HD Sound through Yamaha RX-V1600 receiver

[admin_exported]

I am considering buying a blu-ray player and wondered what connectivity I need in order to access HD sound formats with my existing AV receiver setup.

My current receiver is a Yamaha RX-V1600, which has HDMI inputs and output but does not decode HD sound formats (I think the latest audio formats at the time I bought the receiver were Dolby Digital EX, DTS 96/24 and DTS-ES).

Do I need to get the blu-ray player to do all the decoding and then send the signal to my receiver via multichannel analogue or is there a way of setting things up so that I still only need the one HDMI cable between the blu-ray player and my receiver for both the audio and video? If more than one method is possible, what are the pros/cons of each and which one should provide the best sound quality overall?

(One reason I am keen to understand this prior to purchasing the player is that it could affect my choice of product. For instance, the Panasonic BD55 has multichannel outputs but the BD35 does not and I am wondering whether I need to spend the extra money on the BD55 to enjoy HD sound without having to upgrade my receiver too!?).

 

[Anonymous]

Blu ray player will have to do the decoding. You will need to hook it up via the multi channel analogue. Not sure of the pros and cons, i haven't tested it but with analogue you'd need 5 or more analogue cables compared to 1 HDMI.

 

[Gerrardasnails]

Charl:Blu ray player will have to do the decoding. You will need to hook it up via the multi channel analogue. Not sure of the pros and cons, i haven't tested it but with analogue you'd need 5 or more analogue cables compared to 1 HDMI.

You would need at least 6 cables for surround sound (5.1). This will give you uncompressed HD audio through a compatible BD player.

 

[Anonymous]

Yeah, 6 or more, forgot about sub cable in 5.1 set up.