The cost of a Mac
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From: Lloyd Parsons on 2 Jan 2010 17:11 In article <hhofld$j2t$1(a)news.eternal-september.org>, Priam <priam(a)notsosure.com> wrote: > On 01/02/2010 08:49 AM, Lloyd Parsons wrote: > > > Priam on your motherboard, regardless of what the mfg may state, you > > won't get more than DD 5.1 or DTS 6.1 (older codecs) output on optical > > or coax. > > I'm just getting into this now as I have bought my first digital TV on > boxing day. I don't even know how to plug it! I just downloaded the > manual so I can see the plug description for the TV in a larger format. > > > ALL the new hi-res, and 7.1 and above codecs require either : > > > 1. HDMI - will send them as discrete digital signals > > I have HDMI plugs on the video card and HDMI on the TV, of course. My > monitor is now connected with a big analog cable. At the back I see DVI > and D-Sub plugs, but I wonder if I should care about switching away from > analog. > > Video card: > > ASUS' EN9400GT is a half-height Geforce 9400GT videocard specifically > made for those cramped Home Theatre PC situations that are a pain come > upgrade time. It packs in VGA, DVI and most importantly an HDMI output > right on board, and best of all, for older PCI Express x16 > equipped PCs it does the High Definition video acceleration itself! Ever > try to do HD decoding on an older PC? Take our word for it, without an > HD accelerator it ain't pretty. ASUS' EN9400GT-1GB is HDCP complaint > (sic), meaning it can output both audio and video from Blu-ray discs and > other protected sources at full quality, to HDCP compliant displays. > > > 2. Multi-channel coax - sends each channel via a coax cable for each > > channel. (analog). > > On the audio output, I have Rear, Side, C-sub and I suppose the standard > Out plug is for front. Since it has "side", I suppsoe this means 7.1? > > Anyway, I suppose all I need for now is an HDMI wire, right? > > My TV doesn't have a plug for headphones. Is it possible to connect > headphones to the audio output with adapters? 5.1 audio is : 2 - front 1 - center 2 - rear 1 - subwoofer (this is the .1 in 5.1) It sounds like it is only 5.1 unless I'm misreading something. This should also be what is coming out of the HDMI all else being equal. 5.1 isn't a big loss these days as there are few titles that are encoded for it anyway. And you have to have a room and furniture placement to make it effective anyway. Here's a crude drawing of what it would look like : Left front Center Right Front Subwoofer Chair/couch Left rear Right rear Left back Right Back Usually the left and right backs are closer together. With the right soundtrack 7.1 can be mind-blowing. But as I said, little uses it yet.
From: Priam on 2 Jan 2010 18:23 On 01/02/2010 01:16 AM, JF Mezei wrote: > Priam wrote: > >> Mezei, what next? Optical fiber doesn't justify the $2000 extra you paid >> for your Mac Pro. > > The sales girl at the place of worship (Apple Store) was very cute and > very friendly. > > And Steve Jobs makes some of the best presentations ever. IOW, you got caught in Job's reality distortion field :) But, despair not, you bought a good computer. For instance, if it's offered with 3GB of RAM, it's not because, like Dell, Apple is trying to get rid of old RAM, it's because the CPU's architecture offers, just like the i7, 3 memory channels. So, I would, of course, switch my computer for yours any day, that's not my point. My point is 1) You could have bought the same computer in the PC world for much less, hardly more than half the price. Like for all Macs, teh value of your computer is roughly 60% of the price you paid. 2) In the PC world, whereas Apple offers none, there are a thousand alternatives to fill the gap inbetween the Mini and the Mac Pro. You can even have the PC you need built to measure. Which means that if specs susch as the Mini's don't satisfy, you don't have to go way overboard and buy a Pro. So, when I see M&Ms being ripped off and then bragging about how good Apple is doing at each and every quarter, I can't help but to wonder how deep human stupidity can get. As I already explained, the totalitarism of Apple is even worst than Microsoft's. It's very representative of the kind of industry that brought our economy down. I'm not suggesting you sell your Mac tomorrow as if it was the devil incarnate, but it would be nice if somebody like you stopped bragging about the value of the Mac and maybe thought of your next computer as a PC with Linux.
From: Tim McNamara on 2 Jan 2010 18:40 In article <00b102f4$0$8185$c3e8da3(a)news.astraweb.com>, JF Mezei <jfmezei.spamnot(a)vaxination.ca> wrote: > Michelle Steiner wrote: > > > coax is copper. > > > Will have to disagree on terminology then. Only if you think changing the terminology also changes what the cables are made from. Names are magic! > "Copper" in sound cabling carries electrical signals. And this is different from all other copper wires in electrical applications in what way? > In sound, it usually means analogue line level signals that can be > fed directly into the amplifier. When using Dolby Pro Logic, those > analogue signals must first be digitized, then processed and totally > new signals produced at other end to be fed into the amplifier. Almost correct. But not. > Coax sound cables carries data broadcasts and plug into a radio > receiver which produces the data and then electronics which produce > analogue line level signals that go into the amplifier. Coax cables are made from various copper alloys, like most other wires that conduct electricity. > Fibre is simular to coax except it has the fibre terminal instead of > a radio raceiver. Fiber optics conduct light, metal cables conduct electricity. It's a pretty simple distinction. -- "I wear the cheese, it does not wear me."
From: Tim McNamara on 2 Jan 2010 18:41 In article <00bb7e8e$0$26803$c3e8da3(a)news.astraweb.com>, JF Mezei <jfmezei.spamnot(a)vaxination.ca> wrote: > Michelle Steiner wrote: > > > Wrong, just plain wrong. S/PDIF signals can be carried on copper > > coax cables. > > COAX is not considered "copper" (even if the core is made of copper). Only in your private world, JF. -- "I wear the cheese, it does not wear me."
From: JF Mezei on 2 Jan 2010 19:35
Michelle Steiner wrote: > The type of connector has nothing to do with it. I have coax cables with > RCA plugs connecting my components. Those cables may be coaxial in hardware, but not in nature. They carry electrical line level analogue sounds. They use the external sheathing as the second conductor. No stereo system uses RCA plugs to receive digital signals. RCA plugs are to receive analogue line level input/outputs and it is one channel per plug. If you have 2 copper conductors that are sheathed, then it isn't "coaxial" cable per say. real coax and fibre carry bitstreams (digital) which are converted into a number of discrete analogue line level outputs within the amplifier's computer section before they are fed to the amplifier's analogue amplifier section. As a digital data stream, those cable are able to carry multiple discrete channels on the same cable. You cannot do that on plain old copper (with RCA or sony) plugs. The only "copper" that could carry digital sound would be an ethernet cable if your stereo is so capable. In telecom, "copper" is very very different from coax. It doesn't refere to the materials used to make the cable, it refers to a electrical philosophy. Coax is not good to transfer electrical power. It is very good at transfering RF (electrical power at very low volt/watt but high frequency). Copper is better at transferinfg electrical power, it is not very good at transfering RF because it is so easy to get interference. |