HDMI vs. RCA audio cable

[SQBubble]

So I understand the HDMI cable for the video, but I not much about the HDMI audio cable.

I'm currently using RCA cables (Left and Right) for my audio setup, will I see a big difference if I get a converter box (RCA to HDMI) ?

[Driver_King]

You're only using stereo RCA's?!?What is your receiver (if you have one) and what Blu-ray player are you using?

[ObiTrentKenobi]

Originally Posted by SQBubble

So I understand the HDMI cable for the video, but I not much about the HDMI audio cable.

I'm currently using RCA cables (Left and Right) for my audio setup, will I see a big difference if I get a converter box (RCA to HDMI) ?

i dont suspect you'll see an ant's butt of a difference.

do you have a receiver? does your receiver support anything other than rca?or are you just going bluray straight to tv??

(don't get me wrong, rca stereo through a receiver can be great audio)

[gearyt]

both audio and video go thru the HDMI
I would suspect that if you disconnect the two RCA's nothing will change as they are not really being used

[Another_Dude]

Why don't you tell us a little about your audio "setup" so we know what you have to work with and what you may have been missing.

Red/White cables (depending on the source and components) and provide decent sound, not much different than the mono tracks on some classic movies. This does not mean that there isn't worlds of improvement by using the right connection for the job.

[john_1958]

Originally Posted by SQBubble

So I understand the HDMI cable for the video, but I not much about the HDMI audio cable.

I'm currently using RCA cables (Left and Right) for my audio setup, will I see a big difference if I get a converter box (RCA to HDMI) ?

RCA is analog

[SQBubble]

Alright well my setup is not very common... My source is the computer, amplifiers are Crown xti1000 for the bookshelves and xti2000 for the sub, I have an ART cleanbox to convert from XLR to RCA, and then RCA to 3.5mm jack to my x-fi pro soundcard.
maybe by seeing the pics could help understanding...
http://s105.photobucket.com/albums/m...dio%20Project/

The sound im getting now is very good, detailed and powerfull, but I was wondering if going to hdmi is a big diff... My monitor is a Samsung 245BW (no hdmi, but dvi )

I'm asking because I wanna upgrade and wondering if hdmi is really worth is. (thinkin of the ASus xonar hdav1.3)

[gearyt]

you're right.. not very common
crowns in your bedroom...
got a Mackie sub ??

[SQBubble]

Originally Posted by gearyt

you're right.. not very common
crowns in your bedroom...
got a Mackie sub ??

no the 18inch sub is an Ascendant audio havoc with 2 18" passive radiator from creative sound solution

[jeff92k7]

Originally Posted by SQBubble

Alright well my setup is not very common...
amplifiers are Crown xti1000 for the bookshelves and xti2000 for the sub...

I would be more concerned about the added A/D - D/A conversion process for the DSP in the amps. If I'm not mistaken, they use DSP running at a 24 bit 48Khz sample rate - a lower sample rate than what a lot of Blu-Ray discs offer. You should start by switching the DSP off if you want to get closer to audiophile quality.

However, you're never going to get there with that setup. Those amps, while great for a club or church, certainly aren't audiophile grade. They are made to make a lot of noise in sound reinforcement speakers (P.A. speakers). Further, you can't even get into the amplifier's most efficient power range due to the size of your room and the size of those speakers. You likely have them turned WAY down to keep from going deaf, or you have them turned up and equipment up the chain turned down to compensate, thereby giving you a horrible gain structure and a lot of background noise.

Do yourself a favor and get a real home theater system if that's what you are trying to accomplish. You'll be much happier with the results.

[Lucy Diamond]

Oh my God...are you kidding.

I'm outta here.

Please don't April Fools me now...its only January and I just got back form ANOTHER funeral.

[SQBubble]

Originally Posted by jeff92k7

I would be more concerned about the added A/D - D/A conversion process for the DSP in the amps. If I'm not mistaken, they use DSP running at a 24 bit 48Khz sample rate - a lower sample rate than what a lot of Blu-Ray discs offer. You should start by switching the DSP off if you want to get closer to audiophile quality.

However, you're never going to get there with that setup. Those amps, while great for a club or church, certainly aren't audiophile grade. They are made to make a lot of noise in sound reinforcement speakers (P.A. speakers). Further, you can't even get into the amplifier's most efficient power range due to the size of your room and the size of those speakers. You likely have them turned WAY down to keep from going deaf, or you have them turned up and equipment up the chain turned down to compensate, thereby giving you a horrible gain structure and a lot of background noise.

Do yourself a favor and get a real home theater system if that's what you are trying to accomplish. You'll be much happier with the results.

My gains are indeed set low, for the bookshelves, for the sub it is at around half , depending on the source played, and i dont go more than 60/100 with the sound card , again, depending on the source played... I dont have background noise due to the low gain its at , and the sub plays from down low to 50hz, so background noise is not a problem here, as there is nothign noticeable...


Anywayys, I thought amplifiers just amplifies the sound from the source, no matter what resolution, sample rate it is ... am i wrong? if so then your saying that I have to get a new audiophile grade amplifier? something like the Rega elicit ?

[jeff92k7]

Originally Posted by SQBubble

Anywayys, I thought amplifiers just amplifies the sound from the source, no matter what resolution, sample rate it is ... am i wrong? if so then your saying that I have to get a new audiophile grade amplifier? something like the Rega elicit ?

An amplifier does just that, it amplifies the sound. However some amplifiers are better than others for certain purposes. Copied from Crown's website: "The XTi Series of Crown amplifiers are professional tools designed and built for portable PA applications."

These are not intended for home theater (or even real theater) applications. They are low cost amplifiers for PA systems. That said, they are good at what they do and I have used them more than once and have been reasonably impressed with them. However, I wouldn't even consider using them in an audiophile setup - home theater or otherwise. They just aren't designed for it.

My sample rate reference was to the fact that these amplifiers have BUILT-IN DSP that the input signal passes through before proceeding on to the actual amplifier section. After spending a little while on their website, I can't find any specs relating to the bit depth/sample rate of the DSP or even if the DSP is taken out of the chain completely when switched off or if the signal still passes through the A/D - D/A converters even though no other alteration to the signal is being done.

The original Blu-Ray signal is recorded onto the disk as a digital stream. That stream has to be decoded (one D/A conversion) before it can be amplified. Your amps are then converting it back to digital to run through the DSP section and then back to analog again after the DSP section but before the amplifier section. These extra conversions will degrade your sound quality and since the amplifier's DSP is likely running at a much lower rate than the BluRay stream, you are hurting your audio simply by running it through those amps.

I hope you don't take any offense to anything that I am saying. I certainly don't intend any. Your original question was about improving your sound quality by using HDMI audio rather than an RCA connection. I am simply pointing out other areas in your system where you could make a better sound quality improvement than changing out your cable format. You might want to take some time to familiarize yourself with the equipment that you already have and ask yourself if it really gives you the results that you want or if you are using it simply because that guitar place had a good salesperson that made a good commision off of you by convincing you to buy it. (hint: never trust that guitar place's sales people. Very few of them, if any, truly know what they are talking about.)

[SQBubble]

Originally Posted by jeff92k7

An amplifier does just that, it amplifies the sound. However some amplifiers are better than others for certain purposes. Copied from Crown's website: "The XTi Series of Crown amplifiers are professional tools designed and built for portable PA applications."

These are not intended for home theater (or even real theater) applications. They are low cost amplifiers for PA systems. That said, they are good at what they do and I have used them more than once and have been reasonably impressed with them. However, I wouldn't even consider using them in an audiophile setup - home theater or otherwise. They just aren't designed for it.

My sample rate reference was to the fact that these amplifiers have BUILT-IN DSP that the input signal passes through before proceeding on to the actual amplifier section. After spending a little while on their website, I can't find any specs relating to the bit depth/sample rate of the DSP or even if the DSP is taken out of the chain completely when switched off or if the signal still passes through the A/D - D/A converters even though no other alteration to the signal is being done.

The original Blu-Ray signal is recorded onto the disk as a digital stream. That stream has to be decoded (one D/A conversion) before it can be amplified. Your amps are then converting it back to digital to run through the DSP section and then back to analog again after the DSP section but before the amplifier section. These extra conversions will degrade your sound quality and since the amplifier's DSP is likely running at a much lower rate than the BluRay stream, you are hurting your audio simply by running it through those amps.

I hope you don't take any offense to anything that I am saying. I certainly don't intend any. Your original question was about improving your sound quality by using HDMI audio rather than an RCA connection. I am simply pointing out other areas in your system where you could make a better sound quality improvement than changing out your cable format. You might want to take some time to familiarize yourself with the equipment that you already have and ask yourself if it really gives you the results that you want or if you are using it simply because that guitar place had a good salesperson that made a good commision off of you by convincing you to buy it. (hint: never trust that guitar place's sales people. Very few of them, if any, truly know what they are talking about.)

thx for the explination! not taking any offense, always open to learn more... I bought these at first because of the power they had, thought they were excellent for power hungry subs... also because of how versatile they are, with all the xover you can apply and eq trough system architect.. that was the main reason why i bought one, then I got some bookshelves, and i simply got another xti, got both through ebay, never went to a guitar place!! loll

anyways, so if I get a HD source that decodes all the blu-ray sound with a high quality home amplifier, everything should be better right?

What about the sub, I can't seem to find anything more then 1krms ?