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IS Lossless HD audio worth in my case

post #1 of 7
11/21/08 at 9:32pm
Thread Starter 
I am finally ready to go blue. Is paying an extra $100 for the onboard decoding and analog outs worth it in my case. I have a Onkyo 797 reciever that has 7.1 inputs. The speaker setup is a 6.1 setup with Energy Take 5.2 and a Energy S-8 powered sub. Since I am living in an apartment. I have to keep the sub tuned down about 5db and ride the remote to keep from disturbing the neighbors. Am I going to hear the difference with the lossless tracks at moderate levels and with my current speaker setup.
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post #2 of 7
11/22/08 at 6:09am
The advantage of lossless audio is the increase dynamic range and the fullness of the sound. If you are often turning down the volume to avoid disturbing neighbours, you are less likely to hear much of a difference. That doesn't mean you don't hear an improvement, it still does.

My suggestion, soundproof your apartment or shift your A/V to a dedicated room and soundproof it.
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post #3 of 7
11/22/08 at 6:09am
You are going to hear a difference with the lossless tracks There is a lot more detail in the sound i bigger dynamic range.
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post #4 of 7
11/22/08 at 8:01am
Quote:
Originally Posted by S Dayton View Post

I am finally ready to go blue. Is paying an extra $100 for the onboard decoding and analog outs worth it in my case. I have a Onkyo 797 reciever that has 7.1 inputs. The speaker setup is a 6.1 setup with Energy Take 5.2 and a Energy S-8 powered sub. Since I am living in an apartment. I have to keep the sub tuned down about 5db and ride the remote to keep from disturbing the neighbors. Am I going to hear the difference with the lossless tracks at moderate levels and with my current speaker setup.

The difference you hear will be more dependent upon the audio mix than anything else.
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post #5 of 7
11/22/08 at 8:29am
I am in a very similar position (Energy Take 5,1 speakers, 8" sub, older Yamaha receiver) in a townhouse/condo. I agonized over the decision but eventually got the Sony BDP-S350 player and connected it to my receiver by optical cable, and I am very happy with the results. At the low volume levels I use and with the small Energy speakers there's not much room for improvement. If/when I ever move to a detached house with no volume concerns, I can buy a new HDMI-capable receiver (and I'm sure they'll get cheaper every year) and I'll be good to go.
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post #6 of 7
11/22/08 at 9:14am
Given that you have a 6.1 system and live in a place where you have to keep the volume relatively low, you may lose more than you gain from lossless.

With analog, your rear speaker will be silent for most discs. You won't be able to apply DSPs to matrix sound for the back and BD decoders actually strip off 6.1 matrix processing from discs with DD-EX and DTS-ES encoding. The Panasonic BD55 expands some DTS 5.1 discs to 7.1, although it is unclear to me how often that happens.

I find lossless a bit better, mostly in clarity. But, it's not a big difference.

Of course, the price differences between players like the BD55 & BD35 or the S550 & S350 are often considerably less than $100. Amazon had a deal not long ago where the BD55 was actually cheaper.
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post #7 of 7
11/22/08 at 5:10pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks for the replies.

I got up early and took a drive over to my local Rc Wiley this morning to test out the Blue-ray Panny 55 in action. I sure could hear the difference with lossless audio. Even on the middle of the road HTIB systems, I could hear the clarity and extendend dynamic range. It brought back fond memories of the DTS lasers I use to own.Then I tested out the Wyatt Earp Blue-ray and the OK coral scene brought me back to reality. Last spring Metro come knocking on my door for a noise complaint after playing Open Range DVD at a moderate level. The gunfight scene seem to piss somebody off. I wimped out and bought The Panny 35 for $225. If I get the itch for lossless, I will pick up the 55 and move the 35 to the bedroom.
The SD upscaling on the 35 is very nice on par with my Toshiba A30 player.
I am very happy with my purchase for the moment anyways. Now it's time to start building my Blue collection.
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