MidiLand S4 8200 5.1 Speakers

Dolby Digital & DTS
Currently, in the DVD market, we have two players: Dolby Digital and DTS (Digital Theatre Systems Digital Surround), with the major player being Dolby Digital. The main difference between the two is the bitrate. Dolby Digital's bitrate can be anywhere from 64 kbps to 448 kbps, while the bitrate for DTS can range from 64 kbps to 1536 kbps. Is the difference audible? That depends on with whom you talk. Some claim that DTS definitely sounds better, while others state that there really is no audible difference. DTS is getting some support from some major names in the film industry (i.e. DreamWorks Entertainment). DreamWorks Home Entertainment recently announced that we should expect to see DTS® Digital Surround DVD versions of several future DreamWorks releases. A well-written article on the differences and some DVD history can be found here: http://www.moviesoundpage.com/msp_dddtsdvd.htm.

ADS2000
Included with the S4 8200's is the ADS 2000. This control module, which MidiLand announced in March, is also compatible with the S4 7100 speakers. You won't find any volume knobs on this control module, so if you have some sort of a volume knob fetish, then these speakers are not for you. The control for the module is done with a remote control. MidiLand chose to go the Dolby Digital route in their control module, while VideoLogic added DTS to their control module. If you have ever seen the VideoLogic control module, it looks VERY similar to the ADS 2000. That's because the modules come from the same OEM. Big deal? Not really. The reason for not putting DTS into the ADS 2000 is probably because of price -- it's a separate decoder chip to decode DTS encoded audio tracks. As mentioned above, the major player is Dolby Digital and it's here to stay. Below is the break down on what the ADS 2000 does.

Volume
This can be adjusted for any/all channels (left, right, centre, rear right, rear left, sub).

Balance
This can be adjusted for any channel (left, right, centre, rear right, rear left, sub).

Delay
To change the delay effect, you can increase the delay effect for the rear speakers.

Test
A simple test sequence that most 5.1 systems have, which plays some white noise to each individual channel.

Bass
Turns the subwoofer on or off.

Input
Selects form of input: digital/analog. Digital input is detected automatically.

ProLogic
Turns ProLogic mode on or off.

Surround
Turns surround mode on or off.

Reset
Resets settings to factory defaults.