Does all this decoding matter if......

[rmackay]

......you are only running a 5.1 sound setup in your home theatre?

Here is my situation while contemplating a blu ray player purchase. (550 panny or sony)

My receiver is a Yamaha RXV661. It is really nice but does not decode TrueHD and DTS-HD so the player would need to do that. However, if you are only running a 5.1 speaker setup (which is what I have with my Paradigm speakers), then is the decoding of the HD audio for 7.1 really necessary?

Am I better off going with the sony 350 or panny 35 which are about $100 cheaper and don't decode both HD formats?

Secondary question - if the player can't decode TrueHD and the receiver can't decode TrueHD then what is the next best option for that given BluRay title?

Long story short - based on not having a 7.1 speaker setup, do I need to be decoding all that fancy 7.1 lossless audio? Does that all make sense?

[callas01]

Most Blu-ray discs are still mixed as 5.1 surround, and even if they are in 7.1 your receiver will still play the audio, and if it can your receiver can downmix the audio to match your speaker configuration. Just make sure your receiver can process LPCM(multi-channel PCM).

The best bet for you would be to get the Panny 55K or the Sony 550, I give a slight edge to the panny.

You will still get lossless audio through a 5.1 system. so yes, it is worth it, at least imo.

Hope that helps.

[rmackay]

the receiver can handle LPCM just fine. It is HDMI 1.2 input but that doesn't actually affect the passthrough of the video to the TV and 1.2 supports the HD Audio when it is coming in over LPCM anyway.

I was just curious as to whether or not it was really worth it to spend the extra $100 for the Panny55k when I wasn't going to be running a 7.1 speaker setup in the first place.

The other question was what happens if the BluRay disc is TrueHD and your player only does DTS-HD? What audio format do you end up with?

[BIslander]

Originally Posted by rmackay

the receiver can handle LPCM just fine. It is HDMI 1.2 input but that doesn't actually affect the passthrough of the video to the TV and 1.2 supports the HD Audio when it is coming in over LPCM anyway.

I was just curious as to whether or not it was really worth it to spend the extra $100 for the Panny55k when I wasn't going to be running a 7.1 speaker setup in the first place.

First of all, lossless is about the quality of the audio, not the number of channels.

Second, the BD55 offers you nothing over the BD35. Both will decode all formats and output them as LPCM to your receiver for processing. Since you have configured your receiver as a 5.1 system, it will downmix any 7.1 tracks to 5.1. That will happen with both the BD35 and BD55. The one thing you need to check is whether your receiver can process 7.1 over HDMI. Some AVRs can only do 5.1.

The other question was what happens if the BluRay disc is TrueHD and your player only does DTS-HD? What audio format do you end up with?

Your receiver's decoders only matter if you have HDMI 1.3. In your case, the player does the decoding and outputs PCM.

If you set the player to bitstream instead of decode, it will send the lossy version of the track instead of the lossless one. A TrueHD track gets sent as DD 5.1 and a dts-MA track gets sent as DTS.

btw, the Sony S350 will not give you dts-MA because it cannot decode it. The BD35 seems like your best bet. It decodes all formats and outputs them as LPCM over HDMI. You don't need the analog processing of the BD55 or S550, which adds to the cost without offering you any added value.

[Aries64]

Originally Posted by rmackay

......you are only running a 5.1 sound setup in your home theatre?

Here is my situation while contemplating a blu ray player purchase. (550 panny or sony)

My receiver is a Yamaha RXV661. It is really nice but does not decode TrueHD and DTS-HD so the player would need to do that. However, if you are only running a 5.1 speaker setup (which is what I have with my Paradigm speakers), then is the decoding of the HD audio for 7.1 really necessary?

Am I better off going with the sony 350 or panny 35 which are about $100 cheaper and don't decode both HD formats?

Secondary question - if the player can't decode TrueHD and the receiver can't decode TrueHD then what is the next best option for that given BluRay title?

Long story short - based on not having a 7.1 speaker setup, do I need to be decoding all that fancy 7.1 lossless audio? Does that all make sense?

The short answer is - YES. Just because your set-up isn't 7.1 doesn't mean you shouldn't opt for DTS-MA decoding. Do you realize that so far, the majority of the movies that have DTS-HD Master Audio soundtracks are 5.1 DTS-Master Audio, and not 7.1 DTS-MA? IMHO, basing your DTS-MA/no DTS-MA purchase decision on the fact that you don't have 7.1 is short-sighted.

Considering that it sounds like you won't be upgrading your receiver in the near future, I would definitely get a player with full audio decoding. Why limit yourself to TrueHD or playing the DTS core-only of a DTS-MA soundtrack, when you can get full audio decoding and hear both TrueHD and DTS-MA. I just upgraded from a BDP-S500 to a BDP-S550 so I can finally hear DTS-MA. My system is only 5.1 as well, but its night and day over the core-only DTS track I got with my BDP-S500 (which couldn't decode DTS-MA), but does, as you may know, decode TrueHD.

As far as your second question "If the player can't decode TrueHD and the receiver can't decode TrueHD then what is the next best option for that given BluRay title?"

The answer - Don't buy or rent it. If neither the player nor receiver can decode TrueHD and theres no legacy (lossy DTS or Dolby) soundtrack you won't hear any sound at all.

Some Blu-rays only have a TrueHD or DTS-MA soundtrack for the main title. Your receiver has a DTS Surround decoder which will play the "core-only" portion of a DTS-MA soundtrack so you will at least hear sound when playing a Blu-ray with DTS-HR or DTS-MA soundtrack. For TrueHD you are out of luck.

Keith

[Midnightsailor]

Whatever you do, make sure you will be able to get lossless/uncompressed audio in some way. It's a HUGE difference even in mono. Haha.

[rmackay]

Originally Posted by BIslander

First of all, lossless is about the quality of the audio, not the number of channels.

Second, the BD55 offers you nothing over the BD35. Both will decode all formats and output them as LPCM to your receiver for processing. Since you have configured your receiver as a 5.1 system, it will downmix any 7.1 tracks to 5.1. That will happen with both the BD35 and BD55. The one thing you need to check is whether your receiver can process 7.1 over HDMI. Some AVRs can only do 5.1.

Your receiver's decoders only matter if you have HDMI 1.3. In your case, the player does the decoding and outputs PCM.

If you set the player to bitstream instead of decode, it will send the lossy version of the track instead of the lossless one. A TrueHD track gets sent as DD 5.1 and a dts-MA track gets sent as DTS.

btw, the Sony S350 will not give you dts-MA because it cannot decode it. The BD35 seems like your best bet. It decodes all formats and outputs them as LPCM over HDMI. You don't need the analog processing of the BD55 or S550, which adds to the cost without offering you any added value.

I was not aware that the Panny 35 decoded all formats.. Thanks for that bit of $$ saving info.

[moviefan]

Originally Posted by rmackay

I was not aware that the Panny 35 decoded all formats.. Thanks for that bit of $$ saving info.

The new Panny & Sony players were both announced in the $700 range. They now sell in the $300 range.
I believe in "future proofing" as much as possible when tou buy a component; it's cheaper in the long run.

My 1 year old receiver will not decode the new lossless audio formats , so it was a no-brainer to get the Sony 550. I felt it offered the most bang-for-the-buck. The lossless audio is awesome!

[rmackay]

Just picked up the Panny 35 from my local Costco with HDMI cable for $199. It also come preloaded with the latest firmware. Setup is a breeze but I noticed that I wasn't given the option to select "YES" on the 24p video setting via HDMI. What could be the reason for that? (HDMI connection is going from BD to RCVR to TV)

(I think the reason is that it somehow knows that the TV doesn't support it)

[Midnightsailor]

Originally Posted by rmackay

Just picked up the Panny 35 from my local Costco with HDMI cable for $199. It also come preloaded with the latest firmware. Setup is a breeze but I noticed that I wasn't given the option to select "YES" on the 24p video setting via HDMI. What could be the reason for that? (HDMI connection is going from BD to RCVR to TV)

Does your tv support 24p mode?

[rmackay]

Originally Posted by Midnightsailor

Does your tv support 24p mode?

Nope. Found that out shortly after this post. Stupid 52" LCD.. got it about 6 months too soon..