sound quality

What's lossless audio and do I need it?

Digital Living I've heard that using lossless audio compression gives hugely improved sound quality over MP3. The problem with this form of 'lossy' compression is that many people can perceive the bits of audio discarded and are left with the feeling that they're...

18 July 2007, 12:55

What is Dolby TrueHD?

Digital Living Since people started watching movies at home, there has been a drive to improve the sound quality. When DVD hit the market, everyone marvelled at the picture quality, but in many ways that wasn't the most amazing part.

11 July 2007, 15:15

What MP3 player for my particular needs?

Digital Living Excellent sound (I recently invested in a pair of Universal Ears at great expense so I want a player to give me matching great quality sound) It's widely accepted as having the best sound quality of all the current MP3 players -- several specialist...

23 November 2006, 16:11

What HD disc player should I buy? review

Digital Living The good news is you'll get amazing sound quality from all HD DVD and Blu-ray players. Could you please provide us with some choices that will not break the bank but are of good quality? There is pretty much no major difference between the two...

Tags: generation, hd, dvds, samsung

16 November 2007, 12:52

Which MP3 bit rate should I use?

Digital Living This offers vastly superior sound quality over 128kbps, without eating up too much disk space. The difference in quality between 128kbps and 256kbps is vast and immediately obvious -- your favourite tunes encoded at 256kbps will sound stunning in...

16 May 2007, 15:24

Do I need to pay more than £30 for earphones?

Digital Living Shure's SE series of earphones start from around £70 and offer an incredible improvement in sound quality. Denon's AH-D5000 headphones are constructed from a Japanese wood and produce a sound quality you'd expect from a hi-fi system costing...

Tags: noise, compressed, speaker, pair

17 October 2007, 15:30

Blu-ray and HD DVD: The facts

Digital Living LG's £1,000 BH100 is the only one available at present, and while it does play both formats, and has great picture and sound quality, it can't display the menu screens properly on HD DVD discs, so it's hard to find the extras.

1 June 2007, 17:40

Which TV should I buy for gaming and a Media Center setup?

Digital Living Sound quality, however, isn't brilliant, so it might be better to get a separate surround-sound amplifier for movies and games. If you watch a lot of Freeview, this set is the best choice with its good standard-def picture quality.

14 February 2007, 12:51

Format wars: The tech that should have won

Digital Living Because they have more space than CDs they can produce a far higher quality sound. What it wasLooking like a CD the size of a vinyl record, Laserdisc stored high-quality analogue video, with the potential for digital sound in the form of Dolby...

Tags: cd rom, next generation, tape, steve

23 July 2007, 10:49

Spam TV, You TV, Global TV

Digital Living Home projectors are giving us control of film in the same way that high-quality, low-cost cameras like All of these new services are getting us closer to a world in which we can avoid second-rate stuff we don't want, and go for the premium quality...

4 October 2005, 17:57

Transfer your VHS tapes to DVD

Digital Living You'll see the same image as on your PC screen, but having an additional screen may come in handy for image-quality comparisons while recording. S-Video delivers a higher-quality signal than the conventional composite-video output.

8 August 2006, 16:54

Is the PS3 any good as a Blu-ray player?

Digital Living The PlayStation 3 is one of the first devices to use HDMI 1.3, which is able to convey the highest-quality sound, as well as 1080p video, over one cable. And here's why: the most important factor in deciding which DVD, HD DVD or Blu-ray player to...

28 March 2007, 17:24

Lost on the Underground with my PVR

Digital Living One of the things that makes watching a film on a plane so terrible, apart from the mediocre catering, constant interruptions and worrying turbulence, is the sound quality -- loose connections, poor quality headphones and the background roar from...

26 September 2005, 10:38

Hacking Napster with Winamp

Digital Living An approved sound card then strips the noise from the file and plays it, evidently with no effect on sound quality. Furthermore, users would be forced to use the right Microsoft-approved sound cards. They shouldn't also have to worry about...

9 May 2005, 15:48

Why is my best TV in my shed?

Digital Living Like most cheap digital screens, the image quality for broadcast looks markedly poorer than with CRTs. Then they'll either sell their big CRT, the ugly one that doesn't look as pretty but actually has amazing picture quality, with vibrant colours...

6 May 2006, 8:00