On or Off board decoding

[larryj763]

So, where is it better to do the decoding, at the player or at the receiver, or does it matter? (Taking the relative merits of specific codecs out of the equation, which would be more about what brand one chooses than the "where" of it...)

[JasonR]

I don't think it matters, most people like it when their receiver lights up with the specific codecs though.

[un4gvn94538]

some people will argue that receivers do a better job at decoding. especially higher end receivers

[bluseminole]

Check out this rather informative thread, it may shed some light:
https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=32961

It is also discussed further in Sir Terrence's Insider Thread, starting around post #42:
https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread...light=terrence

[larryj763]

Originally Posted by bluseminole

Check out this rather informative thread, it may shed some light:
https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=32961

It is also discussed further in Sir Terrence's Insider Thread, starting around post #42:
https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread...light=terrence

Thanks for those! So, I would conclude having the player do it is the better choice, primarily because of the mixing part of the equation.

[chasarms]

I am bitstreaming everything from my BD-30 to the Onkyo and letting the Onkyo decode only because the Onkyo decodes some things that the player can not.

I have done some switching to test the difference between the player's and the receiver's decode. To my ears, they sould EXACTLY the same.

[bluseminole]

Originally Posted by larryj763

Thanks for those! So, I would conclude having the player do it is the better choice, primarily because of the mixing part of the equation.

Perhaps. I would venture to say that unless you possess the "golden ears" (not to mention a seriously bad-ass system) that so few people have, you really would not hear an audible difference. If your setup is capable of decoding in the receiver, you could just a side-by-side and pick the one you like better. But I would agree that at this point, it is not worth spending any extra money to get receiver-based decoding when players do an admirable job. Now, in order to get DTS-MA, right now you need receiver decoding, but when the Panny BD-50 comes out, then you can decode every single available codec within the player.

I'll probably get flamed for saying this, but I would stick with player decoding sending PCM to the receiver. Hopefully this helps.

[ManUtd]

With my setup I doubt I could hear any difference so I just went with the more convenient way, bitstream everything to the receiver.