AS far as the latest news though, the real deal is that while both PS3 and XBOX will be financially successful, the future of hi def DVD by anybody is in doubt at this point. There are many factors required for either format to be successful, and right now, as mentioned by other posters on this thread, many of us here who are audiophiles are simply going to wait it out; same with the videophiles to a large extent. Even moreso actually because the video part of this is very easy to define as far as specs etc. No one is going to buy a blu ray DVD for the audio alone. Lets face it.
AS far as analog outputs, most of us have analog reference two channel rigs and something else for HT; Most HT receivers used by sheer numbers DO NOT have separate audio channel analog inputs; its usually a digital coax, optical, or HDMI input for HT. SO analog 7.1 which you were first pushing, and then analog 5.1, isn't really of any significance. It wont help either format succeed. And yes, I know that the Arcam 300 for instance has analog inputs. And other brands we use here as well- but its still a significant minority.
AS far as the demos at CES- DTS knows what they are doing. The demo was great! But not any holy grail of audio. Dolby had one of their top engineers there who actually designs the Dolby processing process- their room was too small to take full advantage of their new 14.1 ( yes) demo-- but again- hi rez audio demo was good but not any different than a good 5.1 soundtrack that we have now.
One of my friends is a sound engineer in Los Angeles and did some of the soundtracks for movies like " Hot Chicks" and "Scooby Doo" including and especially the music. What I am saying is that the concept of "lossless audio" so we can hear just as the audio engienners intended" assumes that we aren't hearing something now due to some technical limitation that will be removed with the new audio codec. But right now we are hearing everything intended to be heard because the technical limits we now have are not even being reached in the vast majority of soundtracks. So having a faster/greater bitrate and other technical improvements don't give an audible result.
As far as audiogon and audio improvements, I am one of those two channel reference set up analog tube gear guys that thinks that LPs sound a lot better than CDs and isnt particularly wowed by digital technology and processing. I dont like equipment getting in the way of my music and I prefer not to notice it at all. Audio on HD-DVD and Blu Ray is simply processed creativity--but is far from reference analog audio for me at this point.
AS far as analog outputs, most of us have analog reference two channel rigs and something else for HT; Most HT receivers used by sheer numbers DO NOT have separate audio channel analog inputs; its usually a digital coax, optical, or HDMI input for HT. SO analog 7.1 which you were first pushing, and then analog 5.1, isn't really of any significance. It wont help either format succeed. And yes, I know that the Arcam 300 for instance has analog inputs. And other brands we use here as well- but its still a significant minority.
AS far as the demos at CES- DTS knows what they are doing. The demo was great! But not any holy grail of audio. Dolby had one of their top engineers there who actually designs the Dolby processing process- their room was too small to take full advantage of their new 14.1 ( yes) demo-- but again- hi rez audio demo was good but not any different than a good 5.1 soundtrack that we have now.
One of my friends is a sound engineer in Los Angeles and did some of the soundtracks for movies like " Hot Chicks" and "Scooby Doo" including and especially the music. What I am saying is that the concept of "lossless audio" so we can hear just as the audio engienners intended" assumes that we aren't hearing something now due to some technical limitation that will be removed with the new audio codec. But right now we are hearing everything intended to be heard because the technical limits we now have are not even being reached in the vast majority of soundtracks. So having a faster/greater bitrate and other technical improvements don't give an audible result.
As far as audiogon and audio improvements, I am one of those two channel reference set up analog tube gear guys that thinks that LPs sound a lot better than CDs and isnt particularly wowed by digital technology and processing. I dont like equipment getting in the way of my music and I prefer not to notice it at all. Audio on HD-DVD and Blu Ray is simply processed creativity--but is far from reference analog audio for me at this point.