Which blu-ray player do I buy?

[Setrav]

I'm a newby to this forum and have a question that you experts have probably answered a million times already but here goes anyway...
I am wanting to add a blu-ray player to my HT, I have a Sony ES STR 4300, a Mitsubishi HC4900 projector, and TIVO series 3 HD. I am wanting a blu-ray but need to know since my receiver has Dolby Digital True HD and the DTS MA decoders built in, do I need to pay the extra 200 bucks for the Sony BDP-500 or will the BDP-300 suffice? also is there a under 400 dollar profile 2 player out there with DD true HD and DTS MA, and I do really need profile 2 or are there firmware upgrades available for the 1.2 players? I really appreciate the info and am happy to be a NEW member.
Setrav

 

[Thaedium]

There are firmware updates, so no worries there.

All Blu-ray players that have Dolby Digital True HD and DTS MA currently decode it internally before passing it on to recievers. Thus your receiver does not need too.

There are some reviews here on this site that go more into depth about these players, I'd say take a look at that for starters. Then come back with more questions if you have'em.

 

[jostenmeat]

I personally don't care about 2.0. I have a 1.1 player, and I don't even care about that (I've never once cared to watch PIP commentary).

Not all MA-enabled players can unpack the formats. My Pana BD 30 only bitstreams the advanced codecs.

The only 2.0 player I am aware of to come out is the Pana BD 50 @ $700. The even pricier Denons will not be.

The PS3 can update to 1.1, (and 2.0 eventually as well according to people). It cannot handle MA. It cannot bitstream the other advanced codecs.

In a nutshell, the 1.0 players like the sony 300 should look just as good, or so close that it doesn't matter. I doubt it can handle MA either.

So outside of having particular audio needs, or PIP, the 300 should be fine. The only other consideration I can think of is the 24fps output, which I think is included in the 1.1 spec, but not totally sure on that.

 

[Setrav]

Since my receiver can decode dd true hd and dts ma do I have to have a blu-ray player that also has a decoder? I thought that if the receiver had a decoder that was good enough.
Setrav

 

[gus6464]

There are firmware updates, so no worries there.

All Blu-ray players that have Dolby Digital True HD and DTS MA currently decode it internally before passing it on to recievers. Thus your receiver does not need too.

There are some reviews here on this site that go more into depth about these players, I'd say take a look at that for starters. Then come back with more questions if you have'em.

That's not correct. The Panasonic BD-30 doesn't decode anything, just sends it bitstream.

 

[Setrav]

So I guess the real question is, "Does my blu-ray player need to be able to decode DD true HD and MA if the receiver has an MA decoder built into it?"

 

[gus6464]

So I guess the real question is, "Does my blu-ray player need to be able to decode DD true HD and MA if the receiver has an MA decoder built into it?"

Nope. If you already have a receiver that can decode TrueHD and DTS-HD/MA I say go for the Panasonic BD-30.

 

[Hi Ho]

I would not recommend the BDP-S300. I have installed many of them in peoples' homes. Not only is it ridiculously slow, it has very limited next generation audio support. The Panasonic would be a much better choice.

Here is an excerpt from the Audioholics review of the BDP-S300:

HDMI is the way to go for high resolution audio but if you don't have it, you can use the 5.1 analogue outputs to get all the same audio you would from the HDMI connection - it just takes more cables. If you are using an HDMI connection you can set Audio (HDMI) to Auto to let your receiver decode the standard DTS and Dolby Digital tracks or PCM for the player to do it. With an analogue connection, go with PCM. With this connection you will be able to utilize the internal Dolby Digital Plus decoders in the Sony BDP-S300. The S300 does NOT have the ability to decode Dolby TrueHD or any of the high resolution DTS formats (there are a few) nor can it pass them to your receiver for decoding. This is more than unfortunate; it actually makes this player targeted towards people who don't have any intention of running a high-qaulty audio system. Our guess is that Sony simply hopes no one notices as they plunk down $500 for this player.