Category Archives: Cables

Audio subjectivism

Posted on June 22, 2009 by Stephen Dawson

My brother has drawn my attention to an episode of ‘Skeptoid’ in which (third item) the magical benefits of expensive audio cables are dismissed, along with the value of face masks in combating swine flu, the radioactive dangers of depleted … Continue reading →

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Do these cables support HDMI 1.3?

Posted on February 27, 2009 by Stephen Dawson

On lots of Internet forums there is discussion about suitable cables for home theatre. In particular, people frequently ask about HDMI 1.3 cables. The problem is, despite labels on some cables, their capabilities aren’t as clear cut as simple versions … Continue reading →

Posted in Cables, How Things Work, Rant | Leave a comment

Was HDMI ‘designed to degrade the signal’?

Posted on January 18, 2009 by Stephen Dawson

I noticed a comment recently on a movie website to the effect that HDMI hobbles burnt DVDs. I followed up and ‘C.B.’ replied in part: Since getting the Bravia, I noticed that DVDs I burned are markedly poorer in quality … Continue reading →

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HDMI 1.3 cables

Posted on December 1, 2008 by Stephen Dawson

On the Sony BDP-S350 Review Thread at the Blu-ray forum someone asked, ‘I am totally confused whether I should be using a HDMI 1.3 cable.’ Someone else responded, ‘If you want to bitstream DTS-HD MA and DD TrueHD you must … Continue reading →

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HiFi funnies of the day

Posted on June 17, 2008 by Stephen Dawson

[Via Transterrestrial Musings] I have huge respect for the brand Denon. Its range encompasses decent, reasonably priced stuff (nothing really mass market) through to some seriously high end gear. But I do have to wonder how it can bring itself … Continue reading →

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Cable quality suddenly becomes important

Posted on October 26, 2006 by Stephen Dawson

A while back I mentioned how I’d found Australian interconnect company, Kordz, to be a very good deal for HDMI cables. I first stumbled across Kordz in an article in Connected Home Solutions (for which I write), which was discussing … Continue reading →

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Kordz, plus Panasonic

Posted on July 30, 2006 by Stephen Dawson

A few weeks ago I went looking for a ten metre HDMI cable so it would fit nicely with my bundle of analogue video cables. Until then I had been using a five metre cable that barely stretched from receiver … Continue reading →

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Going insane, and then relief

Posted on June 29, 2006 by Stephen Dawson

So I’m reviewing mid-priced ($AUS2,000 to $4,000) home theatre receivers at the moment. Most of them are equipped with HDMI switching. I’ve been using one of them for a couple of weeks, with a HDMI DVD player plugged in along … Continue reading →

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Randi gets his teeth into audio mysticism

Posted on March 24, 2005 by Stephen Dawson

I am happy to report that James Randi, best known as the magician/skeptic/author who eviscerates prominent self-proclaimed mystics, also spends the odd moment on audio mystics. For example, here on Peter Belt. Follow some of the links from that post.

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HDMI woes resolved

Posted on October 28, 2004 by Stephen Dawson

That picture to the right is the HDMI output socket of the very fancy Krell Showcase DVD. A little oddly, this doesn’t actually have HDMI out installed as standard. It’s an option, but the distributor put it in at my … Continue reading →

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