Will I be wasting my money?

[Hightower]

Hi All:

My girlfriend bought me a Panasonic 37" 1080P LCD for Christmas. In return I bought her a Panasonic BMD-BD35. Not a bad deal me thinks! I coupled the 35 to my Pioneer VSX-912K, sort of. Seeing that the Pioneer doesn't have any HDMI Inputs/Outputs, I connected the 35 directly to the TV via HDMI and connected the optical output of the 35 to the Pioneer receiver for DD & DTS decoding.

Would I be wasting my money to upgrade my receiver to a model that has HDMI inputs/outputs over my current optical connection setup? I'm assuming that along with the 1080p video signal that the 35 is sending to my TV via HDMI, that it is also sending additional/modified audio signals that would not be encoded on a regular DVD, to the TV through the same HDMI cable. Would I actually hear any additional audio tracks/info by utilizing the circuitry of a audio receiver equiped with HDMI?

Thanks

Chris

 

[allargon]

Would I be wasting my money to upgrade my receiver to a model that has HDMI inputs/outputs over my current optical connection setup? I'm assuming that along with the 1080p video signal that the 35 is sending to my TV via HDMI, that it is also sending additional/modified audio signals that would not be encoded on a regular DVD, to the TV through the same HDMI cable. Would I actually hear any additional audio tracks/info by utilizing the circuitry of a audio receiver equiped with HDMI?

Welcome to Audioholics. You won't be wasting your money if you have good speakers and room treatments to take advantage of the increased fidelity from the newer (DD+, Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD HR, DTS-HD MA) high res audio codecs. You would hear additional details (better sound) as well as lower and higher frequencies with a HDMI receiver provided your ears and the rest of your system are up for it.

With regards to sending audio to your TV. That's a non-issue. If you have a surround (or even a stereo system), I'm assuming you have your TV speakers muted. If not, please do so.

It's up to you whether or not you want to spend money on a receiver (or a new Blu-Ray player like the Panny DMP-BD50 or BD55) to hear the new multichannel analog outputs. A new Blu-Ray player with multichannel analog inputs would also let you take advantage of the newer codecs.

What speakers do you have?

 

[Hightower]

Allargon:

Thanks for your reply and the good info you provided.

My main speakers are twenty one year old Bose 10.2's and my ears are close to 67 I know Bose is not highly regarded at all amongst audiophiles but little did I know of that when I bought them. I also wonder about the condition of the surrounds in the speakers not knowing just what the material that was used back then. I know I have lost acuity in hearing higher frequencies, hence my concern to whether I could actually hear benefits from the audio tracks from my BD35 via HDMI to a HDMI equipped receiver.

My center channel and surround speakers are Cambridge Sound Works. My sub is a Velodyne 810. What I probably should do is can the Bose and try and match some Cambridge speakers to the center and surrounds. Aside from that, I still wonder if I would be able to hear any of the additional audio goodies provided in BR disks.

Thanks for the welcome.

 

[mperfct]

Agreed that you should can the Bose and get a match for your CSW speakers. I would think that you could hear the bit better audio with the bluray player, but that might be a difference of 10 on a scale of 1 to a 100; new speakers/receiver would net you closer to 80.

Plus if you get a newer HDMI receiver, you would probably get a version of Audyssey as well, which does make a difference.

I wonder if those Bose are so old that they might actually be good speakers?

Allargon:

Thanks for your reply and the good info you provided.

My main speakers are twenty one year old Bose 10.2's and my ears are close to 67 I know Bose is not highly regarded at all amongst audiophiles but little did I know of that when I bought them. I also wonder about the condition of the surrounds in the speakers not knowing just what the material that was used back then. I know I have lost acuity in hearing higher frequencies, hence my concern to whether I could actually hear benefits from the audio tracks from my BD35 via HDMI to a HDMI equipped receiver.

My center channel and surround speakers are Cambridge Sound Works. My sub is a Velodyne 810. What I probably should do is can the Bose and try and match some Cambridge speakers to the center and surrounds. Aside from that, I still wonder if I would be able to hear any of the additional audio goodies provided in BR disks.

Thanks for the welcome.

 

[Hightower]

Agreed that you should can the Bose and get a match for your CSW speakers. I would think that you could hear the bit better audio with the bluray player, but that might be a difference of 10 on a scale of 1 to a 100; new speakers/receiver would net you closer to 80.

Plus if you get a newer HDMI receiver, you would probably get a version of Audyssey as well, which does make a difference.

I wonder if those Bose are so old that they might actually be good speakers?

You know, they don't sound all that bad I would like to find out what the surround material was made of. Either paper or a synthetic I would venture a guess. These are, IIRC, the only Towers that Bose made back then, in the days of the 901's. I was fortunate to get a set where instead of wood grain laminate, I actually got solid teak, not that this feature has anything to do with good sound! Or does it?

 

[allargon]

Allargon:

Thanks for your reply and the good info you provided.

My main speakers are twenty one year old Bose 10.2's and my ears are close to 67 I know Bose is not highly regarded at all amongst audiophiles but little did I know of that when I bought them. I also wonder about the condition of the surrounds in the speakers not knowing just what the material that was used back then. I know I have lost acuity in hearing higher frequencies, hence my concern to whether I could actually hear benefits from the audio tracks from my BD35 via HDMI to a HDMI equipped receiver.

My center channel and surround speakers are Cambridge Sound Works. My sub is a Velodyne 810. What I probably should do is can the Bose and try and match some Cambridge speakers to the center and surrounds. Aside from that, I still wonder if I would be able to hear any of the additional audio goodies provided in BR disks.

Thanks for the welcome.

Can the Bose? Nah... you should start with your sub. It is a bit weird that you have a center that doesn't match your mains. Fixing that is up to you.

You might hear better details. As I said, the new lossless codecs add frequencies that were cut off by Dolby Digital and plain jane DTS. This includes highs and lows. Quite a few people learned of their subs' deficiences with Batman Begins on HD DVD, then Kung Fu Panda on Blu. You might not be able to hear below 20Hz, but you can feel it.

 

[Pyrrho]

Hi All:

My girlfriend bought me a Panasonic 37" 1080P LCD for Christmas. In return I bought her a Panasonic BMD-BD35. Not a bad deal me thinks! I coupled the 35 to my Pioneer VSX-912K, sort of. Seeing that the Pioneer doesn't have any HDMI Inputs/Outputs, I connected the 35 directly to the TV via HDMI and connected the optical output of the 35 to the Pioneer receiver for DD & DTS decoding.

Would I be wasting my money to upgrade my receiver to a model that has HDMI inputs/outputs over my current optical connection setup? I'm assuming that along with the 1080p video signal that the 35 is sending to my TV via HDMI, that it is also sending additional/modified audio signals that would not be encoded on a regular DVD, to the TV through the same HDMI cable. Would I actually hear any additional audio tracks/info by utilizing the circuitry of a audio receiver equiped with HDMI?

Thanks

Chris

If you do get a new receiver with HDMI inputs, be careful and make sure it has the decoding for the new audio formats. Some receivers with HDMI inputs only switch the video for you, and cannot get the sound off of it at all. One of those would be a waste of money for you.

You might want to take a look at this link before you jump to a new receiver:

http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=51095

Almost certainly, better speakers (speakers include subwoofers) will make more of a difference than the new audio formats. Mind you, if you have the money, a new receiver with the new audio formats would be good, but it is the speakers that make the actual sounds in your room, and most people spend too little on them in proportion to what they spend on other things. In my opinion, before going above about $500 or so on a receiver, one should go into the thousands on speakers. I had a receiver that retailed for about $600 that I was running with speakers that retailed for more than $6k. It sounded good. I replaced the receiver with one that retailed for about $1600 because I wanted some additional features and guess what? It sounds the same, unless I engage a feature that was not on the old less expensive unit. (If my speakers had been inefficient, the fact that the new unit can put out about twice the power would have mattered, but in my case, the extra power is totally unnecessary.)

 

[Hightower]

Pyrhho writes:

If you do get a new receiver with HDMI inputs, be careful and make sure it has the decoding for the new audio formats. Some receivers with HDMI inputs only switch the video for you, and cannot get the sound off of it at all. One of those would be a waste of money for you.


Excellent point Pyrhho. I have been considering the Pioneer VSX-918V-K and after reading your post, a further check of the specs for this receiver appear that it offers nothing more than a pass through switch for HDMI audio from my Panny BD35.

Question: The Panny will decode Dolby True HD and other digital formats. Does a receiver also need the same decoding circuitry to ultimately hear the "benefits" of the new audio technology?

Thanks

 

[allargon]

Question: The Panny will decode Dolby True HD and other digital formats. Does a receiver also need the same decoding circuitry to ultimately hear the "benefits" of the new audio technology?

Thanks

Nope, a BD35 will decode everything. You can scrimp and get a receiver that accepts PCM over HDMI--no need to have a receiver that decodes everything.

Here's a short list of entry level receivers that accept PCM over HDMI:

Harman Kardon AVR-247
Yamaha RX-V661
Yamaha RX-V563
Onkyo TX-SR604
Onkyo TX-SR576
Denon AVR-788
Sony STR-DG720 (*not* recommended)
NAD T785

Rotel and Pioneer have 'em, too. I just don't know the model #.

 

[Hightower]

Nope, a BD35 will decode everything. You can scrimp and get a receiver that accepts PCM over HDMI--no need to have a receiver that decodes everything.

Here's a short list of entry level receivers that accept PCM over HDMI:

Harman Kardon AVR-247
Yamaha RX-V661
Yamaha RX-V563
Onkyo TX-SR604
Onkyo TX-SR576
Denon AVR-788
Sony STR-DG720 (*not* recommended)
NAD T785

Rotel and Pioneer have 'em, too. I just don't know the model #.

I just checked the Pioneer site and the 918 does offer PCM over HDMI. That should do it.

Thanks for the info.

 

[Pyrrho]

Pyrhho writes:

If you do get a new receiver with HDMI inputs, be careful and make sure it has the decoding for the new audio formats. Some receivers with HDMI inputs only switch the video for you, and cannot get the sound off of it at all. One of those would be a waste of money for you.


Excellent point Pyrhho. I have been considering the Pioneer VSX-918V-K and after reading your post, a further check of the specs for this receiver appear that it offers nothing more than a pass through switch for HDMI audio from my Panny BD35.

Question: The Panny will decode Dolby True HD and other digital formats. Does a receiver also need the same decoding circuitry to ultimately hear the "benefits" of the new audio technology?

Thanks

If your Blu-Ray player has decoding and multi-channel analog outputs, if your current receiver has multi-channel analog inputs, you can get the sound that way as well. But it generally does involve doing the setup (balancing, delays) through the player that way.

 

[mperfct]

so did you ever go waste your money?

 

[Hightower]

Not yet. Just read a post where Pioneer is introducing four new receivers this spring, one of which is a model 919. Think I'll wait till then.

In the mean time, I'm going to experiment and change the audio output in the BD35 from Bitstream to PCM and see if I can hear any difference on a DTS Master coded movie. I played "Burn After Reading" last night and all I can say is that the sound was collosal while set on Bitstream.