I recently complained to Sony that this box required the volume altered
on my TV when swapping from NICAM to it on the same channel. This Freeview
box is about 4dB low compared to the previous Philips one I had, and also
low compared to others I've tried.

They swapped it for another - just the same - and sent it back to Japan
for investigation.

Got an e-mail saying it was within spec - OdDFS produced -0.16dBr
(relative to 2 volts peak), which is the SCART spec.

But the snag is UK broadcasters don't peak to 0 dBFS, nor would I expect
them to. But they do peak to the analogue maximum of +8 dBU on both TV FM
and NICAM.

Interestingly, the radio stations on Freeview do peak higher than TV.

It would seem that Philips and Sagem - the makers of the other boxes I've
checked - realise this and have applied a 'fiddle factor' to the output
level so they sound near enough the same when swapping analogue to
digital. Indeed, my earliest one - a Philips Ondodgy original - has
adjustable output level in the software.

Pity Sony with one of the most expensive boxes on the market didn't do the
same.

--
*When blondes have more fun, do they know it?

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote


Pity Sony with one of the most expensive boxes on the market didn't do the
same.



The word on the street is that Sony are starting to take serious hurt from
the cheaper/better spec'd Chinese competition....

In article ,
Keith G wrote:
Pity Sony with one of the most expensive boxes on the market didn't do
the same.

The word on the street is that Sony are starting to take serious hurt
from the cheaper/better spec'd Chinese competition....

I'm not surprised. Some of their stuff is very overpriced and not terribly
good. Some is world class.

In the pro field, the DigiBeta video recorders are just awesomely good -
although probably soon to be superseded by HD based devices. But much of
their pro audio stuff is very overpriced crap. Love their MiniDiscs,
though.

And Sony CRT TVs have never been a match for the best from Philips or
Loewe etc. Or at the pro end, Ikegami.

--
*Don't use no double negatives *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

Signal wrote:
"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote:


I recently complained to Sony that this box required the volume altered
on my TV when swapping from NICAM to it on the same channel. This Freeview
box is about 4dB low compared to the previous Philips one I had, and also
low compared to others I've tried.

They swapped it for another - just the same - and sent it back to Japan
for investigation.

Got an e-mail saying it was within spec - OdDFS produced -0.16dBr
(relative to 2 volts peak), which is the SCART spec.

But the snag is UK broadcasters don't peak to 0 dBFS, nor would I expect
them to. But they do peak to the analogue maximum of +8 dBU on both TV FM
and NICAM.

Interestingly, the radio stations on Freeview do peak higher than TV.

It would seem that Philips and Sagem - the makers of the other boxes I've
checked - realise this and have applied a 'fiddle factor' to the output
level so they sound near enough the same when swapping analogue to
digital. Indeed, my earliest one - a Philips Ondodgy original - has
adjustable output level in the software.

Pity Sony with one of the most expensive boxes on the market didn't do the
same.


The Humax F2-FOX T is reputed to be on a par with the Sony for
PQ/SQ... might be worth checking out.

I had one for about 6 months - crashes, sound sync and a poor EPG saw it
back t'shop.

The only good thing about it was a time/channel display on the box -
v.useful.