Blu-ray, What To Look For.

[finney888]

hello again, im now thinking of getting a new bluray player, but im confused
about which to get, u see i want to get hd audio but i think my pioneer
VSX917 cant decode the sound, so my question is which brand or model
would be the most suited to my situation where the player decodes the audio for me. i am in australia and of course on a budget. thanks again

 

[Adam]

If you really want to hear the lossless codecs, then you'll want to get a blu-ray player that has multi-channel analog outputs and that can decode the lossless codecs because your receiver has multi-channel analog inputs.

Others here know more about which models would be good for that.

 

[mtrycrafts]

hello again, im now thinking of getting a new bluray player, but im confused
about which to get, u see i want to get hd audio but i think my pioneer
VSX917 cant decode the sound, so my question is which brand or model
would be the most suited to my situation where the player decodes the audio for me. i am in australia and of course on a budget. thanks again

How many channels are you after, 5.1 or 7.1? Some players or older players still on the market can only do 5.1 I favor the Panny 55 but that and the 35 is being replaced and not sure if they are still in production but some may still be on the supply line.
Or, just wait for the new ones.

 

[finney888]

thanks for the replies, i only have a 5.1ch system so no need for 7.1ch, does a system suffer by hooking through analogue inputs and not digital?? so in summary i need to look @ a pana that decodes lossless codecs and has multi channel analogue output. and in theory that should improve my sound quality through the roof.

 

[mperfct]

I think you have two options. Both involve getting a player that can internally decode HD-Audio.

1) Get a Pioneer BDP-51FD. Extraordinary performance for <$300 USD. I think it might have a different international model number, but you should be able to find it.

2) Wait another month and see all the new players. Panasonic's BD60/80, Pioneer's BDP 120fd/320fd, and Samsung's players all look pretty good. I'm pretty sold on the Pioneer, myself. Almost all players are coming out $300 for the base model, and $400 for the players that would have analog outs.

I'm anxious to see how load times improve for the '09 players vs. last year's players.

Also, if you use analog outs (which you shouldn't, since you have a very capable HDMI receiver), you won't be able to use MCACC settings. Most receivers take the analog input around those eq's and such to keep the sound cleaner. So you would need to mimic MCACC's settings in your player, and not all players have such great tweaking as your receiver would have. I think a lot of the players coming out will have distance/delay + size + crossover settings, but probably not as tuneable of an eq.

 

[billy p]

thanks for the replies, i only have a 5.1ch system so no need for 7.1ch, does a system suffer by hooking through analogue inputs and not digital?? so in summary i need to look @ a pana that decodes lossless codecs and has multi channel analogue output. and in theory that should improve my sound quality through the roof.

If you want lossless audio than you'll need a player with analog outs! Both the Sony s550 or the Panny BD55 are 7.1 but will downmix the the signal to 5.1 and decode HD audio formats via analog. As for the sound being through the roof most BRD's offer improved digital audio over dvd's, so even standard DD or DTS may sound better in BR. In your situation the analog could yield better results and having owned these units, I was pleased with the results of both.

Otherwise, good luck in your decision.... mate

Regards, Bill

 

[mperfct]

He doesn't need to use analog outs....

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Products/HomeEntertainment/AV-Receivers/PioneerReceivers/ci.VSX-917-K|S.Kuro?tab=A

"For today’s high definition entertainment, this high-power 7.1-channel receiver features HDMI video switching for fast, smooth toggling between video sources, including DVD, Blu-ray Disc®, game consoles and more. For the highest resolution audio performance, the VSX-917V-K utilizes a 192kHz/24-bit digital to analog (DAC) converter that helps maintain a pure signal from input to output for all seven audio channels, resulting in clarity and fidelity. "

 

[Adam]

He doesn't need to use analog outs....

You will learn not to question my posts, young one.

From page 58 of the owner's manual for the VSX-917V:

3 To hear audio from your HDMI component
through this system, make analog and/or
digital connections as necessary.
On the rear panel, you must connect to the
audio jacks from a set of audio/video inputs (for
example, DVR/VCR as shown in the
illustration).
• Without this connection, HDMI audio will
still be output from your TV or plasma
display (though no sound will be heard
from this receiver).

 

[mperfct]

I'm going to have to read the whole manual now! I still don't believe that Pio would make a receiver like that. That's just weird.

 

[Adam]

I'm going to have to read the whole manual now! I still don't believe that Pio would make a receiver like that. That's just weird.

In that price range, and a model from two years ago - believe it! Several companies make receivers that only have HDMI switches. Audio processing over HDMI is becoming cheaper every year, but it has to make it's way down into the lower end.

 

[finney888]

unfortunately adam is right, the player's hdmi is a bit of a let down, so via optical is not good i assume for the lossless sound??, but it does sound like
i'll hold off for a bit for the new players to hit the stores, so analogue inputs it is... thanx everyone

 

[Adam]

The optical connection can't pass the lossless codecs (bitstream or LPCM) because it doesn't support the required bandwidth. That's why you'd need audio processing over HDMI to do it digitally.

The jury is out on whether the lossless codecs make that much of a difference, and from what I've read here, how the studios master the audio tracks plays a big role in it. It's possible for the Dolby Digital or DTS track to sound better than the lossless track.

I wouldn't worry too much about not getting the lossless audio, but if you want it with your receiver, you know what you need to do.

Have fun shopping!

 

[mperfct]

The optical connection can't pass the lossless codecs (bitstream or LPCM) because it doesn't support the required bandwidth. That's why you'd need audio processing over HDMI to do it digitally.

The jury is out on whether the lossless codecs make that much of a difference, and from what I've read here, how the studios master the audio tracks plays a big role in it. It's possible for the Dolby Digital or DTS track to sound better than the lossless track.

I wouldn't worry too much about not getting the lossless audio, but if you want it with your receiver, you know what you need to do.

Have fun shopping!

I've never understood why they can't just come out with a TOSLINK v2...I mean fiber can pass multiple gigabit per second. Any audio at that high of a bit rate would cause intra-cranial bleeding.

I suppose HDMI is the answer to my question...

 

[finney888]

all good, i was just expecting that the hd audio would of made a hell
of a different but if its got to do with hows it produced to bluray
than i may just hook through optical first and then try analogue and see if there is a difference, thanks again everyone, great help as per usual