MidiLand S4 8200 5.1 Surround Sound Speaker System

Packed with the S4 8200 speaker system is the ADS 2000 Dolby Digital decoder, which MidiLand announced in March. Anybody would notice that this control module is very much similar to the control module that’s included in MidiLands current rival VideoLogic’s popular DigiTheatre speaker system. The only reason for this is that the third party company, who produces this OEM control module, has sold the same design to both companies. However, looks can be deceiving. The ADS 200 control module has only Dolby Digital, Dolby Pro Logic, and Stereo surround sound modes, where as VidoeLogic has included DTS (Digital Theatre Systems) to its control unit as well. It looks like one of MidiLands main aims in producing the S4 8200 speaker system was to cut down on price. In today’s DVD market there are two major key players, namely Dolby Digital and DTS. However for now Dolby Digital seems to be the norm in the DVD industry and it’s definitely not going to be outrun very soon. Therefore I believe MidiLand did a sensible thing in ignoring to add DTS to their control module, thus cutting down on price.

The ADS 2000 control module is also fully compatible with the S4 7100 speaker system. So if you already have one of these systems I suggest you get the ADS 2000. All controls of the ADS 2000 are done through the remote, which is a real lifesaver. However this control module has only a small backlit LCD screen, so you won’t see a thing if you are four or five feet away. Until you master the controls of the ADS 2000, no doubt it’s going to be quite frustrating.

Inside Out of the ADS 2000

Well, firstly lets talk about the connectors. As you can see in the picture of the control module it consists of the following Input connectors:

• Coaxial S/PDIF (RCA) for digital input
• Optical S/PDIF (Toslink) for digital input
• Stereo phono RCA for line input

As for output connectors, you are offered:

• a six channel output for connection to a 6-channel amplifier. (Cables are supplied with the speaker system itself)
• 3.5mm jacks for analog audio out is also provided

Surround Sound modes that the ADS 2000 support are:

• Dolby Digital
• Dolby Pro Logic
• Stereo

Now lets take a look at what the remote control unit has to offer. After all you’ll be using this most of the time. Below is a list of what the ADS 2000 remote can do for you:

• Volume controller
  the volume can be adjusted to the master as well as all the other channels individually, such as left, right, center, rear right, rear left and the sub.
• Test Button
  Just an ordinary test sequence that most 5.1 surround sound systems have, which plays some music to each individual channel.
• Bass Button
  Enables or Disables the Subwoofer. (I doubt anyone would want to use this unless you want things to get really rough……!!!)
• Input selector Button
  Selects the form of input; whether it’s Digital or Analog. Digital input is detected automatically.
• Surround Button
  Enables or Disables Surround Sound mode.
• Delay Button
  Changes the delay effect.
• Pro Logic Button
  Enables or Disables Pro Logic mode.
• Reset Button
  Resets all changes back to default factory settings.