Should I output PCM or bitstream from my blu-ray player

[trevoralves]

I have a Pioneer BDP-LX55 blu-ray player and a Pioneer SC-LX81 receiver. Should I output PCM or bitstream from my blu-ray player?

 

[The_Lhc]

Try both and see which you prefer, in all likelihood you won't be able to hear any difference, which should be surprising as the difference between the two is down to whether the BDP is doing the decoding or the AV amp is doing the decoding and, given they're both high-end(ish) Pioneer devices the decoding circuit is probably exactly the same.

I made all that up but it sounded good in my head! Bye-bye now!

 

[Glacialpath]

I have a Pioneer BDP-LX55 blu-ray player and a Pioneer SC-LX81 receiver. Should I output PCM or bitstream from my blu-ray player?

Depends if you want to see DTS-HD Master on your amp display. If you set the player to PCM you will only see PCM on yout amp regardless of what audio codec you are listening to.

I prefer to have my LX 71 set to bitstream so I don't have to check my player to make sure the disc contains the audio the packaging says it is. The packaging is not always right.

 

[ellisdj]

The majority think that the av reciever decoding is best.

Its additional processing for the chip in the receiver to do this - where as the chip in the player is probably redundant when set like this

If the player decodes its less work for the chip in the receiver which is probably doing a lot of other things as well which should be a good thing you get hmdi jitter issues as a side effect. I think most receivers are designed to decode so its porbs best to use it this way

Meridian is the opposite and have the blu ray player decoding - then reclock the signal to remove jitter with a certain product called a HD621 so its not a definitve that one is better than the other

Best to try both - I would expect the blu ray player decoding to be a softer less dynamic sound from my own experiences on recent years on Pio Players and Receivers.

BTW Setting to PCM means the player is decoding

 

[Glacialpath]

Something I just remebered. When I used to let my LX71 do the decoding I had a problem with the audio on the BD of Daybreakers. One of the channels was not decoding properly and I thought it was the disc. I took it to work and it was fine. Then I thougt it was just a compatabilty issue with my player.

I was right. Know I got my SC-LX73 and set the player to bitstrem the audio on that disc is fine.

Just another reason why I believe it's best to let the AVR do it's job and use your BD player as an audio transport thus letting it concentrate on the picture.

 

[BIGBERNARDBRESSLAW]

BTW Setting to PCM means the player is decoding

Is that right?

I thought BDP being set to export PCM meant the AV Receiver was doing the decoding, and BDP exporting Bitstream meant the BDP had done the decoding.

Am I wrong?

 

[Glacialpath]

ellisdj is correct. When a player is set to PCM it means the player is decoding the audio. You will see PCM on the AVR and that is the chip the AVR will use to recieve the signal and amplify it. Something like that.

When the player is set like this and you watch a title say with DTS hD Master. You should see DTS HD-MA in the players onscreen display, not the one on the front of the player.

When the player is set to bitsream it send the correct flag signal to tell the amp which chip to use to decode to audio. That why if th disc has say Dolby TrueHD it shows up on the AVRs front display.

Sorry for the long winded explination but I hope it makes sense.

 

[BIGBERNARDBRESSLAW]

I think I'm more confused now. *lol*

I want my receiver to do the work as it's much better than my BDP. Should I output Bitstream?

 

[Glacialpath]

Sorry.

Yes is the short answer.

 

[BIGBERNARDBRESSLAW]

Sorry.

Yes is the short answer.

Thanks. *biggrin*

 

[buzz_lightclick]

Set to bitstream = AV receiver does the decoding.

Set to PCM = Blu Ray disc player does the decoding.

Will you hear a difference? Probably not!

 

[Glacialpath]

Set to bitstream = AV receiver does the decoding.

Set to PCM = Blu Ray disc player does the decoding.

Will you hear a difference? Probably not!

It's not just about hearing a difference. You are most likely right that there is no difference.

One issue I had was when I watched Day Breakers and had my player decoding it there was an error with the playback.

When I got my current amp and still witht e same player but now set to bitstream that error went away and the film plays back correctly.

Granted with the Total Recall remake with the player set to bit stream I got half way through the film and the disc crashed. The only way to get through it was to set the player to do the decoding.

The issue though was not my player or my amp but an authoring issue with the disc. I know this because I worked for the company that did the disc at the time. Not when they authord it but when I watched it and found the error. It was the US that made the error.

Player docoding is mainly for people who don't have and AVR to cope with the audio codec on the disc but as I've said before. With DVD, if the player doesn't have a DTS decoder in it you can't listen to the DTS stream.

Of course we are on BD now and all the player should have the means to decode the audio codecs available for BD but when the PS3 was released and other players that came out the same time they didn't have the means to decode DTS HD-MA or Dolby TrueHD for the simple fact those codecs had not been released yet. Firmware upgrades had to be issued for them to be decoded internaly.

I personally think it's best for the AVR to do itss job and let the player just worry about video.