am i getting hd sound?

[admin_exported]

i'll start this again....

when i had my bdp outputting decoded hd soundtracks to my yamaha as-500 via standard rca's in two channel stereo, was i getting hd sound?

i now have my bdp outputting via coax to my v dac and into my as-500, so i can't be getting hd sound?

is this right?

 

[nads]

nope.

but you may be sending PCM stereo sound.

 

[Anonymous]

but when i had my avr (now sold) decoding the hd soundtracks then sending the hd sound to my stereo amp which was connected to the avr's pre-outs i was getting two channel hd sound, right?

the only thing that has changed in the first configuration i mentioned is that i've removed the avr and am letting my bdp do the decoding and then sending the audio directly to my stereo amp..

so why would that not be hd stereo sound as it was before?

 

[grdunn123]

I don't think so, rca won't carry HD sound

 

[Anonymous]

grdunn123:I don't think so, rca won't carry HD sound

if a bpd with multi channel analogue outs is connected to an avr (via rca's/analogue interconnects) that doesn't decode hd soundtracks..

you still get hd sound once the bdp can decode the hd audio data, and is configured to do so.

why would a bdp not be able to decode the hd soundtrack and send it via the same interconnects (albeit in stereo) to a stereo amp?

i'm confused

 

[grdunn123]

But that requires 1 rca for each channel - on a stereo amp can you downmix 6 channel HD sound via 2 rca cables? It just doesn't sound right.....but I could be wrong

 

[Messiah]

How was the BD player connected to the AVR when you had it??

 

[Anonymous]

Messiah:How was the BD player connected to the AVR when you had it??
via hdmi. but isn't that a moot point? having taken the avr out of the mix the bdp is now decoding the hd soundtracks and sending the decoded data to the stereo amp via the same interconnects that connected the avr to the stereo amp...

 

[grdunn123]

So you're using coax in to a dac and then rca from dac to amp? Caox can only manage DD 5.1

 

[Anonymous]

grdunn123:So you're using coax in to a dac and then rca from dac to amp? Caox can only manage DD 5.1yes that is what i'm currently doing, and as i said in my op i don't think i can be getting hd audio this way because coax doesn't support it's transfer..

but if i was getting hd audio without having the dac in the mix then i'll remove it from the chain. i know i could listen to both setups and try to decide what sounds best, but if i'm sure i'm getting hd audio without the dac then i'll know what to do, hence this thread...

 

[Messiah]

If your BD player had 5.1 or 7.1 Analogue outputs and you had connected these to the amp then you should get the front left and right HD soundtrack. However if you are using the Coax to the DAC then I believe it will be standard DD/DTS as the coax cannot handle to HD bandwidth.

 

[Anonymous]

Messiah:If your BD player had 5.1 or 7.1 Analogue outputs and you had connected these to the amp then you should get the front left and right HD soundtrack. However if you are using the Coax to the DAC then I believe it will be standard DD/DTS as the coax cannot handle to HD bandwidth.
see above post

 

[Messiah]

Does your BD player have 5.1/7.1 analogue outputs??

 

[nads]

But as the V-dac can not handle any 5.1 sound track (just like most stereo DACs) the input will either be downmixed Stereo or PCM Stereo. No HD sounds at all.

 

[Anonymous]

Messiah:Does your BD player have 5.1/7.1 analogue outputs??
no, it's a sony s370. but it does have stereo outs which i had connected to my as-500.

so i'm wondering why i wouldn't be getting stereo hd audio that way? seeing as the bdp is doing the hd decoding.

 

[Anonymous]

nads:But as the V-dac can not handle any 5.1 sound track (just like most stereo DACs) the input will either be downmixed Stereo or PCM Stereo. No HD sounds at all.
yes, but without the v dac in the chain?

 

[Messiah]

I believe it will only transport the HD soundtrack over HDMI.

 

[Anonymous]

thanks for the replies guys. bedtime now, i'll check the thread tmw

 

[professorhat]

Hi Max, I think I know where you're getting at, the trouble is in the terminology of "HD sound" - in the world of home cinema, as a general rule this has come to reference the new audio formats available on Blu-ray discs i.e. Dolby TrueHD, DTS HD Master Audio or uncompressed PCM. For Blu-ray films, these all consist of at least 6 channels of sound. However, it's not an official term and in the audio world, high def formats tend to mean lossless tracks e.g. 24bit/96KHz tracks downloaded from somewhere like B&W's Society of Sound.

If you're outputting into a stereo amp, then whichever "HD Audio" format used on the Blu-ray has to be downmixed into PCM stereo by the Blu-ray player. If it didn't, you'd only get the front speaker channels output which would mean you wouldn't hear any dialogue in the film given virtrually all the dialogue goes through the centre channel.

So are you getting "HD audio" - not in the traditional home cinema sense as this consists of at least 6 channels - no less. However, you will be getting a PCM stereo downmix of this. Whether it's best to output this directly to your stereo amp from the Blu-ray player via analogue outputs, or whether to output it via a digital coaxial / optical output comes down purely to which Blu-ray player you have and the quality of the internal DAC vs the quality of the external DAC. And in my mind, the best way to determine this would be to demo them both for yourself.

 

[nads]

TBH i think your question is more of a "Am I getting High Resolution stereo sound from my BD player?"?

which will all depend on the player and the settings. but most likely not.

 

[Anonymous]

Well I think prof nailed it! Theres not much else to say except as a headline from his post "It's mixing 6 channels into 2, so not it will not be hi res."

 

[Anonymous]

professorhat:
Hi Max, I think I know where you're getting at, the trouble is in the terminology of "HD sound" - in the world of home cinema, as a general rule this has come to reference the new audio formats available on Blu-ray discs i.e. Dolby TrueHD, DTS HD Master Audio or uncompressed PCM. For Blu-ray films, these all consist of at least 6 channels of sound. However, it's not an official term and in the audio world, high def formats tend to mean lossless tracks e.g. 24bit/96KHz tracks downloaded from somewhere like B&W's Society of Sound.

If you're outputting into a stereo amp, then whichever "HD Audio" format used on the Blu-ray has to be downmixed into PCM stereo by the Blu-ray player. If it didn't, you'd only get the front speaker channels output which would mean you wouldn't hear any dialogue in the film given virtrually all the dialogue goes through the centre channel.

So are you getting "HD audio" - not in the traditional home cinema sense as this consists of at least 6 channels - no less. However, you will be getting a PCM stereo downmix of this. Whether it's best to output this directly to your stereo amp from the Blu-ray player via analogue outputs, or whether to output it via a digital coaxial / optical output comes down purely to which Blu-ray player you have and the quality of the internal DAC vs the quality of the external DAC. And in my mind, the best way to determine this would be to demo them both for yourself.

very well put prof

. i think messiah was thinking along the same lines..

i suppose that when i had my avr in the mix that it was also mixing the decoded hd audio and sending it out as two channel pcm, just as my bdp is probably doing now, i'll experiment a bit, with and without the dac, and see if i can make out a difference..thanks..

 

[professorhat]

Have to say, I am a bit bemused by your comments on when you had an AVR. So you had an AV receiver - were you bitstreaming the HD audio soundtracks to it via HDMI or outputting over analogue multichannel outputs? And if so, how was this then being translated to stereo? And why?!

 

[Anonymous]

professorhat:
Have to say, I am a bit bemused by your comments on when you had an AVR. So you had an AV receiver - were you bitstreaming the HD audio soundtracks to it via HDMI or outputting over analogue multichannel outputs? And if so, how was this then being translated to stereo? And why?!

well, i always had a 5.1 setup, i had my fronts connected to a stereo amp which was connected to my avr's pre-outs..

my bdp was connected by hdmi to the avr. the avr was doing the hd decoding and was driving the centre and rears, and feeding my active sub with it's signal, while also sending the decoded hd audio to my stereo amp which was driving the fronts, and all was well, full hd audio from blu-rays that had hd soundtracks..

then i sold my centre and rears, so in effect my avr was only being used to feed the sub and decode the hd soundracks, it was only acting as a proccessor, my stereo amp was still driving my fronts..

now, with this setup i ran the avr's auto set-up, using the supplied mic, and it set the levels of sub and fronts, but here's the question, was the sound i was then getting in a 2.1 set-up hd sound? because if it was, i can't see why it would be any different to the sound i get when letting my bdp decode the hd audio, and sending the info to my stereo amp..

i've since sold my avr as it wasn't really needed, so i'm trying to find the best set-up without it.

i wonder if the avr was downmixing to pcm in the 2.1 set-up? or sending decoded hd stereo to my as-500? if it was the latter i can't see why my bdp couldn't do the same thing, send decoded hd audio to my as-500 in stereo?

 

[professorhat]

Ah okay. In that case I'm pretty sure it will be the same as, ultimately, whether the downmixing was being done by the Blu-ray player or the AV receiver, you're still getting downmixed stereo from the native 5.1 (or 7.1) soundtrack. You'd have to be or you wouldn't have been hearing any dialogue during films.

I have to admit I'm not actually sure where the downmixing would be done in that circumstance - I'd hedge my bets that it was the AV receiver but nothing to back that up. If I'm correct, the only difference is this is now being done within the Blu-ray player.