Be aware of ANALOG AUDIO!!!
934159
Roku 2 is great if you're not planning on running your audio to your amp without HDMI or a TV audio out.
Unlike the older models, there is no digital audio out and you have to use the included
adapter cable for an analog audio connection.

Now most analog connections are just fine but the quality of the Roku DIGITAL TO ANALOG AUDIO CONVERSION IS ABSOLTELY HORRIBLE!!! Roku had no answer. I assume they cut corners on this since most people use HDMI all the way.

So make sure you have your audio either on your HDMI TV speakers or audio out from TV to receiver/amp or have a capable HDMI receiver/amp using a HDMI splitter for audio. DO NOT USE THIS ON AN OLDER ANALOG TV OR YOU WILL SUFFER!!

I purchased ALL Roku 2 models and they all have the same problem. And no, I'm not an audio snob at all, but wavering overly compressed soundtrack just really kills a movie, no matter how good the picture.
3182375
this makes no sense. there's a machine that has a radio, a turn table, cassette player, cd player and an MP3. AND, it can record between them. cool right? it cost about $200 and i WANTED to buy it. only problem is the reviews said it didn't get good radio reception and was generally a piece of crap.

so i'm looking at reviews because i NEED an AM radio. NEED. the caveat is i NEED the radio to actually get the stations without being overrun with static and play them loud enough so i can hear them.  don't get me started on "why can i hear my car radio, in my garage but when i go in the house i get static?!!"

i see the reviews for this little analog, old school, Sony thing. okay, i need a radio. so, i give it a shot. it is perfect in every way.
2266652
I have an old Altec speaker system from 1997.  Beautiful sound, which I connect via analog.  I've had about four computers cinse I got these speakers, but they sound to nice to "modernize".  They are 4.1 sopeakers - a configuration that has long since disappeared.  In my present set-up the rear spekers don't function at all.  The computer (and 2 of the past ones) don't "see" them.  I was hoping to use this device and the appropriate cables to get from the S/PDIF port in the back of the speakers to the optical port in my computer.  What I got was no sound at all.  It could be that the device was defective, or it could be that my speaker technology is too old for even this.  Who knows?  But I had to return it.  Amazon did one of those - we-won't return-your-entire-purchase-amount things, so I'll try to do my future shopping at buy.com or elsewhere.  If you are trying to breathe some new life into a very old speaker system, you might want to save your time.
3119574
Received this today and set it up as a speaker I would connect to my Airport express with an TOSLink cable since AE has optical out.  The sound quality when playing music with the optical input vs analogue is amazing.  Very noticeable difference.  One major issue, the Dali DAC cuts out constantly.  I know it is their DAC because I have no cutouts when using the same device with an analog signal.  I've tried 2 different version of AE and the same problem happens.  I know it's not a network issue since using the analog input results in no cutouts.

Was going to get the Monster Audio ASB-2 but chose this since the reviews were better and it is $300 cheaper.  Very happy with sound quality, but I see no solution for my setup.  What I use needs to work with the optical out of my AE or have built in AirPlay.  Will probably return this unless I get a solution from Dali.

UPDATE1: emailed company who got back to me and they tried to reproduce the error but couldn't. I tried with an AppleTV and that optical signal is fine and is a workable solution.

UPDATE2: The Sound. First of all, this is an impressive product. Detail is very good for a speaker with this form factor. I listen to all kinds of music but I have to say that it is a little lacking in midrange which is apparent when listening to rock. Some horns, guitar and keyboards are not as prevalent as I am used to. For instance, the guitar solo on Pink Floyd's "Hey You" sounds like it is a little bit in the background rather than a focal point. The snare drum on Sting's "Little Wing" is a little flat surprisingly. Supertramp has a lot sound in the range that I am talking about (keyboards). While it sounds beautiful, I feel there is some parts of the music that is different and not as upfront as I am used to. If you are going to use this for music as I am (living room speaker on the mantel, music only) just know that the sound is very bright which isn't great for rock.  I must say, some of the music coming out of this quite incredible.  It just wasn't my taste.

Another note about the base.  It has a subwoofer output that I tried out.  A subwoofer make a huge difference.  Consider adding one to your setup.
4449696
I purchased a Sony 3300 es to compliment my Sony PS3 and Sony 60" Grand Wega television. Sounds great, right? Wrong. The receiver was unable to pass audio (kind of important) through the PS3 hdmi cable. After literally hours of setting changes, cable swaps, and calls to customer service, no solution was found. So I swapped it for another one, and had the same problem. So I swapped it (again) for a Denon. Denon worked right out the box where the Sony would not. If I had to guess, I would say that since I am using an hdmi to dvi cable to my TV (my 2003 TV predates hdmi), that the receiver has some overprotective copy-protection that would not allow audio to play. Spend your money elsewhere.
533704
Nice, found one problem though, you need to change the front panel connection to HD in the audio software because it defaults to AC97. Changing it in BIOS doesn't help, you have to do it from Windows.
4899165
The music is too analog and gives off too much treble. You have to mess with the equalizer for you to get a good sound
4430532
I thought that this item had three stereo connections, one male and two female, for the purpose of sharing a stereo signal, say, from a portable music player with two headphones. However, what I received takes a stereo signal at the plug and split out its left and right signals at the jacks.

The giveaway should have been that the jacks were red and white, rather than black. (As I write this, the picture here at Amazon has been mysteriously changed to show black jacks.) And, if you look at Cmple's own web site for product 103-N (which is what is being sold here), and what do you know, the picture shows red and white jacks. Now, of course, the color of the plastic doesn't determine functionality. But right there under this picture, their web site says, "Both red and white jacks does NOT split the stereo signal into separate left and right mono channels, both jacks output has the same stereo signal." Ignoring the poor grammar for a second and concentrating on the factuality of the statement, this is patently false: I plugged my headphones into the red jack, and only got audio in my right ear. I plugged them into the white jack, and what do you know, only got audio in my left ear. Imagine that. Then I cut the cord between the jacks and the plug (it's not worth my time and effort to return a product this inexpensive), and golly gee wiz, there was only one conductor (excepting the ground conductor). If Cmple has found a way to pass analog stereo over one conductor, please let the world know.

So I emailed Cmple, explaining the problem, and, granted, they promptly sent replacements. Of two totally different items (their SKU 101, which has a 3.5 mm jack and two RCA plugs). Oops. Not even close. I give up.

So make sure that this is what you really want. I can't really think of a scenario where you'd want to break out the left and right signals of a stereo signal into 3.5 mm jacks (you'd typically break them out to two RCAs), unless you had two powered speakers that each had a 3.5 mm plug.
350657
After the 3.5mm input ripped right out of my computer, I decided it was time for a new soundcard. After some brief, albeit hurried shopping, I ended up purchasing this product.

At first I was excited about the ease of use! I mean, come on, USB connectivity, plug and play features, optional software, and of course, the excellence of an analog volume dial.

Very cool. Right?

WRONG!

After three hours of updating software and configuring the card to my computer, I realized that I had dropped signal quality, even though the card is rated at 24-Bit 96000KHZ plus. Not only had I lost audio clarity, but I now had a really bad case of clipping. I mean, any excessive noise, and I would hear distortion, feedback or signal clipping. This simply would not do considering I needed this sound card for audio recording.

My guess is that it makes a great addition to any laptop, or lower-end home desktop. It's functionality as a recording sound card is crappy at best. The fact that it is powered by USB would indicate that indefinitely some signal quality will be lost, so be ready for that.

pros:
-plug and play connectivity
-software not necessary(but certainly recommended)
-analog volume dial
-5.1 surround
-ASIO drivers supported
-24 bit processing
-comes with some neat programs(sort of)

cons:
-software installation and update takes forever
-usb powered, resulting in signal degeneration
-audio clipping and interference
-not recommended for audio recording
-not recommended for high quality audio processing
-the crystalizer and 3-D sound capabitlies are questionable at best

Ultimately I had to return it because I recieved a distinct decrease in playback and recording quality. Although it processed music and computer sounds well enough, any sound card should (seeing as that's what they are engineered to do). My recommendation, great for laptops with crappy onboard sound but not for home or studio use!
2717960
Terrific receiver except I can't listen to headphones while wife listens to speakers.  Plugging in a headphone kills the speakers.  That is cheap, inconsiderate and crazy.  I opened the unit accessed the headphone feed upline from the speaker kill switch.  Now, I have good soud from the speakers, but terrible stereo and part of the program missing from the headphones.  How could Yamaha do that to us.  Lot's of complaints on line about this material misstep.  Beware!  By the way, I have two units with one at a vacation home.  Untold hours were required to get to this point.  I dare you to be able to contact the factory for help.  NoWay!  Wish I had known! Jim. Clayton@claytonbank.com Help appreciated!
4484092
The USB connection for this is garbage and a VERY well known issue on the forums. Analog works fine, but if you're like me and trying to do a dual mic setup using only USB, you'll probably run into problems. Unless I have gains set to 100% it literally sounds like I'm whispering into the mic. It's a good mixer otherwise, but this is a deal break most people should know about. I included an audio snip from Audacity with me trying to record at normal levels and I'm barely audible with levels absolutely maxed.
3934039
I too have had problems with the audible hiss/static/background noise with this stereo. Basically, if you play a CD at a reasonably low volume, you will hear an annoying hiss in the background.  This hiss is also audible in the MD (auxiliary) input, which is one feature I tend to use a lot to play MP3s from my computer.  It's possible that the hiss is also a problem with the radio tuner as well -- but since my signal reception is so poor, it's hard for me to tell. (Note:  other stereos I have purchased have gotten significantly better FM radio reception than this one; however, your mileage may vary.)
Aesthetically, the style and user interface are fine, but the poor sound quality alone should be enough to keep you away from this unit.  I would have expected more from Sony.
4658218
While the rest of this player seems to work fine, I found a problem when only analog stereo sound was plugged into the TV speakers.  DVDs begin playback with no dialogue track.  To fix this, you have to go into the player's internal menu system and change the digital out sound setting - even though there isn't any digital sound out connected!  It must be an internal bug, but it's annoying as heck to have to go change this setting back and forth every time you put in a DVD.
3009781
This device is a bargain as long as you just need an optical source switch or dont-care sound quality. Youd use it if your amplifier doesnt take optical inputs (converts to analog) or if you have too many optical inputs for the amplifier (use the optical output). Build quality is reasonable. The case is steel. The optical ports clip snugly to TOSLINK cables if they're good quality. Because the device is small and light, it isn't going to stay anchored to a surface because of the tension from the optical cables. Plan accordingly.

Noise is low, below the noise floor of the analog components I tested with. Conversion to analog is clear and detailed at all bit rates and bit counts as long as the sound isn't too complex. Unfortunately, loud, percussive sections get distorted by this device. You cant use it as a piece of real audio equipment. Its okay for gaming, television, or movies as long as you can ignore the mess at the higher signal strength and complexities. The DACs in my Macintosh do a much better job. Im confident of these results. Heres how I tested:

As optical inputs to the Cyelee, I fed:
 2-channel, direct PCM source from CD
 2-channel, 16-bit 44.1KHz from iTunes on my computer
 2-channel, 16-b8t 96KHz from iTunes on my computer
 2-channel,  20-bit 48KHz from iTunes on my computer
 2-channel,  20-bit 96KHz from iTunes on my computer
 2-channel, 24-bit 44.1KHz from iTunes on my computer
 2-channel, 24-bit 48KHz from iTunes on my computer
 2-channel, 24-bit 96KHz from iTunes on my computer

I fed the analog output into my integrated amp. All of these sources sounded the same: Fine at most levels, but heavily distorted at the highest levels with the most complexity.

As analog inputs directly into my integrated amp, I fed:
 2-channel from the DACs in my Macintosh
2-channel from the CD player

Both of these sources sounded fine in the places the Cyelee wrecked the music.

I get very occasional syncopation, as if the chips clock is stuttering (or theres a glitch in buffering or something).

WARNING: The optical input is not mixed down to two channels for analog output. If you have a 5+1 optical input, for example, you're only going to get whats on the L+R channels. The rest will disappear. Hence, your source audio should be set to PCM (2-channel) if it has that capability. (Many modern televisions do.) If your source cant do that, then you shouldnt use this device directly for headphones or speakers. If you just want to use it as an optical switch, it will preserve the format and channel count of whatever your source is. That is, its just a pass-through.
4916432
My main gripe with this unit is my own fault. I read all the reviews, and purchased this to replace my Harmon Kardon AVR130 which had developed some problems. I failed to notice where it says "Does not support audio through HDMI". In my opinion this is NOT an hdmi reciever, all it does with the hdmi signal is allow you to switch between two HDMI inputs to one output. You can accomplish that with a cheap standalone HDMI switch. You still have to hookup a separate digital audio signal, and this unit only has two optical inputs, and my Xbox 360, AT&T Uverse, and Home Theater PC have only optical out, not coax digital, so my PC is left with just an analog stereo input unfortunately.

This is to be expected for a receiver at this price, but I wish I would have noticed before I bought it and hooked it up. Also the SCENE functions aren't easy to figure out, I would prefer a simple EQ or "Flat EQ" option with simple bass and treble controls. I also wonder if the RMS voltage is really what they say it is since this is much lighter and smaller than my AVR130 that was rated for less power.

Still a decent buy for the money though, but maybe not for an audiophile or someone with a big system.
982882
I was bench testing this with the external power supply plugged into the front of the unit the other day and left the wires on the back loose. Two of them touched during the bench test and immediately after, the sound coming from the speakers hooked up to the amplifier were distorting heavy. I assumed the amplifier was fried and bought another and was more careful the second time.

Tried the next one I ordered with the same audio source and had distortion coming out of the speakers again. Turns out when the wires touched, they fed 12 volts into the audio jack of the IPad and cooked the internal amplifier board. My own fault, but figured I'd alert others. It also doesn't say anything in the manual about capping off the extra wires, so be alert!
4808287
If you want the true 7.1 PCM uncompressed sound on your PS3 THIS SYSTEM IS NOT FOR YOU!!!! Read on for more info::

Ok. So i bought this unit a week ago and decided it was the perfect unit for my PS3/HDTV setup b/c of the 7.1 surround sound you can experience through most blu-ray movies and some games i own (Resistance 1, Gran Turismo Prologue)

I hooked it all up with ease, it took only around 30 minutes (including time used to adjust speaker settings with the setup mic.) It even has color coated audio wires (which works fine, others say they are junk but a copper wire is a copper wire!!!). Soooooo heres the problem.......

Its HDMI PASSTHROUGH. Big important word, PASSTHROUGH. First and foremost if you didn't do your research like i didn't before buying this system PASSTHROUGH means that YOU CANNOT GET AUDIO WITH HDMI THROUGH THE RECIEVER, only video. In simple terms, NO uncompressed 7.1 sound. If your like me and thought you could use Digital Optical for uncompressed 7.1 you cant. Digital Optical cables only have enough bandwidth to support TWO uncompressed speakers, all other 5 speakers use regular stereo sound which COMPLETLEY defeats the purpose of True(uncompressed) sound in all 7 speakers.

So to get True 7.1 sound you need to get the step up, Onkyo HT-S6100 HTIB system, or a reciever which encodes Audio/Video processing.

For more info on 7.1 PCM Uncompressed sound on your PS3 read this GREAT article:
[...]

A link to the Onkyo HT-S6100 (the system im getting now):
[...]

And if your wondering why i still gave it a 4/5 its because its a AWESOME system for the money, but just not the system i was looking for.

I HOPE THIS HELPS!