I received my upgraded unit this morning. Here are my thoughts:
1. THX Ultra 2: it converts 5.1 sources to 7.1. I could listen to 5.1 sources ( or stereo) in 7.1 on the non-upgraded RDC-7 without THX Ultra 2 and, surprise!, Dolby Digital and DTS both sound better in 7.1 without THX Ultra 2. Is it worth getting THX Ultra 2? No.
2. DTS 96/24. The upgrade comes with a sample DVD that contains one DTS 96/24 track, Queen's The Prophet's Song. Does it sound good? Yes. Does it sound better than other 5.1 music recordings? It sounds about the same to me, no big difference. Is it worth getting DTS 96/24? No, especially considering that there's not much stuff in DTS 96/24 anyway.
3. Crossover. The crossover frequency can be set to 40, 60, 80, 100, or 120 Hz. The settings are global so to me they are useless.
4. Dolby Digital dropouts. From reading other people's reviews it seems that the upgrade fixed the dropout problems on Jurassic Park and Pearl Harbor. Apparently it also took care of the dropouts on HBO. This is to me the only useful thing that came with the upgrade. Ironically this should have been available for free from Onkyo as a warranty service.
Conclusion: the upgrade is useless, except for fixing the dropouts. Spend $300 on something else.
Razvan
1. THX Ultra 2: it converts 5.1 sources to 7.1. I could listen to 5.1 sources ( or stereo) in 7.1 on the non-upgraded RDC-7 without THX Ultra 2 and, surprise!, Dolby Digital and DTS both sound better in 7.1 without THX Ultra 2. Is it worth getting THX Ultra 2? No.
2. DTS 96/24. The upgrade comes with a sample DVD that contains one DTS 96/24 track, Queen's The Prophet's Song. Does it sound good? Yes. Does it sound better than other 5.1 music recordings? It sounds about the same to me, no big difference. Is it worth getting DTS 96/24? No, especially considering that there's not much stuff in DTS 96/24 anyway.
3. Crossover. The crossover frequency can be set to 40, 60, 80, 100, or 120 Hz. The settings are global so to me they are useless.
4. Dolby Digital dropouts. From reading other people's reviews it seems that the upgrade fixed the dropout problems on Jurassic Park and Pearl Harbor. Apparently it also took care of the dropouts on HBO. This is to me the only useful thing that came with the upgrade. Ironically this should have been available for free from Onkyo as a warranty service.
Conclusion: the upgrade is useless, except for fixing the dropouts. Spend $300 on something else.
Razvan
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