Player decoding or Receiver decoding, that is the question

[mx2004]

I'll chime in and sing Oppo's praises, too. I have a DV-983H (which I decided on as I already had a Sony BDP-S550 for blu duties) and it is an excellent SACD and DVD-A player (even over the analogues) and what it does upscaling DVDs is remarkable. As I understand it this technology has been taken over to the Blu-ray machine, so I'm sure you'll be thrilled.

[EWL5]

Originally Posted by aholley

Anyway to verify that on the new Oppo unit? Do you have one? Your pic looks like you do?

I did know that about the next cheapest. Thats why I was wondering where the catch was with the Oppo.

I own the PS3, Denon 3800, and the Oppo BDP83. I can answer any questions you may have concerning all 3. The Denon has dropped quite a bit since I purchased it last year. You should consider if you are willing to give up SACD:

http://www.listenup.com/Denon+DVD-38...p-blu-ray.html

[aholley]

Any idea if the PS3 decodes to multichannel LPCM? I know it doesnt play SCAD but that was another route I was considering. Since I have the Denon player I could keep that and use the PS3 for it's dual purposefullness.

[aholley]

Sorry, my last comment went out before yours came in. So do you have the Oppo for it's SACD feature then if you own the Denon as well? The Denon sure sounds impressive less the SACD function. Is it on its way out? Thats quite a drop? How is the speed (on, load, eject, etc.) on the Denon compared to the Oppo. Looks like the Oppo's tough to beat there.

[EWL5]

Originally Posted by aholley

Any idea if the PS3 decodes to multichannel LPCM? I know it doesnt play SCAD but that was another route I was considering. Since I have the Denon player I could keep that and use the PS3 for it's dual purposefullness.

The PS3 does decode to LPCM and the first gen models (60 and older 80gb models) did also play SACD. Unless you are into gaming as well, I'd recommend you get a standalone unit that integrates better with most IR universal remotes. There are IR solutions for the PS3 but it requires spending more money.

[EWL5]

Originally Posted by aholley

Sorry, my last comment went out before yours came in. So do you have the Oppo for it's SACD feature then if you own the Denon as well? The Denon sure sounds impressive less the SACD function. Is it on its way out? Thats quite a drop? How is the speed (on, load, eject, etc.) on the Denon compared to the Oppo. Looks like the Oppo's tough to beat there.

Yes, I play all my SACD/DVD-A on the Oppo. To tell you the truth, the audio quality over analog of the Denon smokes the Oppo but the Oppo does do a decent job. It's a shame the Denon doesn't also do SACD/DVD-A but I guess that's what the expensive flagship model buys you.

Don't get me wrong. The Oppo is the answer for most people given its great value. However, audiophiles who will make use of the analog output may prefer the Denon over the Oppo.

The Denon came out last year around March and is slow and not as responsive compared to the Oppo. For a while, the Oppo was alone in matching the PS3's loading and responsiveness (quite a feat for not having a CELL processor!). Now many newer BD players are just as responsive or faster than the PS3. However, if you are coming from the Sony BDP-S300, I would imagine you are used to slow load times and waiting.

[Stevoid1]

Hello Digital Audio Gurus,
I read the all the threads and still can't resist asking - please don't shoot me.
I have a Sony STR-DA5600ES receiver and Sony BDP-1700ES Blu-ray player. Should I have the Blu-ray player send PCM or just send it Bitstream to the receiver for decoding? I wonder if the audio components for the decoding are the same quality in the receiver and Blu-ray player. I also wonder if the Blu-ray player is a better choice for decoding since there are frequent software upgrades for the player and none yet for the receiver. Or maybe software upgrades have nothing to do with it.
Best Regards,
Steve

[Big Daddy]

Originally Posted by Stevoid1

Hello Digital Audio Gurus,
I read the all the threads and still can't resist asking - please don't shoot me.
I have a Sony STR-DA5600ES receiver and Sony BDP-1700ES Blu-ray player. Should I have the Blu-ray player send PCM or just send it Bitstream to the receiver for decoding? I wonder if the audio components for the decoding are the same quality in the receiver and Blu-ray player. I also wonder if the Blu-ray player is a better choice for decoding since there are frequent software upgrades for the player and none yet for the receiver. Or maybe software upgrades have nothing to do with it.
Best Regards,
Steve

It really doesn't make any difference whether the player decodes the HD audio to LPCM and then sends the signals to the receiver or the player bitstreams the HD audio to the receiver and let it decode the HD audio. However, for practical reasons, having the player decode the audio to LPCM is preferred to bitstreaming.

You can find a discussion of bitstreaming versus LPCM in the bottom half of of post #1 of https://forum.blu-ray.com/audio-theo...io-codecs.html. More important clarifications are included in Post #167 of the same thread.

[browndk26]

Can LPCM be sent over an optical or coaxial cable?

[crackinhedz]

Originally Posted by browndk26

Can LPCM be sent over an optical or coaxial cable?

2.0 Uncompressed PCM

[jomari]

Originally Posted by Stevoid1

Hello Digital Audio Gurus,
I read the all the threads and still can't resist asking - please don't shoot me.
I have a Sony STR-DA5600ES receiver and Sony BDP-1700ES Blu-ray player. Should I have the Blu-ray player send PCM or just send it Bitstream to the receiver for decoding? I wonder if the audio components for the decoding are the same quality in the receiver and Blu-ray player. I also wonder if the Blu-ray player is a better choice for decoding since there are frequent software upgrades for the player and none yet for the receiver. Or maybe software upgrades have nothing to do with it.
Best Regards,
Steve

glad to see you found the appropriate thread for this. appreciate you using the search button!

Big daddys pretty much covered this for you, and as ive mentioned in our older conversation, it depends on which component performs better. I forgot on how good Oppos did with their older units, and i used the players DAC's instead of the AVR's...

[browndk26]

Originally Posted by crackinhedz

2.0 Uncompressed PCM

So if I want surround sound I need to set my player to bitstream and let the AVR decode it? The AVR won't change it to surround unless I use a setting that changes 2.0 to 3.1, 5.1 etc.

[BIslander]

Originally Posted by browndk26

So if I want surround sound I need to set my player to bitstream and let the AVR decode it? The AVR won't change it to surround unless I use a setting that changes 2.0 to 3.1, 5.1 etc.

If you are using an optical or coax connection and want discrete 5.1, you must select the encoded 5.1 track at the source and send it via bitstream to the audio processor for decoding. Of course, you can apply a DSP such as PLII or DTS Neo:6 to process any stereo source into surround. But, you don't discrete 5.1 that way.

[Andi BG9]

Originally Posted by Sir Terrence

I know there has been much back and forth regarding the player doing the decoding or the receiver doing the decoding. However I would like to preface this question with this comment.

When you look at all of the myriad of issues regarding proper playback and getting the best sound, many folks have completely overlook the most important component chasing after minor benefits. Proper room acoustics play a far larger role in getting better performance than something as small as which component does the decoding. The arguement for which sounds better (if it actually does) belongs in the studio(which acoustics are tightly controlled) or in the upper 5-10% of the folks who actually have their room properly treated based on acoustical measurements. To actually answer the question of which is better, the answer is neither has any sonic benefits over the other. I will explain.

When the player does the decoding(or transcoding), the process of transcoding is lossless. In other words nothing is lost converting the bitstream to PCM to send to your receiver. All PIP audio will be mixed in along with the program audio, and the user has access to the audio of all interactive and program material. Whether you choose to do bass management and speaker alignment in the player, or the pcm audio is sent to the receiver for these functions, they are done in PCM because that is how the DSP chips function, is with PCM signals. So no matter which way you turn, the audio will have to be converted.

If the player passes the audio to the receiver in bitstream form, the receiver will have to convert that bitstream to PCM for any bass mangement or speaker alignment to take place. That process is also lossless, and is much like we have seen with legacy Dolby Digital and Dts. The drawback is that no audio from PIP or any interactive material will be heard because this process bypasses the internal mixer of the player. So no matter which direction you choose, PCM conversion will have to take place whether the player does it, or the reciever does it. In the end, there is no sonic benefit that either has over the other, and why when looked at critically, the receiver doing it becomes a marketing ploy and nothing else.
I hope this dispels the confusion between the player doing the decoding, and the receiver doing the decoding. And then, maybe not

So, do you think that even I played the DTS HD MA for example, with my Sony BDP S370 with audio through HDMI sets to PCM I/O Auto (that caused my Denon AVR 1610 detect the audio signal is Multi Channel In I/O DTS HD MA & the HD signal lamp turns off I/O on) the sound/audio is quite the same ?

Thank's Sir Terrence.

Thank you.

[Di1972]

Hi All,
Sorry, I'm not hijacking your thread...BUT I NEED HELP....
For some reason Transformer 3 in Blu Ray won't play on our Marantz System in which it is mean't. We put on a few other Blu Ray movies to and they all played (Terminator Salvation, etc) to test the sub woofer and surround sound. They all worked fine.
So, we then put Transformer 3 back on and it only played on the front speaker - no subwoofer or surround sound. We checked the Blu Ray and Marantz Sytem for compatabilty and on that front all is ok.
Does anyone have any idea's of why the picture quality is great, but the sound is that of a standard movie (not Blu Ray quality).

Thanks,

Di

[BIslander]

What player and receiver do you have?

[TallPine]

Given the reality that new Players and Receivers both contain all of the requisite components, DACs, decoders and interfaces (often exact duplicates), what is a good approach or strategy for buying a Blu Ray/SACD player, to get the best possible sound and video results out of the combination? I have a Marantz 7005.2 receiver and want to use a proper strategy to obtain the best combined result without paying for more duplication than I need.

[2pacalypsenow]

i use bitstream from my ps3 to my Sony DH710 and when using bitstream i hear the voice much better and using LPCM

[rdkam]

I bitstream my PS3 to my receiver. That's what I pay that piece of equipment to do, handle the audio. No video processing from the receiver, not its job, that belongs to the player! Then I use the receiver to adjust for room acoustics and the TV to adjust the picture vs. the room lighting. That's my thoughts...

[cpemploy]

My TV can send PCM, Dolby Digital or DTS via toslink or analog cables (no hdmi option) to my Vizio VHT510 soundbar. My questions are:
1. For the best sound which should I select, PCM, Dolby digital or DTS?
2. What are the advantages of one over the other?
3. What output should i use toslink or analog? Is there a big difference?


I have also seen the following comments, some of which are contradictory, can you comment on these?
1. Select PCM as this sends more data to the reciver, if you select DD or DTS they are compressed and you lose data
2. If you select PCM and use toslink you only get 2 channel and not 5, (although I am getting surround with my toslink)
3. If you select PCM and use analog you get 5 channel
4. choose dd is better
5. choose DTS it is better

Any help is appreciated