Sound quality in blu ray player reviews/comparisons

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When reviews are describing the sound of a blu ray player are they describing the sound of the bytes delivered to the receiver and decoded there or the sound of the onboard decoding?

This is an important question for me because I use an Naim AV2 which I am not letting go of for love nor money and it cannot decode the high def. audio from blu ray. Hence I need a machine with top notch onboard decoding (and decoding of all the high def. audio formats for that matter). A recent blu ray comparison had the Sony 5000ES awarded top honours based on it's sound over the Pioneer LX91, although the LX91 had a slightly better "picture".

So to regurgitate, when the sound of a blu ray is described in a review is this a description of the sound of the onboard decoding or the 'character' of the bitstream delivered to your reference amp/processor?

 

[Anonymous]

Good question.

I have a feeling - guess - most of the reviews and comments are in relation to HDMI into a suitable AVR. On-board decoding is often mentioned as a feature though there is rarely mention of the actual quality of the analogue output stages....

I guess the 'majority' of home cinema set-ups are HDMI based these days... ÿÿ

If only Naim would bring us a AV3 hey ! But along with their increasing disinterest in AV, I don't think they would embrace HDMI as an audio connection anyway...

I agree with you on the AV2, nothing is really going to touch it on standard DVD codecs, so all the bases are covered in that area...Piping in 7 channels into the analogue connection for BD sources, would then give you, potentially, the best of both worlds...The problem being, which player source ??!

If it helps in any way, I was considering the LX-91, mostly for PQ reasons and pairing up with the screen that I have, and would be confident in it's analogue audio output where considerable attention seems to have been given - dedicated power supply, separate DACS etc...However, I'm still not sure if DTS-HD is being decoded on-board yet with the Pioneer...? I would be interested to hear feedback on the Sony decoded output, though I'm not really a fan of their products generally.....

Think I'm going to hold off for just a bit longer, see what comes from Arcam in the AV sector...In light of Naim's wobbly AV portfolio, the Arcam gear may well be the best partnering stuff available...

ÿ

Steveÿ

 

[mattjax05]

thomas orley:So to regurgitate, when the sound of a blu ray is described in a review is this a description of the sound of the onboard decoding or the 'character' of the bitstream delivered to your reference amp/processor?

Don't forget that if a HDMI connection is used (regardless of whether bitstreaming or not) the DACs in the player for sound and video are not active at all. We also need clarification on this - the DACs are the most important factor when determining the sound/audio capabilities, but are they being active in reviews? (Not if a HDMI connection is used)

 

[Andrew Everard]

We test both the performance into a receiver using HDMI and the sound quality available at the multichannel analogue outputs, if available.

 

[mattjax05]

Andrew Everard:We test both the performance into a receiver using HDMI and the sound quality available at the multichannel analogue outputs, if available.

Thanks for the reply albeit a bit vague!

Taking the Pioneer DBP51FD for example. What hardware was tested in audio and video for it to warrant 5 stars please. Was the DACs active in the player (using component video and analogue-out cables)? I'm wondering if the HDMI connection is not the best way to go?

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the clarification Andrew.

But then, when the Panasonic BD-80 is said to be superior to the BD-60 in terms of sound quality, is it the case when decoding is made internally (DAC's player) or is it also the case when decoding is made in the receiver/processor (bitstream via HDMI)?

This is really important to me as I'd like to know whether i'd be better off with the BD-60 rather than the BD-80, considering that I own an Onkyo PR-SC 886 with supposedly fine DAC's.

In other words, the big question is : what's best in terms of sound quality?
BD-60 + Onkyo via bitstream HDMI or
BD-80 + Onkyo via multichannel anlog out (use of BD-80 internal DAC's + analog output stage)

By the way, the same question applies to the Sony BDP-S350 vs. BDP-S550...

Your advice would be greatly appreciated!

PS : in pure audio terms, which one of the Sony vs. Panasonic would you choose?

 

[Andy Madden]

Hi Melomaniac,

if possible, i'd suggest auditioning the BD-80 + Onkyo via bitstream. In our opinion, the high clarity sound mode does make a difference.

 

[Andrew Everard]

mattjax05:Thanks for the reply albeit a bit vague!

Not quite sure how it was vague - we test both: HDMI output, which of course isn't using the player's internal audio DACs, and analogue out, which is.

mattjax05:Taking the Pioneer DBP51FD for example. What hardware was tested in
audio and video for it to warrant 5 stars please. Was the DACs active
in the player (using component video and analogue-out cables)? I'm
wondering if the HDMI connection is not the best way to go?

Ah I see - now you're talking about video, too, whereas the thread is about audio.

Again, we test both the HDMI video output and the analogue video connections and, to answer the post immediately above this one, if there were any major discrepancies between the digital out and analogue out performance, we would highlight them in the review.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks very much for your reply Andy,

It is extremely valuable to me. The fact indeed that you precisely mention that the high clarity sound does have an impact on sound quality even via HDMI is very informative.

So I'll try to audition the BD-80. Do you think the Sony BDP-S550 may challenge the BD-80 in sonic terms, especially with this 'high clarity sound' feature?

Thanks very much!

 

[Andy Madden]

No problem Melomaniac. From what i remember, the high clarity sound setting only works when you are using the HDMI output of the player. Also from memory, i'm pretty sure that the 'BD80 will sound better than the 'S550 too.

 

[Anonymous]

Great! That's all I wanted to know.
It really helped me narrowing down my choices!