Blue Ray and old Receiver

[skizzerflake]

I am about to take the Blue Ray plunge but my current receiver is an older Yamaha which doesn't handle HDMI. It's a perfectly fine receiver otherwise and I'm not eager to buy a new one just for the HDMI. I know I can take the HDMI out directly from the player to the TV and then use a Digital connection to the receiver for audio, but I have heard that sometimes that results in a lack of correct synchronization between sound and video. Is this true? Not? Anything you can do to correct this?

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

It should be okay. I've done that for about a year: Separate Video via HDMI straight to TV and Audio to Preamp.

If you want TrueHD/DTS-HD MA you would need your blu-ray player to have internal decoders & 5.1/7.1 analog outputs to your receiver. Otherwise, the Optical/Coaxial digital will give you plain DD or DTS.

 

[MinusTheBear]

You can run a coax or toslink (optical) for sound with your blu-ray player and it will still sound fantastic with standard DD 5.1 or DTS.

The good news is if your receiver has either 5.1 or 7.1 analog outs which there is a good possibility you do (5.1 inputs atleast), you can achieve the lossless formats TrueHD/DTS-HD MA by buying a blu-ray player such as the Panasonic BD55 or Sony s550 which can internally decode these formats.

If this is the case you can run an HDMI cable from the blu-ray player to the t.v for video and hook up 3 pairs (5.1) or 4 pairs (7.1) of analog cables from the appropriate area on your receiver to the blu-ray players analog inputs for sound.

 

[billy p]

I am about to take the Blue Ray plunge but my current receiver is an older Yamaha which doesn't handle HDMI. It's a perfectly fine receiver otherwise and I'm not eager to buy a new one just for the HDMI. I know I can take the HDMI out directly from the player to the TV and then use a Digital connection to the receiver for audio, but I have heard that sometimes that results in a lack of correct synchronization between sound and video. Is this true? Not? Anything you can do to correct this?

When you're using HDMI, make sure you set up the player not to pass audio via HDMI and you'll be fine.

 

[mtrycrafts]

I am about to take the Blue Ray plunge but my current receiver is an older Yamaha which doesn't handle HDMI. It's a perfectly fine receiver otherwise and I'm not eager to buy a new one just for the HDMI. I know I can take the HDMI out directly from the player to the TV and then use a Digital connection to the receiver for audio, but I have heard that sometimes that results in a lack of correct synchronization between sound and video. Is this true? Not? Anything you can do to correct this?

Does your older receiver decode DD and DTS in some form? Blu Ray usually has only one soundtrack for the movie and DD is not mandatory. Been there, done that

 

[corey]

you can run an HDMI cable from the blu-ray player to the t.v for video and hook up 3 pairs (5.1) or 4 pairs (7.1) of analog cables from the appropriate area on your receiver to the blu-ray players analog inputs for sound.

So this is the "HDMI is a single cable solution"?
Just so we're all clear, I'm attacking HDMI, etal; not the Bear.

 

[jostenmeat]

Does your older receiver decode DD and DTS in some form? Blu Ray usually has only one soundtrack for the movie and DD is not mandatory. Been there, done that

This is why an SPDIF user should choose Panasonic over Sony bluray players. As I learned from allargon, the former can recode mch pcm into dd/dts.

 

[Herr Eickhorn]

I am about to take the Blue Ray plunge but my current receiver is an older Yamaha which doesn't handle HDMI. It's a perfectly fine receiver otherwise and I'm not eager to buy a new one just for the HDMI. I know I can take the HDMI out directly from the player to the TV and then use a Digital connection to the receiver for audio, but I have heard that sometimes that results in a lack of correct synchronization between sound and video. Is this true? Not? Anything you can do to correct this?

You should be fine. My Yamaha RX-V2095 is 10 years old. I just bought a Panasonic BD player DMP-BD55.

I run a component cable from the BD player straight to the plasma TV for 1080i video. I run a coax from the BD player to the receiver for standard DVD's encoded with DD or DTS. Then I run analog outs from the player to the receiver for BD encoded with DTS master audio or DD HD or 48/24 uncompressed PCM.

It all works great together - no problems.

 

[MinusTheBear]

So this is the "HDMI is a single cable solution"?
Just so we're all clear, I'm attacking HDMI, etal; not the Bear.

The HDMI cable solution is dependent on your receiver and if it supports HDMI and can pass audio through HDMI. My older denon supports HDMI put it only processes the video so even for regular dvds I have to either run a toslink or digital coax for sound.

The only way for me to take full advantage of new audio formats without buying a new receiver is to use analog cables. I run a very similar setup as Herr Eickhorn in which I use HDMI for video since my television supports 1080p, sound for DVD's through a digital coax cable and analog cables for sound for Blu-ray movies.

In the end all those cables could be substituted with HDMI with the appropriate receiver.

 

[Herr Eickhorn]

I run a very similar setup as Herr Eickhorn in which I use HDMI for video since my television supports 1080p, sound for DVD's through a digital coax cable and analog cables for sound for Blu-ray movies.

Bear - we almost have everything set up the same. As you noted, I use a component cable since my TV can only do 1080i.

Have you run tests using a HDMI vs component cable for video? If so, what did you see? I am curious about the difference between 1080i and 1080p and if it warrents the expense of a new TV.

 

[bnewt]

When you're using HDMI, make sure you set up the player not to pass audio via HDMI and you'll be fine.

Why is this? I have my bd55 connected to my Samsung LCD & coax to my older Pioneer Elite receiver. I do not have mine set this way. The only problem I have had is that if I turn on the 24fps option, I have a lip sync problem.

 

[MinusTheBear]

Bear - we almost have everything set up the same. As you noted, I use a component cable since my TV can only do 1080i.

Have you run tests using a HDMI vs component cable for video? If so, what did you see? I am curious about the difference between 1080i and 1080p and if it warrents the expense of a new TV.

I have not tried component for video but I do have a spare cable that is long enough to try it. With a 42 inch LCD t.v that I have I suspect there will be not much of a difference between the two in my case. With a larger, top of the line Plasma or LCD it might be worth upgrading for that.

 

[MinusTheBear]

Why is this? I have my bd55 connected to my Samsung LCD & coax to my older Pioneer Elite receiver. I do not have mine set this way. The only problem I have had is that if I turn on the 24fps option, I have a lip sync problem.

If you have the lip sync problem try turning off HDMI audio since you are not using HDMI for sound, that might solve the problem. I turned off 24fps on my BD55 as well. Depending on how well and if your t.v supports it, turning on 24p can cause video and sound issues.

 

[billy p]

Why is this? I have my bd55 connected to my Samsung LCD & coax to my older Pioneer Elite receiver. I do not have mine set this way. The only problem I have had is that if I turn on the 24fps option, I have a lip sync problem.

If you have the lip sync problem try turning off HDMI audio since you are not using HDMI for sound, that might solve the problem. I turned off 24fps on my BD55 as well, depending on your t.v and how well and if it supports it turning on 24fps can cause these types of issues.

Thank you MTB

 

[skizzerflake]

In regard to my question here, I got suggestions such as :

"It should be okay. I've done that for about a year: Separate Video via HDMI straight to TV and Audio to Preamp.

If you want TrueHD/DTS-HD MA you would need your blu-ray player to have internal decoders & 5.1/7.1 analog outputs to your receiver. Otherwise, the Optical/Coaxial digital will give you plain DD or DTS."

"When you're using HDMI, make sure you set up the player not to pass audio via HDMI and you'll be fine."

You guys were right. I took the plunge using HDMI for video and tried multi-channel out and Toslink for audio. Both worked fine. I will worry about Truehd, etc when I am ready for the next receiver.