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The Official Sony BDP-S550 Owner's Thread - Page 9

post #241 of 3961
10/12/08 at 2:54pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tarheel72 View Post

Yes, I would like to know what you thought of the SD upconversion compared to your HD DVD player? And what kind of HD DVD player was it (what upscaler did it use)? Thanks

I was happily surprised how well it did. I had the Toshiba HD-A2 before and it was a great up scaler as well. I couldn't tell the difference in the upscaling between the two. Not sure on the specific technology used.

Bud
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post #242 of 3961
10/12/08 at 3:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rudy81 View Post

Makes you wonder how much the credit card company stands to gain from these CC applications. Must be well worth it to them in future interest gain. Shows you how much these companies make from the public.

Fifteen years ago, I saw a net income per year figure of $35 quoted for each card in circulation. That probably translates to $50 - $60 per year today, with an expectation of maybe $70 per year for someone acquiring a Sony branded affinity card. Sony makes [guesstimate] an extra $40 or so from the initial, direct/corporate product sale, leaving about $110 [of the $150 premium] to recover: say 18 months 'regular' activity. [Not sure how recent economic down turns will impact this calculation!]
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post #243 of 3961
10/12/08 at 3:30pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by SoundChex View Post

Fifteen years ago, I saw a net income per year figure of $35 quoted for each card in circulation. That probably translates to $50 - $60 per year today, with an expectation of maybe $70 per year for someone acquiring a Sony branded affinity card. Sony makes [guesstimate] an extra $40 or so from the initial, direct/corporate product sale, leaving about $110 [of the $150 premium] to recover: say 18 months 'regular' activity. [Not sure how recent economic down turns will impact this calculation!]

What is this - the Suze Orman show??? What's next, a freecreditreport.com post? C'mon, stop spamming these threads with all of this non-topic crap.
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post #244 of 3961
10/12/08 at 3:42pm
Will any of you 550 owners using analog connections to a 7.1 speaker system PLEASE let me know if the player will approximate a 7.1 signal on 5.1 tracks? My 7.1 AVR won't apply PLxII to analog sources. I'm guessing PLxII and DTS NEO 6 take place in the digital processing before sending the analog signal to the speakers. When it receives an analog signal it just passes it along to the correct speaker and won't let me change the mix to add my "extra" speakers. I can do LFE on an analog source but no PLxII.

With the deplorable number of 7.1 discs on the market I'm hoping that I won't have two speakers that sit dormant for 80% of my movie watching. THANKS, my 550 may already have arrived but I have to wait 8 more days until my Birthday!
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post #245 of 3961
10/12/08 at 5:05pm
Thanks to those who own the S550 and are giving their impressions.
Please keep them coming!
I am very interested in purchasing one.

And to those who are straying off topic with your credit scores, we could give a rats @ss!
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post #246 of 3961
10/12/08 at 6:35pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by SteveRS View Post

Thanks to those who own the S550 and are giving their impressions.
Please keep them coming!
I am very interested in purchasing one.

Same here, on all counts.

And on the off chance that any 550 owner is using the component outputs for video (like, if your TV doesn't have an HDMI port), do SD-DVDs look any better (or different) than on an SD player?
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post #247 of 3961
10/12/08 at 6:41pm
Incredible player!
More detailed picture than my BD-30!
smoother at 1080p 24.
great bitstreaming of DTS HDMaster and Dolby Tru HD sound to my onkyo 805 reciever.
Really small with great build quality.
Faster everything compared with my BD-30.
using HDMi at 1080p 24 to a Panasonic AE1000 lcd projector.
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post #248 of 3961
10/12/08 at 7:03pm
If I was to get this and hook up audio via 7.1 analog to an Onkyo 606, what would be displayed on the 606 as far as what audio format was being heard?

My 606 manual states the receiver will play the audio signal the way it is sent. I guess that means it bypasses any advanced audio processing in the 606 and it's all done in the Sony 550, right?
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post #249 of 3961
10/12/08 at 7:18pm
1) Will the BDP-S550 hooked up to my Sony HD TV via HDMI and the 25 yr old MacIntosh Amp/PreAmp 2 speaker stereo (that I won't part with) hooked up to the stereo analog jacks of the BR give good 2 speaker stereo sound ? Is there an analog stereo output that gives good simulated surround sound effect to the 2 speaker stereo on the BDP-S550? Would the Panasonic BD-55 be better for this old set-up as the specs seem to indicate?
2) I see the new Panasonic BD55 has a memory slot for still digital photos. How does the Sony handle photos. Is it as simple as the slot set-up?
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post #250 of 3961
10/12/08 at 7:28pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mizzoujedi View Post

If I was to get this and hook up audio via 7.1 analog to an Onkyo 606, what would be displayed on the 606 as far as what audio format was being heard?

My 606 manual states the receiver will play the audio signal the way it is sent. I guess that means it bypasses any advanced audio processing in the 606 and it's all done in the Sony 550, right?

If you have a receiver with HDMI 1.3 that can decode all formats, I'm not sure why you'd want to use analog for audio. The S550 will not do any processing beyond basic bass and time management. The Onkyo will likely have better processing tools than that.

If you use analog out of the player, your AVR will show that it is set to the analog inputs and will give you no further information about the audio. Also, you need to boost LFE in the AVR when using analog.
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post #251 of 3961
10/12/08 at 10:28pm
Im thinking about buying the s550 with the Sony card for $150.00 off. I have just two questions though after reading through this whole 9 page thread and getting a bit confused. My receiver doesnt decode the HD formats so I would either use optical or analog.

If I used optical, does the s550 still output uncompressed 2 ch audio straight from the uncompressed audio track on the disc or is it converted to dd or dts? From my understanding analog isnt converted in any way.

Also I currently use my computer for watching HD movies with an internal LG BD-ROM drive. My video card is an Nvidia 8600 GT and I use Powerdvd so I was wondering would I see an improvement in video quality on my Panasonic 1080P plasma or would it look about the same?
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post #252 of 3961
10/12/08 at 11:27pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by sk11vengeance View Post

If I used optical, does the s550 still output uncompressed 2 ch audio straight from the uncompressed audio track on the disc or is it converted to dd or dts? From my understanding analog isnt converted in any way.

You will get a 2ch downmix of the lossless track that is playing from the optical output. It is still digital at that stage, of course. Your receiver will do the analog conversion.
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post #253 of 3961
10/13/08 at 4:54am
Quote:
Originally Posted by BIslander View Post

If you use analog out of the player, your AVR will show that it is set to the analog inputs and will give you no further information about the audio. Also, you need to boost LFE in the AVR when using analog.

If you check the 550 manual I believe that it does allow you to adjust speaker levels, including the LFE. I don't know if other players do this or not. I have a Samsung 1200 now hooked up via analog and I did have to boost the LFE by about 10db with the AVR to get it balanced. The 1200 has no speaker level or distance adjustments, just size selection. And not all AVR's have speaker level adjustments for use with analog inputs either.
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post #254 of 3961
10/13/08 at 5:04am
Quote:
Originally Posted by bloomer88 View Post

That's something I'd like to hear from owners of the 550. Does anyone who has the new one, know how it compares to the 350, as far as video performance is concerned? I've read reviews that the DVD upconverting of the 350 isn't very good. How does the 550 do with that, in comparison to the 350? Also, is there any difference between the load times with these two players?

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think these questions about video performance have been addressed yet? The internal photos may indicate there are no video differences, but are there any observed differences in video output between the 350 vs. 550? Perhaps no one has upgraded from one to the other to make direct comparisons.
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post #255 of 3961
10/13/08 at 6:01am
when is the 550 available for pick up in stores? it doesnt show at bestbuy or anything.
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post #256 of 3961
10/13/08 at 6:08am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tarheel72 View Post

If you check the 550 manual I believe that it does allow you to adjust speaker levels, including the LFE. I don't know if other players do this or not. I have a Samsung 1200 now hooked up via analog and I did have to boost the LFE by about 10db with the AVR to get it balanced. The 1200 has no speaker level or distance adjustments, just size selection. And not all AVR's have speaker level adjustments for use with analog inputs either.

It looks like your 1200 forced you to do the right thing. LFE is recorded 10db lower than the other channels in order to provide headroom for loud explosions. If you boost it in the player, you defeat the whole purpose of recording LFE 10db low in the first place. LFE should be boosted in the processor just prior to amplification.
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post #257 of 3961
10/13/08 at 7:58am
Quote:
Originally Posted by kneichko View Post

when is the 550 available for pick up in stores? it doesnt show at bestbuy or anything.

Not sure this will help you, but I saw some 550s on the shelf at Fry's here yesterday.
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post #258 of 3961
10/13/08 at 8:58am
Quote:
Originally Posted by BIslander View Post

It looks like your 1200 forced you to do the right thing. LFE is recorded 10db lower than the other channels in order to provide headroom for loud explosions. If you boost it in the player, you defeat the whole purpose of recording LFE 10db low in the first place. LFE should be boosted in the processor just prior to amplification.

You've posited this argument in multiple posts and I've been unable to verify it anywhere else. I'm wondering if you could provide any sort of reference or white paper to support your assertion.

My understanding (from a Dolby whitepaper I read several years ago) is that the reason the LFE track is recorded -10dB was to provide additional headroom on the magnetic tape (film) sent to theaters.

That this LFE level carried over to home theater media (LDs, DVDs, etc.) was presented (at least in that paper) as more of an oversight or convenience than an intentional act. Since home theater receivers that decode internally are designed to reproduce sound from movies, the algorithms were designed to automatically correct for this lower level.

However, the multichannel analog connections on most receivers (and preamps) were originally designed for multichannel audio formats such as SACD (the subwoofer channel of which is mixed at the same level as the other channels) and thus no automatic "correction" was included (or needed).

I fail to see why boosting the signal in a player (after decoding and d/a conversion), then sending that boosted signal across a wire of a meter or so to the amplifier would be any different than sending the unboosted (but still post-decode and d/a conversion) signal across a wire of a meter or so, then boosting the signal before tranmission to the power amplifier (or amplifier section of the receiver). The signal reaching the speaker would be identical. If you are arguing that the amplification circuit in the player will introduce more distortion than the preamplifier circuit in the pre/pro or receiver, then I don't see how you can generalize beyond comparing a particular player to a particular pre/pro or receiver.

Now if you are arguing that boosting the signal in the digital domain might be superior to doing so in the analog domain, that's a different scenario and not applicable for those of us using a multichannel analog connection.
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post #259 of 3961
10/13/08 at 9:17am
Quote:
Originally Posted by cdnewmanpac View Post

You've posited this argument in multiple posts and I've been unable to verify it anywhere else. I'm wondering if you could provide any sort of reference or white paper to support your assertion.

My understanding (from a Dolby whitepaper I read several years ago) is that the reason the LFE track is recorded -10dB was to provide additional headroom on the magnetic tape (film) sent to theaters.

That this LFE level carried over to home theater media (LDs, DVDs, etc.) was presented (at least in that paper) as more of an oversight or convenience than an intentional act. Since home theater receivers that decode internally are designed to reproduce sound from movies, the algorithms were designed to automatically correct for this lower level.

However, the multichannel analog connections on most receivers (and preamps) were originally designed for multichannel audio formats such as SACD (the subwoofer channel of which is mixed at the same level as the other channels) and thus no automatic "correction" was included (or needed).

I fail to see why boosting the signal in a player (after decoding and d/a conversion), then sending that boosted signal across a wire of a meter or so to the amplifier would be any different than sending the unboosted (but still post-decode and d/a conversion) signal across a wire of a meter or so, then boosting the signal before tranmission to the power amplifier (or amplifier section of the receiver). The signal reaching the speaker would be identical. If you are arguing that the amplification circuit in the player will introduce more distortion than the preamplifier circuit in the pre/pro or receiver, then I don't see how you can generalize beyond comparing a particular player to a particular pre/pro or receiver.

Now if you are arguing that boosting the signal in the digital domain might be superior to doing so in the analog domain, that's a different scenario and not applicable for those of us using a multichannel analog connection.

You are generally right but most players don't permit boost. Rather, one can only lower levels. Thus, you have everything except the sub down 10 dbs and compensate at the master volume on the AVR, meaning that you blast yourself whenever you change inputs and forget to first lower the AVR volume.
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post #260 of 3961
10/13/08 at 9:17am
Interesting...noticed I had to boost the LFE level as well. These bluray soundtracks seem to burst out loud during intense scenes making it hard to find a nominal volume level.
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post #261 of 3961
10/13/08 at 9:21am
I currently own a Sharp BD-HP20U player. HAd it for the last year and ot works flawlessly for me, albeit it's only profile 1.0 and a little slow on loading. I have it hooled up analog and am able to get Dolby TrueHD and Uncompressed PCM. COnsidering the SOny CC deal, is it worth replacing with the 550?
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post #262 of 3961
10/13/08 at 9:21am
Quote:
Originally Posted by cdnewmanpac View Post

You've posited this argument in multiple posts and I've been unable to verify it anywhere else. I'm wondering if you could provide any sort of reference or white paper to support your assertion.

Sure.

It's a sticky in the Audio Theory forum called LFE, subwoofers and interconnects explained

Quote:


I fail to see why boosting the signal in a player (after decoding and d/a conversion), then sending that boosted signal across a wire of a meter or so to the amplifier would be any different than sending the unboosted (but still post-decode and d/a conversion) signal across a wire of a meter or so, then boosting the signal before tranmission to the power amplifier (or amplifier section of the receiver). The signal reaching the speaker would be identical. If you are arguing that the amplification circuit in the player will introduce more distortion than the preamplifier circuit in the pre/pro or receiver, then I don't see how you can generalize beyond comparing a particular player to a particular pre/pro or receiver.

I'm no audio engineer. The post by KMO in the referenced thread addresses these issues you raise to some degree. I have seen numerous discussions about this issue involving seemingly well-informed posters at AVS. None of them have questioned the notion that boosting LFE in the player is the wrong place to do it. That's not to say all of them are right. Just that you are the first person to suggest there's no reason to avoid boosting LFE in the player.

EDIT: I should add that LFE is supposed to top out 10db louder than the other channels (115db vs 105db). LFE is recorded 10db lower (at the same level as the other channels) so that interconnects can handle it without clipping under peak loads. It needs to get boosted back up to the +10db level later on.
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post #263 of 3961
10/13/08 at 9:36am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kbueno View Post

These bluray soundtracks seem to burst out loud during intense scenes making it hard to find a nominal volume level.

It's called "wide dynamic range" (the ratio between loud and soft). Such dynamic range is a good thing. I despise recordings (especially including music recordings) that compress the dynamic range.
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post #264 of 3961
10/13/08 at 9:40am
Ok, I've read through this entire thread, and I'm still not positive that DTS Master Audio works through the analog outputs?

I have an older Pioneer Elite Receiver that only has 5.1 inputs. If I order this player, will I get DTS-MA out of the 5.1 analog outputs?

Just trying to make sure I make the right purchase.

Thanks in advance.
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post #265 of 3961
10/13/08 at 9:56am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Greg_D View Post

Ok, I've read through this entire thread, and I'm still not positive that DTS Master Audio works through the analog outputs?

I have an older Pioneer Elite Receiver that only has 5.1 inputs. If I order this player, will I get DTS-MA out of the 5.1 analog outputs?

Just trying to make sure I make the right purchase.

Thanks in advance.

Yes. Set the Audio Ouput Priority to "multi channel analog" and the "BD Audio" setting to "direct" you'll get DTS-HD MA decoded to 5.1/7.1 LPCM over the 8 analog audio ouput jacks on the rear of the unit.
You will need to change the "speaker settings" on the S550 to turn off the surround back (set them to "none") and the other speaker settings to match your config.
What I don't know is if by setting the surround back option to "none" if it will downmix 7.1 to 5.1 or if you'll just loose the two surround back channels...I would assume it would.
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post #266 of 3961
10/13/08 at 10:05am
anyone connected their s550 to an amp and tried bitstreaming to amp vs letting player decode instead ........... any sound difference between the two methods . Using HDMI only
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post #267 of 3961
10/13/08 at 10:10am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ripley161 View Post

anyone connected their s550 to an amp and tried bitstreaming to amp vs letting player decode instead ........... any sound difference between the two methods . Using HDMI only

Yes. I have a STR-DA5300es. Bitstreaming DTS-HD MA or Dolby TrueHD sound the same to me compared to the same formats decoded to LPCM and output over HDMI to the receiver.
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post #268 of 3961
10/13/08 at 10:16am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Greg_D View Post

Ok, I've read through this entire thread, and I'm still not positive that DTS Master Audio works through the analog outputs?

I have an older Pioneer Elite Receiver that only has 5.1 inputs. If I order this player, will I get DTS-MA out of the 5.1 analog outputs?

Just trying to make sure I make the right purchase.

Thanks in advance.

Same here - I have a Fosgate PrePro with 7.1 analog inputs and trying to decide between this one and the Panasonic BD-55.
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post #269 of 3961
10/13/08 at 10:25am
So Do we have a definitive answer YES or NO on 7.1 Analog dtsMA?
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post #270 of 3961
10/13/08 at 10:26am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ron HD View Post

Not sure this will help you, but I saw some 550s on the shelf at Fry's here yesterday.


Nothing personal but I would have to see a picture of that to believe it. As far as I know there is no B&M store that has them yet and no else online has them in stock either. Maybe 500's or 350's but I doubt they were 550's.
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