HD audio needs clearing up.

[admin_exported]

I've just bought a whole new home theatre set up after a good few weeks of hard research. I'm currently rebuilding the room to install it in whilst all the gear sits up in the study

But i've just been reading some stuff on the forums which i thought i had cleared up that now has me second guessing myself.

 I've got the Onkyo 606 amp which decodes all HD sound formats (correct?) and was originally going to buy the Sony 550 BD player but then opted for the 350 because the main difference is that the 350 doesn't decode all HD audio formats which i don't need anyway because i assumed that i can just connect the 350 to the 606 with a HDMI cable for the video and send the audio down coax to the 606 and let that decode it.

This is what will happen won't it and i will get all HD sound formats...? 

 

[Andrew Everard]

Lee Woodger:This is what will happen won't it and i will get all HD sound formats...?

Yup. And yup.

 

[Anonymous]

ÿAh great! that's reassuring...

Thanks for your speedy reply Andrew.ÿ

 

[The_Lhc]

Lee Woodger: because i assumed that i can just connect the 350 to the 606 with a HDMI cable for the video and send the audio down coax to the 606 and let that decode it.
This is what will happen won't it and i will get all HD sound formats...?

Yes, yes yes yes, no.

You don't need the coax, just connect the 350 to the 606 with the HDMI cable, that carries video AND audio. Coax (and optical) digital connections DO NOT carry HD audio, they don't have the necessary bandwidth.

 

[Anonymous]

Oh really?!

I half understand the whole PCM vs. Bitstream thing but not totally clearly...

And so therefore i guess that the reason you need a digital audio cable out of Sky+ HD is just to transmit a regular multichannel audio mix and there is no HD sound content being streamed of of Sky+ HD...?ÿ

 

[Liam19]

You only need a coaxial/optical connection between Sky+HD and receiver because Sky+HD is unable to send multichannel audio (of any kind, let alone HD audio) over HDMI. Without this separate connection, your receiver will get only stereo sound.

Otherwise, setting up your system is straightforward - connect whichever BD player you end up with (350, 550, or any other model able to bitstream all HD audio codecs via HDMI) to the 606 via HDMI, set the player to Bitstream, and you're away.

 

[The_Lhc]

Lee Woodger:
Oh really?!

I half understand the whole PCM vs. Bitstream thing but not totally clearly...

And so therefore i guess that the reason you need a digital audio cable out of Sky+ HD is just to transmit a regular multichannel audio mix and there is no HD sound content being streamed of of Sky+ HD...?

Ah, no, different problem! THAT'S because Sky have b0rked their implementation of HDMI, inasmuch as they don't pass the DD audio down the HDMI cable, only stereo, the SkyHD boxes are still using the digital audio output for DD, which is very, very stupid, or lazy of Sky, not to have done it properly.

So yes, in that case you do need both connections, indeed for SkyHD most people recommend you just stick the HDMI straight into the TV, so you have the option of watching TV without your amp on, should you want to, and the digital audio into the amp.

But for Blu-Ray, no, don't need the digital audio connection, it's all done through HDMI.

 

[Anonymous]

Riiiiiight.ÿ

Thanks guys (or girls).

I smell a refund on some expensive cables! ÿ

 

[Andrew Everard]

Again yes, to clarify: for the BD player you just need HDMI to the receiver, for Sky+HD you also need a digital audio connection to get surround sound.

 

[Big Aura]

Lee Woodger:

I smell a refund on some expensive cables!

except - you still need a HDMI from blu-ray to Amp, and from Sky+HD to Amp and from Amp to Screen. You need an extra cable (optical for 5.1 from Sky+HD to Amp. No refunds, only more cashola to spend.

 

[Anonymous]

No, no. I have all my HDMI cables and the optical for the Sky+ HD but i will get a refund on the Coax i bought for the BD player that cost me like £40 or summat...

I'm actually photo documenting the day by day build of my system (listed below) from the stripping of the old room, re-building and designing, then installation. So keep a look out! Don't expect it too soon though because we only get chance to work at the weekends and we're only two weeks in with just the new ceiling in and speaker cables run in...!

Getting excited about it though just frustrated that it's going to take so long to get up and running..!

 

[The_Lhc]

Lee Woodger: I'm actually photo documenting the day by day build of my system (listed below) from the stripping of the old room, re-building and designing, then installation. So keep a look out! Don't expect it too soon though because we only get chance to work at the weekends and we're only two weeks in with just the new ceiling in and speaker cables run in...!

Getting excited about it though just frustrated that it's going to take so long to get up and running..!

Are you doing all that yourself(ves)? My missus came up with a cracking idea this weekend, she's suggested turning the cupboard under the stairs into a media library/AV rack room (it's a big "cupboard", full size door from the dining room, you can stand up in there, it sits between the dining room and the living room but the "wall" on the living room side is actually plaster board, so it's coming down!), which I'm seriously considering. the only trouble we've got is that it's an old house with cob stone walls, which are a proper nuisance, so I don't know how I'm going to hide the cabling because you can't really channel into the walls.

The floor is concrete though, suppose I could cut channels in that, but that's a lot more work than I was anticipating, not to mention upheaval, which I don't think will go down very well with the other half, unless I casually mention new carpet, and then she'll be all for it! There's always flat speaker cable I guess...

 

[Anonymous]

Yeah, me and my step dad is lending a hand to do it ourselves...

What we've done for the ceiling is cross batten it so it's 50mm lower than the original ceiling. Then we've run all the light cables and speaker cables in that ready for the plasterer to come. So you obviously don't want to chase into the floor and you can't chase the cob stone. Could do the ceiling trick then run it down?ÿ

ÿ

 

[The_Lhc]

Lee Woodger: What we've done for the ceiling is cross batten it so it's 50mm lower than the original ceiling. Then we've run all the light cables and speaker cables in that ready for the plasterer to come. So you obviously don't want to chase into the floor and you can't chase the cob stone. Could do the ceiling trick then run it down?

Well it's a false ceiling anyway, in effect, so I could do, but then you've still got to hide the lengths of cable coming down the walls from the ceiling anyway.

 

[Anonymous]

Yeah there's no way around that... if it wasn't cob stone wall and just some ugly, unchase-able wall i would suggest just going over it with 10mm of plaster and then chase into that but obviously you want to keep the cob stone. No way around it unless you buy a rack/stand to put your screen on then go along the floor...

 

[The_Lhc]

Lee Woodger:Yeah there's no way around that... if it wasn't cob stone wall and just some ugly, unchase-able wall i would suggest just going over it with 10mm of plaster and then chase into that but obviously you want to keep the cob stone.

The cob isn't visible, it's all been papered and painted over by several previous owners!

No way around it unless you buy a rack/stand to put your screen on then go along the floor...

I hadn't even thought of the TV to be honest, I was just thinking about the speaker cable, but yes, the hdmi and power to the TV will be an issue as well.