Hi-Fi Insight - News and Reviews

With the news earlier this year that Toshiba had effectively conceded the format war between HD-DVD and Blu Ray and the HD-DVD format was resigned to the same technology graveyard as Sony’s Betamax, there has never been a better time to upgrade your DVD home cinema to something a little superior, especially if you are already equipped with a 1080P/HD ready television. With prices of the hardware falling, a quick look on Richer Sounds shows several models such as the Samsung BD-P1400 and the Sony BDP-S300 available for under £180.

However if you’re looking to spend a little more and want the latest technology, then you might be interested in this new model from Panasonic, the DMP-BD50 which retails for around £500. The Panasonic DMP-BD50 is feature rich and includes the new BD ROM Profile 2.0 as well as an ethernet controller so that the new BD-Live service can be accessed via the internet.

The Panasonic DMP-BD50 also includes an onboard audio decoder that supports Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio and HDMI output to the new 1.3 specification so that any signal can be upscaled to 1080P at twenty four frames per second. You also get far better picture output than cheaper Panasonic Blu Ray models such as the DMP-BD30 thanks to improved circuitry. What Hi-Fi have already awarded the Panasonic DMP-BD50 five stars so if you are looking to treat yourself between now and christmas, then this Blu Ray player could just be the ticket.

Hot on the heels of the Ixos XS218 HDMI adaptors which we posted last week, comes the Ixos XHT948 HDMI switch, a state of the art four input into one HDMI audio/video switcher which retails for £300.

The Ixos XHT948 is an extremely high quality product that allows four inputs such as DVD , Blu Ray, HD satellite receiver and games console to be connected up the same High Definition screen. Ixos also provide a handy infa red control with the XHT948 which is also HMDI 1.3a compatible.

As well as professional grade switching circuitry, the XHT948 makes use of Ixos’s own Active IVEC technology which greatly improves the digital signal passing through the box and means that a standard 1080p HDMI signal can be transmitted up to twenty five metres. Furthermore if the XHT948 is used with Ixos’s own XHT658 cable, this can be increased up to forty metres. In addition a RS-232 control port is supplied meaning the XHT948 can be used with Creston and other similar home automated systems.

The Ixos XHT948 is fully HDCP compliant and comes complete with 19″ rack mounting brackets for professional installations. Every XHT948T that leaves the factory is 100% tested by Ixos to ensure each switch works to its optimum performance level. For more information visit www.ixos.co.uk

Cyrus have launched a new range of High end CD players all with the suffix “SE” which stands for Servo Evolution. The entry level CD player in the new range is the £800 Cyrus 6 SE pictured above.

Cyrus have gone back to the drawing board with their CD players and developed their own transport system and disposed of the Philip’s transports found in previous models. The new “SE” transports make use of a slot loading mechanism rather than a tray and Cyrus claim the new transport reduces data errors by 20%. The electronics and power supplies in the new range are virtually the same as their predecessors but sound quality on the new SE models is very different

Early reviews suggest the Cyrus 6 SE CD player has some of the best dynamics and timing at this price range and it is probably no coincidence that the same quality of sound was noticed in the Quad 99 CDP2 when the Philips transport in the original Quad CDP was replaced by one Quad engineered themselves.

Cyrus should be congratulated for developing the SE range because developing in-house transports rather than using an “off the shelf” solution requires a lot of expertise to do properly - something Cyrus have clearly managed to pull off juding by the initial reviews with the new Cyrus SE range.

For an audition, contact your nearist Cyrus dealer or for more information visit the Cyrus website

If you’re a bit like me and try to hide all your audio video cables to the point where it almost borders on O.C.D then you might like these little rather useful adaptors from Ixos.

These days so many large screen television manufacturers locate HMDI sockets in such awkward places, that it is almost imposssible to either hide or feed cables in such a way that they do not stick out or just look plane untidy. This is where the Ixos XS218 HDMI Adpators come in handy. They have been designed to divert the connector at a ninety degree angle to either the left or right depending where the HDMI connector is located on your television. This then allows you to feed the cable behind the screen to a suitable point where they can be fed to their source.

The Ixos XS218 HDMI Adpators are especially suited to wall mounted screens where you do not want the cables to hang loose underneath the screen. The basic left and right Ixos First XS218 HDMI Adpators retail for £15.00 each and are well worth the money especially if you share a house with one of those women who detest visible wires. However there is a also a “Studio” version of the adpators, the Ixos Studio XS218 that incorporate patented passive IVEC technology to improve the signal, correct far end cross talk and allow an extra four meters of 1080p signal to be run on a standard cable, these adaptors retail for £30 and ensure an optimal High Definition signal is transmitted at all times.

More information can be found on the Ixos website.

If you are a fan of noise reduction headphones and are looking for a pair at the mid-high range price point of around £200, then Sennheiser have some good news for you. Originally launched in November 2007 priced at £229.99, the Sennheiser PXC 350 Noise Reduction Headphones are the baby brother of the award winning Sennheiser PXC 450s which retail for £300. Sennheiser have now reduced the cost of the Sennheiser PXC 350 Noise Reduction Headphones to only £179.99, mainly because the original price gap between the PXC 350s and the PXC 450s was too small and most people plumped for the more expensive model.

The Sennheiser PXC 350 Noise Reduction Headphones are being marketed as high-end noise reduction travel headphones and utilise Sennheiser’s NoiseGard technology as used by BA and Lufthansas pilots. Sennheiser developed the technolgy over twenty years ago and have incorporated it into a range of five models priced from £80 to £300, and the Sennheiser PXC 350 Noise Reduction Headphones are the second best in the range.

The Sennheiser PXC 350 Noise Reduction Headphones use the advanced NoiseGard circuitry to remove around 85% of bass rumble so that engine noise on trains and aeroplanes is effectively removed and the round ear design and ultra soft earpads mean that not only is noise also removed passively, but any music being listened to by the user cannot be heard by others.

The Sennheiser PXC 350 Noise Reduction Headphones are powered by two AAA batteries and alkaline types such as Duracell should give up to 40 hours use and even if the noise ciruitry is not being powered the Sennheiser PXC 350 Noise Reduction Headphones can still be used as ordinary passive headphones.

The Sennheiser PXC 350 Noise Reduction Headphones boast a frequency range of 8-28000 Hz and the NoiseGard circuitry can effectively remove up to 18dB of sound whilst the headphones themselves can remove about 32dB passively.

If you are looking for a pair of very high quality noise reduction headphones, then you’d be a fool not to audition the Sennheiser PXC 350 Noise Reduction Headphones now that they come with a fifty pound price reduction. Available now from all good stockists.