Brian Florian

DTS Master Audio: Question About Output Formats

Need help understanding DTS Master Audio. I have a Samsung BD-F5900 Blu-ray player attached to a Yamaha RX-V475 via HDMI. I have the audio on the Blu-ray player set to output unprocessed bitstream but when I play a movie, the receiver only displays DTS and not DTS MA. Is this because the receiver is only 5.1 channel and am I really getting the full lossless audio provided by DTS MA? Aside from the extra channel audio, should I set the player to output PCM and will I be getting higher audio by setting it to PCM?

- K. Mastrogiovanni
Galt, CA

Onkyo LS-B50 Soundbar

The "soundbar" business must be booming, or at least manufacturers are banking on it doing so, as just about everyone has come out with one if not several offerings. The gambit seems logical: jam a bunch of audio transducers into an enclosure which tucks in under the typical display panel, usually with a separate small subwoofer, offering better-than-built-in sound. Onkyo is a big name in consumer AV, best known perhaps for their much lauded Surround Sound Receivers. The subject of the current review is their latest take on this mass market soundbar segment: The LS-B50, part of their "EnvisionCinema" line of products.