Yamaha Digital Sound Projector Review

[gene]

<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><A href="http://www.audioholics.com/productreviews/loudspeakers/YamahaYSP-1DigitalSoundProjector1.php"><IMG style="WIDTH: 125px; HEIGHT: 64px" alt=[ysp11] hspace=10 src="http://www.audioholics.com/news/thumbs/ysp11_th.jpg" align=left border=0></A>We were so enamored with the Yamaha YSP-1 DSP Speaker CES demo this year that we requested a sample for review. Patrick found the ease with which the YSP-1 could engulf the listener in a three-dimensional, immersive environment, was only equaled by its sleek appearance, and ease of installation, with no wires or fuss.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </SPAN><SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;</SPAN>That the YSP-1 easily and handily out-performs the popular cube systems in the same price ballpark isn't the point. Rather, Yamaha's Digital Sound Projector hopefully marks the first, almost perfectly executed volley in a new consumer electronics category - Digital Sound Projectors.</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US">&nbsp;</SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-language: EN-US">[Read the Review]<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;&nbsp; </SPAN>[Interview with Technology Developer]</SPAN></P>

 

[mustang_steve]

My one question with the review, is how does this speaker compare to a $500 5.1 speaker set?

Only reason is this sounds pretty cool, and it might actually be the better choice for my living room, since I have a separate music system elsewhere.

 

[Audioholics]

It's at least $999 better if you have walls around the listening area.

 

[Rock&Roll Ninja]

Its too bad my apartment has the most poorly designed living area ever built, and this product would probably never function

Maybe if I can borrow one to test it out I'll be able to move my TV into my bedroom (which is rectangular)

 

[Audioholics]

You really don't need a perfect room - you just need walls.

 

[Rock&Roll Ninja]

You really don't need a perfect room - you just need walls.

Even those are questionable. I have a front wall directly behing the TV & front speakers. I have a left wall 6' from the listening position, the rear behind the couch is open to the kitchen, dining room, & computer nook for almost 20', and the right wall is 16' from the left wall for 5', 20' from the left wall for 5', then a divider divides the room for a kitchen, narrowing the room to 8' by the couch, then the room is basically open for more feet, but its all kitchen.....



...... Okay, i will never be able to explain this properly. How do I post pictures? And, if I need to keep pictures somewhere else and link to them, where is a free place to upload pictures on the Net?

 

[goodman]

Excellent review, Patrick. Fascinating product. Beautiful house. Now, about that TV....

 

[jaxvon]

Attaching pictures is easy, provided they aren't too large. When you're posting, scroll down to the "Additional Options" section right below the main part of the reply section and click the "Manage Attachments" button. That will allow you to browse your computer and attach pics. For free photo hosting, check out Photobucket.

 

[Leprkon]

Can you guys comment a little bit about the size of the sweet spot ? Any discussion about say 6 feet away versus 8 versus 10 under the given conditions ? Is it designed for a hug-and-cuddle movie or could you do a SuperBowl party ?

Thanks

 

[mustang_steve]

I hope it works in my room.... 11w x 14d but the right wall only goes about 9ft instead of 14, and the back wall only goes 9 instead of 11.

That would be super sweet to have in my living room, clearing all kinds of space up for better things.

 

[HookedOnSound]

reflections need surfaces....

You really don't need a perfect room - you just need walls.

I don't want to sound rude but when you says walls, you mean 4 walls? Right?

My room isn,t very rectangular either, 14x20 and the left side of my room opens up (almost 16 ft. of it) to an adjacent room (entrance/kitchen). Almost like I have 3 walls for my listening area.

I don't see how the sound projector could provide 5.1 realism if there is no side surface to refract (i hope I am saying right) the sound with the appearance of coming from the sides/behind like a traditional surround speaker setup/position?

Any chance Audioholics could test the YSP in an odd shaped room? I think alot of ppl are curious about the results as much as me....

Either way, great review...

 

[buckeyebri15]

So, if I live in a house with a "great room," this wouldn't be for me? I would have to be placing this in a room with enclosed walls?

 

[Yamahaluver]

Good job AH, nice review from a declared biased Yamaha fan.

 

[wankam]

YSP1 + Oddly-shaped room = ???

Hello,

I've actually been persuing an answer to this question so I might as well share the responses I've gotten so far. Upon seeing the "Audioholics" setup, I was excited to see a real-life application that didn't map directly to the handy little diagrams that Yamaha provided. So I got in touch with Yamaha Canada and a local dealer regarding this. I'll tell you up-front, I wasn't satisfied with either answer (maybe I'm in denial ). My e-mails were identical and the responses are below. I'd really like to hear from the folks at Audioholics about this too :
__________________________________
"I am a repeat Yamaha customer and am interested in your new and upcoming single component audio system, the YSP1. (...) if one side of your room is open (no wall in close proximity to reflect sound), will this drastically affect the system's performance or will it accomodate it somehow? I've illustrated what I mean in the ASCII diagram below. The asterisks represent the home theatre area. As you can see, the right side of the theatre has direct surface area to reflect sound as opposed to the left side whose wall is several metres away.

----------------------
| --OPEN------TV----|
| --OPEN--********|
| --OPEN--********|
| --OPEN--********|
----------------------

Thank you and I look forward to your response."

Response from Yamaha Canada:
"You can direct the sound beams anyway you want. Yes it will work but not as well as if you had equal wall on each side. Retail price will be $1699.00 (CAD)"

Response from local dealer:
"No, I don't think it would perform well in your desired set up - side
walls are necessary. Have a read through of the owner's manual at the
Yamaha website about the placement - it is very flexible actually but
side walls are needed."


The real debate here I think is if we need an enclosed, 4-walled room, why would we pick this over seperates? Sure, less wires, no drilling or fishing...but I'm sure a lot of you would agree that it's all part of the hobby. The types of consumers that want a YSP-1, IMO, are the ones who have a TV out in an open area where running wires & hiding cables is difficult or very costly. And usually, the room will be oddly shaped with the viewing area not resembling a perfect rectangule or a 45 degree corner.

At any rate, that was a great review and I hope our "Audioholics" can answer my question. (I'm just waiting for the green light )

 

[Rock&Roll Ninja]

Maybe it'll be a big seller in Japan where historically, all interior architecture is based on rooms of a 2a*1a rectangualr nature.

 

[Audioholics]

Yes, basically you do not need a perfect room, but the system needs something to work with. Even if you are in a larger room with an open area - provided you have a wall beyond that the YSP-1 should be able to figure it out. Now if it's over 35 feet away I think you're in for some difficulties.

Obviously some kind of rectangular room will be best - and if you recently had a tornado rip off a wall so that the entire left side of yout home theater is exposed to the open air... well, you may want to go with a different system.

The main idea: if the YSP-1 cannot count on any reflections to get the audio where it needs to go - it won't be able to do its job. Just remember that the sound waves can't make a right angle in the air and you'll get the idea. If they need to travel 10 yards and come back, that might be OK, however.

 

[wankam]

Thanks for the quick response Clint.

Well, my hunch is that the room I'd like the YSP-1 to work in probably won't work out so well. The diagram I provided earlier was to figure out under basic circumstances how it would deal with an unbalanced room. The room I envisioned it in is a lot more challenging (to my disappointment ). I've included some pics to illustrate the room and based on your experience with the YSP-1, let me know if you agree or not:

1. The flat-panel will be going over the fireplace (along with the YSP-1 if I were to purchase one). See Family_Room_small.jpg

2. If you were to look to the left of the fireplace, the room opens up to the hallway and the kitchen. See BreakfastBar_small.jpg

3. If you were to stand in the kitchen and look back out into the room, you'll see the distance the speaker would have to travel and reflect back. Probably about 17 feet or so, while the right side reflections would only have to travel about 4 or 5 feet. See Family_RoomKitchenette_small.jpg.

Upon describing this to you, I'm realizing now that a large percentage of the reflections would probably be lost to the kitchen, hallway and high ceilings. At any rate, this forum is all about discussion so any thoughts, ideas, suggestions?




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[Shadow_Ferret]

I have a hard time believing that this could possibly work or even sound good. It reminds me of more Bose-like direct/reflecting nonsense. Strikes me we're taking a step backwards, too. First we had mono, then stereo, then surround and now we're back to mono.

I'm also a little leary of buying speakers from an company that isn't known for it's speakers.

 

[gene]

Why not arrange for a demo rather than drawing a conclusion based soley on misconception. This product isn't meant for golden ears, high fidelity two channel. Its meant as a solution for multichannel surround for people with limited space and speaker placement options.

Did you read our review where we discussed how this technology works? Its nothing like the Bose system you mentioned. I wasn't convinced of this product until I heard it at CES and ran a sample to Pat for review. Pat is not the type of person that praises products unless they deserve it.

 

[warpdrive]

I'm also a little leary of buying speakers from an company that isn't known for it's speakers.

Did you even read the review?

Yamaha **IS** known for its DSP expertise. There is no reason why they can't pull it off. This is a completely different product than anything Bose related which try to make sound more diffuse. This is trying to do something completely different, create discrete sound channels.

Don't be so quick to judge. Also, even if it isn't perfect, I'm sure the technology will be refined in the future. I for one am looking forward to see how this product progresses. It's only a first generation product....so in the following releases, I'm sure the price will come down and they will iron out any flaws.