Old Receiver, BD player

[richmond23]

I have an old Pioneer receiver that I bought back in 2001 or so. VSX-D409 model. I recently took this receiver out of the shed and dusted it off (literally) At this point, I do not have the money to buy a new receiver and speakers so for now this one will have to work.

Receiver decodes DTS, DD and I believe Pro Logic. Has 2 optical inputs, Coax and appears to have 5.1 analog inputs.

My BD player is the Sony BDP-S300. It has a 5.1 decoder in the back.

Any suggestions on how I can get the most out of this receiver??? I have been told that you can utilize PCM using 5.1 analog.

OH yeah, I am also using HDMI from the BD player to the TV. Receiver does not have HDMI.

[crackinhedz]

Have an old school receiver (non-HDMI) and want Lossless audio??

You will mainly benefit using "Uncompressed PCM" audio tracks...TrueHD has to be through HDMI, and no support for Dts-HD MASTER.

Some people with the 300 keep an optical/coaxial cable connected for standard dolby digital and dts...but for sure, Multichannel Analog for Uncompressed PCM audio will be a huge bonus.

[richmond23]

Hey Crackinhedz,

I actually saw that thread about a month ago, guess I could have posted on that one.

Sorry about that,

So what you are saying is that I could hook up analog from the 300 to the receiver for uncompressed PCM, use Optical for core DTS, use HDMI from the 300 to the TV?? What do I set my receiver to?? The only thing I am confused about is how my receiver will know to output sound when I have my BD player hooked through HDMI which decodes both audio/video.

Sorry if I am asking questions but Audio has ALWAYS confused me.

Lossless audio would be nice to have but I can live without for now

[crackinhedz]

You would have to designate the audio output (Multichannel Analog, Optical) in the BD player settings...and depending on which one you use, you would press the corresponding 'input' button on the receiver.

ex. set the BD player to 5.1 Multichannel Analog out, and press button #5 (DVD 5.1 CH) on your Receiver remote.


the Multichannel hook up can be found on pg.9 & 39 of the user manual.

[richmond23]

Well I know I would want to be able to use core DTS, DD, as well as uncompressed PCM. So I will use multi-analog hookups for PCM, optical for DTS.

Change the settings on BD player to reflect multichannel audio and then depending on which codec I want to use when I watch a movie, I make the changes on the receiver???

Do I follow you??

You have been a great help so far.

Another question, if I have a movie that has a 5.1 DTS-MA track, will my receiver just play the core DTS track?? DTS core sounds great in itself. Im deaf in one ear so it probably doesn't sound much different to me.

[crackinhedz]

Originally Posted by richmond23

Change the settings on BD player to reflect multichannel audio and then depending on which codec I want to use when I watch a movie, I make the changes on the receiver???

honestly, you may want to concur with someone who has an S300 and uses this setup (or play around with it yourself)...I only use HDMI so my answer is more of an educated guess.

Another question, if I have a movie that has a 5.1 DTS-MA track, will my receiver just play the core DTS track?? DTS core sounds great in itself. Im deaf in one ear so it probably doesn't sound much different to me.

yes, it will play the core.

[richmond23]

thanks for all of your help Crackinhedz, I know that HDMI would make life easier but at this point, this is all I am stuck with. Maybe my wife and I will get a good tax return this year

At least I have a good picture

Looking forward to getting I am legend and Enchanted

[crackinhedz]

Originally Posted by richmond23

Looking forward to getting I am legend and Enchanted

don't forget to pick up iRobot.

[richmond23]

Originally Posted by crackinhedz

don't forget to pick up iRobot.

Ha HA, I need that one too. I watched it in Broadcast HD a week ago and even with heavy compression it looked fabulous!!