Using Blu-ray with old 5.1 surround system

[jezperrott]

I'm completely new to this and a bit confused by all the jargon, so I'd appreciate an answer aimed at an idiot!

I'm in UK. I have a Sony 5.1 surround system (which supports PCM whatever that is) hooked up to a normal DVD player and I'm extremely happy. I have an HD TV now. I'm thinking I would like to get the LG 390 bluray with the wifi, but I'm worried I will not be able to hear ANY surround with this. 5.1 is fine for me at the moment, as I can't afford to upgrade. Money is a big issue here.

So my question: If I buy the LG 390 bluray, will I be able to hear surround, even if it's only 5.1, or will it sound awful. If that's the case, I'll have to put up with normal DVDs until I can afford the whole kit. A long time!

Many thanks!

[RiseDarthVader]

Welcome to the site, Does your sound system accept HDMI or Optical? That could make the difference between getting uncompressed/lossless sound and the old Dolby Digital or DTS.

[AikonEnt]

Sounds like you're in a similar position to me. I have a Sony 5.1 system bought 2001/2002 ish. No HDMI input but it does have optical, which allows me to get DD and DTS (the lossy variety), which is the same as you would get on DVDs. However if you have dics that have a DTSHDMA soundtrack it allows you to listen to the 'core' track which runs at 1.5mbps, not as good as a lossless track but better than standard DVD tracks.

[Neil_Luv's_BLU]

Welcome to the club

I'm using a PS3 as my main Blu-ray player, which is hooked up to my LG 5.1 system (that I bought in 2003) via optical cable... It works just fine!

It will output the films soundtrack in a "lossy" or "core" track similar to those found on DVD's, But in many cases the audio bit-rate will be higher on Blu-ray than their DVD counterpart.

Typical Dolby 5.1 "lossy" bit-rate on DVD = 448kb per second

Typical Dolby 5.1 "lossy" bit-rate on Blu-ray = 640kb per second

I admit the lingo may still be somewhat confusing, but after a while this will all become clear if you read up on lossy and lossless more.

Hope this helps!

[jezperrott]

Thank you all for your prompt and helpful replies! My 5.1 does take optical or analogue input, but has no HDMI.

It looks (so far) as if most people are using PS3s - something which was designed to be fully intergratable with most setups and not specifically for HD/7.1, much like the xbox.

Does anyone have experience of running a stand alone bluray player through 5.1?

[Neil_Luv's_BLU]

Originally Posted by jezperrott

Thank you all for your prompt and helpful replies! My 5.1 does take optical or analogue input, but has no HDMI.

It looks (so far) as if most people are using PS3s - something which was designed to be fully intergratable with most setups and not specifically for HD/7.1, much like the xbox.

Does anyone have experience of running a stand alone bluray player through 5.1?

Does the player have an optical out?

[jezperrott]

Yes, I think so. I'll check.

Yes, it has both coax and optical outputs.

[Neil_Luv's_BLU]

Originally Posted by jezperrott

Yes, I think so. I'll check.

Yes, it has both coax and optical outputs.

Either one will do, Best results will come from optical in my opinion, but both are for digital signals so it is up to you.

Hook the HDMI up to your TV and then choose either optical or coaxial for your surround set up and you're pretty much ready to roll!

[jezperrott]

That's fantastic! Thank you so much, Neil!

Off now to find the cheapest deal!

[solarrdadd]

jezperrott, get any player that will do the decoding of DTS-HD-MA and Dolby True HD internally at the player and make sure it has analog out. connect the analog out to your sony's analog in and you will be getting full lossless
Hi-Def Audio. That is the only way you'll get it with your sony system. Don't worry about the optical, you can't get HD Audio with optical, you can get everything with analog but make sure the BD player you get has analog out and decodes both hi-def formats thats the two most important things to look for in a player for your needs!

Best of luck buddy and welcome to the forum, we are here to help!

Please & Thank You!

[bongzilla]

Originally Posted by jezperrott

Does anyone have experience of running a stand alone bluray player through 5.1?

A while back I helped a friend get his older Sony receiver that had no HDMI but had optical, up and running with his new BDP-S350 player. He already had the speakers, and got a sub to finish the sound out.

Spent $30.00 on the optical cable, and really made a difference, for him
there is probably no need to upgrade the receiver for a while at least.

[Neil_Luv's_BLU]

Originally Posted by jezperrott

That's fantastic! Thank you so much, Neil!

Off now to find the cheapest deal!

No problemo, Let us know if there are any problems (I doubt there will) and if it all works fine!

[Hammie]

Originally Posted by solarrdadd

jezperrott, get any player that will do the decoding of DTS-HD-MA and Dolby True HD internally at the player and make sure it has analog out. connect the analog out to your sony's analog in and you will be getting full lossless
Hi-Def Audio. That is the only way you'll get it with your sony system. Don't worry about the optical, you can't get HD Audio with optical, you can get everything with analog but make sure the BD player you get has analog out and decodes both hi-def formats thats the two most important things to look for in a player for your needs!

Best of luck buddy and welcome to the forum, we are here to help!

Please & Thank You!

+1

If you want to get the full experience of BD, including the audio, Solardad nailed it hear. It sounds like your receiver accepts 5.1 analogue inputs. So, if you get a player with analogue outputs and decodes the HD codecs, you will be set.

Good luck!

[solarrdadd]

Originally Posted by louhamilton

+1

If you want to get the full experience of BD, including the audio, Solardad nailed it hear. It sounds like your receiver accepts 5.1 analogue inputs. So, if you get a player with analogue outputs and decodes the HD codecs, you will be set.

Good luck!

hey lou, it turns out his player has 7.1 analog out so all he needs to do is get some analog audio cables and he is set! I sent him a PM to check his post!

[solarrdadd]

Hey lou, I just realized your in MD, I'm down here in Alexandria, VA didn't know you were so close!

[Hammie]

Very cool.

I used to commute to Tyson's before they let me start working at home. I'm glad that hour and 40 minute commute (on a normal day) is behind me.

[kornflake7]

I know this doesn't totally relate but it's very similar I have an older onkyo ht-r500 receiver I got from my dad obviously 5.1 and only has analog and optical digital inputs. I have a sony bdp-s350 and I can't get anything than the front 2 speaker's to work I've tried messin with it a couple times but I can't seem to get it to work. Am I doing something wrong hooking up the optical or the analog and what setting would I need to put the sony blu-ray player on? I have the bluray hooked up via hdmi to my tv thanks if that makes any sense to help me out

[Neil_Luv's_BLU]

How are you getting on with the bargain hunting Jez?

[Neil_Luv's_BLU]

Sounds like we may never know!

[Tiago]

Originally Posted by kornflake7

I know this doesn't totally relate but it's very similar I have an older onkyo ht-r500 receiver I got from my dad obviously 5.1 and only has analog and optical digital inputs. I have a sony bdp-s350 and I can't get anything than the front 2 speaker's to work I've tried messin with it a couple times but I can't seem to get it to work. Am I doing something wrong hooking up the optical or the analog and what setting would I need to put the sony blu-ray player on? I have the bluray hooked up via hdmi to my tv thanks if that makes any sense to help me out

Use the Optical output and set your player to bitstream the audio.
It's in Audio Setup. I don't know exacly where, but you should set Bitstream instead of PCM.

Hope this help!