ANALOG vs. HDMI Is One Better Than The Other?

[Blu-RayLover]

Since the introduction of HDMI about four years ago, there’s been lots of debate now about whether its expected for most audio/videophilies to make the switch over to HDMI and abandon any sort of analog input or 2 channel digital bit-stream from a Blu-ray player. Well, I’m from the old-school of electronics, having been around since the days of vinyl, reel-to-reel, 8 track, and cassettes. I never really expected much of a change, even after CD’s came into the picture around 1980 and then the emergence of the VCR and Laser Disc. I think for people like me, we became so accustom to the changes in electronic formats without any fuss, because the hook-up didn’t really require much of a change in cables and the overall system. Even when coaxial and optical made their mark in the 1980s, this wasn’t such a big deal. What probably set down a whole new pattern to electronics was the coming of home computers, that now has sort of forced home electronics to tear away from a tradition most of us had come to know. Little by little, the computer age began to create a whole new rethinking towards home entertainment and in the process, computers suddenly became the main focal point associated to new technologies that led the way to the changes we now have. Today, it’s just about everything we have at home or use at work!

So, now that the pure digital age and Hi-Def has descended upon us, comes a situation that will have to be addressed by most users of home electronics and that of Home Theater. What we have here is a sort of format war! The big question surrounding this issue or impending change in mode or format is whether or not one system is really better than the other? Is there reason for any audio/videophilie to give up his or hers analog-input receiver in favor of a single HDMI hook-up? Is the HDMI really so necessary in terms of quality? Or, is the old analog cable system still the best way to send a pure signal over a home theater system? Being practical, this question only comes into play, if a consumer wants to use the new surround sound codecs of Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD Master Audio. It seems that so far, most Blu-ray players, especially the low-priced ones, don’t offer full internal surround sound decoding at the player and most don’t have 5.1 or 7.1 analog outputs. Recently, most of the major manufactures are offering some sort of analog output for Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD Master Audio, but I have found there is a growing consensus of users who believe, the old analog system is still far and away better than the compression schemes used over HDMI!

To place this discussion in some type of simple perspective, I’d like some feedback on what some of you feel about this mounting controversy that although isn’t something so important to worry about, it does pose something of a technical validity to wonder if in fact one system is better suited than the other? Or, are there simply some advantages that one system has over the other and therefore there is no clear cut winner? So far, the opinions I’ve heard have more to do with the convenience HDMI offers, while the old analog cable system makes hook-ups difficult, but have a solid technical reliability of sending out a cleaner signal. Some HDMI devotees claim there is no real difference in performance and that no one will ever be able to tell the difference in the first place! Whether this is a waste of anyone’s time seems to be a matter of traditions popping here, in terms of some diehard audio/videophilies, who once were so dead-set or devoted to vinyl records as opposed to when CD’s first appeared and some felt the sound of digital was terrible.

Already, I’ve read a few postings on this website concerning the issue of analog hook-ups vs. HDMI, that some feel analog is superior and reminiscent of SACD and DVD Audio, that used a direct 5.1 analog output. Of course, every time you read about 5.1 or 7.1 analog outputs on the back of a Blu-ray player, it’s about satisfying the old-timers (like me) who don’t want to give up on their old 5.1 or 7.1 receiver. Is this simply not so viable as some HDMI users are now saying? I leave this question in your hands and let me know what you think about it . . .