HD and BR DVD

NeilGabriel

I injected a question on this before in an existing thread, but I want to better understand the answer. This is from an HD DVD promo site.

"Unlike DVD or other HD formats that rely on an audio/video receiver or pre/pro with HDMI 1.3 to decode the digital audio stream, Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby True HD are decoded directly in the player. As a result, HD DVD can take advantage of existing HDMI connections to AV receivers or pre/pro equipment, as well as the large installed base of analog audio inputs."

It says to me that I can get DD+ and Dolby True HD audio EITHER through the HDMI connection to my receiver or pre/pro, or I can connect through the 5.1 or 7.1 inputs on the receiver/pre-pro? Is this right? Do I really need 7.1 to get the best sound? Does this also then mean 7 channel amp (either receiver or stand alone) and 7 speakers? Is what is true for HD DVD audio true for BD audio as well? A link to a HD DVD audio for dummies would be fine. Thanks for any help.

Mike

bobman1235

The first thing you said is true - if your player has analog outputs (mine doesn't, unfortunately) then you can use those instead of an HDMI cable to a "capable" pre/pro and get TrueHD sound.

As for the 7 speakers vs 5, that's up to you. The player, if it has analog outs, should allow you to select how many speakers you actually have. Sure, if you had a DVD that had seven discrete channels, you'd be putting some of the so und designated for the back speakers into the surrounds, but seriously, I can't imagine you'd notice or care.

NeilGabriel

bobman1235 wrote: »

The first thing you said is true - if your player has analog outputs (mine doesn't, unfortunately) then you can use those instead of an HDMI cable to a "capable" pre/pro and get TrueHD sound.

As for the 7 speakers vs 5, that's up to you. The player, if it has analog outs, should allow you to select how many speakers you actually have. Sure, if you had a DVD that had seven discrete channels, you'd be putting some of the so und designated for the back speakers into the surrounds, but seriously, I can't imagine you'd notice or care.

So...You can just run HDMI to your receiver or pre/pro from the HD or BR DVD and get true HD audio also? And do you need 7 inputs or 5 in analog mode? Thanks.

bobman1235

NeilGabriel wrote: »

So...You can just run HDMI to your receiver or pre/pro from the HD or BR DVD and get true HD audio also?

IF your receiver or pre/pro supports True HD audio and has HDMI 1.3 inputs, then yes.

And do you need 7 inputs or 5 in analog mode? Thanks.

Depends if you have a 5.1 or 7.1 system. If you're only running 5.1, you'll only need 5 (well, 6 , cuz you'd need one for the LFE channel, aka subwoofer). Just make sure you go through the setup procedure on your player to tell it what setup you have.

jakelm

My HK635 does not have HDMI, but does have 7.1 analog input. My XA1 has both HDMI and 5.1 analog out. Since my HK does not have HDMI, I run jacks from the XA1'a 5.1 analog out to the HK's analog in. The XA1 is set to decode DD+ and TrueHD, and send the raw signal to the HK. So its the best sounding HT audio I have ever heard.

Watched Harry Potter last night. Watched it with TrueHD, absolutly awsome.

Some players have 7.1 out rather than just 5.1 out.

BIZILL

if your receiver has hdmi, but not 1.3, then you can still send audio via pcm from the player to the receiver, effectively giving you the same thing as dolby trueHD.

NeilGabriel

Just when I thought it was safe to tell my friends I understood home theater. Thanks guys.

Sherardp

NeilGabriel wrote: »

Just when I thought it was safe to tell my friends I understood home theater. Thanks guys.

This hobby evolves so much, most of us are learning all the time. Share the knowledge with your friends so they know as well.

Sevenpointone

""My HK635 does not have HDMI, but does have 7.1 analog input. My XA1 has both HDMI and 5.1 analog out. Since my HK does not have HDMI,
I run jacks from the XA1'a 5.1 analog out to the HK's analog in. The XA1 is set to decode DD+ and TrueHD, and send the raw signal to the HK. So its the best sounding HT audio I have ever heard. ""


I don't have the XA1, I use the Xbox HDDVD and Sony Blue ray, why mess with 6 RCA's and over 18' of potential troublesome wiring and use your Optical Out to your AVR. Same reason I will only run HDMI straight to the monitor. longer wire runs, switches inside the AVR, PC boards in the AVR. Just seems cleaner in theory to me. The raw signal is digital bits. If your decoding in the XA1 its analog as you said. 6 good RCA's is a mighty expense compared to one optical cable.

Disc Jockey

By using the optical out, the best you can do is DD+ (compressed). By using the analog jacks you can listen to lossless TrueHD audio, a much better audio format. For some people, having the better audio is more important than having fewer cables.

BIZILL

Sevenpointone wrote: »

""My HK635 does not have HDMI, but does have 7.1 analog input. My XA1 has both HDMI and 5.1 analog out. Since my HK does not have HDMI,
I run jacks from the XA1'a 5.1 analog out to the HK's analog in. The XA1 is set to decode DD+ and TrueHD, and send the raw signal to the HK. So its the best sounding HT audio I have ever heard. ""

so what are you doing to get sound from your 7.1 back-surrounds?

Disc Jockey wrote: »

By using the optical out, the best you can do is DD+ (compressed). By using the analog jacks you can listen to lossless TrueHD audio, a much better audio format. For some people, having the better audio is more important than having fewer cables.

i believe DD+ comes through optical as either dts or dd.

Disc Jockey

BIZILL wrote: »

i believe DD+ comes through optical as either dts or dd.

That's right, my mistake. It will come through as a higher bitrate dd or dts than normally found on sd dvds but it is not DD+, which actually reinforces my point.

jakelm

BIZILL wrote: »

so what are you doing to get sound from your 7.1 back-surrounds?
.

So far, everything I have picked up in HD is 5.1 DD+ or 5.1 TrueHD. So the surround back channels could not be utilized anyways.

But what I did, I doubt most people would do, is split the surround left and right, and fed the signal to both surround and surround back channels, via Y splitter, in back of 635. The only reason I did this, is because I could not stand to have speakers just sit there and do nothing....LOL... But the results were surprizingly good. Its still a 5.1 signal but now its more like having 5.1 in the back and sides, kinda like a movie theater. Some people might srgue a delay issue, but the distance between the sides surrounds to me, and the back surrounds to me, is only about 4 feet. (6' side to listening position, 10' surround back to listening position) thus I found no delay issue.

The DTS bit rate is higher when feeding DD+ through digital, but, it is still not as high as DD+ or TrueHD. Yes, it does sound better than SD DTS, but not as good as DD+ or TrueHD. I found (for some odd reason) that I'm watching more and more movies, even SD dvd's, with runing Direct 8 channel on the 635. 8 channel direct, IMO, gives me a much fuller, richer sound. And I dont have to push the 635 as hard to get the same dB level as digital.

To my ears, the Direct mode, has a much flatter Fr responce, rather than that "V" shaped Eq'ing the digital seems to put out.