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Here's my dilemma: Our local community theater stages mostly plays and musicals. They have a small theater with what amounts to a 5.1 surround system (L,R,C,RR,LR,LFE) permanently installed. They use this primarily for sound effects and music cues in plays and sound reinforcement in musicals. They have a desktop PC to run their SFX cues and a Focusrite 18i20 USB interface to route the sound to their console which then routes the audio to their 6 active speakers through balanced +4 Db lines. All this works fine and sounds lovely. Now, they have decided to fill in some gaps in their schedule with "Family Movie Nights." They have contracted with Swank for the public performance rights of the "films" and Swank will provide the media in the form of a blu-ray DVD. I want to help them make the right choices in terms of playing that media from their current system. They have, as of yet, not purchased a blu-ray player and they have essentially three choices: 1.) A stand-alone DVD player 2.) Add a USB DVD player 3.) Add an internal player I have found no stand-alone DVD players with professional output levels and interfacing consumer gear into this console is somewhat problematic so this is not my first choice. An external USB DVD would be the best solution because it would mean zero downtime for their computer. An internal player is possible, but properly interfacing the drive with the motherboard is always a challenge. (FWIW--MoBo is MSI -7693) Regarding playback from a PC, what I am most unclear about is the middleware that will allow us to route the audio from the DVD to the 18i20 to get the audio to the console (SFAIK--there is no "surround decoder" in the 18i20. It will need discrete channels.). What software is best to use to play the show? We, of course, would also like the drive to be reliable (and rugged) so your thoughts on brand and model would be greatly appreciated. I am also wondering if there are any DRM compatibility issues that are distinct to audio that I should worry about or if that is all handled in the DVD device. So what say ye? Am I doomed or is there an easy answer?

I: How much effort/money/time do you put into the surround part of your rig(s) M: How much effort/money/time do you think the music industry should put into surround music Multi choice - choose one I and one M If You use surround? (I > 0%) Please continue to the next three polls: 2/4 Your rig 3/4 Equipment types 4/4 Music sources

What is the state of your current sound rig(s)? Please combine info with the approximate quality of your rig: Q1 Standard / Wallmart consumer grade (aka cost of bicycle) Q2 Good hifi quality but of this world (aka cost of used car) Q3 Absolute high-end (aka cost of new car) We’ll take your word for it (and no, cost is no measure ;-) ) You never use surround? Go to 1/4 How Surround’ed are you? Your Position 2/4 Your rig 3/4 Equipment types 4/4 Music sources

Do you think surround music has a serious future in the marketplace? More and more households have surround home theater systems, and the quality keeps getting better. Surround seems to be the way of the future for movies and even television. Stereo setups may become a thing of the past, except for very cheap systems and dedicated audiophile systems. Could this pave the way for more surround music or will stereo keep dominating?

I am pleased with the proliferation of surround downloads from Channel Classics, Chandos (theclassicalshop), and hopefully soon BIS (eClassical), but I don't have the a solution for playback in place. I would settle for the OPPO 103 with a USB stick, but I don't believe that would perform gaplessly. I don't mind streaming, but I question whether that is ideal for these huge files. What gapless solutions for surround files (up to 24/192 PCM and DSD) would forum members recommend?

Hi there, new to the forums and will be the first one to tell you I'm an audio newbie, so bare with me ! I have a standard Creative 5.1 surround sound system for my PC ( http://img508.imageshack.us/img508/1731/inspirep580car9.jpg ) They are great for gaming, but I find they are no good for making music, headphones are good but I just dont like using them. And recently acquired a pair of Philips Hi Fi speakers and was wondering how I could use them with my PC .. Is it possible to replace the front left and right (5.1 speakers) with the Hi Fi speakers, or mount the speakers on to a headphone jack ? I've done a bit of reading and most suggest an amplifier but at the moment thats a tad expensive for me, and advice, info or suggestions welcome. Thanks for reading!

I've been listening to the Blu Ray of this incredible album over the last week - it is truly magnificent! Steven Wilson hired Alan Parsons to be the engineer for this album and the sound quality is really outstanding - it is one of the best sounding albums in my collection Amazon.com: Raven That Refused To Sing (Steven Wilson) [blu-ray Audio]: Steven Wilson, not listed: Movies & TV Contents: - Album in 5.1 LPCM 24 bits, 96 Khz - Album in 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround - Album in 2.0 stereo, 24 bit, 96Khz - Instrumental album in 2.0 stereo, 24 bit, 96Khz - Documentary on the making of the album I ripped the 24/96 songs from the Blue Ray, and I've also been listening to the album through my new Meridian Explorer DAC - it sounds heavenly! The album allegedly was recorded and produced with no compression and with a very wide dynamic range. It certainly sounds like it - but I'm wondering if anybody has done the spectral analysis to confirm from a technical point of view? If true - this is the way all music should be recorded and made available for us audiophiles to enjoy! Highly recommended album!

I have now been enjoying music in glorious surround for almost a year. I urge everybody to share good surround experiences, whether the source is SACD, DVD/BluRay, ripped or from disk or any other source. State source, way of playback and number of channels. Let me begin with my surround album from last night: Emil Richards - Joe Porcaro Allstar Big Band - Odd Men In 24/96 5.1 download from AIX Records - DVD Premium - The Emil Richards/Joe Porcaro All Star Big Band - Odd Men In Played with Decibel from internal HD on system listed below. Almost overwhelming big band experience, thanks Aix PS. This thread is inspired by Chris' thread Album of the Evening. I hope we surround connoisseurs can give the CA community a similar list of great surround experiences.