Help me decide which Toshiba for me.

Given your equipment I would recommend an A2 and if you look at all the CC coupons being discussed you may get it for $160.

The analog outputs provided TrueHD and DD+ to your receiver if it cannot decode them by itself. If you aspire to have 5.1 surround sound in a large room, you may get a bit more depth with these formats. Optical is still pretty good and with your receiver I am sure you have some theater modes that you cannot get with the analog inputs.

k

Get a HD DVD player with at least audio 5.1 analog-out for TrueHD decoding from the player. Using optical will down convert TrueHD and DD+ to at max bit rate of 1.5Mb/s DTS. The A1, XA1, XA2 and A35 has audio 5.1 analog-out .

...Angelo

Trevor - Digital optical was the best for standard DVD Dolby Digital & DTS 5.1 audio. It's still good for that with HD DVD, but both HD DVD and Blu-ray introduced "high-def", lossless audio - Dolby TrueHD and DTS MA (Master Audio). All Toshiba HD DVD player can decode TrueHD internally and output it as PCM to the receiver for amplification and output to the speakers. But optical does not have enough bandwidth to support this in anything above 2 channel; both HDMI and multi-channel analog do have the bandwidth. Since you're happy with your receiver, you should look for a player with 5.1 analog outputs to enjoy the lossless TrueHD many HD DVD titles have.

For the 1st gen. players, both the A1 & XA1 have 5.1 analog audio and max 1080i video output. For the 2nd gen players, only the XA2 has analog output, also 1080p video. The A20 has 1080p but no analogs; the A2 has only 1080i and no analog. For the 3rd Gen, only the A35 has analog, plus 1080; the A30 no analog but 1080p, and the A3 no analog and only 1080i.

Hope this helps.

You need male-RCA to male-RCA cables 5.1 requires 6 cables. You connect the HD DVD 5.1 analog-out to your receiver's 5.1 (or 7.1; don't connect surround-back) analog-in.

...Angelo

Yes but you need a A35 or XA2 to use them,if your receiver accepts optical then buy an A2/A3.

I would say NOT. This cable only has 5 RCA you need 6 RCA plus it's a AV cable.

I would recommend these 2 meter Acoustic Research PR-136 Pro II Series 5.1 Audio Cable Set

...Angelo

I used the analog outs on my XA1 for over a year to my old receiver for over a year until I upgraded my receiver to an Onkyo with HDMI, and they work great. I used those Acoustic Research cables and they're very nice - good quality, and they're color-coded and labeled, making easy to keep straight which cable goes where.

I guess it depends on your ears, your sound system and how important you are to sound quality. For myself I can hear more/greater dynamic range with TrueHD and some DD+ tracks with 5.1 analog-out than down converted optical DTS. Don't get me wrong the optical sounds great too. I guess it comes down to how "picky" you are with sound and if you are wanting the BEST audio connection.

But reading this post cost is very important and you can go with optical only with an A2 it too sounds very good better than DVDs when comparing HD DVD audio tracks with optical and it's the best cost performance upgrade! In the future you can always upgrade and use the current system as a 2nd system in your home.

Even my brother wants to get into HD DVD but his receiver is limited to optical and looking for the cheapest upgrade to HD DVD the A2 with optical is the best with non-HDMI receivers. I have no problem recommending this setup to anyone over any DVD system with optical!

Yes if you think of the cost of the 5.1 analog cables and A35 with a bit more money you can go A2 with HDMI receiver. So if you get the A2, upgrading to a HDMI receiver with TrueHD decoding in the future would be the next best upgrade to any HD sound system.

...Angelo

The whole point about the HD DVD players having 5.1 analog-out is that the A35 (or other HD DVD with analog-out) will do all the decoding to PCM when outputting to analog-out. Therefore you don't need a receiver to support these other audio compressions and you will hear everything that TrueHD, DD+ and the other HD DTS audio tracks has to offer.

Sounds like you are going with the A35, excellent choice. If I upgrade my A1 I'll get the A35 too with my non-HDMI receiver.

...Angelo

Yes, going for the A2 and optical cable is the lowest cost for getting into HD DVD, which is much better than DVD in both PQ and AQ (even with optical audio). Plus you're going to need that extra cash for HD DVD movies.

...Angelo

Pioneer 5070 is much better

Looks like the 5070 will accept a 24FPS signal, may want to look at one of the 24Hz capable HD players.

I've been very satisfied running my A1 via HDMI to my DLP and optical to my Yamaha (no HDMI, dammit). Sound is very good - hell, 1.5DTS was claimed to be acoustically transparent by DTS, and I can't prove them wrong.

MEC2

What do you guys think I should get? I have a 13" Black and White Curtis Mathis. It has a single mono speaker. I really don't care too much for the lossless audio thing but I would like 24fps.

TIA

Hey, it's Curtis Mathes, and don't laugh, but they have restarted... you might see some sets from them this Christmas at some of the bigger retailers...

MEC2