how to get the best sound without a HDMI connection

[allEars]

I am just getting back into home theater. I just got a new set of speaker and I am using a PS3 as a blu-ray player. I am now looking into getting a dedicated blu-ray player to replace the very noise PS3. I notice that most discs now support True-DTS but my receiver is pre-HDMI. Will connecting it through the 7.1 analog plugs allow me to enjoy True-DTS or am I out of luck?

thanks

 

[bandphan]

I am just getting back into home theater. I just got a new set of speaker and I am using a PS3 as a blu-ray player. I am now looking into getting a dedicated blu-ray player to replace the very noise PS3. I notice that most discs now support True-DTS but my receiver is pre-HDMI. Will connecting it through the 7.1 analog plugs allow me to enjoy True-DTS or am I out of luck?

thanks

depends on the player and the dts support on disc is not that great. also there are many that feel that dts and dd sound are as good as the master audio codecs, me for one

 

[Adam]

Welcome to the forum!

If you get a blu-ray player that has analog outputs and a built-in decoder, then you can use the 7.1 analog connections to enjoy the new lossless codecs.

My receiver won't apply it's equalizer settings to the multi-channel analog inputs, which I don't like - so you might want to check if there's anything about your analog inputs that might not be ideal for you.

Are there any blu-ray players that you have your eye on?

 

[allEars]

thank you for the quick responses, I am looking at getting the Pioneer BDP-51FD Blu-ray, is this one any good. My receiver is the Marantz 7500.

I had my HD-DVD connected through the 7.1 analog. Sounded great but wrong choice of formats. Once the format was canceled, I stopped watching DVDs, used mostly pay-per-view movies.
Now I am back but out of touch with what is good and what is not so good.
Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[Lordoftherings]

Excellent combination, you'll get the full high resolution audio.

thank you for the quick responses, I am looking at getting the Pioneer BDP-51FD Blu-ray, is this one any good. My receiver is the Marantz 7500.

I had my HD-DVD connected through the 7.1 analog. Sounded great but wrong choice of formats. Once the format was canceled, I stopped watching DVDs, used mostly pay-per-view movies.
Now I am back but out of touch with what is good and what is not so good.
Any help is greatly appreciated.

Hi allEars, and welcome to the club.

The Pioneer BDP-51FD Blu-ray player is an excellent choice for your particular situation,
mated with your excellent Marantz SR7500 legacy A/V Receiver.
Get that HD DVD player out of there, and connect that Pioneer Blu-ray player instead.
And I also know the excellent deal (big discount) that this player is selling at.

The Pioneer BDP-51FD uses four discrete Wolfson Stereo Dacs for digital-to-analog conversion and includes a jitter-reduction circuit for premium analog audio playback with CDs and Blu-ray discs with multichannel soundtracks. The excellent Wolfson Dacs are the WF-8740.
It is one of the very best player for sound quality from it's multichannel analog output.
The SNR of the WM-8740 Dac is rated at 117db, and it's THD at 104db, excellent figures.
But the real proof is in the pudding (audio listening).

* Plus, with all the latest firmware updates that this player received, it should be just cooking.
You're good to go and you'll be flying high with all ears.

Cheers,
_______
Bob

 

[j_garcia]

depends on the player and the dts support on disc is not that great. also there are many that feel that dts and dd sound are as good as the master audio codecs, me for one

dts support on Blu-ray is excellent. FAR more current releases than when DVD was at this point and more than there have traditionally been on DVD.

Nearly all receivers will not apply any kind of tone control to the multichannel analog inputs because it expects them to already be processed by the source (sort of the point of multichannel analog inputs).

The 51FD has gotten good reviews, but I seem to recall there was one thing it couldn't do; I don't know if they've corrected that via firmware or not. I'd still personally go with a Panasonic DMP-BD80 simply because the Panasonics have the best track record in terms of BD players thus far. OR see if you can get an Oppo BDP-83.

 

[gqmagic]

Hi allEars, and welcome to the club.

The Pioneer BDP-51FD Blu-ray player is an excellent choice for your particular situation,
mated with your excellent Marantz SR7500 legacy A/V Receiver.
Get that HD DVD player out of there, and connect that Pioneer Blu-ray player instead.
And I also know the excellent deal (big discount) that this player is selling at.

The Pioneer BDP-51FD uses four discrete Wolfson Stereo Dacs for digital-to-analog conversion and includes a jitter-reduction circuit for premium analog audio playback with CDs and Blu-ray discs with multichannel soundtracks. The excellent Wolfson Dacs are the WF-8740.
It is one of the very best player for sound quality from it's multichannel analog output.
The SNR of the WM-8740 Dac is rated at 117db, and it's THD at 104db, excellent figures.
But the real proof is in the pudding (audio listening).

* Plus, with all the latest firmware updates that this player received, it should be just cooking.
You're good to go and you'll be flying high with all ears.

Cheers,
_______
Bob

I have this Pioneer 51fd conected to my Marantz 7300 OSE through the analogs (gave me something to use the extra component cables I have).

They have added the DTS HD Master through the latest update v1.32 available through download or by calling Pioneer (free)

It sounds marvelous and looks great for blurays, and cd playback through the wolfson dacs (analogs) is fantastic.

 

[allEars]

thank you all for your suggestions, I just picked the 51fd and I am very impressed with the video and audio quality. What a difference from the PS3 setup

 

[Lordoftherings]

thank you all for your suggestions, I just picked the 51fd and I am very impressed with the video and audio quality. What a difference from the PS3 setup

You're a wise man, you knew it, you needed confirmation from some of us, you got it, now you're set. Congrats!

Bob

 

[sawzalot]

And I also know the excellent deal (big discount) that this player is selling at.
Cheers,
_______
Bob

Could you guys pass on the good deal info to the rest of us I for one have been considering an upgrade at blu for a while now, Thanks.

Also would hooking my Toshiba A-35 in the same manner give me the best sound quality through the Pio 1015 as this lacks HDMI also . Thanks in advance for any thoughts on this, Sawz.

 

[Adam]

Also would hooking my Toshiba A-35 in the same manner give me the best sound quality through the Pio 1015 as this lacks HDMI also .

Something to note is that the 1015 won't apply equalizer settings or bass management to the multi-channel inputs. Not being able to apply my MCACC settings to those inputs when I tried DVD-Audio a couple of months ago was disappointing to me because the equalizer settings really help with my set-up. Just wanted to mention it in case you didn't know the 1015 did that, as I wasn't aware until I tried it.

 

[allEars]

Could you guys pass on the good deal info to the rest of us I for one have been considering an upgrade at blu for a while now, Thanks.

Also would hooking my Toshiba A-35 in the same manner give me the best sound quality through the Pio 1015 as this lacks HDMI also . Thanks in advance for any thoughts on this, Sawz.

Well, I payed $340US for mine (in Canada). Not too bad for the neck of the woods.

 

[sawzalot]

Something to note is that the 1015 won't apply equalizer settings or bass management to the multi-channel inputs. Not being able to apply my MCACC settings to those inputs when I tried DVD-Audio a couple of months ago was disappointing to me because the equalizer settings really help with my set-up. Just wanted to mention it in case you didn't know the 1015 did that, as I wasn't aware until I tried it.

By not applying bass management does that mean my LFE would be bypassed completely thus no signal delivery to my DCX 2496 which would mean NO KAPPAS , Am I correct in that analogy ?

 

[Adam]

By not applying bass management does that mean my LFE would be bypassed completely thus no signal delivery to my DCX 2496 which would mean NO KAPPAS , Am I correct in that analogy ?

If the A-35 has its own bass management, then that won't be a problem. I don't remember if it does, but I can look it up if you're uncertain.

You can always give the analog connections a try. I can say that the DVD-Audio disc that I tried sounded immensely better through the optical connection using the Dolby Digital track versus using the analog connections, but I have a different player.

 

[sawzalot]

If the A-35 has its own bass management, then that won't be a problem. I don't remember if it does, but I can look it up if you're uncertain.

You can always give the analog connections a try. I can say that the DVD-Audio disc that I tried sounded immensely better through the optical connection using the Dolby Digital track versus using the analog connections, but I have a different player.

Allow me the challenge to myself to research this , if I fail surely I would like assistance, you my friend should be busy with HT duties .

I have outstanding sound through the digital/optical connections also, but like the rest, always looking to better, faster, stronger.

 

[Lordoftherings]

^ The Pioneer BDP-51FD could be found for less than $299.
It's your job to do the search.
You certainly know the places to shop, like Audiogon, Videogon, and several others.

Your Toshiba A-35 certainly has it's own bass management, so you'll benefit using it's multichannel analog output, just the same as "allEars" with his Pioneer BDP-51FD. You'll get Dolby TrueHD, but not DTS-HD MA, duh, from HD DVDs.

* By the way, HD DVD took the seabed of the seaside near the seabord from the seacoast.
Makes me seasick.