Denon Receiver question

[BearAddict]

I have a Denon AVR-2807 Receiver and just received a Panasonic BD55. I hooked them up via HDMI. How do I know if it is passing the TruHD, etc correctly? I know with my Comcast cable box, hooked up via an optical cable, the receiver will select the correct output type and the type is displayed on the receiver display. For the Blu-ray player, it just says 'Multi Channel In'. I am fairly new to this so any help/guidance you can provide would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[MacDaddyOJack]

Set the audio out on your Panasonic to "bitstream"

[mr peepers]

false, do not set your bd55 to bitstream.

the 2807 does NOT internally decode the HD codecs. what you'll have to do, is set the bd55 to pcm (or whatever the other option is labeled on the 55, as opposed to bitstreaming).

now, one thing im not certain of, is whether or not the 2807 can accept multi-channel pcm through its hdmi inputs. if the 2807 does NOT accept pcm over hdmi, then you'll have to hook up the analog outputs from the bd55 to your ext ins on the 2807.

whichever way you hook it up though, you'll only ever see multi-channel or ext in. on the front display of the 2807. it won't light up with TrueHD or DTS HD MA unfortunately.

[aramis109]

If your player has a "display" button on the remote or something similar, hit that during playback and it may tell you the audio codec used. The PS3 does this, but I can't say about other players.

[MacDaddyOJack]

Originally Posted by mr peepers

false, do not set your bd55 to bitstream.

the 2807 does NOT internally decode the HD codecs.

My bad, I thought that one did.

[mr peepers]

Originally Posted by MacDaddyOJack

My bad, I thought that one did.

nah, most of the '08 model ones have the internal decoders, but none of the '07's.

[BearAddict]

Thanks for the input. I actually did already set it to PCM. Do you think that I can assume that it does accept multi-channel through the HMDI input since it says multi-channel in on the display? If not, any idea how I find out if it will accept it through the HDMI - i.e. should it mention it in the owners manual somewhere?

[aramis109]

Originally Posted by BearAddict

Thanks for the input. I actually did already set it to PCM. Do you think that I can assume that it does accept multi-channel through the HMDI input since it says multi-channel in on the display? If not, any idea how I find out if it will accept it through the HDMI - i.e. should it mention it in the owners manual somewhere?

Uhm, if it says "Multi-channel" and you're getting sound to all your speakers without any kind of surround sound modes (like IIx or any of those)... I'd say it does.

Outside of that it should mention it in the manual. Try the display thing I mentioned also, assuming your player has one.

[corkjohn]

Originally Posted by BearAddict

Thanks for the input. I actually did already set it to PCM. Do you think that I can assume that it does accept multi-channel through the HMDI input since it says multi-channel in on the display? If not, any idea how I find out if it will accept it through the HDMI - i.e. should it mention it in the owners manual somewhere?

BearAddict
Just saw your post about the 2807 and wanted to confirm for you that you had the right setting. I have the Panasonic BD35 with the 2807 but I imagine the settings are the same. Setting the player to PCM will cause the 2807 to display "Multi-Channel" (or truncated version) That means you are getting the full lossless sound out of your disc and player. From my understanding, PCM will give you the "master track" sound but it isn't using Dolby TruHD (lossless compression). (of course, this assumes you are using HDMI). The 2807 uses the "older" HDMI version so we will not see "Dolby TruHD" - the sound is essentially the same.
There's no need to apply any 2807 surround fields. I personally like to use the 2807's "surround back" amp to use the full 7.1 speakers, although it seems most blu-ray is in 5.1. To me the additional two speakers give it a nice "spatial" sound. I can tell you that under the above "set up" I believe the audio for The Dark Knight sounded as good or better than anything I have heard in the theaters.
My only concern is how PCM will eventually be handled on discs since it is an uncompressed audio. I assume the Panasonics (and others) will just "decode" and output the audio like they do now and the 2807 will do the rest. Hope this confirmation helps.
corkjohn