Sony BDP-S550 Or PS3

[zsultan]

Hello,

I am a new member here, need help in choosing a blu ray player.

I recently bought a HD camcorder (Canon HF100), so to view my home videos i was thinking of buying a Blu ray player. I also own Yamaha Z9 receiver for my home theatre with Paradigm studio series speakers and subwoofer.

I bought Sony-BDPS550 today from circuitcity since it has inbuilt decoders for Dolby True HD and DTS HD and 7.1 analog out since my Z9 doesnt have those decoders built in and also no HDMI input. I tested the audio of the blu ray player with Indiana Jones blu ray disc. I connected blu ray player to Z9 through 7.1 analog input and to my surprise i found that Dolby Digital as well as Dolby True HD decoding quality of BDP-S550 is crap, then i connected my Z9 through optical cable and decoded through Z9 ofcourse it was decoding only DD core of the Dolby True HD, but it sounded awesome. There was a difference of day and night.

My questions to audio experts out there is does Dolby Digital and Dolby True HD sound way different? I mean whether the quality of lossless format far better than lossy format or they have very sutle sound quality difference?

I like my Z9 receiver and do not want to spend money to upgrade to a Dolby True HD capable receiver if the difference is not very noticable and also thinking of getting a PS3 for playing blu ray discs, since its a player as well as game console and can hook up my receiver to it through optical cable.

Please advise.

Thanks in advance.

[plowmanjoe]

if i were you i would get a new receiver. the difference is noticeable. i'm no audio expert though.

[SkillzthatKillz]

how were you connecting the 550 to the receiver before the optical cable?

[zsultan]

Originally Posted by SkillzthatKillz

how were you connecting the 550 to the receiver before the optical cable?

I was connecting it through 7.1 analog out, so that player does the decoding.

[CosmoKid]

Originally Posted by zsultan

I was connecting it through 7.1 analog out, so that player does the decoding.

you were hooking it up correctly. i am surprised that your lossless sound via analog wasn't up to par. what was wrong with it?

it must have something to do with settings. there is no way lossless should sound worse than lossy.

i would check the manual for both the sony and the yamaha. there is no reason you should have to replace a 5k receiver. something has to be wrong with the settings.

check the sony settings and check specifically the audio output. obviously someone who has analog connections will be a better help here.

i would also change you thread title because i had no clue that this would be the subject of your thread based on your title. something like this may be better...

Poor Sound through Analog Connections on Sony S550?

[zsultan]

It looks like i have connected everything OK, but will check everything again. My biggest concern is bass is not that great through 7.1 analog input and also i have to crank up the volume compared to optical connection (core dolby decoded by Z9).

Thanks

[zsultan]

Hello,

I am a new member here, need help in choosing a blu ray player.

I recently bought a HD camcorder (Canon HF100), so to view my home videos i was thinking of buying a Blu ray player. I also own Yamaha Z9 receiver for my home theatre with Paradigm studio series speakers and subwoofer.

I bought Sony-BDPS550 today from circuitcity since it has inbuilt decoders for Dolby True HD and DTS HD and 7.1 analog out since my Z9 doesnt have those decoders built in and also no HDMI input. I tested the audio of the blu ray player with Indiana Jones blu ray disc. I connected blu ray player to Z9 through 7.1 analog input and to my surprise i found that Dolby Digital as well as Dolby True HD decoding quality of BDP-S550 is crap, then i connected my Z9 through optical cable and decoded through Z9 ofcourse it was decoding only DD core of the Dolby True HD, but it sounded awesome. There was a difference of day and night.

My questions to audio experts out there is does Dolby Digital and Dolby True HD sound way different? I mean whether the quality of lossless format far better than lossy format or they have very sutle sound quality difference?

I like my Z9 receiver and do not want to spend money to upgrade to a Dolby True HD capable receiver if the difference is not very noticable and also thinking of getting a PS3 for playing blu ray discs, since its a player as well as game console and can hook up my receiver to it through optical cable.

Please advise.

Thanks in advance.

[Zman2k2]

I'm wondering how you have the speaker settings set-up in the player. I just downloaded the manual, and noticed that on pg. 46+47 that you need to set up speaker sizes and distances when using the Multi-channel analog outs. So it's just like setting up the receiver for the first time again. Since the sound isn't the best, I would look into what those settings are, as they would have a profound effect on sound.

[telemike]

If you like your Z9....look at the Samsung BDP-1500. It can re-encode all the HD audio formats to a 1.5 mpbs DTS bitstream for even better performance through optical than other players.

[Zman2k2]

I postd this in the other thread.

Originally Posted by Zman2k2

I'm wondering how you have the speaker settings set-up in the player. I just downloaded the manual, and noticed that on pg. 46+47 that you need to set up speaker sizes and distances when using the Multi-channel analog outs. So it's just like setting up the receiver for the first time again. Since the sound isn't the best, I would look into what those settings are, as they would have a profound effect on sound.

[ryoohki]

Decoding inside the player is always a hit a miss, they are so many variable. Does the player have good bass management, the type of DAC it have, options it offers for calibration etc. One cheaper way if getting this is getting a new Yamaha Amp, but the not biggest model, at least one of ANALOG OUTS and HDMI 1.3 in and use it has a Pre-Amp and still use you're Z9 as the Amp since it probably it's biggest advantage. If you have a HDMI TV off course

[crackinhedz]

definitely good advice. Making sure you set up the speakers correctly in 7.1 analog mode in the player settings.

also, make sure any dynamic range control is set to off, or "wide" I think sony uses?

[zsultan]

Thanks for all your responses.

What i dont like betweeen the S550s 7.1 analog out and decoding core dolby with Z9 is with 7.1 analog i need to crank up the sub woofer level to get bass compared to bitstream Dolby Digital. After listening both and comparing them number to times last night and this morning. I think with 7.1 analog (True HD) sound is distinct and non distorted, with core DD i think get more bass but can hear some/little distortion.

So the problem is need to crank up the sub to get bass to my liking with 7.1.

Is this normal with 7.1 analog compared to receiver decoding DD.

Please advise.

Thanks

[zsultan]

Originally Posted by Zman2k2

I'm wondering how you have the speaker settings set-up in the player. I just downloaded the manual, and noticed that on pg. 46+47 that you need to set up speaker sizes and distances when using the Multi-channel analog outs. So it's just like setting up the receiver for the first time again. Since the sound isn't the best, I would look into what those settings are, as they would have a profound effect on sound.

I choose large for speaker size i have paradigm studio 100s, no center surround left and right speakers, measured the distance of speaker to listerner and thats it.

Thanks

[IvenFaint]

Originally Posted by zsultan

Thanks for all your responses.

So the problem is need to crank up the sub to get bass to my liking with 7.1.

Is this normal with 7.1 analog compared to receiver decoding DD.

Please advise.

Thanks

I've found that this is the norm. I'm also using a Sony BDP-S550 connected through the 7.1 analog outputs and I have to turn my subwoofer up. The same thing happens when I play SACDs or DVD-A discs through the analog outs on another player.

Through a digital connection for SD Dolby Digital and DTS soundtracks, I turn it back down again. Kind of a pain, but the lossless audio is SO worth it.

[RandDawg]

Originally Posted by zsultan

Thanks for all your responses.

What i dont like betweeen the S550s 7.1 analog out and decoding core dolby with Z9 is with 7.1 analog i need to crank up the sub woofer level to get bass compared to bitstream Dolby Digital. After listening both and comparing them number to times last night and this morning. I think with 7.1 analog (True HD) sound is distinct and non distorted, with core DD i think get more bass but can hear some/little distortion.

So the problem is need to crank up the sub to get bass to my liking with 7.1.

Is this normal with 7.1 analog compared to receiver decoding DD.

Please advise.

Thanks

I have a 5.1 system but I have noticed that the Bass is more prominent on the DD and dts tracks I play through the optical cable compared to the uncompressed PCM I run through the analogs. The PCM sounds more realistic, but sometimes its nice to have a ton of bass. Not sure about your receiver but mine lets me easily adjust the channel levels at anytime. I have a pioneer vsx-816

[crackinhedz]

Originally Posted by zsultan

I choose large for speaker size i have paradigm studio 100s, no center surround left and right speakers, measured the distance of speaker to listerner and thats it.

Thanks

so you just have front speakers...no center or surrounds?

that is your problem right there, the analog connections are discrete. Meaning, each channel is connection to each individual speaker. So when youre listening to analog, and have no center or surrounds...you are missing audio for those channels.

When you use optical, you are getting audio through each speaker...but its not lossless.

[kingofgrills]

It's important that you calibrate your sound levels for each channel for each input that you use. As Crackinhedz stated, make sure your dynamic range control is off in the player, and then calibrate your Z9 while using a calibration disc playing through your analog inputs - the DVE Blu-ray calibration disc is an excellent choice. Using a sound decibel meter to calibrate the DVE disc audio signal should tune your signal nicely.

Also, make sure you are using high quality analog cables for your inputs, because they will impact the accuracy of the signal your transmitting. Given the gear in your system though, I'm sure you're well aware of that one.

[zsultan]

Originally Posted by kingofgrills

It's important that you calibrate your sound levels for each channel for each input that you use. As Crackinhedz stated, make sure your dynamic range control is off in the player, and then calibrate your Z9 while using a calibration disc playing through your analog inputs - the DVE Blu-ray calibration disc is an excellent choice. Using a sound decibel meter to calibrate the DVE disc audio signal should tune your signal nicely.

Also, make sure you are using high quality analog cables for your inputs, because they will impact the accuracy of the signal your transmitting. Given the gear in your system though, I'm sure you're well aware of that one.

Sorry i have center and surround speakers, I am using Paradigm Stuidio 100s for mains and surround left and surround right and matching center speaker.

[Johk]

Check out this article from dvdfile.

I must mention that the analog subwoofer output is similar in amplitude to the analog subwoofer outputs of both my Toshiba HD DVD players and my Sony BDP-S1 BD player; they are all about 13 dB low. As I described in an earlier article about this issue, I fabricated an external non-inverting line amplifier to boost the bass signal between player subwoofer output and B&K’s input. I continue to use that little amplifier with the new player. Alternatively, excluding the subwoofer output, I could have reduced by 13 dB all the Sony’s audio output levels, or I could have reduced the input sensitivity of the same five channels on the B&K (or a combination of both). The problem with those approaches is that when switching to another audio source, like a digital bit stream for which input sensitivity is not adjustable, the audio amplitude would suddenly jump up. (At best that would be startling; at worst, it could damage a speaker. I find neither acceptable.) In earlier communications with both Sony and Toshiba, the only statement I was able to solicit was that the decoding conforms to standards. I don’t get it.

So this problem with the analog outs is not just for your player... The "external non-inverting line amplifier" that he's using seems to be a good workaround. I'm sure you can contact Dan Ramer from DVDfile to get more information about this!