Digital Preamp NO video switching

I wouldnt go so far as to say the EAD is "much better" than the Bryston or Meridian. Different? Yes. Better? Maybe. All are worthy of audition.

Having said that, I should also add that I do not care for artificially colored sound, unless it offers something in the way of synergy with your system. i.e. quashed treble. Some folks will want to impose their opinion of "warm sound" on you. (Personally I like nuetral)

I am not saying EAD is "warm sounding" in fact it is very neutral. The Bryston is most definitely not "colored" sounding and will be quite revealing. Maybe not someones elses cup-of-tea but it sure was mine.

I lingered a little long on "sonics" when in fact you didnt even ask about them. Sorry. As far as the original question about video switching. I think you could use an outboard switcher with any Pre/Pro and gain the benefit of not introducing possible video noise. (Although that doesnt take into account the extra circuits and what-nots inside the Processor itself)

I agree, the lack of video switching was a portion of my criteria when searching for an upgraded Pre/Pro recently. Besides the Bryston and Meridian I cant think of any other Pre/Pros taht dont have video switching built in. I'll probablt think of one about 2 minutes after I hit the "Submit now" button.

HBrandt, very true. But would not AGW have been served better had you said that in the first place?!

Hbrandt.

"This guy was asking for opinions. I've had the Bryston, a Meridian 568, and the EADs in my setup."

I thought he was asking about which Processor did not have video switching and later specifically which EAD didnt have video switching. Sonics, video switching, ehh, whatever.

"I prefered the EAD significantly over the Bryston."

I guess that depends on one's definition of significant. I must have lousy ears. Because, I found all of the Processors (even the one's which you obviously you think sound poor) to sound quite good.

"If you've directly A/B compared them...I'd be interested in your opinion."

Actually I have, and they all sound very good. Nevertheless only one doesnt have video switching.

As a sidenote. There must be a serious outbreak of "cotton-in-the-ear" because, many, many movie studios, use Bryston gear to monitor and QC their finished products. I am somewhat surprised that they are capable of putting so much performance in those little disc's, considering how significantly poor their equipment performs.

Here is a list of some music and movie studios who suffer along with significantly underperforming gear. You might notice a few...Dolby, Lucasfilms, Chesky, Polygram, Captital, Chrysalis, Paramount, etc. etc.

20Hz20kHz Studios - Naples, Italy
360 Mastering - London
Abbey Road Studios
Advantage Audio - Los Angeles
Anne & Roger Dudley - UK
Anvil Post Production - UK
Arena Mobiles - UK
Athens Concert Hall - Greece
Baruch College
Basement Floor Prod. - USA
Battery Studios Mastering - UK
BBC Maida Vales 2,3,4 - UK
BBC Radio 1,2,3,4,5 - UK
BBCTV - UK
BBC Pebble Mill Birmingham - UK
Bearsville Studios - New York
BHF Sport
Bobby Fernandez - Los Angeles
Brian May - UK
Capital Radio - UK
Capital Records - Los Angeles
Capsiso - Kyoto Japan
Castle Sound - UK
Cavo Studio - Italy
Chesky Records
Chrysalis Todd A O Europe
Cinesonic
CityTV
Simon Climie - London
Complete Video - London
Crossroads Productions - Portland
Crystal Method-LA
De Lane Lea - UK
Debney Studio
Delos International - LA
Dennis Sands - Los Angeles
Dolby Europe
Dolby Laboratories - San Francisco
Earth, Wind and Fire - Maurice White - LA
Effanel Music - NY
Electric City - Brussels
EMAP on Air - UK
Essential Pictures - London
Final Stage Mastering - Nashville - USA
Fleetwood Mobile
Fountain Television
Fonoprint - Bologna, Italy
Garth Brooks - Nashville - USA
Goldcrest Productions - UK
Golden Era - LA
Granada Television - UK Heathmans Mastering
Herbie Hancock/ Pat Gleason - LA
Hisfolkshome Studios - San Jose
Hillside Studios
BBC Hippodrome
Imagica - Gotanda Japan
Imagica - Skinagawa Japan
James Newton-Howard - LA
Jay Peter Robinson
Jim Carrey - LA
Jon Astley
John Bake Studio
Joseph Magee - Los Angeles
Junior Boys Own
JTM Studio
JVC Aoyama Studio
Kink FM
Longman Publishing Group
Lucasfilm
Lynx Video
Magmasters - UK
Master Mix - Nashville
MasterMind Productions - WI
Masterpiece Mastering - UK
Maxis - Silicon Valley
Metropolis Mastering
Metropolis DVD Mastering
Metropolis Studio
Michael Farrow - LA
Mike Post - Post Productions - LA
Mixers Lab - Tokyo
Molinaire - UK
Muchmusic
Musicplant
National Physical Laboratories
NATS - London
Nautilus - Italy
Nova Sound - Atlanta
Nova Sound - Orlando
Nuphonic - UK
NFL Films
Olympic Studios -
London
Paramount Mastering- LA
Paul Hamblin - London
Paul Klingberg-LA
Perfect Pictures
Peter Frampton
Peter Gabriel - Real World
Peter Walsh
PhaseOne - Toronto, ON
Piccadilly Radio - UK
PlayR Recodring - Pheonix
Polygram - New York
Premier Global Productions - Nashville/Regina
Rak Recording Studios - UK
Ray Charles
Ravenworks -LA
Red Led Studios - Madrid
Respect Studios - UK
Robbie Robertson
Robbie Williams Robert Fripp
Robin Williams
Royal College Of Music
Royal Shakespeare Company
Sadie - UK
Scramble Sound - London
Seal
Shawn Murphy - Los Angeles
Skyline Audio Post
Solid State Logic - UK
Sony Broadcast - UK
Sony Mastering - NY
SoundMasters International - UK
Steve Levine - London
Steve Winwood - UK
Stevie Wonder - LA
Stewart Copeland - Los Angeles
Studio Delfine - France
SVC - London
Swoon Factory
TAP - London
Tape to Tape - London
Taylor Made Films
Tetsuro Oda Films - Tokyo
Thames Television
Threshold Studios - L.A.
The Cutting Rooms - Manchester
Tic Tac Studios - Japan
Tio Pete Studios - Bilbao
Tokyogenzojo - Japan
Tokyo Processing Laboratory - Japan
Townhouse Mastering - UK
Townhouse Recording Studios - UK
Trinity College of Music - UK
TVI - London
TVP - London
Uber Zone- LA
University of Nottingham - UK
Veronica - RTL (the Netherlands)
Will Owsley- Nashville
West Side Studio - Japan
Whitfield Street Mastering
Wonderland - LA

Its just that your opinion sounds very uninformed. Especially the "much better" part. But I digress, who am I to disagree, the "experienced audiophile friend" hath spoken.

Its no big deal, its just wrong. Whether that be by design or ignorance, it doesnt matter. All the processors mentioned sound good, are very capable, and top-notch performers. I am not saying EAD isnt, like you did Bryston and Meridian.

"What do you think I should have differently in the first place??"

If you really want to know. In you're own words.

This.....

"You prefer Bryston, i prefer EAD. That's what makes the world go 'round. I think lots of this depends on system synergy, speakers, room, personal tastes etc.

Instead of this.....

"But the sonics are MUCH better than the Bryston...and I think they are better than Meridian too."

Better is OK, superior even.

See one of my previous post. I suppose It all boils down to how one defines "much better" or "significantly better."

I defend ALL products when they are being unfairly smeared. Bryston happens to be a regular target though.

"And please note that I haven't used words like better, much better and superior!!!!"

Well done, because that first post sounded as if any who had/have a Meridian or a Bryston might as well have a bowl full of turds.

Thanks about the moniker, it has been around for a long time, I still play the Guitar a little and I love my distortion.

I see this discussion has you agitated.

Without being gratuitously immature. I would like to say.....

To be honest, having heard all of these Processors on many occasions, in many environments, including my home. I must say (once again) that the Bryston, EAD, and Meridian perform very, very close (along with others). To claim one is evidently superior to the other sounds like Bull$hi* to me. Sorry, you got called on this. You could have left my first post unanswered.

Maybe it is product defense. But, I would rather be defending something I know, than spouting something I dont.

Neither of our post are being beneficial. Obviously we cant settle our differences through typing. So maybe, it would better serve our fellow A'goners if we just leave it at that.

Have you put in to many hours at the hospital? Or is spring fever gone bad in Maryland?

This is childish and useless but....

If it isnt already obvious, some Processors do outperform others. Usually you have to triple the cost to get a solid performing 2 channel Processor.

Do you see Meridian or EAD in my comparison.

So my inconsistency and arrogance stem from a fictional conclusion that if I think 3 processors perform close then all Processors must perform close. Right. Highly flawed logic.

And of course yours' is so superior that even someone with cotton in their ears could tell the difference.

All I wanted to do was let AGW, yunno the guy who asked about video switching, know that not all A'goners feel EAD blows Bryston (which he did mention) and Meridian away.

You kept revisiting and using my name on each post. Maybe it is persistent arrogance. You requested and received it.

EAD TM 8000, but I have heard just about all the EADs at this point. And.....they are all excellent.

Agw, no problem I rather enjoy it.

I agree that it is acceptable (to most anyway) to waste the video switching section. You're right it isnt an easy decision and it is a potential financial wash too (A lot of Processors dont hold their value well).

I didnt want video switching either, but I didnt limit myself to those that didnt as far as comparison. Even though a lot of semantics were discussed in the previous post very few specifics were. I specifically wanted a Pre/Pro to do 2 channel well and thats what lead me to where I am today.

Although looking back I probably should have built my two channel around my HT. Though dont get me wrong I am not disappointed. Its just that, after hearing so many Processors it is readily apparent that most of the "good" Processors perform very close when in movie mode (DD/DTS). Its the music modes that set them apart(good from great IMO), especially two channel. But you can easily achieve as good or even better 2 channel with a piggybacked Preamp.

EAD are awesome performers. In retrospect, had I auditioned one when I was originally shopping, I might have one of them right now. But, dont take my word for it. Get out and listen to some. Theres nothing like hands and ears on.