BDV-N590 or N7100?

[smurfORnot]

Hi

I am buying 5.1 HT system for my new television. Right now I am quite undecided between these two. I am really not interested in those extra features 7100 has to offer over 590 model, like radio,4k...most important thing to me is sound quality and movie effects. Is sound quality on 7100 model worth almost 80% more price I would pay for it over 590 model?
My room is not big, TV is 3m from watching position, and rear speakers would be 1m from viewing position at 90 degree angle(because of the wall, I can't place them further away).
Since BDV 590 has NO auto speaker calibration, what does that exactly mean for me? Is it much harder to do it right, or what?

Another option is ct 660 soundbar, but I would much rather have 5.1 system to maximally enjoy movies!

Thanks for your oppinion!

[Garball1]

I have the BDV-N590 set up a few days now and I'm extremely happy with it. I have a medium size room and the system suits it perfectly. I was thinking of getting a sound bar before I bought the 5.1 but I don't think that would of been a wise move. The 5.1 in my opinion blows any sound bar out of the water. The 2 HDMI inputs are great. I have a skyhd box and ps4 going into the system and I'm convinced it has upscaled the picture as well as giving a great sound output. It also has the iPod/iPhone dock and front usb port( handy for playing movies through ). I've no experience with the N7100 but I can guarantee you wont be disappointed with the N590 if you choose it. I hope this helps.

[smurfORnot]

Got it. It looks great. I need to hook up everything over the weekend. On which height did you place rear speakers?
My plan is to get myself external hard drive, so I can put movies on it, and play it over USB connection on bdv590. Do you know, will bdv590 reproduce 5.1 sound if movie is recorded in it,blueray movie on hard disk, if I play it over usb instead of putting dvd/blueray disc inside?

Thanks

[Anonymous]

Hi there

If the files is encoded for 5.1 sound, the system will play it.  However there are limits in regards to file/codec support as well as max limits too.  More information see pages and 22,52 and 53 of the manual : HERE

Cheers

[smurfORnot]

Thank you.
Sony agent told me that bdv590 unit won't play movies from external hard drive, but that it will play them from flash drive. But if I connect external hard drive to TV, and play movie over TV, that unit will translate 5.1 sound over HDMI cable from TV.

Although in manual it says that it does recognize HDD on page 52. But that some models may not be recognized. Is there any way to know which HDD's won't be recognized, since I plan to buy one, and wouldnt want to buy HDD that unit won't recognize. Because then I have to buy big flash drive so I can put blueray movies on it.

[Anonymous]

Hi there

I think I know what you are trying to do.  I believe you will need to invest in a media player as well because in the long run, you will have far less problems and hassles and be able to achieve it 'better'.  If you can reply back with exactly what you want to do, as well as what type/s of files that you wish or likely to play, I might be able to get a better picture and advise accordinly.

As it stands, if you are intending to play lots of files off a harddrive or even multiple hard-drives, especially ripping the blurays themselves to an ISO file, you would be better off with a media player/Network Media Player - in conjunction with a sound system.

Cheers

[smurfORnot]

Thanks for the advice. But I am not sure that I need network media player? I have new panasonic 42ST60E TV. I tried to play movies from my external hard drive and USB, and they worked withouth problem. But I am yet to see how would it work with combination with bdv590, and how would blueray movies work over it. I am trying to cut costs down atm, since I already invested in new tv,sony bdv590 and I need to buy external hard.
Although, if bdv590 can play files from flash drive, wouldn't it be cheaper to get flash drive(64gb), they run for 20-30$ over ebay and just put movie on it and play, than getting network media player? Basically, I am not really interested in watching shows and programs over internet. Few things I do watch, like anime over free sites, are simply not enought qualitty to be played on 42'' tv I think, actually most of the stuff you can play from free sites, right?
Don't know is it possible, but my PC is basically right next to tv and home cinema. Would it be better to connect TV to PC with HDMI-DVI cable,play movie on PC so it displays on TV and connect bdv590 to PC to reproduce 5.1 sound? RIght now I have my HI-FI system connected to PC with chinch cable,although it's only 2.0 system.

[Anonymous]

Gotcha

If if the files you want to play work when connecting the HDD to the TV, I would leave it that way.  All you have to do is connect the BDV-N590 to the TVs HDMI-ARC port, set the TV to output audio via external system, and set the BDV-N590 to accept the TV's input.  That will work and should output 5.1 sound too.

By all means, try connecting a USB Flash drive to the N590 and see if it does what you want it to do.  If the files are supported it will work also.

The PC - is a little more difficult in regards to sound does not get outputted via DVI (some graphics cards allow it though), So you would also need another cable from the PC (depending on what cable, it may or may not support 5.1 output)

[smurfORnot]

Do you perhaps know is there any difference in image quality if I play it over USB from TV or from bdv590? I am talking about movie files usually 5-25GB large(HD 1080p), and I would watch them from 3m.
Can't wait to finnaly test sound over the weekend!

''All you have to do is connect the BDV-N590 to the TVs HDMI-ARC port, set the TV to output audio via external system''   -> meaning I put 1.4 HDMI cable from TV ARC to bdv590 HDMI out or IN?

[Anonymous]

Connect the HDMI cable from the TV's HDMI ARC port (I think its HDMI 2 for your TV, it has it labled), to the HDMI OUT ARC port on the N590

TV (HDMI-ARC) > HDMI > N590 (HDMI OUT ARC)

Have fun this weekend