Audio: Sony S550 vs Samsung BD-P1600

[Kryptonic]

Don't buy a Samsung. Get the Sony. Much more reliable player.

[tivoyahoo]

Originally Posted by Kryptonic

Don't buy a Samsung. Get the Sony. Much more reliable player.

The Samsung 2550 & 3600 offer Pandora which is a plus for me and each has 7.1 analog output. I think given my receiver I'm ruling out the 1600 due to lack of analog 7.1.

Also, what about the Panasonic DMP-BD80 which has 7.1 analog output? Amazon has the BD80 for $180 with free shipping. It supports some features I don't believe the others do: divx, xvid, and can access Picasa.

Are there other players I should consider that can be bought for <$200 and have analog 7.1?

[moviefan]

Originally Posted by Kryptonic

Don't buy a Samsung. Get the Sony. Much more reliable player.

Ditto! Skip the Samsuck ... their "customer service" is awful!
BUT ...get the OPPO if you can afford it ... it's awesome!

[DIY_HD]

I love my Sony S-550, but analog is a concession. True, it is far superior to optical, it sounds awesome in fact, but there is one major flaw. Only 6% of BDs are 7.1-channel. That means 94% of BDs will play with the back speakers silent unless you switch to optical. This is exactly what I do for DVDs. They don't have lossless tracks anyway, so it fills out the soundfield better. The best thing is to use analog until you can afford to upgrade your AVR to one which has HDMI. Then the AVR can synthesize the back channels on 5.1 sources. Analog inputs bypass the digital signal processing in the AVR, so it won't matrix the back channels. Optical does use DSP, but at the cost of audio fidelity. So analog serves to preserve the investment in your old AVR until you relegate it to your bedroom and buy a new one for your HT!