All Digital Receiver

[audioholic212]

Please forgive me if the question doesn't make any sense. I still see the receivers being marketed today have analog inputs on them. For some considerable chunk of the demographic, they don't mean much expect for paying for unnecessary stuff. Is there an all HDMI, digital audio only receiver in the near future that anybody is aware of?

Maybe taking the analog out of the receiver saves some money AND get a better receiver with quality stuff in it?

 

[mtrycrafts]

Please forgive me if the question doesn't make any sense. I still see the receivers being marketed today have analog inputs on them. For some considerable chunk of the demographic, they don't mean much expect for paying for unnecessary stuff. Is there an all HDMI, digital audio only receiver in the near future that anybody is aware of?

Maybe taking the analog out of the receiver saves some money AND get a better receiver with quality stuff in it?

Not sure I totally follow your question.
Your thought is to eliminate all analog input to a receiver to save money?

I would say that such a receiver is not foreseeable for a generation or more. Too many analog devices to connect, not a big money saver I bet. And, too may would find it not backward compatible for existing gear that will be in homes for a long time to come.

 

[audioholic212]

Not sure I totally follow your question.
Your thought is to eliminate all analog input to a receiver to save money.

Save money and size. If we take off all the analog inputs, it definitely would save some space, I am guessing.

For people who have all digital devices, like new HD TVs, fairly new DVD players, blu-ray players etc, having analog outputs don't make any sense. But, like you said, we may have to wait a long time before they are out of the receivers yet.

 

[skers_54]

Save space on the back panel: absolutely.
Make the receiver physically smaller: nope.

The power supply, amplifiers and heat sinks make up most of the size (and a good chunk of the cost). Receivers will always need an analog stage because amplifiers can't amplify a digital signal. I would bet that the increase in support calls alone on an all-digital receiver would negate the small savings from eliminating analog inputs.

 

[markw]

You must be young.

Remember, just because you don't see a need for them doesn't mean the rest of the world feels that way.

Apparently you don't remember when phono inputs started disappearing from receivers. Many didn't notice until after they bought one without them.

This would make a lot of sources impossible to use with them. Turntables which are making a comeback in some circles, particularly with hi-glitz phono preamps, but a lot of people find those red/white inputs handy for things like a quick-and-dirty Ipod connection, some die-hard VCR users still cling to life (I'm one), not to mention a few still like tape decks and whatever else you can think of.

Also, remember, tuners are by nature an analog audio source, so putting a few plugs on the back and incorporating switching is not a big deal. Being backward compatible is a good thing.

 

[Xargos]

Not only does a lack of analog inputs prevent compatibility with a lot of existing devices, but it can work against future proofing. Before Dolby Digital and DTS became common, there were plenty of receivers that had 5.1 analog inputs. All that was needed to add these capabilities ended up being a DVD player with a built in decoder. These same inputs also made SACD playback possible.

 

[audioholic212]

You must be young.

No, I am ignorant, that's all

 

[manofsteel2397]

yea i still use analog inputs for stuff like connection my digital camcorder and digital camera not to mention when you buy video games if you want to hook it up right out of the box you need analog hook ups since they dont come with digital cabels.....

 

[JerryLove]

I would like to see all inputs become programmable. Can we agree that very few of us use all of the analog inputs/output on our gear? For me, the only things I've seen fill up in years are the composite/digital (and now HDMI) ports.

Actually, though I understand the economy of scale problem, and that the losses to "want it all sales" outweigh the "I'll by this just cause it has less plugs" gains, I'd not mind seeing a high-power, high-quality AVR that assume I have a reasonable amount of gear, and that it's all modern: IOW No S-VHS, no more than 1-2 composite videos, no more than 3-4 sets of analog, a few component-ins and HDMI (display port? No no one supports that ). 7.2 channels with no secondary / tertiary rooms.

The video equivalent of a 2-channel audio-only receiver... which do exist but cost too much.