HD Audio Question...??

wingnut4772

Ok I am a bit confused here (I will admit) with my audio from my Toshiba A1 over HDMI.
I have my Toshiba set at PCM for the audio output going into my Anthem D2 which processes multichannel via HDMI. My question is: since I have selected PCM out, does it make a difference if I choose say 6.1 DTS vs 6.1 DD in the DVD menu? (SD DVDs). And since my Anthem has the capability to apply Dolby PLIIX to my incoming PCM signal, does it make a difference if I even choose 6.1 vs 5.1 in the SD DVD menu? Thanks

unc2701

Nope, doesn't make a difference. You're listening to the L/R downmix (or L/R channels, depending on the player & settings) PCM is just a digital version of the L/R outputs.

wingnut4772

unc2701 wrote:

Nope, doesn't make a difference. You're listening to the L/R downmix (or L/R channels, depending on the player & settings) PCM is just a digital version of the L/R outputs.

The PCM out is all channels (5.1)though over HDMI...?

unc2701

I'm pretty sure it's just a matrixed dolby pro logic downmix- two discreet channels. Your Anthem just takes this like it would the output from, say, a cd player and mixes it into surround sound and sends it to all channels.

If I get the chance I'll check out the toshiba manual & see what I can figure out.

wingnut4772

My Anthem tells me the incoming signal is 5.1.

unc2701

Huh. I'm stumped then... unless it's decoding it and sending PCM streams for all channels. Have to look that up. If that's the case, it still wouldn't matter what you chose on the the DVD menu.

wingnut4772

Yes. The Toshiba decodes into PCM and sends it out to all 5 channels. Thanks

cnjvh

wingnut4772 wrote:

Yes. The Toshiba decodes into PCM and sends it out to all 5 channels. Thanks

Yup. It does this because all hi-def disc formats are in DD+ or Dolby TrueHD and at this time and there are no receivers available that can decode these bitstreams. Additionally, most of these HD discs are advanced content (which means menu sounds and what not are mixed into the audio) and advanced content HD discs will always need to be decoded by the player so these sounds can be mixed into the audio before being sent to the receiver.

disneyjoe7

I have found out on my own that some HDMI devices may not pass the DD5.1 signal, so I been doing this. I use HDMI for video only, digital output via Coax or Optical for my audio.

mrbigbluelight

disneyjoe7 wrote:

I have found out on my own that some HDMI devices may not pass the DD5.1 signal, so I been doing this. I use HDMI for video only, digital output via Coax or Optical for my audio.

If use that route, I believe you have to set digital output to "RAW".

cnjvh

disneyjoe7 wrote:

I have found out on my own that some HDMI devices may not pass the DD5.1 signal, so I been doing this. I use HDMI for video only, digital output via Coax or Optical for my audio.

Also when using this connection you are not getting the benefit of the higher quality dolby digital + or TrueHD audio tracks. I'm just guessing your Onkyo pre-pro doesn't handle HDMI switching? Does it have multichannel analog in? You could use the player's multichannel analog out to your analog in and enjoy those nicer audio tracks (of course that leaves the bass management up to the player which may not be to your taste).

sickicw

There is lots of info on this over in avsforum.com
I would think you can select what format you want in the hd-dvd menu (dd plus or dd-hd) and then it will output that format over hdmi with 6 channel pcm. You might have to somehow tell the player to use multichannel output over hdmi. I know it works, but now sure how. i only use the multichannel analog outs for dd-hd.

disneyjoe7

The problem I had was trying to eliminate an Optical cable by getting the DD5.1 Optical output from the Plasma TV. Feeding the TV with a HDMI cable from my DirecTV Tivo HD recorder.



STB (HDMI) -> Plasma (optical) -> AVR No worky DD2.1 ok / DD5.1 not

OTA (ant) -> Plasma (optical) -> AVR Worky oh YES.

Schwingding

wingnut4772 wrote:

The PCM out is all channels (5.1)though over HDMI...?

Can't speak for all, but my Samsung BDP1000 sends all channels L/PCM if configured thusly, not a downmix.

HDMI 1.1 can pass LPCM to a receiver so that the receiver can process all included channels as it would through a typical toslink or 5 analog channel input.

You configure the player to send audio via PCM rather than Bitstream to capture the glory of high resolution audio. Use bitstream for standard def DVDs to get the DD/DTS tracks.

doggie750

I am still out of touch of this Bluray...HD DVD HDMI technology.....I am not even sure if my processor will be able to manage this when I get my PS3. Please advise.