The Sony BDP-S300/301 Review Thread

[Blu-Raider]

Originally Posted by dlshelt

i have never did a firmware update,and never had any trouble getting movies to play,so do i need to?

Mine is significantly faster loading than it was before upgrade to 3.70

[blurayisking]

My Sony receiver has the ability to set the distance values in the multi-channel input position. I can also adjust the subwoofer channel level on the receiver but that doesn't seem to help very much so it is really the uncompressed PCM that is sending a higher level signal to the subwoofer channel and therefore producing a lot more bass than I've ever got from any dolby digital or DTS soundtrack, connected via digital coax. Don't ask me how it's doing what it's doing other than to say it is impressive and while it may not be calibrated properly, it sure as hell sounds great.

[megablank]

Originally Posted by montezuma

Anyone have any experience with the BDP-S300 and the Xtremehd 4-PORT HDMI Switcher? Looks nice.

The OPPO HM-31 also looks good, and seems like a slight increase in quality.

I also have a BDP-S300 and owned the XtremeHD Switcher. It did work flawless. The only reason I sold it was that I needed more ports. :-)

You could also look for Octava switches, they are able to increase signal quality especially with longer cables.

Markus

[montezuma]

Originally Posted by megablank

I also have a BDP-S300 and owned the XtremeHD Switcher. It did work flawless. The only reason I sold it was that I needed more ports. :-)

You could also look for Octava switches, they are able to increase signal quality especially with longer cables.

Markus

Is there any chance you used an AppleTV with the XtremeHD? I've read a lot of user reviews saying it is hit or miss with the AppleTV, I don't want to risk it. It sure looks good though.

I think I'm going to spend the extra money and go with the Oppo. Oppo seems to have a lot of positive buzz around their products.

The Octavo's look great, but they're just a little too pricey. Eventually I'll upgrade the old Integra to a more modern AV Receiver and have built in switching.

[Yeha-Noha]

Originally Posted by blurayisking

Don't ask me how it's doing what it's doing other than to say it is impressive and while it may not be calibrated properly, it sure as hell sounds great.

Ok, thanks, another question then, in the BDP-S300 speaker setup menu, did you select 'small' or 'large' for speaker size? If yours is set to 'small' which is what I have mine set to, then there must be some other processing in your Sony AVR that is going on making the difference or it's your subwoofer amplifier.

Some in this forum and in the AVS forum, have reported a lower output level in the subwoofer channel when the BD player (not just the BDP-S300, other makes too) was converting the LPCM 5.1 to 5.1 analog. That's why I was especially curious about how yours is setup.

What it really boils down to is how it sounds to you, calibrated or not.

[Smc77]

If your speakers setting is set to Small, no Bass will be sent to your speakers, only the Sub. If you use the Large setting for your speakers, Bass will be sent to your Speakers and Sub. Using the Large setting is particularly useful if you dont have a Sub.
The easiest way of thinking about this is to think of using the Large Speaker setting the same as using Bass Boost, which is a common feature on may Stereos, MP3 players etc...

[Sailor-man]

I have a BDP-S300 connected to a Yamaha HTR-6190 with an HDMI cable and I can't seem to get he Receiver to decode in TrueHD. I am using the HDMI cable for my audio connection

The Yamaha HTR-6190 has the latest HDMI 1.3s specs and is supposed to be able to decode Dolby TrueHD.

Using the settings for audio set-up in the BDP-S300, under AUDIO (HDMI) when I select Auto, the front panel display on the Receiver lights up Dolby Digital and it seems to be decoding in 5.1. When I switch the setting on the BDP-S300 to PCM, the light on the receiver goes out so it appears that it's not decoding in True HD or 5.1. It should light up Dolby TrueHD.

Just tried with a new blu-ray, "In The Valley Of Elah" selecting True HD under the language settings on the blu-ray.

Any Ideas would be much appreciated.

[Smc77]

Originally Posted by Sailor-man

I have a BDP-S300 connected to a Yamaha HTR-6190 with an HDMI cable and I can't seem to get he Receiver to decode in TrueHD. I am using the HDMI cable for my audio connection

The Yamaha HTR-6190 has the latest HDMI 1.3s specs and is supposed to be able to decode Dolby TrueHD.

Using the setting in audio set up the BDP-S300 for AUDIO (HDMI) when I select Auto, the front panel display on the Receiver lights up Dolby Digital and it seems to be decoding in 5.1. When I switch the setting on the BDP-S300 to PCM, the light on the receiver goes out. It should light up Dolby True HD.

Just tried with a new blu-ray, "In The Valley Of Elah" selecting True HD under the language settings.

Any Ideas would be much appreciated.

Set your S300 to output Bitstream or Auto. True HD (and DTS-MA for that matter), even though lossless codecs, are still encoded, and need to be output as Bitstream for your Amp to recognise the True HD track. When you set the S300 to PCM, the S300 decodes the audio track and sends a PCM track to your Amp.
Hope this helps

[Sailor-man]

The only way I can see to do this on the BDP-s300 is in the audio set-up where you select the output method from the HDMI Out jack. I've set to Auto and PCM and neither selection works.

When I select Auto the receiver seems to be decoding 5.1. When I pick PCM the decoding display on the receiver doesn't come on.

Am I doing something wrong here?

[blurayisking]

Firstly, I have the front speakers as large (because they are) and the rears as small (because they are). My home theatre also serves as my main stereo system so I prefer to leave the front speakers set for large. Regardless, there is plenty of bass emitting from the subwoofer.

In regard to Dolby True HD, the Sony BDP-S300 does NOT decode this codec. You only get the core portion (eg: standard Dolby Digital) The HDMI output setting should be set for auto but that won't matter. I know there has been an ongoing discussion about this issue for quite some time, so I recently contacted Sony to verify this issue and I was told that despite what you may have heard, the player does not decode Dolby Digital TrueHD and is unlikely to be offered via a future firmware upgrade. There Sony model
BDP-S500 is capable of decoding Dolby Digital TrueHD.

[Sailor-man]

I read the earlier discussion and don't think it applies.

I'm not using the decoder in the blu-ray. The Yamaha Audio Receiver in this instance should be de-coding True-HD based on the what's comng over via HDMI.

The chart on p. 48 of the BDP-S300 manual says Disc Source Dolby True HD should be output 5.1ch LPCM when set to PCM.

[blurayisking]

You got me, Sailor-man. Don't know what's going on with your Yamaha receiver. You should definitely be hearing sound via the HDMI output regardless of the setting based on what the manual says.

Your right about what the player is supposed to do with regard to Dolby TrueHD based on the manual. Suggest you contact Sony Support.

Since I don't have a HDMI receiver, I can't compare. Either I send the Dolby TrueHD soundtrack via the 5.1 analog outputs as PCM or via digital coax as Dolby Digital bitstream.

[Sailor-man]

I sent a note off to Yamaha and will see what they say. I think I'll send one to Sony too.

The HDMI out from the blu-ray is working as I get 5.1 when it's set to auto. I also get audio when set to PCM, but the TrueHD light doesn't come on on the Receiver, so I suspect I'm not getting TrueHD.

I'm wondering if the HDMI out on the BCP-S300 is v1.3 and if version 1.3 is needed to suppport TrueHD. The manual for the Yamaha refers to HDMI v1.3 for TrueHD

If anyone has persued this with Sony, pls post. tx.

[yex94]

Originally Posted by Sailor-man

I sent a note off to Yamaha and will see what they say. I think I'll send one to Sony too.

The HDMI out from the blu-ray is working as I get 5.1 when it's set to auto. I also get audio when set to PCM, but the TrueHD light doesn't come on on the Receiver, so I suspect I'm not getting TrueHD.

I'm wondering if the HDMI out on the BCP-S300 is v1.3 and if version 1.3 is needed to suppport TrueHD. The manual for the Yamaha refers to HDMI v1.3 for TrueHD

If anyone has persued this with Sony, pls post. tx.

The s300 cannot output TrueHD or DTS-HD over bitstream so there is nothing wrong with your receiver. The only thing it can send via bitstream is DTS or DD (or PCM). In order to send the advanced codecs it would need to be HDMI 1.3 compliant and this is only HDMI 1.1. That wouldn't be such a bad thing if the s300 could decode these codecs internally and output PCM to your receiver but Sony has chosen not to enable those features (at least yet). Hopefully, they will enable TrueHD internal decoding in a future firmware upgrade but I doubt it.

[nycomet]

Originally Posted by yex94

Hopefully, they will enable TrueHD internal decoding in a future firmware upgrade but I doubt it.

Are you serious? Can a firmware really make TrueHD internal decoding possible on the Sony BRP-S300??????

[Sailor-man]

Just received the following note from Sony support:

"I am glad to provide information regarding the Dolby TrueHD or HDMI bitstream audio output from your Sony Blu-ray Disc Player. The Blu-ray Disc player has Dolby Digital Plus decoding functionality. You can enjoy conventional Dolby Digital sound from Dolby TrueHD streams. However, the player does not have Dolby TrueHD decoding functionality and does not support Dolby TrueHD or HDMI bitstream output. Currently there is no firmware update regarding this."

I'm still a bit confused if the info in the manual is incorrect and if SONY has mislead everyone who purchased these units. The specifications on audio output signals (p 48) say that the HDMI out jack outputs 5.1ch LPCM when set to PCM.

Let's hope it's possible to address this with a firmware fix .. or Sony should be giving everyone a good will credit

[Yeha-Noha]

Originally Posted by Smc77

If your speakers setting is set to Small, no Bass will be sent to your speakers, only the Sub. If you use the Large setting for your speakers, Bass will be sent to your Speakers and Sub. Using the Large setting is particularly useful if you dont have a Sub.
The easiest way of thinking about this is to think of using the Large Speaker setting the same as using Bass Boost, which is a common feature on may Stereos, MP3 players etc...

No, not so! If you set your speakers to small in the S300's speaker menu setup, your speakers still get some bass. The crossover point is not an on/off switch. You'd be surprised to find how bass gets through to your speakers below the high pass (HP) crossover point! Sony doesn't specify where that crossover point is though when set to Small. However, my L/F, center speakers set to Small still kick out a lot of audible bass in the 30 to 60 HZ range. They are an Energy C-C100 center and C200s for L/F. Using calibrated test tones on DVD in my BDP-S300, I can feel the air coming out of the rear vents when playing 30, 40, 50, and 60 HZ signals. I can hear it too, even when it's playing 30 HZ. Switching from Small to Large the volume goes up tremendously of course, and 30 HZ fills the room with bass from those speakers. Thus the Small setting attenuates the the bass signals below the crossover point but doesn't turn them off such that no signal is getting through at. The Sony S300 player seems to be applying a rather gentle cut off below the HP crossover point since I hear still hear so much bass form my speakers when set to Small.

Setting your speakers to large should never be considered as being bass boost. What it really means is that the fronts, center, and surrounds will be getting the bass that they were intended to get depending on how the sound was mixed for the movie. The subwoofer channel will at least be getting the LFE (low frequency effects more) perhaps more. You aren't boosting anything. If you have speakers capable of full range reproduction from the lowests bass frequencies to the highest highs, the Large setting would be correct. Otherwise set them to Small. Speakers set to Small are still getting bass frequencies but attenuated by a specified amount per octave below the HP crossover point. If Sony's crossover point is around 80 HZ which is pretty close to what I think it actually is, then your speakers will still be pumping out bass at 40 HZ but attenuated by about 12 to 24 db depending on the design of the crossover.

[hitechiowa]

hey guys ive got another noob question about my s300. I know that it doesnt decode alot of the HD audio tracks, but if i buy a receiver like say the onkyo 605 that does decode most of the HD audio tracks, will the audio work with those or do i have to buy a player and a receiver that has the audio decoders? because right now im running optical from my receiver to my s300 and alot of blu's are only having audio come out of the front two channels cuz of the pcm track, and ive noticed a few blu discs dont have dolby 5.1 so im super dissapointed! what are my options?

[krisjan]

Originally Posted by hitechiowa

hey guys ive got another noob question about my s300. I know that it doesnt decode alot of the HD audio tracks, but if i buy a receiver like say the onkyo 605 that does decode most of the HD audio tracks, will the audio work with those or do i have to buy a player and a receiver that has the audio decoders? because right now im running optical from my receiver to my s300 and alot of blu's are only having audio come out of the front two channels cuz of the pcm track, and ive noticed a few blu discs dont have dolby 5.1 so im super dissapointed! what are my options?

The 300 is only HDMI 1.1 so it cannot pass the hi-rez audio (like True-HD and DTS-MA) via bitstream. In order to send the hi-rez audio, the player must be HDMI 1.3 (like the Panasonic BD30). So it doesn't matter what AVR you have if you can't send the hi-rez audio to it to begin with.

With the 300, the only hi-rez audio you can get is LPCM which can be sent via analog outputs (pcm) or HDMI (bitstream). Since a lot of BD's have a LPCM audio track, at least for those releases you can get top quality audio. For BD's without an LPCM track, you are left with standard DD or DTS 5.1.

[Scorxpion]

Originally Posted by krisjan

The 300 is only HDMI 1.1 so it cannot pass the hi-rez audio (like True-HD and DTS-MA) via bitstream. In order to send the hi-rez audio, the player must be HDMI 1.3 (like the Panasonic BD30). So it doesn't matter what AVR you have if you can't send the hi-rez audio to it to begin with.

With the 300, the only hi-rez audio you can get is LPCM which can be sent via analog outputs (pcm) or HDMI (bitstream). Since a lot of BD's have a LPCM audio track, at least for those releases you can get top quality audio. For BD's without an LPCM track, you are left with standard DD or DTS 5.1.

This was confirmed by Paidgeek that this player can outperform DolbyTHD through HDMI bitstreaming only and not through 5.1 analog output..Beginning with 3.7 release.