**Official Toshiba HD-A35 (ONLY) Thread** - Page 112

Bitstream via HDMI for the receiver to decode it

If you have a choice, use HDMI. No calibration needed on the player and one cable instead of six.

I am actuallt not able to get my A35 to work with my Monoprice 4x1 HDMI switcher. The light will not light up on any of the ports I plug it into. However, it will send a signal directly to the projector.

Anyone else have this particular problem? The Switch model is the HDX-501.

Thanks in advance,
Mike

I picked up an A35 the other day sealed for $150. I have yet to upgrade my reciever, I still have a sony that is maybe 2/3 years old. it does Dts and all that.
I am running HDMI straight to my TV 1080P.
I have a pretty decent 6.1 speaker system.
Which way should I connect the audio? Right now I have it going via optical. And it sounded great when I sampled Transformers last night.
What are my options, what will I gain or lose by using the analog outs? thanks

I would do an A/B test. I used to use optical on my old Denon which has 5.1 analog inputs. I bought the A35 and hooked up via 5.1 analog and all I can say is WOW!! I hear better separation, depth and all channels came alive...even the rear ones. I had to calibrate it a bit higher to gain more volume but when I crank it up, it doesn't sound forced like it did on my optical. It sounds more defined and not as LOUD per se..but FULL!!! YMMV.

Yes I did, actually.
It required going into the 5300's settings and set HDMI audio decoding from PCM to Auto (IIRC). Once I did that, now I can bitstream TrueHD and DD+. Too bad HD DVD's now all but dead. At least I have some good movies to use the player for. I have a Denon 2910 upconverting player that I use for SD DVDs already...

Yes, upgrade. The update should solve some other issues such as web-enabled content on certain discs (like Transformers).

I'll have to give that a try. So I would be getting the same encodes either way, but in your opinion it sounds better going through analog?
FYI I think this is my reciever (yeah I know it's time to upgrade)
Sony STR DE875. does it have audio ins? I don't know.
edit: I think I see (via a google search) that it has "5.1-channel input for new high-resolution multi-channel audio sources"
so you're saying this will give me better sound from the A35 over optical. (does this hold true for HD DVD & sd dvd?) thanks

edit: I found the sticky (FAQ) about audio and I think I got it now. analog will give me true hd but possibly bypass my recievers processing.

Me to, I got a monoprice 3 port with remote and it is great. I also ordered a 3ft HDMI and a 6ft HDMI cable got all shipped for 52.84.

I have no opinion on the firmware update, but I echo your sentiments about the improvements in the A35 over the A-1. The speed of the bootup etc. is still slow, but it's much faster than the A-1. I also think the quality of the SD upconversiion is better, and it handles some problem discs better than the A-1. The Swan Lake HD DVD is one example.

Added bonus is that the remote codes appear to be the same, so I didn't have to update my Harmony remote.

I'm using a 4-port Monoprice switch HDX401E (with remote) and it works fine with A35, A30, BDP-1400, A1 and DirectTV (not using all of these at once but have tested at various times with combinations).

Another member on the XA2 side just posted that his doen't work on his XA2, but, it does with everything else.

If you ever thought about getting an A35 - do it now! I picked one up at Frys for $149 3 days ago, when they still had about 7~8 left. I went the next day and they were all gone. I called around and found another Frys that has a few left, drove there and bought another one.

I replaced the A2 and after some brief viewing, but without a true A/B test, I really can't say I see much difference in pic quality. It is, however, very nice to have the option of letting my Onkyo SR-TX875 receiver do the audio decoding finally.

No matter. Now I have an A35 for each of my two HT setups, plus an A2 as backup. Quite a deal considering I paid less than $400 for all 3 HD DVD players. The PS3 80GB alone set me back $500.

I hate to admit this, but I picked up the A3 around Christmas and was underwhelmed. I returned it and said I will stick with my Mac and my PS3. After the announcements, I found an A35 for 149 at BB this past weekend and I have to say that it has turned me back on to HDDVD. As you can see, I'm a glutton for punishment as I still have 80 D-Theater tapes which I love, but I have gone from 0 to 22 and have 15 more coming from Amazon extremely cheaply and another free 5. I will pick up as many as I can in HDDVD vs. Blu-Ray now. That being said, I need to confirm my analog 5.1 setup as I do not have an HDMI receiver.

Based upon what I have read, (FOR ANALOG 5.1) and I could be totally wrong, none of the audio settings really impact having the A35 do the TrueHD conversions except for ensuring that it is selected on the DVD.

Digital Out SPDIF - PCM (but for analog does it matter if I switch it to Bitstream?)
Digital Out HDMI - Auto (for analog I don't think this matters)
Digital Direct Audio Mode - On (but I don't think this matters as well)
Dynamic Range Control - Auto (default)
Dialog Enhancement - Off (default)
Speaker Setting - 5.1 (with all of the settings aligned with my receiver and crossover frequency aligned with my sub)

If anyone can see any issues or is there another setting that I need to, um, set to get the A35 to do the TrueHD processing for me or can confirm the SPDIF setting doesn't matter, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

It's incredible that A35s can be had for that now. To think that I paid exactly 3 times that amount for mine only 5 months ago. Oh well. Good for you guys.

Chris...buy two more...you will lower your cost basis!

I have one now. I don't really understand all those purchasing players for back ups. There have been no signs that these things in general have short lives. And I've invested quite enough in this format already, no need for more.

I would turn OFF DDAM, DRC and DE with analog.

Is just me? Or did anyone notice the black levels been to black even with

black enhancer off on the A-35. I did a comparison with thwe Onkyo 805 and

notice a significance diffirence between players. In the plane scene of

Transformers I could not see the guys face in the back and on the onkyo it

was not a problem I dont know were the difference lies, so i am curious to

find out if anyone else notice. Please give a feed if there is a resolution.

Thx.

Can some clarify an audio question for me. I have a Marantz SR7001 which is HDMI 1.2 but NOT HDMI 1.3. With the A-35, will I get more audio codecs by using an HDMI connection or analog 5.1? I think I recall reading that I would need a 1.3 receiver to get the full benefit of audio therefore I would be better off using analog 5.1

Thanks for the feedback.

I can't seem to get a clear answer on this.

My TV is a JVC DILA which is 1080p but accepts only 1080i. It has HDMI inputs.

No matter what I set video output of the A35 to (1080p or Upto 1080p/24fps) it still shows a picture on my TV and when I punch the "Display" button it says the A35 is outputting 1080i video. So my question is whether the A35 somehow detects the maximum video input of y TV and sets it's video output to the 1080i automatically OR if there is something wrong with the A35 where it will not shift into 1080p video output mode.

I was doing this sort of as a test of my TV which isn't supposed to accept 1080p signals. I thought if I sent it a 1080p signal from the A35 then I would get a black picture with no video. But the above happens and the A35 outputs 1080i no matter how I have the A35 setup in the menu. So is there some kind of "handshake" going on with the A35 and my JVC DILA TV where the A35 somehow "knows" that the JVC only accepts 1080i video inputs???

I have the exact same situation with my Sony sxrd1 it is a native 1080P set but will only accept up to 1080i over HDMI. I have my A35 outputting the same as you and I see the same results.

Agreed. I can't see purchasing any for any price. To say "buy it now, it's only $150!" Well, it was "only $299" at Christmas. In 6 months I bet you'll find one for $99 or less on e-bay. There are people buying at a furious pace right now, but when that stops, maybe I'll buy a second player or more movies. Not trying to be a joykill, but it's just not the right timing for me to invest more money in this format yet.

What you find on Ebay will be open box, likely no warranty, and will not include the 2 movies included, and 5 free offer which will have expired by then. For $ 50 less 6 months later doesn't make sense. So it was the right time for me.
I should note that this will now be my primary player and my previously used Xbox 360 add on drive is now my backup/ htpc player.

HDMI devices have a handshake protocol that allows the source to determine what the receiving device can process. That is why the A35 will only send 1080i regardless of selecting a higher "up to" setting.

You have access to the same audio tracks whether you use HDMI or analog. The player decodes the DTHD/DD+ and outputs PCM over HDMI or good old analog. The advantage to using HDMI is the ability to use features in the receiver that only work on digital signals such as room compensation and bass management.

Absolutely. To each his own. But in 6 months, there will not only be no free movies, it would be unlikely to have any warranty either (non transferrable). For those in the market that thought (think) $169 was too much for an A35 w/ 9 movies, well, then it's not for you. I thought it was such a bargain I scarfed up two of 'em. So I get nine more movies, and a spare player to boot. No second thoughts here.

I had an interesting finding last night and was wondering if anyone else experienced this. I have an HD-A1 and I just bought an A-35. If I let the A-1 via pcm output to my Onkyo 885 pre-pro on Phantom of The Opera, the sound is very quiet. In fact, I can peg my volume at +13.5 without it being too loud. Letting the Onkyo decode, the disc is a little quieter recorded than others but not that much. I know there are threads on the low recording level of Phantom, but I didn't expect this result. Both are hooked HDMI. I thought whether the player or the receiver decoded, the end result was the same.

I picked up 2 A35's (havent opened them up yet)

1 A35 has the movie 300 bundled with it along with bourne identity (i think)

The other A35 has the movie transformers and bourne supremecy (i think)


Do they both have the same Firmware installed??? Or would the one with transformers have a later FW version?

thanks, techno

What is the advantage of letting the A/V receiver doing the decoding?
What setting do you set the A35 to? Bitstream?

I have an Onkyo 674 - can I let my receiver do the decoding?


Sorry for the newbie ?'s

Thanks, techno