Yamaha 661 Question???

[Maximan]

I have a Toshiba HD A35 hooked up to my 661 via HDMI. Now since the dvd player decodes True HD sound, is HDMI the way it should be hooked up or in order to take advantage of the THD sound should I be using the 5.1 analog outputs?

I did a search on this and Im still a little confused.

I also have one more question.Would it be worth upgrading this reciever to the 663 when it comes out or will the 661 have basically the same features??

 

[Seth=L]

The HD-A35 decodes the format internally and converts it to uncompressed multichannel LPCM. This multichannel PCM can be output over HDMI to the RX-V661 for 5.1 lossless sound. This connection would generally be prefered to 5.1 analog outputs in most applications. The RX-V663 secures the HD audio decoding for the now and future. It is very likely that future Blu-ray players will not feature on-board decoders and will be able only to bitstream the HD audio over HDMI. The RX-V663 has all the latest and greatest in terms of HD audio decoding making it ready for such a player.

If you have kept up with the news you probably know that HD DVD is on it's way out of stores and if you want to continue adding to your HD video collection you will have to go with Blu-ray.

 

[koebner]

HDMI is also the connection needed for the A35 to upconvert SDDVD.
HDMI is also your simplest option as it carries video as well as the audio.
The PS3 will always be an option for a Blu Ray player that decodes the lossless formats.

 

[Pyrrho]

I have a Toshiba HD A35 hooked up to my 661 via HDMI. Now since the dvd player decodes True HD sound, is HDMI the way it should be hooked up or in order to take advantage of the THD sound should I be using the 5.1 analog outputs?

I did a search on this and Im still a little confused.

I also have one more question.Would it be worth upgrading this reciever to the 663 when it comes out or will the 661 have basically the same features??

You can use either an HDMI connection or multichannel analog connections for True HD sound. As Seth=L says, it is easier to just use the HDMI connection.

As for the upgrade, it is probably not a good idea to upgrade now, given that your player has an internal decoder and what you now have allows you to do everything you need it to do (unless you have not mentioned some other relevant fact). Although if someone were buying soon, I would recommend that they consider the 663 instead of the 661 to be more secure of the future. But since you have no need of it, it would be a waste of money for you. In the future, if you need something more than what your 661 will do, there will be other things available to take care of you. And by then, you might need HDMI 1.4 or some yet to be invented connection that the 663 does not support. It is NEVER a good idea to buy something simply for a future need that is not needed now or very soon. The reason is, it is impossible to predict the future, and there may be some other thing that you will need that you cannot get now or that would not be on the model you would select. If what you have now does all that you now need or will need soon (say, in the next 3 months), buying for the future is simply a waste of money.

 

[Maximan]

You can use either an HDMI connection or multichannel analog connections for True HD sound. As Seth=L says, it is easier to just use the HDMI connection.

As for the upgrade, it is probably not a good idea to upgrade now, given that your player has an internal decoder and what you now have allows you to do everything you need it to do (unless you have not mentioned some other relevant fact). Although if someone were buying soon, I would recommend that they consider the 663 instead of the 661 to be more secure of the future. But since you have no need of it, it would be a waste of money for you. In the future, if you need something more than what your 661 will do, there will be other things available to take care of you. And by then, you might need HDMI 1.4 or some yet to be invented connection that the 663 does not support. It is NEVER a good idea to buy something simply for a future need that is not needed now or very soon. The reason is, it is impossible to predict the future, and there may be some other thing that you will need that you cannot get now or that would not be on the model you would select. If what you have now does all that you now need or will need soon (say, in the next 3 months), buying for the future is simply a waste of money.

Im going to be honest with you.This is probably some of the best advice Ive recieved.Im going to take your advice and hang on to the 661 for now.Thank you very much!!

 

[Pyrrho]

Im going to be honest with you.This is probably some of the best advice Ive recieved.Im going to take your advice and hang on to the 661 for now.Thank you very much!!

Thank you for the compliment. It is often tempting to buy the latest, so one can have "bragging rights". And some people are bothered that there is "something better" out there that they don't have, even if the "something better" will make no audible difference in their system. So, if someone has those psychological problems, then that person is unlikely to take my advice.

Most people who are very "into" audio/video gear end up wasting money in various ways, like replacing gear that does not need to be replaced. Recently, I upgraded from a Yamaha RX-V730 to a Yamaha RX-V2700. I did this because I had "lip sync" problems, and the old RX-V730 cannot add a delay. I bought the RX-V2700 from an authorized dealer, paying less than $450 for it (it was open box; I do not have the box or the second remote [just the main remote]). The new receiver also has some other features that are good to have. But, with my speakers (easy impedance, normal efficiency), the sound is the same.* Though I now have about twice the power, since the old one could play in my room louder than I could stand it while being crystal clear, the extra power is worthless for me. If I did not need the audio delay, I would have saved my money until the old one died or, more likely, until I really needed some other feature.

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*Except, of course, when using some processing mode not available on the older unit.