Analog vs. HDMI audio for Blu-ray

[cembros]

what are everyones opinions as to what kind of connection is better; high quility rca cables from a blu ray player multi channel output to a recievers multi channel input or straight hdmi (im assuming that hdmi cable quality makes no difference in audio quality)

[HDJK]

It depends on 2 things mainly:

- the quality of the DA converters. The player might have better converters than the receiver or vice versa.

- Bass management: if you want to define a crossover point to direct low frequencies to the subwoofer it is generally better to stay in the digital domain (HDMI) to avoid multiple conversions. However, one of our audiophile members (zepherman) has the Denon pre/pro and uses the analog ins for SACD or DVDA and he doesn't notice the additional conversion. But then again his pre/pro cost about as much as a small car

[Yeha-Noha]

Originally Posted by HDJK

It depends on 2 things mainly:

- the quality of the DA converters. The player might have better converters than the receiver or vice versa.

- Bass management: if you want to define a crossover point to direct low frequencies to the subwoofer it is generally better to stay in the digital domain (HDMI) to avoid multiple conversions. However, one of our audiophile members (zepherman) has the Denon pre/pro and uses the analog ins for SACD or DVDA and he doesn't notice the additional conversion. But then again his pre/pro cost about as much as a small car

+1 for the DACs.

Before I bought my Onkyo 805, I used the 5.1 analog outputs on my Sony S301 player since my old AVR lacked HDMI inputs. That Pioneer treated the 5.1 analog inputs as a direct in signal and didn't process it at all regardlesss of what crossover points, speaker size, etc were selected. IOW, it bypassed completely the DSP and bass mangement in the Pioneer. Luckily the S301 5.1 analog sounded fantastic when speakers were set to large in the S301's limited bass managment setup feature. The only reason I bought the Onkyo was because I wanted a better AVR with HDMI inputs that also has the ability to decode the lossless audio codecs. Now I need to get a new BD player.

[welwynnick]

Originally Posted by cembros

what are everyones opinions as to what kind of connection is better; high quility rca cables from a blu ray player multi channel output to a recievers multi channel input or straight hdmi (im assuming that hdmi cable quality makes no difference in audio quality)

Probably quite a complicated answer. I have a Sony BDP-S1 and DA7100 that connect LPCM over HDMI, and that sounds significantly better than the analogue connection.

[DIY_HD]

It has been well said that eliminating unnecessary DA and AD conversions will improve quality. For example, when I ordered HD cable service, they brought me a box with component outs only. While it worked and the PQ was better than analog SD, I asked for a box with HDMI output. When I got it hooked up, there was a noticable improvement in PQ. Component video is analog. This means that the box recieved a digital signal and performed a DA conversion, sent it to the TV which did an AD conversion with a corresponding degredation of PQ for each conversion.

Since I am unable to do a side-by-side comparison of AQ, I am assuming the same principle applies. In another thread, I read that there is no such thing as digital sound. At some point the digital signal must be converted to analog and sent to the speakers. However, for the best AQ, this should only be done once.

[prerich]

Originally Posted by DIY_HD

It has been well said that eliminating unnecessary DA and AD conversions will improve quality. For example, when I ordered HD cable service, they brought me a box with component outs only. While it worked and the PQ was better than analog SD, I asked for a box with HDMI output. When I got it hooked up, there was a noticable improvement in PQ. Component video is analog. This means that the box recieved a digital signal and performed a DA conversion, sent it to the TV which did an AD conversion with a corresponding degredation of PQ for each conversion.

Since I am unable to do a side-by-side comparison of AQ, I am assuming the same principle applies. In another thread, I read that there is no such thing as digital sound. At some point the digital signal must be converted to analog and sent to the speakers. However, for the best AQ, this should only be done once.

If the BD player converts the digital signal to analog and passes it over rca cables - the conversion is only performed once. And yes - there is no such animal as "digital sound" per-say. It all must be converted to analog.