i see happening over here is that the CD sales also are going down very hard.
This is due to the MP3 usage if i have to beleive the press information of the record company's.
I think they have to blaim themselves. If i buy a brand new CD, the charge up to 25 Euro's for it (1 US$ = 1 Euro)
A DVD with a concert of the same artist is almost always cheaper, and has a much longer playing time.
I think something is wrong here. Replication of a CD must still be cheaper than for a DVD. If they sell so expensive, i understand why people who do not care too much about quality run to MP3 playback.

I would not mind buying some titles on high resolution format, but there is hardly any music out i really like to have. So i basicly bought a SACD player for 2 tiles only: Franky goes to Hollywood: "Rage hard the Sonic collection" and Hugh Masekela "Best off"

The Franky goes to Hollywood SACD is a nice multichannel mix with a number of track that were in the topxx over here.
The Hugh Masekela has (at least) one song i could not buy on CD anymore (Stimela, a.k.a. the Coal Train) Lets hope it is of good quality.

Jaco

I don't think I know anyone that rips music from the net instead of buying the disc. I am a self-confessed collector. I certainly like to hold the product, not just select it via a menu (maybe this is something I will have to overcome if I got a music server).
On the rare occassion that I have used music from the net it has been to preview prior to purchase (most web vendors provide some facilty with RealPlayer or MP3).
Therefore, I can only believe that CD sales are down because:-

a) they are still and have always been seriously over-priced...the re-issues being the worst.
Just see what price a Beatles CD costs and try telling me that it's still studio time, producers, engineers, marketing etc that have to be paid for. I simply refuse to buy until I see the re-issue titles I want in a sale.
New releases I get from the net and never pay more that �9 inc postage. Arguably still expensive, but, better than the �13-14 high street price.

b) the current music/pop industry has completely lost its way. I find it such an insult that it is all so blatently manufactured. I know it's not a new phenomenon, but, they even make TV shows out of competitions about how it's all done. If you win, you get a contract and hey-presto you're at the top of the charts for the next year.
The result of this is that new real music, made by real singers/songwriters and real musicians is becoming more scarce. What follows is that we survive with lots more old material and re-issues than we would otherwise like. Maybe the big five know this and realise that the non-pop audience (quite possibly the majority of this forum)is the one that buys DVD-A and SACD, hence the lack of decent new material in new format and high levels of old at this time.

Maybe I'm just getting older !!

This is what makes the format war/debate all the more irritating (Trying to make my mild rant at least appear vagely on topic)

The price of CD has always been high. I really hate when discs are not on-sale. $17US for a CD is a bit much.

I have done my share of pulling music off of Napster. What I liked was the ability to get songs before they hit the store.

I have gone back and purchased a lot of the CDs, but not all, that is for sure.

I find it easier to buy a DVD than a CD, but I get more use out of CDs. I guess it just feels like you are getting more with a DVD.

Some of you guys are talking $20k for your player, let alone the rest of the kit, and are complaining about the cost of a CD.......

Isn't it because the quipment is so expensive we have to complain on CD costs ? Can spend it only once.

For me the problem is that the record company complain about the fact copying is done so much their market is collapsing. As a reaction they raise the price. A general raise of price i can understand: inflation, but its a technology where you would expect that larger numbers mean lower cost per item. I do not see that back.

I also buy DVD's more easy than CD's. A DVD offers perhaps more value to me for the money, as you get satisfaction for both ears and eyes. Once you get used to more input you might prefer/expect that. And so the CD becomes lesser value, and seems expensive in comparisation to a DVD.

Jaco

Jaco...well put.
My point was triggered by the reference to the falling CD sales. Even if I lived in a mansion and drove a Bentley (or better still the guy that just won the biggest lotto), I'd still be eligible to moan at software prices.

Best rgds

The music industry have got to change their model. They have successfully used copyright laws to effectively kill off the unauthorised copying of music. Taking someones hard work and not paying them for it is clearly wrong, but the big 5 have not even attempted to move to a distribution model that is internet based.

Too many vested interests within the supply chain.

Imagine a system not so very different to the TiVO but a music server connected to the internet via wi-fi / broadband (ok I know the majority of the world does not have broadband). You have a subscription, not too much, you download music to the server for as a time based event, say 7 days or whatever, after which it's deleted automatically, if you like it you have the option keep it for good, burn it to the inbult CD burner (ONCE ONLY), by paying a fee or ordering a CD at a discount price, because you are a subscriber.

No reason why Satellite technology could not be used.

The point is that all this technology is currently available, the above is hardly an original idea!

What do the big 5 do? Pretend that the internet does not exist or that MP3 was ever invented.

An analogy that most people (except those in America) will appreciate.

102 Million SMS (Short Messaging Standard) were sent on New Years day (in the UK, I'm sure that similar totals were seen all over the GSM world), the highest total for any one day. That's about �10.2, mobile phone companies make more from SMS that telephone calls. This revenue stream that did not even exist in ANY of the mobile operators business plans when GSM was launched.

You have not got to get too far out of the box to work out how the music industry can make money apart from selling CD's!

Martin.

[This message has been edited by mgarthwaite (edited 01-08-2003).]

Came across this today.Will this type of news ring any bells with Meridian ? http://www.highfidelityreview.com/news/news.asp?newsnumber=11742036 Personally I would prefer an all-digital solution.I didn't go for 861 just to keep converting between analogue and digital over and over !
Regards
Manus

The Lex is built on the Pioneer Universal transport.

Just got back from CES. I did not see 1394 on any players outside of the Pioneer. Meridian actually had audio and video going over the HDMI connector.

stacey - were they muxing audio over the DVI copper or is there an auxiliary piece of copper that carries the audio?

doody.

Stacey,
Was that over the VE-12 ?
That looks to be a Video only card.

If that is digital sound as well, how did they handle the audio part on the other end of the cable ?
Is there a HDMI capable card for the 861.
Further i thought HDMI was only a point to point conection, and not a bus system like IEEE1394.

Jaco