home theater, cord cutting, video streaming, a/v tech, and more!

Postby **eddy** » Fri Aug 21, 2020 9:30 pm

Anyone have the Amazon echo studio? Thoughts? Best buy has it on sale and you get a show 5 free with it. Thought at the very least it would be better than the dot wired into the ihome I currently have in the kitchen. Figured I'd hook the show 5 outside to connect to my outdoor speakers and have that video option as something kinda fancy more than anything. I like that the studio has a toslink audio option for the bluray player/home theater on the deck as well.

Postby **willeyeam** » Sat Aug 22, 2020 8:51 am

Are you using a proxy server that's located in the US?

I've used within and outside. Doesn't matter

Postby **tifosi77** » Sat Aug 22, 2020 1:45 pm

It should, because afaik YTTV isn't available outside the US.

Postby **Shyster** » Sat Aug 22, 2020 10:47 pm

Does anyone use a separate DAC and amplifier for computer headphones? I'm wondering if its worth it.

Postby **dodint** » Sat Aug 22, 2020 10:52 pm

I have three sound cards and two amps on my computer.

But the audio runs through HDMI to the headphones so I can't really answer your question.

Postby **NTP66** » Mon Aug 24, 2020 2:08 pm

I convinced my dad to buy a Sony to replace his dated Samsung, so he bought a 65XBRX950G. Fast forward a month or so, and it started shutting down on its own and flashing red lights. He spoke with Sony, and they said they're sending him a replacement set. In fact, an upgraded set (X950H). Great, right? They redesigned the stand legs on that set, so now the new TV won't fit on his stand, so he has to buy a new one.

Postby **DigitalGypsy66** » Mon Aug 24, 2020 2:32 pm

Our building was "state of the art" in 2007 when they hung a bunch of flat screen TVs in some of the conference and study rooms. Fast forward 13 years, the TVs are starting to break, so they order replacements. First of all, the rooms were wired for VGA cables (lol) and everything new is obviously HDMI and the none of the wall mounts are remotely compatible with the TVs they bought.

The first issue is solved by pairing each TV with an Apple TV or Chromecast (or both). And they had to buy 20 wall mounts, pull the old ones, patch and paint, hang the new ones.

Technology!

Postby **DigitalGypsy66** » Thu Aug 27, 2020 9:42 am

I went to watch Ken Burns' The Vietnam War again with my kids last night (my oldest was asking questions about the reasons for the war etc.), so I went to find it on Netflix...and it was gone. IIRC, it was on Netflix (with all of his other docs) or Prime Video.

But no more - PBS has their own streaming network. It's cheaper than most streaming services, but still...You can't even get it on Xfinity On Demand any longer.

What a bummer.

Postby **NTP66** » Thu Aug 27, 2020 9:43 am

Netflix must have just purged a shitload of stuff, because my daughter started watching some science/experiment show, and it was removed as of yesterday.

Postby **eddy** » Thu Aug 27, 2020 11:44 am

I got an Amazon studio speaker for the kitchen. I'm very surprised at how much volume this puts out and it sounds terrific with the Amazon music hd streaming option. It also has Dolby Atmos which I thought would be just a gimmick for music, but the 3d selection I've listened to so far has been pretty awesome. I'm thinking about getting another one to pair with it.

Postby **tifosi77** » Thu Aug 27, 2020 8:26 pm

I went to watch Ken Burns' The Vietnam War again with my kids last night (my oldest was asking questions about the reasons for the war etc.), so I went to find it on Netflix...and it was gone. IIRC, it was on Netflix (with all of his other docs) or Prime Video.

But no more - PBS has their own streaming network. It's cheaper than most streaming services, but still...You can't even get it on Xfinity On Demand any longer.

What a bummer.

PBS has done that for years; I first noticed it with the José Andrés cooking show Made In Spain. When we watch any PBS content on Prime, we just buy it outright.

Postby **Shyster** » Thu Aug 27, 2020 8:46 pm

The "every network has its own streaming service" trend is going to backfire. The more expensive and more of a PITA it becomes to legally stream content and pay for it, the more networks are essentially encouraging piracy.

Postby **NTP66** » Fri Aug 28, 2020 6:17 am

The "every network has its own streaming service" trend is going to backfire. The more expensive and more of a PITA it becomes to legally stream content and pay for it, the more networks are essentially encouraging piracy.

I've been saying this for years. It's out of control now.

Postby **DigitalGypsy66** » Fri Aug 28, 2020 9:15 am

I went to look at buying it for our campus (The Vietnam War series) through Kanopy, a streaming service designed for higher education. For a one year license (with public performance rights), it would cost $1075. For one series. For one year.

So if a faculty member needs it for a class, I rip it via MakeMKV, encode it with Handbrake, and put it in our closed Google Drive. Only folks with an active campus email can watch it. Actually, I have a pretty good collection of films already on our Google Drive.

Postby **LITT** » Fri Aug 28, 2020 11:41 am

after some research, it seems the samsung QLED q80 is the TV for me. went to best buy and looked at everything and was happy with it. quesiton on model numbers --

best buy: QN65Q80TAFXZA
costco: QN65Q8DTAFXZA

it seems like everything is the same except a zero and a D. tried to research this and couldnt find anything that would indicate this is a materials difference

Postby **NTP66** » Fri Aug 28, 2020 11:49 am

after some research, it seems the samsung QLED q80 is the TV for me. went to best buy and looked at everything and was happy with it. quesiton on model numbers --

best buy: QN65Q80TAFXZA
costco: QN65Q8DTAFXZA

it seems like everything is the same except a zero and a D. tried to research this and couldnt find anything that would indicate this is a materials difference

That's SOP for Samsung. Those are the exact same sets, only one is only sold at Costco.

Postby **LITT** » Fri Aug 28, 2020 11:50 am

Postby **AuthorTony** » Fri Aug 28, 2020 11:54 am

I want to turn 2 spare bedrooms into 1 home theater room, but every time I start trying to plan it out, I get overwhelmed with options. Right now I'm trying to decide what speaker set up, etc. to go with. Atmos is tempting but a 7.2.4 set up is so expensive.

Postby **NTP66** » Fri Aug 28, 2020 11:57 am

Do it right, my man. Atmos.

Postby **AuthorTony** » Fri Aug 28, 2020 12:00 pm

I know. I'm super tempted. The only thing holding me back is 95% of what I watch are horror movies. And aside from new-ish stuff, Atmos isn't really a thing for them so I don't know if it's worth the extra cost for that 5% of the time. And I say that knowing that, if I don't go with Atmos, I'll always be wondering what I'm missing.

Postby **eddy** » Fri Aug 28, 2020 12:30 pm

Do it right, my man. Atmos.

Definitely. Don't skimp and just put 2 up there. Go all the way, especially if there will be construction involved. If not, you can always go 7.1 and add 4 later. If cost is a factor now and there will be construction, you could always wire up top for when you do upgrade...

Postby **nocera** » Fri Aug 28, 2020 12:47 pm

Is there a lot of media that supports Atmos?

Postby **eddy** » Fri Aug 28, 2020 12:52 pm

Is there a lot of media that supports Atmos?

Just about every 4k disc has Atmos or dts:x. I believe Netflix and Amazon have a decent amount as well.

Postby **AuthorTony** » Fri Aug 28, 2020 12:54 pm

You guys are costing me money. I should start a gofundme.

Postby **NTP66** » Fri Aug 28, 2020 12:56 pm

FWIW, you absolutely do not have to buy "Atmos" hardware. Just get a nice receiver that supports Atmos, and have the requisite number of speakers and placement (Dolby has diagrams showing them).