The Official Sony BDP-S550 Owner's Thread

now if an owner can confirm whether the 550 can internally decode HD-MA and output 7.1 analog signals via RCA, we'd be golden.

Rambo ! I played it through my analog multichannel outs yesterday and the screen showed DTS-HD MA

When you say screen do you mean your tv screen or your receiver screen?
I got the S350 yesterday and I have it hooked directly to my tv via hdmi and my tv screen showed Dolby True HD. I know my tv will only handle PCM so I think it is just detecting the audio from the disc but not what is being decoded. From what I have read if you have a hdmi receiver and you set the 550 up to internally decode dts ma you receiver should show lpcm or multi channel. If it is not decoding it you should see DTS since it will only give you the core of DTS MA. If it works with hdmi the analog outs should be working correctly. The manual says it will internally decode dts ma through hdmi and 7.1 analogs.

TV screen !
I do not have a hdmi receiver. This is why I said I have it hooked up to analog multichannel on my Yamaha

My s550 will arrive today and I will be able to hook it up and play with it for a little bit before my poker night. I will try to test whether or not it will decode DTS-HD-MA over an HDMI connection. I have a 5.1 setup with an HK AVR 247. If I can rummage up some RCA cables I will try the analogue connections as well. If someone will recommend a good movie with DTS-HD-MA I will stop and pick it up on my way home. Let me know if my test methodology is right;

1. Test decoding of DTS-HD-MA for 5.1
1. set out put priority on s550 to HDMI
2. set dts to down mix pcm on s550
3. If it decodes correctly to receiver will display 5.1 PCM 96khz
1. Test decoding of DTS-HD-MA for 7.1 Analogue
1. set out put priority on s550 to multi channel analogue
2. set dts to down mix pcm on s550
3. hook up 2 extra speakers
4. If it decodes correctly to receiver will display 5.1 PCM 96khz

I think that my receiver will only do 7.1 PCM 96khz is this the best or should it do 192khz

Someone over at highdefdigest.com in the forums used xmen the last stand but said it did not internally decode dts ma on that movie. He stated when he set the player to bitstream and hit display on his bd remote the screen showed dts ma, when he changed the settings in the player to internally decode he hit display on his bd remote and the screen showed dts. I don't know if this disc has some flag issues that have been discussed with hairspray etc. I hope a firmware updgrade can fix this player.

If you look at the manual for the 550, it indicates that it will decode and bitstream all.

I have had a chance to do some listening tests. I did A/B comparisons between the BDP-S550 analog out which should be DTS HDMA, and the coaxial digital out to my Arcam AV8 processor paired with the P7 power amplifier powering a Snell 7.1 speaker setup. The Arcam is known for its high quality signal processing and DACs. The coaxial digital audio is the DTS core only of course. Using the Dark City blu-ray which is DTS HDMA 5.1, the difference is readily apparent to my ears even when matching the volume as closely as possible. There is a more realistic surround field from the analog out signal, presumably master audio.
I tend to agree with BIslander's post on this thread and others. My ears tell me I am getting more than the core. It will be nice to get confirmation from Sony, and a fix for the 5.1 / 7.1 issue.

By the way, my speaker setups (size and distance) are identical for the Sony BDP-S550 and my Arcam AV8. I use the direct setting and no signal processing.

FWIW - I have a new 550 (just got it today) connected to my Denon 2307CI (HDMI 1.2) receiver. I have the BD Audio Output on the 550 set to direct. The manual leads me to believe this is the setting I want - it will bitstream if the receiver is capabale of it (which mine isn't) and decode otherwise. It's difficult to tell what's happening here, but when I played the Golden Compass, pressing display on the 550 showed DTS MA 7.1 was the selected audio track, the 2307 said "Multi Channel In", and all 7 speaker lights on the 2307 display were lit on the input side - so it looks like I'm getting some form of 7.1 signal. It looks like some type of decoding is happening.

Also - as a side note - it IS possible to turn off the BD live feature. I left mine turned on. When I loaded Iron Man it politely asked me if I wanted to do the 1-time download. Transformers wasn't so polit - it just went ahead and did it. I have a broadband connection, so in both cases it was only about a 20 second delay.

We received report posts on the OT discussions going on in this hardware review thread. Please if you want to discuss this player (as a general discussion point) please go to the existing thread. If you want to discuss the pros and cons of lossless audio,please take it to the appropriate thread.

This thread should be for reviews and feedback from those that own the player and have it in hand. That will help in getting the information out in a concise manner. If you have "specific questions" about the player, please stay on topic.

If you are looking for advice on WHICH PLAYER IS RIGHT FOR YOUR SET UP, please take it to the sticky thread.

Thanks, I'm sure everyone appreciates help in maintaining focus on reviews from folks who have the player in hand.

I'm confused. If your 2307 says "Multi Channel In", that leads me to believe you are using the analog inputs. Since you have an HDMI 1.2 capable receiver, why wouldn't you decode to PCM and output via HDMI to your receiver? Can your receiver handle multichannel LPCM over HDMI?

I am using HDMI - my receiver can handle it - The question in my mind was whether or not this player would even decode DTS-MA to hdmi. I think that's what I'm seeing, but it's hard to tell. I was just trying to let everyone know my observations.

Thanks for the informative post, one that includes plenty of specifics. Do you have a 7.1 system? If so, do you get discrete audio from all the channels?

Hopefully, someone using multichannel analog can post the same kind of information.

I only have a 5.1 system. My receiver shows a 7.1 signal being input and a 5.1 output. I'm assuming it folds the side speakers into the rear - I don't know for sure.

The typical display on the receiver when receiving PCM over HDMI is normally "PCM", "LPCM", or "PCM 48kHz". I always equate "Multi channel In" with analog inputs...

There is a way to tell if MA is being decoded. The easy way is with a 7.1 MA track but sometimes receivers can upsample a 5.1 MA track to 7.1 using Dolby ProLogic IIx so here's another way.

There are two BD's that have a 96kHz/24-bit DTS-HD MA track and that is Chronos and Nature's Journey. If you play either disk and your Sony decodes MA correctly, then you should see something like "PCM 96kHz" on your receiver. All other MA tracks are 48kHz.

One request. If you have Golden Compass, can you test to make sure it is downmixing MA to 5.1 correctly? Perhaps Sony got it right on the first try...

I'm not sure how to do that - ifyou could tell me how - I'll try it (probably tomorrow)

The downmixing is automatic since you would be playing a 7.1 MA track and you only have a 5.1 system. Keep the volume low in case Sony didn't get it right!

OK, your receiver don't have the ability to decode the HD-DTS MA right. You shall not set it to 'direct' for HDMI. You should set it to 'auto', 550 manual pg 66. It means it will LPCM 5.1/7.1 after its decode it internally by 550. I wonder though now you set it at 'direct', which meant you are sending bit stream to your receiver which can not decode the signal , there should have been no sound?

jbernardis

I'd say you are correct, you are getting decoded DTS-MA. "Multi Channel In" usually means LCPM via HDMI.

Someone please open up the S550 and tell us if it uses the Sigma chip or NEC chip.

"Auto" and "Direct" are complementary, not alternatives. As the poster explained, "Direct" tries to bitstream first and if it can't (his situation), it falls back to player decoding and a PCM output. See footnote 5 on p66.

Just got my 550 delivered today. I hooked it up via HMDI to my Sony 5300es.
The 550 seems to be internally decoding TrueHD and DTS MA and sending LPCM to the 5300es. I popped in Nightmare Before Christmas (DD TrueHD 7.1) and it will send 7.1 LPCM to the receiver.
However, with Rambo (DTS MA 7.1) it only sent LPCM 5.1
Golden Compass (DTS MA 7.1) also only LPCM 5.1 (interestingly enough punching the display button on the 550 showed DTS 3/2.1)

Things started to get weird when I set the 550 to direct.
With Nightmare Before Christmas, there either wasn't any audio or the audio cut in/out. The receiver shows it thinks it's getting DD TrueHD 1.0.
Same with I Am Legend (DD TrueHD 5.1) and Resident Evil: Extinction (DD True HD 5.1).
10,000 B.C. (DD TrueHD 5.1) the receiver showed DD TrueHD 3/2.1, however there was no audio heard.

Rambo did show up with DTS MA 3/4.1 on the receiver and sounded good.
Sushine (DTS MA 5.1) also showed up as DTS MA 3/2.1 on the receiver.
Golden Compass showed up with DTS MA 3/4.1 on the receiver (and interestingly enough the display button on the 550 now show DTS Master Audio 3/4.1)

So some things seem to work....some don't. I'm not sure where the problem lies...the 550, the receiver or the titles. Looks like at least in my case if I want 7.1 from a DD TrueHD disc, I leave the audio setting in the 550 at "Mix". If I wannt 7.1 from a DTS MA disc, I have to set it to "Direct".

From reading the above, it appears to me, DTS-HD MA is being decoded, otherwise folks wouldn't be getting 7.1 input showing on the AVR (using DPL IIx would explain 7.1 output from 5.1 input).

As to the fact some 7.1 tracks are showing as 5.1 input, i believe this is a flag read error issue - I recall reading that PS3s suffered from the same issue on some tracks, meaning it's a Sony issue, not a problem with the AVR.

Now, how about some comments on the video performance?? How does 1080p/60 look? Upscaled 480i?

Ok, is't internally decoding to hdmi output. The big question is... does it decode DTS MA to analog 7.1ch outputs?

Now that would be strange, wouldn't it

Are you guys sure it isn't Bitstreaming DTS MA to the receiver depite the player saying otherwisie?

If the player is decoding DTS MA internally, it should definitely be passing that to the analog 7.1 outs.

I got the s550 yesterday and had some time to play with it using transformers disc. I have a few questions if someone could answerer them. I have a HK avr 247 that does not decode HD audio but will except it PCM over HDMI. Looking in the s550 manual on page 49 the downmix settings for the audio only affects the coax or optical jack. How do you tell the player to bitsream or decode the audio does it do it automatically. Out of the box I hooked it up played transformers the display on the receiver said multi channel pcm 48khz 5.1. And the Display on the TV when you press display on the blue ray remote said Dolby True HD 5.1. Does this mean everything is working the way it should