Any Blu-ray Player That Decodes All HD Audio Formats Yet?

[Rob Tomlin]

Title pretty much says it all. Still waiting for a player than can internally decode all the audio formats, including DTS Master Audio. Where are they?

[Jodi]

Originally Posted by Rob Tomlin

Title pretty much says it all. Still waiting for a player than can internally decode all the audio formats, including DTS Master Audio. Where are they?

We can only hope that the second generation of Blu players will be able to internally decode all HD audio formats. I would like to think that Sony's new high-end Blu player (the $1000 - $1500 one) that will be released in late 2007 will be capable of doing it. Somehow I don't see the recently announced Sony BDP-S300 ($599 and due out this summer) able to decode the HD audio codecs. As for the other manufacturers, I just can't even guess.
We'll wait and see.

Jodi

[Maximus]

Also the Sharp player due in Q3 claims to do TrueHD and DTS-MA.

[JToddler]

Ultimately the decoding is left to the receiver with the latest decoding format capabilities, blu-ray players or may it be a dvd player or what not, passes on the signal to the receiver. Hence, no matter how advanced your player is, if your receiver is old, then the purpose is futile! Just make sure to purchase a receiver that can decode all the formats coupled with the speaker set up that allows you to enjoy the sound(s) that you want to hear!

[thunderhawk]

I doubt it. In the beginning probably, but afterwards... They'll just leave the decoding to the receiver, like with DVD (there were plenty of models with decoders, but are there still now?).

[Iceman_II]

Originally Posted by Rob Tomlin

Title pretty much says it all. Still waiting for a player than can internally decode all the audio formats, including DTS Master Audio. Where are they?

The formats you are discussing is for the really top end of the audio ladder. Wouldn't most people with high end systems be wanting just a data stream to feed their amps to keep all that audio goodness, rather than decode it in the player and send the decoded signal to the amps? Seems to me that sending a digital signal to your reciever/amps would be a whole lot cleaner than sending a bunch of analog wave forms which could degrade.

IMHO, I trust my reciever/amp to faithfully play around with the audio signal a whole lot more than I trust ANY BD or DVD player.

Not to throw stones, and nothing personal, but lets put this in perspective. I would think that most people wanting internal decoding are people without the capability to play the audio otherwise, and rather than fork out the bucks to upgrade their recievers/amps, they want to increase the cost of ALL BD hardware by including features and capabilities which few others would use.

[Knight-Errant]

Well the decoding technology is not yet available in receivers so the only way to get the advanced codecs is to do the decoding in the player at the moment.

[Rob Tomlin]

Originally Posted by Knight-Errant

Well the decoding technology is not yet available in receivers so the only way to get the advanced codecs is to do the decoding in the player at the moment.

Exactly!

And has been mentioned many times before, if the disc is authored in the "advanced" mode, the player MUST decode the audio codec INTERNALLY. If that is the case, why would you need or want your processor to have these decoding capabilities?

[thunderhawk]

It all depends on it.

[bruce]

Well I just found this, the specs on the new HD DVD player, the HD-A20 and look what they have listed for specs under audio-

Built-in Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby True HD, DTS and DTS-HD Decoders.

If f'ing Toshiba can do it on a player that comes out in April, why can't Sony on a player that does not come out until this Summer, I can't think of one HD DVD that has DTS-HD sound but we have Fox putting Blu-Ray discs out every month with it.

[WriteSimply]

Originally Posted by Iceman_II

The formats you are discussing is for the really top end of the audio ladder. Wouldn't most people with high end systems be wanting just a data stream to feed their amps to keep all that audio goodness, rather than decode it in the player and send the decoded signal to the amps? Seems to me that sending a digital signal to your reciever/amps would be a whole lot cleaner than sending a bunch of analog wave forms which could degrade.

This would apply to players that ONLY have 5.1/7.1 analog out that also decodes TrueHD and DTS HDMA.

If a player decodes TrueHD and DTS HDMA for both analog and HDMI out, this doesn't hold water, as the PCM signal in the HDMI path is still digital.


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