Hook Up Questions

[mclosson]

I am not a Home Theatre Guru and I need some help. I have the Sharp Bluray player that decodes True HD and DTS MA. My Denon reciever does not decode these formats, however does have 2 HDMI inputs. I would like to understand best way to utilize my 6.1 sytem to full advantage. Best Buy guy say's that to get True HD sound I have to have the Bluray audio output connected to reciever using the analog outputs and rca cables. Tells me that can not be decoded in player then output vs HDMI to reciever then played as True lossless. Not sure I understand all of this. Just want to get the most out of system. Currently have it connected via HDMI and sounds ok, but does not blow me away. Wondering if I am missing something. Have Bluray set up to output PCM and Reciever displays "multi channel input". Not sure if I have it set up correctly either. Any help would be appreciated.

Also, does the bluray player automatically output the highest format of audio? Can't find how to select audio output if it is not a choice in the Bluray movie's menu as selecting audio format?

Basically I am lost in all this.

[progers13]

Originally Posted by mclosson

I am not a Home Theatre Guru and I need some help. I have the Sharp Bluray player that decodes True HD and DTS MA. My Denon reciever does not decode these formats, however does have 2 HDMI inputs. I would like to understand best way to utilize my 6.1 sytem to full advantage. Best Buy guy say's that to get True HD sound I have to have the Bluray audio output connected to reciever using the analog outputs and rca cables. Tells me that can not be decoded in player then output vs HDMI to reciever then played as True lossless. Not sure I understand all of this. Just want to get the most out of system. Currently have it connected via HDMI and sounds ok, but does not blow me away. Wondering if I am missing something. Have Bluray set up to output PCM and Reciever displays "multi channel input". Not sure if I have it set up correctly either. Any help would be appreciated.

Also, does the bluray player automatically output the highest format of audio? Can't find how to select audio output if it is not a choice in the Bluray movie's menu as selecting audio format?

Basically I am lost in all this.

I'm not real familiar with your gear. However, some things to try until someone with more knowledge weighs in.

You want to be connected via HDMI (only way to get lossless sound unless you use multi-channel analog outs, and it sounds like you don't have that). Go into your blu-ray players settings and see if there is an option to output your audio through HDMI; if it has that, see if you can change it to PCM. If it is set to Bitstream instead of PCM and your receiver cannot do the decoding, then you will be stuck with lossy audio (which is what sounds like is happening). If you can set it to PCM, then the player will decode those formats and send it to the receiver so you get the lossless audio.

Not all discs automatically load up the lossless audio. Warner's titles are notorious for autoplay with Dolby Digital (completely skipping a menu screen where you can change it). See if there is a button on your remote that allows you to change the audio and keep pressing it until you see TrueHD / DTS-HD MA / Uncompressed PCM on your screen.

I'll research your gear and try to get back to you with more detail, but I'd recommend trying this in the meantime.

[Hammie]

Originally Posted by mclosson

I am not a Home Theatre Guru and I need some help. I have the Sharp Bluray player that decodes True HD and DTS MA. My Denon reciever does not decode these formats, however does have 2 HDMI inputs. I would like to understand best way to utilize my 6.1 sytem to full advantage. Best Buy guy say's that to get True HD sound I have to have the Bluray audio output connected to reciever using the analog outputs and rca cables. Tells me that can not be decoded in player then output vs HDMI to reciever then played as True lossless. Not sure I understand all of this. Just want to get the most out of system. Currently have it connected via HDMI and sounds ok, but does not blow me away. Wondering if I am missing something. Have Bluray set up to output PCM and Reciever displays "multi channel input". Not sure if I have it set up correctly either. Any help would be appreciated.

Also, does the bluray player automatically output the highest format of audio? Can't find how to select audio output if it is not a choice in the Bluray movie's menu as selecting audio format?

Basically I am lost in all this.

Well, if I looked at the right player, your Sharp doesn't have 5.1/7.1 RCA audio outs, so I'm not sure what the BB guy was talking about. HDMI is the only way to get the HD audio from your system. If you are seeing "Multi Channel" on your receivers display, then you seem to have everything hooked up. If you can pull up an info screen or something on the Sharp, you should be able to see what audio track is playing. Either that, or set the audio from the settings menu before you play the movie.

In regards to playing the highest quality audio, it depends. Some discs default to the lossy DD or DTS track others will default to DTHD or DTS-HD.

[progers13]

So far I've found that your player outputs Dolby TrueHD, but I'm not seeing if it actually decodes it or just Bitstreams it. Also, the spec sheet says it outputs DTS-HD, but note that DTS-HD does not necessarily mean DTS-HD MA. There is such a thing as DTS-HD High Resolution Audio, which is NOT the same as DTS-HD Master Audio (MA).

Update: Vanns.com lists that this player CAN decode TrueHD and DTS-HD MA. As such, refer to my previous post to see if you can set the HDMI out to PCM. All you'll have to do then is make sure you select the lossless track from the disc's audio options.

I also can't locate anything in the way of firmware updates for it. Do you know if the player has the ability to connect to the internet via an ethernet cable (I'm guessing it doesn't have Wi-Fi at this price point)?

[Johk]

Originally Posted by progers13

I also can't locate anything in the way of firmware updates for it. Do you know if the player has the ability to connect to the internet via an ethernet cable (I'm guessing it doesn't have Wi-Fi at this price point)?

There is a firmware update on the Sharp US site... And you need to flash it using a disc.

[Johk]

Originally Posted by louhamilton

HDMI is the only way to get the HD audio from your system. If you are seeing "Multi Channel" on your receivers display, then you seem to have everything hooked up.

I also think that he has the right connection to the Denon...

However, you need to be sure on the Sharp player that you have the right settings, i.e. :

- Select the proper audio track (like stated, the higher quality track is not necessarily the default option. I think your remote has an "Audio", that will allow you to display the track being played. Pressing "Audio" again will allow you to switch tracks);
- Setup\Audio Video Settings\Audio Out: HDMI OUT > PCM
- Setup\Audio Video Settings\Dynamic Range Control: Normal

The dynamic range control setting is important, since setting it to Shift or Auto will limit the dynamic range and this is not good unless you want to listen at very low volume...

This is the info from the manual for the DRC:

- Normal: The same audio output range is played as the original recorded audio output range.
- Shift: When Dolby Digital audio is played back, the dynamic range of the audio is adjusted so that the dialog portion can be heard easily. (If the audio sounds abnormal, set to “Normal”.)
- Auto: When you play back audio in the Dolby TrueHD format, the dynamic range is automatically adjusted.

Please note that this is based on the BD-HP22U manual since I couldn't find the one for the BD-HP21U...

I hope this helps!