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Audio quality question with A2

2496 Views 46 Replies 17 Participants Last post by Iggster, Jun 6, 2007

Ryder276

Discussion Starter · May 21, 2007

I ordered a A2 and will be picking it up today but have a question about audio.

I have been reading threads (after i ordered it) here and it looks like the

sound on HD DVD's are downgraded to DTS when using optical , - i have a Onkyo 604 reciever that uses Hdmi pass through so i have to use optical.

My question is: --will i see a large difference in sound quality with Dts instead of HD sound being as i have a low end surround setup?

(Polk speakers, R50 fronts Csi3 center R150 rears, Dayton 12" sub)

Thanks in advance for your replys.

1 - 20 of 47 Posts

Jack Gilvey

· #2 · May 21, 2007

Quote:
i have a Onkyo 604 reciever that uses Hdmi pass through so i have to use optical.

The 604 accepts LPCM audio via HDMI, a few here are using the very combination for TrueHD.

leibniz

· #3 · May 21, 2007

Ryder,

Jack is correct. The Onkyo 604 does not simply pass-through; it will process high def audio from the HDMI connection as LPCM (I have the A2 paired with a 604 as well).

Connect the HDMI to your 604, and then the HDMI from your 604 to TV and you're set. No optical connection needed.

Ryder276

Discussion Starter · #4 · May 21, 2007

Gotcha.

Thanks guys

fatherom

· #5 · May 21, 2007

Make sure to set HDMI to "auto" and SPDIF to "bitstream" on the A2. Even though you won't have an optical cable connected, the setting makes a difference.

You'll get the best sound quality this way.

Chris

Bleddyn H Williams

· #6 · May 21, 2007

As someone who is using the optical input, with a Denon DD receiver and a seperate Millennium1-2-3 DTS decoder, this gets confusing! As my components are separate, I have to manually switch between DD & DTS.

According to the manual, the new sound formats are outputted via DTS. So to listen to say, the DD+ track of Batman Begins, I have to send it through DTS?

Ryder276

Discussion Starter · #7 · May 21, 2007

Quote:
Originally Posted by fatherom /forum/post/0

Make sure to set HDMI to "auto" and SPDIF to "bitstream" on the A2. Even though you won't have an optical cable connected, the setting makes a difference.

You'll get the best sound quality this way.

Chris

I will do that.

Thank You

fatherom

· #8 · May 21, 2007

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bleddyn H Williams /forum/post/0

As someone who is using the optical input, with a Denon DD receiver and a seperate Millennium1-2-3 DTS decoder, this gets confusing! As my components are separate, I have to manually switch between DD & DTS.

According to the manual, the new sound formats are outputted via DTS. So to listen to say, the DD+ track of Batman Begins, I have to send it through DTS?

Hi! You're from Billerica too? I thought I was the only one in this town who owned an HD-DVD player.

If you're only using optical, then all HD-DVD soundtracks (DD+ and TrueHD) will be downmixed to DTS by the A2, so, yes, have your setup process it as DTS. I would still choose the TrueHD soundtrack on Batman Begins, as then there will be more "source material" for the A2 to make its DTS mix from.

Regular DVDs will output DD or DTS as usual.

Chris

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Bleddyn H Williams

· #9 · May 21, 2007

Quote:
Originally Posted by fatherom /forum/post/0

Hi! You're from Billerica too? I thought I was the only one in this town who owned an HD-DVD player.

If you're only using optical, then all HD-DVD soundtracks (DD+ and TrueHD) will be downmixed to DTS by the A2, so, yes, have your setup process it as DTS. I would still choose the TrueHD soundtrack on Batman Begins, as then there will be more "source material" for the A2 to make its DTS mix from.

Regular DVDs will output DD or DTS as usual.

Chris

Chris, you might have been the only HD DVD owner from Billerica - until yesterday!

So weird to have DD tracks processed via DTS - thanks for your advice, I have some tinkering to do when I get home tonight!

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fatherom

· #10 · May 21, 2007

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bleddyn H Williams /forum/post/0

Chris, you might have been the only HD DVD owner from Billerica - until yesterday!

Congrats!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bleddyn H Williams /forum/post/0

So weird to have DD tracks processed via DTS - thanks for your advice, I have some tinkering to do when I get home tonight!

Well, remember that regular DD and DTS from plain old DVDs will be processed as native DD or DTS (as long as you set S/PDIF to bitstream).

Dolby Digital Plus is a completely different animal, only found on HD-DVDs. It will be sent as DTS if you're only using optical.

Make sure to read page 53 of the A2 manual. It also mentions that you should set the HDMI audio setting to "downmixed PCM". Even though you're not using HDMI for audio, the audio setting may affect the audio quality of the S/PDIF output (and vice versa).

Chris

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dx31698

· #11 · May 21, 2007

Im still a little confused. I picked up the d-2 at costco yesterday and im trying to get the right audio settings. i have an onkyo 604 and have it hooked up why hdmi. I also have a ps3 and it seems alot easier to understand. I want to be able to heard dolby true hd and dolby plus on all five channels. What do i set the digital out spdif and digital out hdmi to.

Bleddyn H Williams

· #12 · May 21, 2007

Quote:
Originally Posted by fatherom /forum/post/0

Congrats!

... Make sure to read page 53 of the A2 manual. It also mentions that you should set the HDMI audio setting to "downmixed PCM". Even though you're not using HDMI for audio, the audio setting may affect the audio quality of the S/PDIF output (and vice versa).

Chris

Thanks for that, Chris - I read the manual on the train into Boston this morning, but I missed this point, as its under the HDMI instructions!

Ryder276

Discussion Starter · #13 · May 21, 2007

Quote:
Originally Posted by fatherom /forum/post/0

Make sure to set HDMI to "auto" and SPDIF to "bitstream" on the A2. Even though you won't have an optical cable connected, the setting makes a difference.

You'll get the best sound quality this way.

Chris

Just got the A2 and put in a SD Dvd and it looked and sounded great, --but i put in a HD DVD and im getting a lot of popping sounds in the movie soundtrack, --i set it up as you said above but i must be missing something..

fatherom

· #14 · May 21, 2007

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ryder276 /forum/post/0

Just got the A2 and put in a SD Dvd and it looked and sounded great, --but i put in a HD DVD and im getting a lot of popping sounds in the movie soundtrack, --i set it up as you said above but i must be missing something..

So you're using an HDMI cable from the A2 to the Onkyo right?

I've never experienced popping sounds, it might be the cable. I would try swapping it out with a different one. The settings of HDMI to "auto" and S/PDIF to "bitstream" are definitely the recommended settings...that's what I use. I have an Onkyo TX-SR803.

Chris

Ryder276

Discussion Starter · #15 · May 21, 2007

Quote:
Originally Posted by fatherom /forum/post/0

So you're using an HDMI cable from the A2 to the Onkyo right?

I've never experienced popping sounds, it might be the cable. I would try swapping it out with a different one. The settings of HDMI to "auto" and S/PDIF to "bitstream" are definitely the recommended settings...that's what I use. I have an Onkyo TX-SR803.

Chris

Im using the settings you recommended and tried a different cable, -still the popping, --must be something i overlooked.

Bleddyn H Williams

· #16 · May 21, 2007

Quote:
Originally Posted by fatherom /forum/post/0

If you're only using optical, then all HD-DVD soundtracks (DD+ and TrueHD) will be downmixed to DTS by the A2, so, yes, have your setup process it as DTS. I would still choose the TrueHD soundtrack on Batman Begins, as then there will be more "source material" for the A2 to make its DTS mix from.

Chris

Yes, I've got my HD DVDs working via DTS. A question though - obviously this isn't as good as the new sound formats in their full glory, but how do they compare with straight DD & DTS on DVD? For example, will the DD track of the Batman Begins DVD sound better than the TrueHD track turned into DTS? I have no idea!

fatherom

· #17 · May 22, 2007

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bleddyn H Williams /forum/post/0

Yes, I've got my HD DVDs working via DTS. A question though - obviously this isn't as good as the new sound formats in their full glory, but how do they compare with straight DD & DTS on DVD? For example, will the DD track of the Batman Begins DVD sound better than the TrueHD track turned into DTS? I have no idea!

Remember that Batman Begins only has Dolby Digital Plus and TrueHD. It doesn't have plain old Dolby Digital. Dolby Digital Plus is a new codec developed for HD-DVD. It uses a higher bitrate than DD or DTS.

Both DD+ and TrueHD are gonna end up becoming DTS if you're using optical.

TrueHD is compressed, but it's lossless. DD+ is compressed, yet lossy (like mp3). TrueHD is the best audio you can get on an HD-DVD.

Chris

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Calvenn

· #18 · May 22, 2007

Fatherom,

I think what Bleddyn H Williams is trying to ask is if you can compare the sound quality of the DD track from the Batman Returns SD-DVD versus the downmixed DTS outputted via optical for the HD-DVD (DD+/TrueHD) version of this movie.

fatherom

· #19 · May 22, 2007

Quote:
Originally Posted by Calvenn /forum/post/0

I think what Bleddyn H Williams is trying to ask is if you can compare the sound quality of the DD track from the Batman Returns SD-DVD versus the downmixed DTS outputted via optical for the HD-DVD (DD+/TrueHD) version of this movie.

Oh I see...I don't have the regular DVD of Batman Begins, but I guess since all the HD-DVD soundtracks are at higher bitrates (or completely lossless in the case of TrueHD), I'd have to go with them

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Bleddyn H Williams

· #20 · May 22, 2007

Quote:
Originally Posted by Calvenn /forum/post/0

Fatherom,

I think what Bleddyn H Williams is trying to ask is if you can compare the sound quality of the DD track from the Batman Returns SD-DVD versus the downmixed DTS outputted via optical for the HD-DVD (DD+/TrueHD) version of this movie.

That's exactly what I meant! I don't doubt that if you can access the TrueHD/DD+ in all their glory, that they will beat the old DD, but I wondered how the new tracks compare when you have to output them via optical/DTS.

1 - 20 of 47 Posts

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