Blu Ray audio discs

[Nmac]

Help!

I want to listen to Pure Audio Blu-Ray discs on my stereo system: the amplifier has only analogue inputs. I have a Sony Blu-Ray player B-S373.

Can I listen to full quality PCM 24 bit resolution stereo (without any degradation) with this hardware. I have been looking on line for some time and I'm completely confused about HDMI extractors, hardware 'handshakes', signal downgrading due to copyright protection etc. etc.. It seems a complete minefield!

 

[Al ears]

Help!

I want to listen to Pure Audio Blu-Ray discs on my stereo system: the amplifier has only analogue inputs. I have a Sony Blu-Ray player B-S373.

Can I listen to full quality PCM 24 bit resolution stereo (without any degradation) with this hardware. I have been looking on line for some time and I'm completely confused about HDMI extractors, hardware 'handshakes', signal downgrading due to copyright protection etc. etc.. It seems a complete minefield!

Forget it. In my opinion if you have some of these discs then you're going to need a universal disc player like the Oppo or the like.

 

[Leeps]

I have a few, mainly classical. But to me their appeal is the multi-channel / DTS-MA and (so far) apparently superb mastering: the full-fat surround mix just conjures up an orchestra in your room like nothing else: the size of the soundstage and clarity of each instrument brings a real smug expression to my face no matter how much I try not to.

I would be less bothered if it was stereo only to be honest, particularly as I use streaming for most of my music sources now, so it's quite a special occasion these days to actually spin a disc for music.

I use HDMI to my AV receiver, the receiver decodes the DTS-MA. In your case, it all depends on what your Bluray does before sending it through the analogue outputs and that probably varies from player to player.

I know my former Panasonic Bluray player had a much clearer set-up menu that spelled out the options much more clearly, but my current Pioneer BD is pretty unintuitive, so I'm glad I just have to set mine to Bitstream and my AVR confirms precisely what it's decoding by spelling out DTS-MA for example.

The Bluray Audio discs I do have are fantastic, but I think they were thought about 5-10 years or more too late to actually catch on. As the masses (that aren't that fussed about quality) have jumped from owning a DVD player to streaming video, there are a huge number of people who don't own a Bluray player which is probably reducing the market size.

 

[splasher]

The answer to your question is yes, connect the stereo outputs of your bluray to a spare channel on your amp. You won't get a 5.1 mix, and the quality will only be as good as the DAC in your bluray but it should work fine and give you full resolution digital (converted to analogue for your amp obviously).

 

[iMark]

Help!

I want to listen to Pure Audio Blu-Ray discs on my stereo system: the amplifier has only analogue inputs. I have a Sony Blu-Ray player B-S373.

Can I listen to full quality PCM 24 bit resolution stereo (without any degradation) with this hardware. I have been looking on line for some time and I'm completely confused about HDMI extractors, hardware 'handshakes', signal downgrading due to copyright protection etc. etc.. It seems a complete minefield!

We play SACD and Pure Blu-Ray Audio discs on our system. The Blu-Ray player is a Sony BDP-S590, which has stereo outputs. For these two types of discs we basically use the DAC on the Sony itself. Both types of disc sound absolutely fine on our system. (We don't play CDs on our Sony because they have all been ripped and stored on the computer and playback is streamed through an Airport Express and a DAC.)

I have just had a look at the specs of your player.

https://www.sony.co.uk/support/en/content/cnt-specs/BDP-S373/list

It has 2ch output and a 192/24 decocer. Don't worry about anything and just use a stereo RCA cable to connect the Sony to your stereo amp. Your machine will also play SACD, so if you ever see one, you could try one. You will like the sound of both types of disc.

I have noticed that many current (Sony) Bluray players no longer have 2 ch output. These are difficult to connect to a stereo amp. Yours is easy!