Hello, I will be upgrading my receiver to one with hdmi soon.

I was wondering if one could improve SQ for sacd, dvd-a, etc. bitstreaming with an hdmi equipped universal player?

I also want good cd performance.

My current 5.1 setup is;

Marantz dv8400
Marantz sr8200 receiver
Monitor audio s8's, matching centre, bronze sfx surrounds.

I will be hopefully getting an upcomming marantz sr8xxx which my dealer says should be coming out in a couple of months.

2 Ch. sacd and cd performance is important to me as well.

My current dv8400 has been acting a bit glitchy lately as well.

I've seen some interesting players for some interesting prices on audiogon lately.

Any advice as well as players to consider would be appreciated.

Jamie

I am interested in what people will say to this. I have compared multichannel output from my computer to S/PDIF from my computer and can say they sounded different. I am not sure which one sounded better because I did not do a serious comparison with different types of music. They definitely souded different. My impression was that my Denon did a better job than my X-Fi soundcard.

I guess it depends on the quality of each D/A converter.

Also, I have read some audiophiles complain about some issues with HDMI and audio quality. I am not sure any audiophiles use HDMI. I think it had to do with more jitter with HDMI.

The only way to really know would be to take your receiver to the store and compare A:B. I would suspect since they are all Marantz, therfore likely of high quality, that the D/A converters will perform equally.

We could do a whole post whether jitter is detectable by the human ear. Let's not get into that.

The bigger question is how your AVR handles M-Ch analog inputs. Most will bypass all DSP and setup, which is a significant issue.

The bigger question is how your AVR handles M-Ch analog inputs. Most will bypass all DSP and setup, which is a significant issue.

I'm assuming you mean to see a significant improvement in SQ it would help to be able to apply some sort of room correction to the signal?

Obviously my current avr has no form of room correction, just level adjustments for the multi-ch inputs.

I sort of thought that a newer avr would be able to apply DSP to multi-ch analogs, just not necessarily bitstreamed hdmi.

I sort of thought that a newer avr would be able to apply DSP to multi-ch analogs, just not necessarily bitstreamed hdmi.
In most cases it's the other way around.

Ultimately the sound must be converted to analog. Your only real benefit is you need only one cable instead of six RCAs. That and I suppose you could use the bass management/processing features of your receiver, which are usually more sophisticated than what's in most players.

Room correction will trump whatever potential benefit of avoiding HDMI for all but the rarest of cases.

Hello, I will be upgrading my receiver to one with hdmi soon.

I was wondering if one could improve SQ for sacd, dvd-a, etc. bitstreaming with an hdmi equipped universal player?

I also want good cd performance.

My current 5.1 setup is;

Marantz dv8400
Marantz sr8200 receiver
Monitor audio s8's, matching centre, bronze sfx surrounds.

I will be hopefully getting an upcomming marantz sr8xxx which my dealer says should be coming out in a couple of months.

2 Ch. sacd and cd performance is important to me as well.

My current dv8400 has been acting a bit glitchy lately as well.

I've seen some interesting players for some interesting prices on audiogon lately.

Any advice as well as players to consider would be appreciated.

Jamie


The biggest reason to use HDMI is for proper bass management, and time alignment, both which have significant effect on sound quality. Room corrections can be a boon as well. Also 1 cable vs 6....... and you don't need to spend on some boutique brand name player, as they will all perform the same via digital.

The biggest reason to use HDMI is for proper bass management, and time alignment, both which have significant effect on sound quality. Room corrections can be a boon as well. Also 1 cable vs 6....... and you don't need to spend on some boutique brand name player, as they will all perform the same via digital.

I think most of AVRs will be able to do both room correction and bass management, even if input signal is in analogue. They just convert it with ADC to digital for processing and then back to analogue for amplification. In this case I would worry that distortion from additional DAC/ADC processing outweighs any improvements. Considering that unmodified consumer equipment does not output hi-def audio via SPDIF, I would go with HDMI.

I think most of AVRs will be able to do both room correction and bass management, even if input signal is in analogue. They just convert it with ADC to digital for processing and then back to analogue for amplification. In this case I would worry that distortion from additional DAC/ADC processing outweighs any improvements. Considering that unmodified consumer equipment does not output hi-def audio via SPDIF, I would go with HDMI.
Very few Avrs process it's MCH analog input's as far as BM and TA. and I know of not one that applies room correction through that input.

What is your current player? Many have poor bass (and time) management options and capabilities. Using an HDMI connection can circumvent these issues by allowing your AVR to perform these functions instead of the player.

I have a theta compli connected with an anthem D2 (analog). I tried a PS3 with SACD over hdmi and i didnt liked it. Sounded digital.

I think most of AVRs will be able to do both room correction and bass management, even if input signal is in analogue. They just convert it with ADC to digital for processing and then back to analogue for amplification. In this case I would worry that distortion from additional DAC/ADC processing outweighs any improvements. Considering that unmodified consumer equipment does not output hi-def audio via SPDIF, I would go with HDMI.

Very few Avrs process it's MCH analog input's as far as BM and TA. and I know of not one that applies room correction through that input.
I have a (non-HDMI) receiver that does process BM/TA via an ADC/DAC conversion. I have compared it to a direct bypass of the processing to gauge whether the ADC/DAC is "worse" than the lack of BM/TA. It's not even close. BM/TA are SO much more important and audible. Add to that room correction (which I've had to do manually with add-ons of parametric eqs and room treatments), and a modern HDMI receiver/transport combination is the way to go in the overwhelming majority of cases.

I have a theta compli connected with an anthem D2 (analog).This complicates the answer. That is not run-of-the-mill equipment. Can you post links to the manuals?

Buy an Oppo (any of their past 3 models pass multichannel DVDA and SACD signals as MPCM) and connect via HDMI and you'll be happy. Your AVR will handle all bass management, time correction, etc.

I had been frustrated with the lack of bass management when using analog connections from an older Pioneer player, so I can confidently say that HDMI is the way to go.

Jayna, I'm intrigued by your response. I've ordered an Oppo for just that purpose (SACD and DVD-A listening) and was convinced I would need the multi-channel (6 cables) connection. You are pleased with how SACD sounds with HDMI? What type of AVR do you use?

HDMI is much better than 6-cable connection because my receiver can manage the hdmi signal (and apply soundfields if I want) while the analog connections bypass the avr controls. My receiver is a 2-year old Yamaha HTR-6090.

This complicates the answer. That is not run-of-the-mill equipment. Can you post links to the manuals?

The theta website is being revamped.

What exactly do you want to know about these equipments ?

What exactly do you want to know about these equipments ?Just curious about what your exact capabilities might be with that equipment when using the mch analog connection.

The Anthem D2 can digitize it's MCH analog input. There was an optional room correction update add on available to D2 owners but don't know if it works via the MCH analog inputs.

Bass management is handled by my universal player. I do want to bypass everything that the D2 would do when i listen to sacd or dvd-a mch.

I have a treated room, so i dont really need the room correction feature.

The ps3 is not really i good test for sacd playing so it would be nice to try a dedicated player with hdmi out.

Anyone tried a good old sacd player (in analog mode) against a new one with hdmi?

Just an FYI, my Pioneer Elite 49txi processes the multichannel inputs with and without room correction as well as bass mgmt and time alignment. I happen to use the ilink feature which is even better, but it can do the same for analog multi-channel.

Hello, I will be upgrading my receiver to one with hdmi soon.

I was wondering if one could improve SQ for sacd, dvd-a, etc. bitstreaming with an hdmi equipped universal player?

I also want good cd performance.

My current 5.1 setup is;

Marantz dv8400
Marantz sr8200 receiver
Monitor audio s8's, matching centre, bronze sfx surrounds.

I will be hopefully getting an upcomming marantz sr8xxx which my dealer says should be coming out in a couple of months.

2 Ch. sacd and cd performance is important to me as well.

My current dv8400 has been acting a bit glitchy lately as well.

I've seen some interesting players for some interesting prices on audiogon lately.

Any advice as well as players to consider would be appreciated.

Jamie

Hi frisco,I know exactly the how you feel,a while ago I was looking for a blue ray for analog out multi channel in a hi end 2 and 5.1 system.
Best thing for sound is don,t use hdmi but it is far easier to use hdmi.
marantz 8003 pre is good,and seperate power amp will improve sound.
ayre players are very good.
The best option is to have the ability for 2 channel or 5.1 straight to pre amp (only) then to a power amp and speakers. I have cd transport used with dac then to 2 channel pre to power amps and speakers.NOW I have used the transport with proceed avp using its dac,s which are good and 90k mono blocs in my system and I cant listen to it,tube pre amp and jadis dac make a big difference,but biggest improvement came from from mono bloc,s they really are magic,and for HT I shouldn,t use them but i always do,can,t help it sounds so good,but of course 2 channel only is a whole new level.
Best advice is if you choose analog out check it does bass management with test disc,s nearly all DO NOT as i keep finding out,audition items at home to be sure,regards victor.
my system http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1136036

Anyone tried a good old sacd player (in analog mode) against a new one with hdmi?

That's a loaded question, because the downstream components can make a big difference as it's been discussed regarding BM, but also the different connection methods are not directly comparable, since "decoding" will takes place in different components in the chain.