|
REVIEWS
STRAP
First Run
COPY
POWER LINK REMOTE EXTENDER, £50 ****
Why’s it here? If you’ve got a second TV in the bedroom,
connected to an aerial feed from your living-room TV, VCR and satellite
receiver, then you’ve got a problem. How do you change channel, or control the
VCR? That’s where a remote control extender comes in handy. This one, from
Aerial King, picks up the infra red control commands on a relay module,
converts the information into a radio signal and sends it to a receiver module
in the living room. This converts the signal back in into infra red commands,
beamed to the device that’s being controlled.
Any unique features? The matching base and relay modules are
surprisingly small, roughly the same size as a box of Swan matches, and about
half the size of the plug-in mains adaptors supplied with each unit. They each
have a short six-inch wire antenna, and an LED indicator, that blinks whenever
a command is being sent. On the back of the receiver there’s a socket for an
extra LED indicator, and a sensitivity control, which can compensate for the
units being close together, or at the limits of the range.
How does it perform? The operating range is quoted at 50
metres. We wouldn’t dispute that, our sample functioned perfectly over a
distance of more than 30 metres, and that was through several thick walls. The
high-output IR emitter in the base unit is effective over distances of up to
five metres, the beam is also quite widely dispersed, so it doesn’t have to be
precisely aligned with the equipment it’s controlling. Sensitivity of the relay
unit is good, and again it’s quite forgiving, the controller handset doesn’t
have to be pointed directly at the box. We tried it with a variety of TVs,
VCRs, a satellite tuner and a mini Hi-Fi system. All commands were relayed
correctly; it seems reasonable to suppose it’s transparent to most, if not all IR
control systems. Unlike a lot of remote control extenders this one is actually
street legal as it operates on a DTI approved band of frequencies.
Our Verdict
An effective solution to a common problem. It’s very
efficient, discrete and realistically priced. Worth considering.
Power Link Remote Control Extender, £50
Features Radio-controlled
Sockets DC
input, (both units) extension LED (minijack, on base unit only)
Dimensions 85
x 53 x 25mm (both modules)
Operation ****
Build Quality ****
Features ****
Ease of use *****
Overall value ****
Competitors
Multi-Link £50 not
tested
Aerial King,
telephone 0171-483 2281
MITSUBISHI HS-651 NICAM VCR, £380, ****
Why’s it here? Buying a mid-market NICAM VCR can be a real
headache, there’s so many features to choose from. Some of them are genuinely
useful, others are just so much candy-floss, but how do you tell which ones are
worth having? Mitsubishi have come up with an answer, a VCR that’s got just
about everything. The HS-651 has to be one of the most lavishly featured
machines to date, yet it costs no more than some manufacturers entry-level
models.
Any unique features? There’s nothing on the 651 that you won’t
find on half a dozen other VCRs in the same price bracket, though no other
manufacturer has brought so many of them together on one machine. There’s the
bread and butter features, like the Video Plus+ timer with PDC, multi-speed
replay and automatic set-up, with a
daily clock check, twin SCART AV sockets, a super-fast deck mechanism and encore,
which replays the last five seconds of a recording. The bonus features are
satellite control --linked to the Video Plus timer -- a multi-brand TV remote
covering a score of popular makes of TV and a tape optimiser, that adjusts
recording and replay circuitry according to the grade of tape being used. It
also has NTSC replay with stereo hi-fi sound. There is one thing missing
though, and that’s front-mounted AV sockets, which seems a bit of an oversight.
How does it perform? Picture quality is good, a full
250-lines resolution on our sample, resulting in a crisp, richly detailed
picture with better than average colour fidelity. Mitsubishi are one of the few
companies not to be making a song and dance about digital noise reduction
systems at the moment; it’s difficult to see what difference one would make to
the 561, picture noise levels are already very low, especially on higher grade
tapes, with the tape optimiser facility switched on. The multi-speed replay
modes are mostly very stable, but the
four-button speed control on the remote is not very easy to use, we much prefer
the proper jog/shuttle dials on previous models.
The stereo soundtracks have a clean, wide and largely flat response;
background hiss on our test machine was a little higher than expected, though
it was still well below nuisance level.
Our Verdict In spite of so many extras, and with the
exception of the iffy ‘jog/shuttle’ function, the 651 is remarkably easy to
use. AV performance is good enough for it to qualify as a home cinema machine.
The satellite control feature is unusual on a VCR costing less than £400; put
it on your list, if you do a lot of time-shifting. Recommended.
Mitsubishi HS-651, £380
Features NICAM,
Video Plus+ satellite control, auto installation and clock set, multi-speed
replay, multi-band TV remote, parental lock, tape optimiser, rental tape
playback, NTSC replay
Sockets 2 x
SCART AV, stereo line audio out (phono), satellite control (minijack)
Dimensions 380
x 92 x 340mm
Picture Quality ****
Sound Quality ***
Build Quality ****
Features ****
Ease of use ****
Overall value ****
Competitors
Aiwa HV-FX3500 £350 HE38
Akai VS-G735 £380 HE35
Panasonic NV-HD605 £380 HE38
Mitsubishi Electric UK, telephone (01707) 276100
SSI CINEPLEX 1500 HOME THEATRE SYSTEM, £280, ****
Why’s it here? The cost of setting up a Dolby Pro Logic
surround sound system has been one of the reasons home cinema has been slow to
take off, but that’s changing, with affordable components and systems coming
onto the market almost every week. One of the most recent arrivals is this ‘one-box’
package from the Canadian company SSI Products. It contains everything needed
to add surround sound to an existing TV/VCR set-up, including five speakers for
front, centre and rear channels, a sub-woofer and all the necessary connecting
cables, all for the astonishingly low price of just £280
Any unique features? It’s the only DPL system we’ve come
across to have a BBE (Barkus Berry Electronics) processor, that adds controlled
amounts of delay to low-frequency sounds. This is meant to create a clearer,
more natural sound. It also has the thinnest instruction manual we’ve seen on a
DPL system, just two pages long... The AV
amp is very basic, it doesn’t even have a remote control or any equaliser/tone
adjustments, just a set of level controls for master volume, centre and rear
channels. There are two surround modes, ‘music’ is unprocessed, with stereo sound
distributed across the front and rear channels, and 5-channel Pro Logic. The
amplifier is rated at 18 watts RMS per channel for the front stereo speakers
and 18 watts for the magnetically shielded centre front speaker; 15 watts goes
to the rear channel outputs, and 30 watts to the sub-woofer (also shielded). Sequenced
pink noise is fed to each channel in turn; the instructions only refer to it as
a means of establishing whether or not the speakers are connected.
How does it perform? It looks rather unpromising. The
speakers are very simply made, the single line input is a limitation, and the
lack of control facilities is a bit of a throwback, but the system actually
sounds quite good. The DPL processor is unusually precise; centre-channel
resolution and the lack of bleed-through, from and to the other channels, compares
well with decoders costing twice as much. The speakers can be driven really
hard, without them clipping or running into distortion; 18 watts might not
sound like a lot but there’s enough power to fill an average sized living room,
without swamping the centre-front and rear channels. The sub-woofer is effective,
maybe not up to the gut-rumbling levels of a beefy active sub, but, not that far
short.
We’re still not sure about the BBE mode. Its effectiveness varies
with the type of material. It adds a little impact to loud blockbuster
soundtracks, with a lot of noisy effects, but it emphasises bass on speech and
music sound a little too much for our liking. It’s worth a try, but without a remote
control to switching it on and off, the novelty soon wears off.
Our Verdict Cineplex 1500 was a pleasant surprise. The small
speakers and sub-woofer work really hard; it’s a quick, simple and cheap way of
upgrading a basic AV set-up. The downside is the lack of a remote control and the
solitary line input. If you’re thinking of expanding your system at a later
date it could prove somewhat inflexible.
SSI Cineplex 1500, £280
Features Dolby
Pro Logic processor and amplifier, supplied with five speakers, sub-woofer and connecting
cables
Sockets speakers
(spring terminals), stereo line audio in/out (phono)
Sound Quality ****
Build Quality ****
Features **
Ease of use ***
Overall value ****
Competitors
Canon Movie Sound Kit B £500 HE36
Celestion HTiB £750 HE36
JVC Big Box 2 £350 HE36
GB Consultancy, telephone (01869) 233200
SSI 525D PC SURROUND
SOUND DECODER, £150 ****
Why’s it here? It may not be immediately obvious why you
need a Dolby Pro Logic inside your PC, assuming of course you have one. After
all sound -- apart from the odd bleep -- is a relatively recent innovation for most
computers. That all changed with the development of multimedia technologies.
They have enabled desktop PCs to handle high resolution graphics, moving video,
and stereo sound. There’s now a vast range of games, information and
educational software on disk, CD ROM, and latterly, the Internet, with high
quality stereo soundtracks, increasingly, incorporating Dolby Surround effects.
Microsoft recently announced they plan to feature Dolby Surround on many of
their future releases.
Any unique features? The 525D lives inside the PC. It’s in
two parts; there’s a standard ISA bus expansion card, and a decoder module,
that fits into a spare 3.5 or 5.25 inch drive bay. They’re connected together
by a ribbon cable. All of the audio inputs and outputs are handled by stereo
minijack sockets on the back of the expansion card. It has two inputs, one for
the PCs own sound card, the other for an external stereo source. There are three
line-level outputs for the front-stereo, centre front and rear surround channels.
These are used to drive a set of amplified PC speakers (not supplied). The
operating software comes on a single 3.5-inch floppy, when installed it creates
an on-screen control panel, with five output level sliders, various modes
switches and user presets for rear channel delay, centre mode and decoder mode.
The options are 5-channel Pro Logic, Dolby 3, bypass and music, the latter
having a set of 8 spatial sound effects. It also has a BBE processing option
for adding extra delay to bass frequencies.
How does it perform? PC cards are usually a real pain,
especially on systems using Windows 3.1, but this one just slotted straight in
and worked first time. Performance mainly depends on the active speakers its
used with, there’s a lot of really nasty ones about! To give the decoder its
best shot we used a CD player as the source, playing Dolby Surround reference material,
and piped the outputs through a set of hi-fi amps and speakers. The results
were very encouraging. Channel separation and steering are both good, the
centre channel and rear channels were very clean and there was no increase in
noise levels.
Our Verdict. If you’re really into shoot-em-up, sword ‘n
sorcery type PC games, especially the more recent ones with Dolby Surround effects
then you’ll need no further bidding. The 525D can only enhance your zapping and
slashing, with sounds coming from every which way. On he other hand, it’s likely
to be only of limited interest if you’re mainly using your PC for information-based
multimedia software; installing the modules, setting up all the speakers and adjusting
the levels, seems like a lot of hard work, just to listen to the odd surround-sound
effect.
Make/model SSI
525D PC surround sound decoder
Features Dolby
Pro Logic decoder module and card for PCs, on-screen user interface with
adjustable levels, BBE mode, DPL, Dolby 3-Channel, and bypass modes, pink noise
sequencer
Sockets line
audio in/out (minijack
Dimensions standard
ISA ‘half’ card fits into spare 8 or 16-bit expansion slot, decoder module fits
into spare 3.5 or 5.25 inch drive bay (adaptor bracket supplied)
Sound Quality ****
Build Quality ****
Features ****
Ease of use ****
Overall value ****
GB Consultancy, telephone (01869) 233200
---end---
Ó
R. Maybury 1996 0410
|
