Audio-only processor - Is video necessary?

Usually it is for cable management reasons. Also, it facilitates switching, obviously enough, so that you don't have to change inputs for video independently of the audio inputs.

This depends on the individual processor.


NAD T175, Audiolab 8000AP are two that come to mind.

Bill

It seems like all AVR/AVPs made in the past 8-10 years have video switching built in. If you don't need the switching - and I don't - it makes the older but still great models available at very good prices. They can be found on Audiogon at great prices.

I use an Emotiva LMC-1 for my audio HT preamp - in some ways its a clunker but it sounds and functions very well. I sold an Onkyo SC885 in favor of the LMC-1. I may upgrade to the UMC-1 when it comes out but I'll take a wait and see approach.

That was me. "I did not say you cannot get the HD codecs; I said you cannot get the best of them which means effective bass/level/delay management and DSP (including room EQ). With analog, you can only approximate since these are not as well implemented in players (with few exceptions)."

Perhaps I should have worded it as "I did not say you cannot get the HD codecs; I said you cannot get the best out of them which means effective bass/level/delay management and DSP (including room EQ). With analog, you can only approximate since these are not as well implemented in players (with few exceptions)."

i havent fully investigated the sc-05 but i have only messed with it for about 5 minutes and i have full crossover and trim levels so far.. i am hoping i can get speaker distance adjustments as well on the analogs.. because i prefer to run my video directly to the tv...

Do not presume so. Read the manual. Most AVRs have severely restricted functions when using their analog inputs.

No problem. I am just trying to be clear.


They are fully implemented now.

well that is just the thing.. the manual on this one does not say there are any restrictions on the analog inputs.. however the previous receiver i had.. yammy v995 specifically stated that several options that were normally done in the digital processing side obviously were not available with the analog inputs.. but this one seems to have all options. at least according to the manual.. we shall see...

Including room correction? Just curious as my Yamaha RX-V3900 has no room correction for MC inputs.

It makes sense, really, as that requires 4 DACs and more circuitry. The way the 3900 does it, it's a simple routing circuit to switch between the MC inputs and the other sources.

hey michael.. i am reading the manual now.. i dont think it has room correction... grrr... it is close in specs to the v3900 .. only i found this one about 400 dollars cheaper...

there is a note in the manual that says..

'when playback from the mc inputs is selected, only the volume and the channel levels can be set"

so i bet that is it... so i am still not getting much more than the 10 yeard old yammy v995 was giving me..

but i plan on switching to lossless via hdmi as soon as i get the new ps3!!

Tell me about it. I care less about the video in all these processors.
So I bought the older model Anthem processor AVM 20 V2.21 in excellent
condition at Audiogon for $600 shipped. I use it mainly for 2ch audio. I use
both the OPPO 980H and the Yamaha CDC697 cd changed as CD transports and let the Anthem do all the audio. I also bought an used Rotel RB-1080 in excellent condition for $585 from Audiogon. I was using an AVR before,
Yamaha RX-V795a and then RX-V663. I have also tried other mass market AVRs like Denon 2308, Marantz SR5003, Onkyo 705 etc. Rotel/Anthem combo is no comparison to the AVR's. When new the Anthem AVM 20 V2.2 was like $3500!!. May be after a couple of years I will buy an used AVM30.

that is the problem with hdmi though. in order to send the video and the audio through and have the video outted in its original form you either have to have a avr with really really good video processing (big dollars) or one of the lower end ones that just sends it through untouched..

well the problem is you cant buy HT processors that are audio only. I have always taken the video direct to the display so never cared about video in a processor.

Whether it is a $500 AVR or a $1500 processor, they always have video processing to some degree. I cant believe they still give half a dozen composite video and s-video in the AVRs and clutter the back panel. Who needs them anymore. So I decided to go the used route. People go after HD audio and better video processing in the newer models. So you can find the older models for a fraction of the cost. I am not that picky about HD audio. As long as the DVD has a DTS/DD track and the processor like Anthem AVM 20 can handle it, thats all matters to me. The key is 2ch audio for me and pretty much any popular brand processor will do a good job with 2ch audio.
I also dont care much about AVRs anymore, even the high end ones. Separates is the way to go. Anyway...enough with my rant. I cant fall asleep today. May be I will go listen to my Magnepans.

I am not sure what you mean. My receiver can send HDMI audio untouched, at least in theory. It has a through mode.

It does overlay volume and some other messages, but that can be turned off too. I like that feature, so I use it, even if I turn off any other video processing.

i am not sure what i meant either. i get confused by receivers that say they support 24fps and others that say they dont. for instance the pioneer line, the lower end ones 519 and 819 dont mention they support 24fps whereas the others 919 and 1019 state they specifically support 24fps.

if you look at the following links and scroll to the bottom you see that the 819 does not have the 24fps symbol whereas the 1019 does.


http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PU...SX-819H-K.Kuro

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PU...-1019AH-K.Kuro

now what does that mean? when i had a 519 it did not say it supported 24fps but my tv reported that it was presenting the source in 1080/24p, when i had it hooked up. so i assumed that somehow that the video signal was being altered in the vsx-519 and not the others (919 and 1019) but my tv still reported 24fps. SO, i really dont even know what it means when an avr says it supports 24fps. which means i really dont know what is going on inside the avr with regards to video processing.

my feeling would be that if your source can send 24fps and your avr can send a signal (whether it repeats or just passes it through) then that signal should be the original signal (24fps), if your monitor can display it. right?!

and if that is the case then why would you have to specifically state that the avr supports 24fps, whereas others dont say they specifically support it but say they pass the signal through? as you see i am totally confused so i should reserve presenting opinions such as the ones i posted..

The Cary Cinema 11A is audio only.

I would think 24 fps support is dicated by the HDMI chips in the receiver. I would have though every receiver was using 24fps HDMI chips by now. It's been part of the spec for a long time.

Not exactly.

Page 20 of the owner's manual says this about the HDMI inputs and output:

19. HDMI INPUT CONNECTORS
Use to connect the Cinema 11a to components with an HDMI output such as cable and satellite boxes, as well as DVD and Blu-ray players.

16. HDMI Output Connector
Use to connect the Cinema 11a to a TV or projector with an HDMI input.

The Cinema 11a clearly performs HDMI switching and passthrough of video via HDMI, but with no additional video processing.

What people seem to be forgetting is that in order to extract and decode the lossless Dolby Digital and DTS codecs from Blu-Ray, the AVR or Pre-Pro must accept an incoming audio/video data stream. Many AVRs/Pre-Pros will then perform additional video processing if desired, or will simply pass the video stream through to a tv or projector (just like the Cary) after extracting the audio data.

When passing the video data straight through, all of the tests I have seen show no loss in video quality. There are some people who will use an HDMI splitter at pass audio/video data to the AVR/Pre-Pro for audio data processing while at the same time bypassing the AVR/Pre-Pro circuitry entirely for video. Is this better than using a video passthrough in teh AVR/Pre-Pro? I don't know but I seriously doubt it.

If you are not concerned with the lossless codecs or multichannel pcm from Blu-Ray via HDMI and are only listening to lossy codecs via Toslink or coax/XLR inputs, or even multichannel analog, then there is no need to route any video to any AVR/Pre-Pro. Audio can be routed to the AVR/Pre-Pro and video can be routed directly to the display device using the interface of your choice.