Specifications

ADS2000
Included with the S4 8200's is the ADS 2000. This control module, which MidiLand announced in March, is also compatible with the S4 7100 speakers. You won't find any volume knobs on this control module, so if you have some sort of a volume knob fetish, then these speakers are not for you. The control for the module is done with a remote control. MidiLand chose to go the Dolby Digital route in their control module, while VideoLogic added DTS to their control module. If you have ever seen the VideoLogic control module, it looks VERY similar to the ADS 2000. That's because the modules come from the same OEM. Big deal? Not really. The reason for not putting DTS into the ADS 2000 is probably because of price -- it's a separate decoder chip to decode DTS encoded audio tracks. As mentioned above, the major player is Dolby Digital and it's here to stay. Below is the break down on what the ADS 2000 does.

Volume
This can be adjusted for any/all channels (left, right, centre, rear right, rear left, sub).

Balance
This can be adjusted for any channel (left, right, centre, rear right, rear left, sub).

Delay
To change the delay effect, you can increase the delay effect for the rear speakers.

Test
A simple test sequence that most 5.1 systems have, which plays some white noise to each individual channel.

Bass
Turns the subwoofer on or off.

Input
Selects form of input: digital/analog. Digital input is detected automatically.

ProLogic
Turns ProLogic mode on or off.

Surround
Turns surround mode on or off.

Reset
Resets settings to factory defaults.

Treble

Treble is provided by 3" woofers, which also deliver the mid-range. Treble is clear and has a nice edge to it. It seems MidiLand has a really nice combination working. With the mid-range and treble in the same cone, the speakers are extremely efficient and balanced. Each satellite puts out 20 Watts RMS.

Mid-range
The mid-range is provided by the same 3" woofer as for the treble. The treble and mid-range come together to provide a well-balanced, and very powerful, clear home-theatre level quality of sound. MidiLand actually makes the woofers for their speakers (they have their own factory that builds them).

Subwoofer
The subwoofer is a 6.5" woofer enclosed in a very well constructed MDF (medium density fibreboard) cabinet. To say that this subwoofer is powerful is a severe understatement. The amount of bass that comes out of this relatively mid-sized cabinet is truly a work of engineering art. There isn't a need for a foot massager under your desk anymore; just set the sub under your desk and you can feel the movement of air quite nicely :)

Amplifier
MidiLand uses a Class AB amplifier, which includes separate amplification for each individual channel. This is pretty much a must for any high quality system. The amplifier puts out 200 Watts RMS. You will notice in the pictures that MidiLand included a fair amount of smoothing capacitance in the amplifier to ensure a consistent signal that won't fade when driven. There are five power supplies in all: 3 regulated and 2 unregulated. The 3 regulated power supplies have a total of 6800uF of smoothing capacitance, and the 2 unregulated power supplies have a total of 6800uf of smoothing capacitance. All in all, it's a well-constructed, solid amplifier. Rumour has it that MidiLand is looking into Class T amplifiers for future products. Class AB amplifiers are decent high fidelity amplifiers, but tend to be inefficient, sometimes losing 80% of their power through heat dissipation. Class T amplifiers bring the digital advantage to the audio amplification arena. Class T amplification actually decreases cost, as they do not require massive heat-sinks and power supplies because they are more efficient and do not produce as much heat as the typical Class AB amplifiers. Kudo's to MidiLand for keeping up with amplifier technology and thinking of ways to make systems more efficient and even produce higher quality audio.

Smoothing Capacitors

Amplifier Inners

Gaming
For the gaming tests, optical and S/PDIF were used. These speakers perform amazingly in gaming. The extremely powerful sub and clear, powerful satellites lend an incredible amount of realism to any game, especially 3D audio gaming. When driving the Porsche 911 Turbo (in cockpit view) in Need For Speed: Porsche Unleashed, the sound was just incredible, from the sounds of the waterfalls passing down the right side of the car while doing 140mph to the silky sound of the 6-speed transmission going through its gears. It was non-stop realism.

Music
No matter what was being played through these speakers, audio was reproduced in a fantastic, clear, and powerful manner. Again, the most prominent part of these speakers is the subwoofer, but the kind of sound you get out of the overall package is very similar to something 3-4 times its size. From the thunderous bass to the crisp, full mid-range and treble, this set of speakers is a serious competitor in the 5.1 PC speaker market.

Movies

To test the MidiLand S4 8200's, the VideoLogic DVD Player was used. One of today's favorite DVD's used to test is The Matrix. After the entire movie was played, it was evident that this speaker system was here to play. The sub was just fantastic in the machine gun scene near the end of movie, and also in the movie, Top Gun, where they are dog-fighting with the Mig 29's. Accompanying the fantastic bass was the clear and powerful Mid-range and Treble, which certainly held its own, even at near full volume during The Matrix. MidiLand markets this system as PC/Home system. There is no doubt that in a medium-sized room, this system would do just fine as a home DVD system. It certainly has all the power needed for that task.

Zoran Decoder Chip

Inputs are plenty here. You have three choices in all: Digital SPDIF, Optical, and Analog RCA. The analog RCA in is a single L/R input. The ADS2000 will auto detect which input you are using. One thing was a little bit of an annoyance was that you can only have one digital input plugged in at the same time. You can have them both physically plugged in, but it will only use the digital sp/dif if the optical is plugged in at the same time. The ADS2000 also features four outputs, Line, Surround, Center, Subwoofer. Handy for hooking the decoder into other systems. Included on the rear of the subwoofer are the main volume controls for the system, which you may as well just turn almost right up, and control from the ADS2000.

Conclusion
MidiLand did a fantastic job on this 5.1 solution, from its metallic looking casing to the high quality audio that it reproduces. It's a 5.1 solution that will be hard to beat. The price is hard to beat as well, which can be found as low as US$292. It's priced very reasonably for what you get. Although Cambridge SoundWorks 2500's are cheaper, these don't pack anywhere near the same punch as the S4 8200's do, and don't have a remote control. If you are in the market for a set of 5.1 speakers, you should really take a look at these metallic gems.

For attention to detail, features galore, competitive price, and bass that packs an incredible punch, we award the MidiLand S4 8200's with the Gold Medal Award.