Audio Standards - From a n00b Perspective

[Mayhem]

I'm not what could be called an audiophile by any means, I am still running the Denon Pro Logic beast from however many years ago. I'm in the market for a new receiver and am considering my options.

After doing numerous searches, I am baffled at all the audio standards out there and have no idea what I should be looking for. DTS, THX, PLII, etc. I'm sure there is a clear overview that reviews the various standards, could somebody kindly forward me a link to a relevant discussion either on audioholics or elsewhere? After reading through such a discussion I might be able to make a better choice.

Thanks in advance!

 

[MDS]

Fortunately, you don't really have to decide which of the formats you need because receivers include all of them (except THX, which is only on THX certified receivers). After awhile you'll decide which ones you like best.

Start with:
http://www.dolby.com
http://www.dts.com
http://www.thx.com

to get an overview straight from the companies that created the standards.
If you Google for those terms, you will be get a zillion hits. You can always ask questions here too.

 

[j_garcia]

Doh. Beat me to it.

Most current receivers should be up to date on most or all of the current formats, so your decision shouldn't be as tough as it may seem.

 

[Mayhem]

THX seems very ethereal. I did google some of the standards and got some straight forward answers until I got to THX. Yeah I know that select is for <2000 c.f., ultra is for <3000 c.f. but I'm still perplexed on the role of THX.

Let me give an example. Many movies are available in either DTS or THX versions. Is the THX version considered "better" than the DTS if the proper equipment is available to process it? While there are numerous standards available, I'm not sure what I really need.

Part of me wants to just say "the hell with it", go with something like the Yamaha RX-2500/2600 that has all the applicable standards, and sort it out later, and part of me is looking at the sub-$250 that is cerfified in everything but THX and dropping the $1k I save into some replacement mains like Axiom or Infinity, or even investing that $1k into a Billybob rack.

I'm so confused, can you tell? Thank god for a beginner forum.

 

[gene]

THX is not a bad idea for receivers/processors. Though I am not a fan of THX post processing, these type of products sporting THX rarely have bass management issues. In addition, they also tend to measure very well.

OTOH, I would NOT consider THX a "must have" when shopping for speakers, cables, acoustic treatments, DVD players or breakfast cereals

This FAQ we did with THX a few years ago may shed some light on this topic for you:

Audioholics Interview of THX

 

[MDS]

THX encompasses a few different things:
1. THX certification for receivers and amps means that the unit has passed the THX tests for power output, minimum impedance handling, and other things (the exact requirements are not public and about the only things I have seen confirmed are 40 volts rail voltage and minimum impedance handling of 3.2 ohms). As you listed there is Select (now Select 2) and Ultra and the requirements differ slightly as each certification caters to a different size room. There are other requirements too, like color coding the inputs and speaker outputs and the slope of the xover.

2. THX post-processing: re-eq, timbre matching, and adaptive correlation. Read about those on the thx site. All THX certified receivers include those features.

3. THX-EX is a matrix decoder and is the predecessor of Dolby Digital EX. If a dvd says 'thx' on it it could mean that it is flagged for thx-ex and the player/receiver will automatically engage the thx-ex mode for playback. But it could also mean that the dvd itself is thx certified - that only means that it was mastered according to thx standards. So a DTS dvd may be certified as having been mastered according to thx standards, but not have thx-ex flags on it.

There is no 'best' format, although people certainly have their preferences. I say THX is nice to have, but is not absolutely necessary. Your thinking of skipping the THX certified receivers and sinking the money saved into better speakers is a reasonable idea. Better speakers will likely do more good than having the thx post processing modes available.

 

[j_garcia]

Let me give an example. Many movies are available in either DTS or THX versions. Is the THX version considered "better" than the DTS if the proper equipment is available to process it? While there are numerous standards available, I'm not sure what I really need.

THX is not a format, it is post processing that is done ON TOP OF Dolby Surround, DD or DTS. This processing is also intended to be used with speakers that are THX cert because they are designed with the parameters of the THX processing in mind.

 

[Mayhem]

So to oversimplify things, its sounds like THX encompasses both overall quality/measurement metrics and also offers processing modes that layer upon existing digital formats. Thanks for the explanations.

I'm still not sure of what I will buy. As I am not one to upgrade equipment frequently, I am leaning towards a RX-V2600 when they show up (latest e-mail I got from Yamaha Support said late Nov).

One last noob question. In the event that I do buy a 2600, since SACD won't run over the HDMI 1.1, how would I hook up a CD/SACD/DVD-A player to the Yamaha if I wanted to listen to SACD's? Would that exclude me from using HDMI for the player or is some mechanism available to hook up both HDMI and perhaps an optical connection in tandem to handle the two formats?

Bear with me, I'm still using component hookups for all my equipment, all this is uncharted territory for me.

 

[jaxvon]

At the present time, SACD can only be sent from the player to the receiver via analog cables, which means 6 RCA terminated cables. This is why v1.2 would be so handy right now...

 

[Mayhem]

At the present time, SACD can only be sent from the player to the receiver via analog cables, which means 6 RCA terminated cables. This is why v1.2 would be so handy right now...

So in the scenario listed above, if I wanted to used SACD, would I have to completely forgo the HDMI from the CD/SACD/DVD-A device, or could the HDMI and analog (component?) hookups be used simultaneously from the player to the amp with the HDMI carying the CD/DVD-A traffic and the component cables carrying the SACD traffic?

In other words are modern devices like CD/SACD/DVD-A players smart enough to use multiple pathways to the amp? Being a network engineer, it makes sense to me because networks route traffic based on QoS, but does it make sense in the audio world?

 

[nibhaz]

So in the scenario listed above, if I wanted to used SACD, would I have to completely forgo the HDMI from the CD/SACD/DVD-A device, or could the HDMI and analog (component?) hookups be used simultaneously from the player to the amp with the HDMI carying the CD/DVD-A traffic and the component cables carrying the SACD traffic?

In other words are modern devices like CD/SACD/DVD-A players smart enough to use multiple pathways to the amp? Being a network engineer, it makes sense to me because networks route traffic based on QoS, but does it make sense in the audio world?

Sure, the players are "smart" enough to use different pathways to your receiver or pre/pro, but is your receiver smart enough to listen to the different “pathways” and switch automatically. Mine is not, I must push a button on my receiver to switch between the multichannel connection, or the optical connection that exist between the receiver and the player. The player however, “knows” what to do!

 

[Mayhem]

Sure, the players are "smart" enough to use different pathways to your receiver or pre/pro, but is your receiver smart enough to listen to the different “pathways” and switch automatically. Mine is not, I must push a button on my receiver to switch between the multichannel connection, or the optical connection that exist between the receiver and the player. The player however, “knows” what to do!

That makes sense, it will be interesting to see how the RX-V2600 handles such a situation. To be honest, I don't own any players at this point that can handle SACD or DVD-A (I am a huge collector of 320mbit mp3) but if I do purchase an RX-V2600 I want to make sure I can handle all the formats available today given the HDMI limitations.

Thanks for the help