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Surround with 8200 series

digipete, modified 11 Years ago.

Surround with 8200 series

Padawan Posts: 99 Join Date: 6/18/11 Recent Posts
I am planning to set up a 5.0 system with 2 x 8260A and 3 x 8240 fed by my Mac Book Pro primarely for audiophile surround sound such as from 2L flac download, blue-ray, SACD etc.
I focus on 24/192 stereo and 24/96 surround - well and the usual stack of rips from redbook CD's.
Room is only 4,5 x 4,5 x. 2,5m, but I like the coaxial sound of the 8260s, so choice is not driven by SPL.

Questions:
- Can you recommend a single sp/dif -> multiple AES/EBU converter? I am looking at TC-32 as an option.
- Would you recommend to include a subwoofer? If so witch one and at what crossover?
- Can you recommend a surround software player that covers a wide range of surround audio formats?
- Do I need a HT processor to convert 5.1 movies to process surround audio formats and movies or is it possible to rip them in a way so it is not needed?

It's hard to believe that so few audiophiles have found the 8200 series Genelec DSP monitors! They simply rock!

Thanks in advance, appreciate any advise possible, as I'm about to write a rater large check.

Visit http://www.computeraudiophile.com if you are serious about digital audiophile sound - It's the way ahead!
1038, modified 11 Years ago.

Re: Surround with 8200 series

Jedi Master Posts: 340 Join Date: 4/6/09 Recent Posts
Hi Pete,

The audiophiles are starting to get on board :mrgreen:

I, like a lot of people are starting to shift my media onto a NAS drive. One of the main problems is the multi file format issue you mentioned. I have not been able to find a software player that covers all bases. I have decided to ripp all my Cd's in AIFF format, this currently gives me uncompressd audio with meta data. What formats become the standard in the future who is to know. I use iTunes as my audio player at the moment but playing HD flac tracks require another player :evil: Foobar is my app of choice at the moment.

For movie playback, this software is looking very promising http://www.mymovies.dk/home.aspx

In regards to your speaker selection, i don't know if a 8240A will cut it as a centre channel, an 8250 may be a better tonal solution. As your room is fairly small i would not specify a sub, the 8260's regularly achive 18Hz in room. Not specifying a sub also free's your hardwarevchoices as you can use either the AES/EBU or analogue inputs.

All the 8260 demo's i do are exclusively using the analogue inputs, as the hardware becomes available in the future i may switch to the AES/EBU inputs but at the moment analogue signals provide the most flexible hardware options.

If you want to playback the DD and DTS soundtracks you will need to decode them. At the moment i don't know if there are any AES/EBU soundcards that also decode DD/DTS, i am sure that we will see them in the future, there are many analogue soundcards with onboard DD/DTS decoders.

I am waiting patiently for the day when i can have a PC based solution that is seamless, i don't think it is far away..
digipete, modified 11 Years ago.

Re: Surround with 8200 series

Padawan Posts: 99 Join Date: 6/18/11 Recent Posts
Hi Steve

Thanks for your reply.

Perhaps I should just 'go all in' and do 2 x 8260 and 3 x 8250!

I am looking for an all digital solution, that is: the signal should be carried all the way to the speaker in full digital solution.
I also use iTunes to organize my music, but with Pure Music behind to handle all music playing and automatic switching of sample rate and word length. Great SW at I believe USD 129.

Looking at different solutions for decoding DD and DTS soundtracks:

- Use a professional mixing SW.
- Decode during ripping, play a clean sound file.
- Use an universal blue-ray player that will accept streaming from computer
- Use an universal blue-ray player that will do active streaming from NAS/external/internal disk such as an Oppo BDP-93.

All comment appreciated!

Visit http://www.computeraudiophile.com if you are serious about digital audiophile sound - It's the way ahead!
gue-, modified 11 Years ago.

Re: Surround with 8200 series

Youngling Posts: 7 Join Date: 12/20/09 Recent Posts
I would go 3*8260 at front to get a coherent sound stage. At the back only one size smaller, this means 2*8250.
If this is over the budget 5*8250 or even 3*8250 with 2*8240 would sound better than a mixed monitor front stage.

A digital home usage szenario consist of a AES EBU sound card (preferrably PCI Express - e.g RME HDSPe AES32 or Lynx AES16e) in a PC and a few software tools to backup your blue rays to MKV with full resolution FLAC audio:
See http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1033822 for the options.
However, direct playback is also supported using this approach:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1284952

Thechnically speaking this would be the optimal approach. But if this is all too complicated I suggest a simple 8000 series analog setup using a home cinema receiver with pre-outs.
digipete, modified 10 Years ago.

Re: Surround with 8200 series

Padawan Posts: 99 Join Date: 6/18/11 Recent Posts
OK, so I went "All in" and got myself the ultimate Genelec surround setup:

3 x 8260A for fronts
2 x 8250A for the rear
1 x 7271 sub.

I am running a pure digital setup using a Weiss AFI-1 to do firewire to AES/EBU conversion.

I can only say WOW - it is so natural sounding.

Try surround with dedicated high-res recordings in 5.1 from say 2L.no or iTrax in 24/96.
That will really show what such a setup is capable of :-)

More about the rig at my blog: “Confessions of a DigiPhile” at http://www.computeraudiophile.com/blogs/DigiPete