HDMI audio versus Analog audio?

digitalvideo

I was wondering the differences in audio quality for home theater between HDMI setup versus Analog hooked up to 7.1 surround speaker system?

I have my home theater setup completely through HDMI wiring and I'm wondering if that's the superior route to go to get the best sound for movies, tv/sports?

My home theater setup:

Pioneer Elite Kuro Pro-111fd
Pioneer Elite SC-05 reciever
Oppo bdp-83 universal player

Knucklehead

fewer cables with hdmi. They both use PCM to decode so.........

thuffman03

I have not been a big HDMI fan. I like the thought of only one cable but with all the issues HDMI 1.1 and 1.2 had and now the rumors that 1.4 is coming out and it is a completely different cable I will stick with my DVI and digital coax cables.

cnh

Knucklehead wrote: »

fewer cables with hdmi. They both use PCM to decode so.........

That's not entirely accurate. Your main concern is what is doing the conversion to analog. I'd put my MONEY on the DACs in a good AVR any day over an internal conversion in a cheapo cable box or HDTV. If you have a good receiver with good DACs then it will receive the digital signal and convert it to analog with its internal DACs. If you use analogs from a BOX you can only get 2 channel stereo decoded by the less than audiophile box. Even if you want Dolby surround from a box you've GOT to hook up a DIGITAL connection and let your receiver process it, Toslink or coax or HDMI--whatever output your receiver has; other wise you cannot get Real 5.1 surround on TV.

cnh

Erik Tracy

Quality of DACs could contribute to a difference in audio 'quality' as well...depending on which unit has the better DACs could determine how you want the audio to traverse your system.

Also, depending on the source player - speaker and bass management features may or may not be as good as what you find in higher end AVRs.

Gotta do your homework and be willing to try things out.

slowpolky

i thought hdmi wipes the floor because a digital cable cannot carry that high a bandwidtth of information . i hooked my marantz dvd 4001 and tryed a cd , nora jones running into my onkyo 607 , the hdmi allowed me to upsample it to 192 hz iand this sounded far superior to the digital coaz connection. But i wonder things like ,could a rotel 1067 sound better than my hdmi onkyo 607 when hooked up to a high quality blue ray source

cnh

It depends on the source.....for example, my Yamaha DVD-Audio/SACD player can upsample CDs to 176+ Khz internally and send that out to the AVR over analog inputs! Quality of your DACs are more important for 2 channel especially.

You want to go with the best DACs you have for 2 channel. If those are in the AVR use that digital connection, if they're in the CDP/DVP use those and hook analog to the amp/receiver!

The extra bandwidth on HDMI is only an advantage for HD-sound formats and Video where you need that width...DVD-Audio and SACD are most commonly decoded in the player and output to multi-analog inputs on a pre/ or AVR.

cnh

Knucklehead

cnh wrote: »

That's not entirely accurate. Your main concern is what is doing the conversion to analog. I'd put my MONEY on the DACs in a good AVR any day over an internal conversion in a cheapo cable box or HDTV. If you have a good receiver with good DACs then it will receive the digital signal and convert it to analog with its internal DACs. If you use analogs from a BOX you can only get 2 channel stereo decoded by the less than audiophile box. Even if you want Dolby surround from a box you've GOT to hook up a DIGITAL connection and let your receiver process it, Toslink or coax or HDMI--whatever output your receiver has; other wise you cannot get Real 5.1 surround on TV.

cnh

I was just taking stab at it....still learning here. Youve helped a lot of people including myself. Thanks for clearing that up cnh.:D

slowpolky

so are we saying here that a cheap blue ray player hooked up to a so so receiver than it would if we had the same movie on dvd hooked up with the best dvd player with the best analog receiver at a low volume

slowpolky

the blue ray and so so would sound better?

cnh

I don't quite follow you except to say that theoretically (since not all Blu-ray soundtracks are equal..some are mere transfers of lower quality sound) for surround sound Dolby Digital and DTS on a DVD CANNOT compete with Dobly Tru HD and DTS HD-Master Audio...the bit rates on those FAR exceed DVD sound period. Which is why you need HDMI transfer.

Would the Blu-ray sound better? Yes in most instances unless your speakers are super high end, your amplification excellent, and your DVD player among the best. In that case...let's say you were comparing an Onkyo 606 with a Polk M50 system up front with something much much better than that! Well, you'd have to listen first. Because even though that Blu-ray may have tons of resolution on it. That system will only let you hear 'some' of that! It's not as straightforward as it seems. The BETTER system will probably sound better with a mere DVD!

The real question to ask is would Blu-ray sound better on my system than Digital tracks on a DVD...generally yes...again unless you're running a HTIB--then you won't HEAR much of a difference. Because your sat. speakers don't have wide range resolution to handle the increased details and nuances on a blu-ray.

And let's not forget about 'amplification' but that's even more complicated.

cnh

slowpolky

lets say we have an awesome blue ray player with polk rti6 csi3 and fxi3 would a rotel 1057 sound better doing analog 7.1 than an onkyo 606 doing 7.1 with hdmi

digitalvideo

digitalvideo wrote: »

I was wondering the differences in audio quality for home theater between HDMI setup versus Analog hooked up to 7.1 surround speaker system?

I have my home theater setup completely through HDMI wiring and I'm wondering if that's the superior route to go to get the best sound for movies, tv/sports?

My home theater setup:

Pioneer Elite Kuro Pro-111fd
Pioneer Elite SC-05 reciever
Oppo bdp-83 universal player

With my setup above am I getting 5.1 and 7.1 sound when available while watching tv and movies with all the latest Dolby and DTS? Everything is wired through HDMI. I have a 7.1 surround speaker system.

digitalvideo

My tv programing is currently through cable Comcast converter box. Could I get better HD programing through satellite with my setup?

cnh

digitalvideo wrote: »

My tv programing is currently through cable Comcast converter box. Could I get better HD programing through satellite with my setup?

That's a good question....because a lot of cable providers COMPRESS their HD signals! Not sure if satellite has more bandwidth and less compression maybe someone knows?

But if you're asking can you get more HD channels with Sat. That depends on the provider...some 'do' offer a lot more at the same price!


cnh

cnh

slowpolky wrote: »

lets say we have an awesome blue ray player with polk rti6 csi3 and fxi3 would a rotel 1057 sound better doing analog 7.1 than an onkyo 606 doing 7.1 with hdmi

Yes, if your Blu-ray can decode the HD format and send it to the Rotel's multi-analog ins then the Rotel would probably sound better! It's a better AVR, and your blu-ray source would be first rate!

cnh