Who Needs an HDMI AVR or Pre/Pro for Blu-ray?

[willland]

While HDMI switching is an awesome convenience, as many know, to get the BD codecs(DDTrueHD and DTS-MA), it is not hopeless if you have an older non-HDMI avr. I just bought a new Yamaha BD-S1065 bluray player with 7.1 analog rca outs. I hooked it up via 5.1 analog to my non HDMI NAD T-773 avr with the Yamaha decoding the Dolby TrueHD and DTS-MA tracks. Let me tell you the sound is just plain awesome.

http://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/How_To_Set_up_a_Blu-ray_Player_Using_Multi-Channel_Analog_Outputs_And_Why.shtml

I A-B'd many times back and forth Dolby 5.1 via digital coax and Dolby TrueHD via 5.1 analog and it is not even a close race. I first demoed "Dark Knight" on blu-ray which has an incredible LFE track. Night and day difference with detail and nuances that just don't come through with the non-HD codecs. One thing to note is that the LFE signal needs to be bumped up about 10 to 15db's to even the playing field. This seems to be a common issue with the bass management(.1 channel) on many BD players when you let the player decode. For some reason the .1 signal seems to be output and a lower volume. No big deal to me I just upped the volume on my sub itself.

Second demo was "Live at Radio City-Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds" on blueray with a Dolby TrueHD track. If you have not seen/heard this disc you must get it now. It is my reference BD for music and the video transfer makes it seem like you are at the concert. Crystal clear in every way with some of the best instrument seperation I have ever heard in any format. Tim Reynolds has to be the most technical acoustic guitar player alive today with him just topping David Gilmore in my opinion.

Just a few thoughts and info for those who have not purchased a HDMI receiver and have blu-ray.

Bill

[CECAA850]

Old news but a good reminder for those that are unaware.

[psg]

I started out using the anolog outputs on my non-HDMI receiver. But I got tired of the less-than-adequate bass management of my Blu Ray player,the fact that my receiver didn't allow me to bump the sub channel gain by 10 dB for a single input and not the others, the fact that my receiver channel level adjustments didn't go past +10 dB to the sometimes needed +15 dB, the audio setting I had to change on my Blu Ray player when I wanted to use toslink for DVDs instead of analog out for Blu Ray, and the fact that this was too complicated for anyone else in the family. I got an HDMI receiver.

[willland]

But I got tired of the less-than-adequate bass management of my Blu Ray player,the fact that my receiver didn't allow me to bump the sub channel gain by 10 dB for a single input and not the others,

I did not change the sub settings on my NAD, I just bumped up the volume on my subs digital controls and just reset it with one button press to "recall (movie) settings".

Bill

[willland]

the audio setting I had to change on my Blu Ray player when I wanted to use toslink for DVDs instead of analog out for Blu Ray, and the fact that this was too complicated for anyone else in the family. I got an HDMI receiver.

Your right it can be a pain in the neck for other family members.

I like the sound quality of my NAD receiver so much that I was determined to make it work and not lose out on sound quality.

Bill

[TxEvo8]

I have a similar setup with a Sony Blu ray and Integra AVR; it works pretty good, but I cannot get my sub to play with regular CDs, it is very frustrating! Anybody have any ideas on how to correct the problem?

[BluBitRates]

I am an advocate for MCAO. My pioneer bdp-320 blu-ray player has adjustments for each speaker and sub in its menus. Great way to bring the older receivers into a modern home theater. If i remember that is one heck of a nad receiver you have willand. How many wpc does that thing output?

[willland]

If i remember that is one heck of a nad receiver you have willand. How many wpc does that thing output?

It is rated at 110w/ch with all channels driven and 145w/ch in stereo. My B&K(200w/ch) handles the front three so I am sending(potentially) 145w/ch to the surrounds.

Bill

[wuzzzer]

There's a ton of high end non-HDMI receivers that can be had for pennies on the dollar due to everyone jumping on the HDMI bandwagon. Unfortunately as was mentioned earlier some things such as bass management and other features are usually disabled by most receivers when using their 5.1/7.1 analog inputs. There's sometimes ways to work around things like that so its usually not a deal breaker for most people.

[Frzninvt]

When I purchased my Sony 550 Blu-Ray I specifically looked for one that had the 7.1 analog outputs. I wanted a Denon but it seems only the upper echelon of players offered it. I feed the signals to my NAD T-163 AV Pre/Pro. I have no bass management issues, the Velodyne HGS-15 twins will pin you to the wall. With the Sherbourn 7/2100A powering the balance of the system the dynamics are stellar.