OK, here are some [brief] first impressions, with more to follow later:

This thing ROCKS! I cannot say that enough. I am SO glad now, that I waited for it. I haven't tried out all of its features yet, and I'm still learning to work my way around it, but so far, so good.

I'll first say that I have a 5.1, not 7.1, system at this time. I'm looking to upgrade to 7.1 in about a year or so, so until then I won't be able to comment on the Cirrus extra surround, DD-EX, or DTS-ES algorithms. Shame, too, because I'd really like to try them out.

One of the first tests I did was "The Sopranos" on VHS (boxed set, first season, episode seven). Whoah! DPL-II is definitely a BIG improvement on DPL. I didn't tinker with the DPL settings much, but I did try both Music and Cinema mode. It sounds odd, but I think I preferred Music mode slightly. It definitely sounded better on scenes where music was playing. I also tried DTS Neo:6, in both modes, and it worked pretty well.

I tried playing a few CDs, in various modes. I actually think I prefer straight stereo for a lot of CDs. My CD player has both an analog and a digitial out, and a DAC that I like very much. I had trouble, though, distinguishing a difference between using tht 950's DAC and the pass through mode. Both sounded better than using the analog input without bypass mode. I haven't gone looking for doubled bass yet, and if it was there, I didn't notice it. My subwoofer is not terribly intrusive, though.

I tried different surround modes, again, and though DTS Neo:6 was definitely better than DPL, I think I still preferred DPL-II to DTS Neo:6. I also liked the 5 channel stereo mode. Sounded much better than I thought it would. It, by far, is the most enveloping.

Next, it was time for some DTS DVDs. The Eagles, of course, sounded awesome. I think the last track, the audio-only "bonus" track, is my favorite. I also played some BeeGees. Not quite as good a mix, I don't think, but the visuals are more interesting. I think some of their studio CDs sound a lot better. Finally, it was Alice Cooper's "Brutally Live". This one simply floored me. I happen to like Alice Cooper a lot, and this disk has it all: DD 2.0, DD 5.0, and DTS 5.0 soundtracks, multiple camera angles, 16:9 aspect ratio, LOTS and lots of cool stage effects, and a great performance from Alice. Even though it was late at night, and I didn't have it cranked, and I know I should have gone to bed, I couldn't turn it off. I can't wait to crank it today.

Today I took my lunch hour at home and sat on the couch eating a sandwich and listening to FM radio. I never knew, before, that FM could be a Hi-Fi meduim. Some stations weren't so great, but some sounded as good as a CD. I tried all the surround modes, and by and far DPL-II Music blew them all away. This surprised me, because the day before I'd only slightly preferred it to the others.

DPL ranked at the bottom of the list, followed by the two DTS Neo:6 modes. Then comes 5 Stereo, followed by Stereo, and the two DPL-II modes. 5 Stereo sounded surprisingly good, but I preferred the DPL-II. Comparitively, 5 Stereo wraps you in a blanket of sound (I think it has the highest enveloping effect of all the modes) but doesn't really "place" any of the instruments anywhere. They're all coming at you from all directions. Whereas DPL-II can actually place the lead vocalist on the center channel and the backup vocalists on the surround channels! I have no idea how it does that. The effect was simply breathtaking.

As far as the noise floor goes, I simply could not hear it, even with the volume cranked on a dead input. The computer equipment a few rooms away drowns out any hiss that may come from this thing, and the fans really aren't that loud since they're some distance away.

I like the layout of the remote, but it did give me a few troubles. For one, its action seems to be a bit spotty. Some buttons take two or three tries to register, and sometimes I actually had to walk around and aim it at the 950 at different angles to get it to work. It seems slightly better today than it did yesterday, though, if that's possible. I also couldn't program any of my devices into it. I followed the procedure in the manual, tried ALL the codes listed for my device type and brand, and the various devices never powered off. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong, but I may try to "teach" it later from my current remote. I'm also curious that the directional pad doubles as the transport controls. This will work fine for my TV and my VCR, but not for my DVD player, as it has a separate directional pad and transport controls. But I didn't get it to work at ALL for the DVD player yet, so I don't really know.

Well, that's my two cents for now. I'm going to go back and listen to my Creed CD again.

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Matthew J. Hill
matt@idsi.net