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questions about audio from HD-DVD or blueray

post #1 of 6
10/4/07 at 6:24pm
Thread Starter 
I'm looking at getting a HD-DVD or Blue-ray player, I see some posts about audio pass through.. I'm a little confused about what this means. I see talk about bitstream and PCM and blah blah blah.... this is all greek to me.

my receiver is a Denon AVR-686, it doesn't do HDMI switching so I'll have to put my disc player and cable box into the TV via HDMI and then use optical or coax to go into my receiver to play sound. I have a harmony remote so I'll just program that to do all the switching. my question is about the audio, am I looking for a certian type of player that will work? will any of them be able to pass the audio to my receiver with no trouble?

I think i'm leaning toward HD-dvd because the players are cheaper.... if I end up going with blue-ray i might just buy a PS3. but i'm still not sure, will probably be getting one in a month or 2.

thanks!
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post #2 of 6
10/4/07 at 6:44pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Drnick5 View Post

I'm looking at getting a HD-DVD or Blue-ray player, I see some posts about audio pass through.. I'm a little confused about what this means. I see talk about bitstream and PCM and blah blah blah.... this is all greek to me.

my receiver is a Denon AVR-686, it doesn't do HDMI switching so I'll have to put my disc player and cable box into the TV via HDMI and then use optical or coax to go into my receiver to play sound. I have a harmony remote so I'll just program that to do all the switching. my question is about the audio, am I looking for a certian type of player that will work? will any of them be able to pass the audio to my receiver with no trouble?

I think i'm leaning toward HD-dvd because the players are cheaper.... if I end up going with blue-ray i might just buy a PS3. but i'm still not sure, will probably be getting one in a month or 2.

thanks!

You can either use the optical or coax out from an HD DVD or Blu-Ray player which which would play Dolby Digital or DTS on your receiver, or you could buy a more expensive player that had the 5.1 analog outputs. These would plug into the 5.1 analog inputs on your receiver (the ones usually used for SACD or DVD-Audio). Tha would allow you lossless audio. Unless you have a perfect room for audio and expensive speakers, I would think Dolby Digital/DTS is enough. Your receiver will convert it to 7.1.

I would just opt for a cheaper player and use the optical or coax outputs. I am not sure what kind of TV you have, but to get started you could get an A2 HD DVD player, and maybe later get a used PS3 off ebay. The A2s are currenty $270-$100 gift card at Circuit City ($179) plus 5 free movies. In a few months you should be able to get a PS3 with a 20GB drive for $250 or less.

I almost forgot. Bitstream means the audio is still encoded. PCM means it has been decoded. Only the 5.1 analog cables ot HDMI can tranfer PCM to your receiver.
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post #3 of 6
10/5/07 at 5:59am
Thread Starter 
thanks for all the info, that cleared up a lot of my confusion. I've been looking at the A2 actually, seems like a great player for the money, plus it upconverts old DVD's as well.

thanks!
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post #4 of 6
10/23/07 at 9:03am
You will need an HDMI capable receiver to get the most out of all audio options from both formats. However if you get players that have analog connections they can also provide the more advanced audio options.

For HD DVD the HD-A1 has analog connections and can be purchased from amazon currently for $178. I have 3 HD DVD players and this one is still my favorite.

For Blu-ray the Panasonic has analog audio connections, i'm not sure what other players may also have it
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post #5 of 6
10/23/07 at 10:09am
Quote:
Originally Posted by TomsHT View Post

You will need an HDMI capable receiver to get the most out of all audio options from both formats. However if you get players that have analog connections they can also provide the more advanced audio options.

For HD DVD the HD-A1 has analog connections and can be purchased from amazon currently for $178. I have 3 HD DVD players and this one is still my favorite.

For Blu-ray the Panasonic has analog audio connections, i'm not sure what other players may also have it

Pioneer also has analog audio connections.
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post #6 of 6
10/23/07 at 10:25am
thnks BLT

The Panasonic and Pioneer Bluray players they are the two that will use analog audio and allow you to play lossless audio tracks then. The PS3 does not so it would require an receiver that accepts HDMI
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