Need Help With Setup

[LittleBear]

I am looking to buy a Sony Blu-Ray but as to which model (350 or 550), that is where I need help.

Here is my setup:

Receiver = Sony STR-DE1075 (6.1 - DTS - NO HDMI) Has Coaxial and Optical inputs
TV = Samsung 61" DLP - (1080p - 2 HDMI inputs)
Speaker Setup = 5.1 surround

1- Should I go with the Sony 350 or the Sony 550 and why?
2- Also, is it better to use the coaxial or optical outputs on the Blu-Ray to connect to my receiver?
3- Lastly, how much better sound and picture will the Blu Ray give me over my current SD DVD player (I'm assuming it is broadcasting in 720p)?

[phantompwr]

Answers to 1 and 2: you should get the 550 because it has analog 7.1 outs, then you can use the analog ins ( I assume your receiver has them) on your receiver to get the real lossless audio and you won't have to use optical or coax at all.
3: Depends on how far away you are sitting from the TV, but I am guessing you will see a pretty big difference in video quality

[crazyBLUE]

HDMI is the only way to send DOLBY TRUE HD & DTS-HD MASTER AUDIO OR
LOSSLESS !!

[style]

@LittleBear,

Go with the Sony S550. coaxial is better vs. optical.


From the S550 go a HDMI cable and go to the TV.
with a coaxial to the reciever.

For the new codec try with a analog cables from MultiOutput from player to the Reciever and by-pass all.

point 3. I agree with phantompwr.

greetings
Style

[crackinhedz]

Originally Posted by crazyBLUE

HDMI is the only way to send DOLBY TRUE HD & DTS-HD MASTER AUDIO OR
LOSSLESS !!

That's a big negative ghostrider.

Multichannel Analog is another way to send Lossless audio. The S550 can decode and send through analog.

[LittleBear]

Originally Posted by phantompwr

Answers to 1 and 2: you should get the 550 because it has analog 7.1 outs, then you can use the analog ins ( I assume your receiver has them) on your receiver to get the real lossless audio and you won't have to use optical or coax at all.
3: Depends on how far away you are sitting from the TV, but I am guessing you will see a pretty big difference in video quality

Besides the analog 7.1 capability of the 550, what more does it offer over the 350? It appears that there is a $100 more in the price difference between the two units.

If I upgrade my receiver in the future to a HDMI receiver, I can just run the HDMI cable from the Blue Ray to the receiver and then from the receiver to the TV, correct? And this will give me the best sound & audio?

[LittleBear]

Originally Posted by phantompwr

Answers to 1 and 2: you should get the 550 because it has analog 7.1 outs, then you can use the analog ins ( I assume your receiver has them) on your receiver to get the real lossless audio and you won't have to use optical or coax at all.

Yes, my receiver has analog multi-channel inputs (6.1). Will it still work with the 7.1 outputs on the 550? I am assuming I would just not use the extra channel on the 550.

So the analog outs on the 550 are the better route to go than the coaxial?

I thought the coaxial is a digital signal and far superior over the analog...

[gearyt]

Originally Posted by LittleBear

.
If I upgrade my receiver in the future to a HDMI receiver, I can just run the HDMI cable from the Blue Ray to the receiver and then from the receiver to the TV, correct? And this will give me the best sound & audio?

yes

[gearyt]

Originally Posted by LittleBear

.So the analog outs on the 550 are the better route to go than the coaxial? YES

I thought the coaxial is a digital signal and far superior over the analog...

Yes Coax and Toslink ( Fiber ) in the 5.1 world was best
but welcome to HD Audio...
Now HDMI is best, followed by analog to get the HD Codec's

[phantompwr]

If you want to upgrade your receiver that's great, but I don't think it would hurt to spend a little more now and enjoy the HD audio in the meantime. As far as setting the player to 6.1, I don't know for sure but I imagine you can change that in the settings. Anyone who has a 550 have a real answer on that?

[narsibvl]

Originally Posted by LittleBear

I am looking to buy a Sony Blu-Ray but as to which model (350 or 550), that is where I need help.

Here is my setup:

Receiver = Sony STR-DE1075 (6.1 - DTS - NO HDMI) Has Coaxial and Optical inputs
TV = Samsung 61" DLP - (1080p - 2 HDMI inputs)
Speaker Setup = 5.1 surround

1- Should I go with the Sony 350 or the Sony 550 and why?
2- Also, is it better to use the coaxial or optical outputs on the Blu-Ray to connect to my receiver?
3- Lastly, how much better sound and picture will the Blu Ray give me over my current SD DVD player (I'm assuming it is broadcasting in 720p)?

Dude,

I am exactly in the same situation....

Have a STRDE825(or one such) no hdmi. Have a 52'' DLP with DVI. I am stil undecided about going with 550 or 350 and then upgrade my receiver. Waiting to see if the price drops futher on 550, in which case i will just snare it.

[BIslander]

If I may, there's a fair amount of information in this thread that's only partially correct.

The lossless formats (TrueHD, dts-MA, and multi-channel uncompressed PCM) can get to your receiver in two ways - as digital over HDMI or as analog. Which is better? Well, all digital audio has to be converted to analog in the end. Analog is what drives speakers and analog is what we hear. With HDMI, the digital-analog conversion happens in the receiver. With multi-channel analog, it happens in the player. It really doesn't matter where the conversion takes place. But, you will get better audio from the device with the better DACs (digital-analog converters) and the device with better tools to process the audio before it is converted (bass management and EQ). Receivers are usually better than players in both of those areas.

Next, there's no difference between optical and coax. Both use the S/PDIF protocol. Some audiophiles claim a slight advantage to coax in some circumstances. But, the distinction is beyond most of us mortals.

There's also no quality difference between HDMI and optical or coax. Really. If you send the same sound track both ways, it will come out the same. It's all digital. The difference is political. Studios will not allow HD audio over optical or coax because there's no copy protection. So, HDMI is better because it is allowed to carry better audio.

The last item is the difference (or lack of difference) between lossless and the legacy DD and DTS codecs on Blu-ray. The legacy formats are encoded at higher bitrates on BD than you get on DVD. They sound great, some say they are every bit as good as lossless. I slightly prefer lossless myself, but I don't know that I could consistently identify the lossless track in a blind test. So, you may find that a good old fashioned optical connection is plenty good enough.

[LittleBear]

Originally Posted by BIslander

If I may, there's a fair amount of information in this thread that's only partially correct.

So, do you recommend the 550 with audio connections using the coaxial cables and the video conncetion using the HDMI to my Samsung?

[LittleBear]

Originally Posted by narsibvl

Dude,

I am exactly in the same situation....

Have a STRDE825(or one such) no hdmi. Have a 52'' DLP with DVI. I am stil undecided about going with 550 or 350 and then upgrade my receiver. Waiting to see if the price drops futher on 550, in which case i will just snare it.

The Sony STRDE was purchased at least 5+ years ago and I still like it. It has DTS, 6.1 decoding and 100w x 6.

Sure, HDMI would be nice but buying another $450+ receiver for possibly slightly better audio does not seem worth it to me. I would rather spend the $300 for the Blu-Ray and make use of my 1080p DLP picture. I will try and run the ANALOG from the Blu-Ray to my receiver for the 5.1. and then test the coaxial and see which one sounds better.

I am interested and excited to see how much of a difference the Blu-Ray 1080p makes from the current SD DVD player I have. I believe the SD DVD plays DVD's at 480p or maybe 720p.

[WriteSimply]

LittleBear, since you don't want to upgrade your receiver, go with the 550. Use the analog out of the BD player to your receiver and HDMI out to your HDTV. Done. And don't get ripped off by US$40 HDMI cables.


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[LittleBear]

Originally Posted by WriteSimply

LittleBear, since you don't want to upgrade your receiver, go with the 550. Use the analog out of the BD player to your receiver and HDMI out to your HDTV. Done. And don't get ripped off by US$40 HDMI cables.
fuad

What type of audio cables would I need to buy for the 5+ analog outs I will be using on the BD player to connect to my receiver? Do you have a source you recommend for the cables?

I already have 1 HDMI cable leftover from a satellite HD receiver I had.

[bigd@ve]

Originally Posted by LittleBear

I am looking to buy a Sony Blu-Ray but as to which model (350 or 550), that is where I need help.

Here is my setup:

Receiver = Sony STR-DE1075 (6.1 - DTS - NO HDMI) Has Coaxial and Optical inputs
TV = Samsung 61" DLP - (1080p - 2 HDMI inputs)
Speaker Setup = 5.1 surround

1- Should I go with the Sony 350 or the Sony 550 and why?
2- Also, is it better to use the coaxial or optical outputs on the Blu-Ray to connect to my receiver?
3- Lastly, how much better sound and picture will the Blu Ray give me over my current SD DVD player (I'm assuming it is broadcasting in 720p)?

I am in a similar situation. I have the exact same components, but got a ps3 for Christmas. I hooked the PS3 directly to my tv via HDMI but am not getting the 6.1 sound , as littlebear noted, we do not have the HDMI slots on this receiver. aside from that, it is has been a very good receiver.
Can somebody tell me please how to hook this up to get full 1080p AND 6.1 sound?

thanks

BigD@ve

[BluRayBan]

Originally Posted by bigd@ve

I am in a similar situation. I have the exact same components, but got a ps3 for Christmas. I hooked the PS3 directly to my tv via HDMI but am not getting the 6.1 sound , as littlebear noted, we do not have the HDMI slots on this receiver. aside from that, it is has been a very good receiver.
Can somebody tell me please how to hook this up to get full 1080p AND 6.1 sound?

thanks

BigD@ve

From what I remember when I was deciding between the PS3 vs the Panny BD55, was that I needed 5.1 analog outputs in order to enjoy lossless audio with the BD55 decoding it and passing it straight to my receiver. The PS3 only has digital out (since you can't use the HDMI for audio due to your receiver not having HDMI). So your setup will be HDMI from PS3 to TV for video (make sure you are outputting 1080p in your PS3 setup) and digital output from PS3 to your receiver. This is the best setup for you right now. Hope this helps you out.

[BIslander]

Originally Posted by bigd@ve

Can somebody tell me please how to hook this up to get full 1080p AND 6.1 sound?

You will be limited to an optical connection from the PS3 to your receiver. Set the PS3 to bitstream. It will send DD and DTS instead of the lossless tracks. You will need to apply a DSP such as PLIIx or DTS Neo:6 in your receiver, which will produce a matrixed rear channel. DVDs with DTS-ES or DD-EX flags will give you 6.1 on their own.

[WriteSimply]

Originally Posted by LittleBear

What type of audio cables would I need to buy for the 5+ analog outs I will be using on the BD player to connect to my receiver? Do you have a source you recommend for the cables?

Analog cables DO vary in quality but it only shows with higher-end equipment. So whatever analog cables you are using now, get more of that and you'll be set. At least you know the quality they will deliver. Hopefully they won't cost you a new receiver.


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