1066 vs 1068 Initial Impression

[Stevebez]

Just got the RSP1068 in UK and took me not more than 1 hour to setup and plug it all in. Very easy to use and has substantial additional functionality over the 1066 that is practically usefull and they should be complimented on not just adding gimmicks all over the shop.

The passage of progressive video is a bonus :T , assignable 12v triggers :T , better OSD and front Panel Display, group sound delay for lip synch probs :T , delay settings done by distance rather than time :T , deeper menu's with alot of finer settings all round. I still need to fine tune all this though - have not even had chance to calibrate with an SPL!

Also I believe composite video can be converted to component :T :T :T , so you really only need one component connection to your monitor ... but need to check this out. Progressive mode is assignable to the video inputs as well.

Other than that the build is great with really neat toroidal transformer...certainly better than the 1066.

First sound impressions are a very quiet background ... need more time to see how this baby goes after a burn in. So far no hum's etc what so ever and by comparison its alot cleaner in terms of switching / clicking type noises that my 1066 was prone to.

Beware of the remote - DON'T clone your 1066's RR1050 remote, as the AUD codes will take the 1066's and the remote will not work well. The 1068's codes are slightly different bewteen the two units.

So if you are wondering if you should make the leap and upgrade, I just did and am thrilled. Besides that if you are carefull you can manage to get the upgrade done without the wife noticing !!! :B :B :B

Rgds Steve

[Bing Fung]

Excellent Steve, sounds like a nice processor indeed. I love the Stealth upgrade possibilities :T

[GosonFletchy]

Great to hear about the upgrade. I love the RSP-1068 :P and am very happy with the new features. You are correct that the unit will upsample composite video, and S-video, to component. This is a major feature to me. I really like haveing only one component video into my TV. Now the only thing that needs to be done with the TV is turn on and turn off 8) . You can't ask for better than that.

G.

[Stevebez]

Composite -> Component conversion

Must say am quite impressed with the conversion that the unit does here, although speaking to someone in the video broadcast industry they nearly collapsed when I said I was converting composite to component.

Basically they said there is inevitable bleeding of colours and there is chance of getting cross pixels of blue when it should be green and vice versa - especially when the colours border each other in the picture.

So I began to check the Rotel's conversion ... and to me there is a slight degradation in picture quality of the converted composite feeds, than the standard monitor out composite feed, but not enough to make you miserable. The picture comes across slightly brighter and a little more fuzzy in component feed than the monitor composite feed. But I guess if you were not aware of the difference you probably would not notice it.

I am using a 42" Panasonic Plasma PWD5 display and maybe this type of display may contribute to the degradation - cannot say.

For the record the switching from PAL to NTSC in the main menu now works fine... it just seemed sticky at the start ... who knows why !!!!

The composite feed does provide a softer smoother picture.... but hey the Component (progressive) passthrough of DVD is superb...

Rgds Steve.

P.S. Picture of kit set-up coming soon to Bings' "World of Rotel" thread!.

[Locutus2k]

Besides that if you are carefull you can manage to get the upgrade done without the wife noticing !!! :B :B :B

Rgds Steve

Hey .. i was thinkin i was the only one to use those cheats
Wives are our best friends and ht hardware worst nightmare :twisted:
But, if we move sharp, we can defeat the enemy :T

[Azeke]

Congratulations Steve, on the upgrade. When I upgraded from the 1066 to the 1098, it was a beautiful thing.

Just wait until you completed the calibration and break-in, you will enjoy it even more.

Keep us posted and enjoy your toys :T ,

Azeke

[Glen]

I would upgrade just for the adjustable delay - but being I haven't had my 1066 for even a year yet - I just can talk myself into it. Great to hear the positive review though.

Tempting, very tempting.

[pbarata]

I’m dreaming with a RSP-1099 with HDMI input able to decode all known audio/video digital formats available today, namely Dolby Digital, DTS, SACD and DVD Audio. That would be a major achievement and a worthwhile upgrade, maybe not so far away as many are now adopting HMDI as a future proof digital connection for DVD players, TV’s and, I hope quite soon, Sound Processor’s.