PCM or DTS-HD MASTER

[dobyblue]

Originally Posted by garak

I think in some cases, they are imagining the difference because whether the TrueHD or DTS-HD MA is decoded in the player or the receiver, the resulting PCM is the same no matter what. The data is digital, it doesn't matter where the PCM data is unpacked.

If the sound was decoded in the player, and then sent to the receiver via the player's analog outs, then I definitely believe that the sound would be better if it was sent bitstream over HDMI. This is because instead of the player sending digital data to the receiver, the player must convert the sound to analog first. It most cases, the receiver has better DACs than the player and some receivers also do post-processing of the PCM data to improve it.

That is not true, it DOES depend on the technology doing the decoding, which is why there is not just one chip to decode DTS-MA.

It depends on all your components from the player to the receiver to the cabling to the room's environment.

This would be the equivalent of saying a $6999 Marantz SACD player is the same as a $169 Oppo player because both can send DSD out natively, but I assure you they do not sound the same.