HDMI...how important.

pearsall001 · November 2011

I'm in the process of looking at different prepro's & AVR's & am wondering if HDMI is really necessary. For my current setup I run the analog multi-channel from the OPPO BDP into my NAD T765 (doesn't have HDMI nor any of the newer codecs) & for the picture the OPPO & cable box go directly to my TV. Everything looks & sounds great. I'm not all that interested in 3D so we can leave that off the table.

I've looked at some older Classe prepro's (SSP300 & SSP600) neither of which have HDMI nor have any of the latest codecs. That's where the OPPO comes in by doing the decoding. Am I wrong in not going with a newer unit that has all the HDMI & all the newest codecs? Who knows what technology has in store for us down the road.

EndersShadow · November 2011

Well HDMI is one cable for everything. I dont know of many pre-pro's that have mutliple multi channel in's, so you would run out if you had more than one item using those.

Also you could save a bunch by only needing 1 cable rather than all those interconnects. Makes upgrading less expensive lol.

polkfarmboy · November 2011

You need hdmi and most of the time you run analog your just bypassing the receiver or preamp and in most cases you cant run room correction systems on the analog .Get yourself a good pre with hdmi and let the pre decode the high definition audio rather than sending it through the analog because unless you have a 24K krell then there aint much benifit

The other question ragarding hdmi is.... do I need hdmi 1.1 ,1.2,1.3 or 1.4 .I think its better to go with a piece of really nice older piece of equipment that has hdmi1.1 and let the player decode it if you can . I just bought an anthem avm40 with hdmi 1.1 and it blows the pants off my pioneer elite 1.3 receiver

Hdmi can be split into two different categories audio / video so you can stick with one hdmi1.1 audio and 1.4 for video

I think

tonyb · November 2011

Either way Phil, the SQ on a processor will be top notch compared to an AVR. Even if you had something with HDMI, something will come along that needs HDMI 1.5 and still make that obsolete. Not so future proof as they would have you believe. Look at all the issues we have had already with HDMI. All the different versions and this one not compatable with that one and so on. As long as your good on using analog outs on the OPPO, I'd say take it up a notch on the processor. That CA-600 is badass fwiw.

shawn474 · November 2011

I went from a B&K reference 50 pre without HDMI to a Pioneer Elite VSX-21TXH avr that I am using as a pre and the difference to me is night and day. I love the fact that I can the latest audio formats and TO ME the picture is much crisper and defined if that makes sense. I would not go back to a pre or avr without HDMI at this point.

tonyb · November 2011

shawn474 wrote: »

I went from a B&K reference 50 pre without HDMI to a Pioneer Elite VSX-21TXH avr that I am using as a pre and the difference to me is night and day. I love the fact that I can the latest audio formats and TO ME the picture is much crisper and defined if that makes sense. I would not go back to a pre or avr without HDMI at this point.

You don't need HDMI to get the latest audio codecs. I made pretty much the same swap as you only with a B&K 307, and from my perspective, the SQ on the B&k was still yards better in the music dept.

ViperZ · November 2011

pearsall001 wrote: »

I'm in the process of looking at different prepro's & AVR's & am wondering if HDMI is really necessary. For my current setup I run the analog multi-channel from the OPPO BDP into my NAD T765 (doesn't have HDMI nor any of the newer codecs) & for the picture the OPPO & cable box go directly to my TV. Everything looks & sounds great. I'm not all that interested in 3D so we can leave that off the table.

I've looked at some older Classe prepro's (SSP300 & SSP600) neither of which have HDMI nor have any of the latest codecs. That's where the OPPO comes in by doing the decoding. Am I wrong in not going with a newer unit that has all the HDMI & all the newest codecs? Who knows what technology has in store for us down the road.

Totally don't need HDMI in your case. Oppo does all the HD sound decoding anyway.

jbooker82 · November 2011

Yea but it is nice to have the avr switch the sound and video all at once. Instead of having to switch the tv separately.

dkg999 · November 2011

Until I absolutely have to make the change, I'll use my B&K AVR with multi-channel analog input from my CA 650 BDP. The CA BDP seems to have very good decoding and my B&K AVR has better SQ than any of the newer AVR's I've listened to. Close would be the Marantz Pre-Pro with B&K amps. 7.1 is highly over-rated IMHO, so 5.1 with HD audio is good enough for me.

BlueFox · November 2011

It certainly is convenient only dealing with one HDMI cable. My AVR does a better job of turning digital into analog than the Oppo 93, so I save money by not needing the five MIT analog cables between the Oppo and the AVR. Let the Oppo decode the lossless Bluray formats into PCM, and send it over HDMI to the AVR. Also, for my 'old' TV (57" Hitachi digital monitor) the HDMI input to the TV is superior to the component input, and the single cable is easier to deal with than the three component cables. I believe if you have a newer TV you need HDMI to get 1080P, so that is another plus for HDMI.

Any new technology in HT will be HDMI centric, not analog. In fact, the industry is moving to completely stopping any video output from a Bluray player on the analog outputs. If you want to watch Bluray on a new player in the very near future you will need HDMI.

http://forums.highdefdigest.com/blu-ray-hardware-general-discussion/115531-new-2011-blu-ray-players-starting-appear-no-analog-video-audio-output.html

tonyb · November 2011

BlueFox wrote: »

It certainly is convenient only dealing with one HDMI cable. My AVR does a better job of turning digital into analog than the Oppo 93, so I save money by not needing the five MIT analog cables between the Oppo and the AVR. Let the Oppo decode the lossless Bluray formats into PCM, and send it over HDMI to the AVR. Also, for my 'old' TV (57" Hitachi digital monitor) the HDMI input to the TV is superior to the component input, and the single cable is easier to deal with than the three component cables. I believe if you have a newer TV you need HDMI to get 1080P, so that is another plus for HDMI.

Any new technology in HT will be HDMI centric, not analog. In fact, the industry is moving to completely stopping any video output from a Bluray player on the analog outputs. If you want to watch Bluray on a new player in the very near future you will need HDMI.

http://forums.highdefdigest.com/blu-ray-hardware-general-discussion/115531-new-2011-blu-ray-players-starting-appear-no-analog-video-audio-output.html

Point taken, but in Phils case, hdmi isn't a must have. Aside from being a one cable solution, if he doesn't need it in a avr for switching, and doesn't need it for decoding formats, then why does he need it ? True on the analog outputs going away on bdp'ers, but the used market for the ones that have them will make supplies plenty for years to come, I wouldn't worry just yet.

HDMI...how important.

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