Which lower cost Bluray players have 7.1 surround sound?

Timothy J Wolfe · 06-05-2008, 04:03 AM

Which lower cost Bluray players have 7.1 surround sound? I am hoping to get aplayer next week with Walmarts gift card promo but want to make sure it has the 7.1 surround because that will be my next big purchase.

dany · 06-05-2008, 09:27 AM

My guess is all of the Blu-Ray player are.

Scooter · 06-05-2008, 09:47 AM

7.1 is in the BD spec. Are you asking about a direct 7.1 analogue outputs/internal decoder thing?

Timothy J Wolfe · 06-05-2008, 02:35 PM

I am not real sure but I thougt I had heard that some did not support 7.1 but it sounds like it theyu all do as long as you go through HDMI, is that correct?

Stephen Tu · 06-05-2008, 02:40 PM

Depends if you are decoding in the player or in the receiver, and which formats. What receiver are you using?

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Timothy J Wolfe · 06-06-2008, 05:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stephen Tu

Depends if you are decoding in the player or in the receiver, and which formats. What receiver are you using?

I have not bought a 7.1 receiver currently I just have a 5.1 receiver but my next HT purchase I am hoping to get an Onyko 7.1 receiver that has HDMI input.

Chris Gerhard · 06-06-2008, 08:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Timothy J Wolfe

I am not real sure but I thougt I had heard that some did not support 7.1 but it sounds like it theyu all do as long as you go through HDMI, is that correct?

No, most early player models do not support DTS-HD MA, period, whether 7.1 or other. Some don't support Dolby TrueHD 7.1. Most players do require using HDMI for 7.1 audio. The PS3 with current firmware decodes everything and outputs PCM over HDMI. It might also be worth researching how well each player handles whatever you are interested in. The Panasonic DMP-BD30 available at Wal-Mart will bitstream the advanced audio codecs for decoding by an A/V receiver with decoding like the Yamaha RX-V663 and Onkyo TX-SR606 and others. It is also worth researching any possible issues with any given combination of player and decoder. All of this HDMI audio processing is very new and not everything is crystal clear yet to me. I did just order the Yamaha RX-V663 for HDMI audio processing from a PS3, Toshiba HD-XA2 and Oppo DV-980H. I will see how well that works with my HDMI switcher and other HDMI devices I currently own.

Chris

Man-Fai Wong · 06-06-2008, 02:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris Gerhard

No, most early player models do not support DTS-HD MA, period, whether 7.1 or other. Some don't support Dolby TrueHD 7.1. Most players do require using HDMI for 7.1 audio. The PS3 with current firmware decodes everything and outputs PCM over HDMI. It might also be worth researching how well each player handles whatever you are interested in. The Panasonic DMP-BD30 available at Wal-Mart will bitstream the advanced audio codecs for decoding by an A/V receiver with decoding like the Yamaha RX-V663 and Onkyo TX-SR606 and others. It is also worth researching any possible issues with any given combination of player and decoder. All of this HDMI audio processing is very new and not everything is crystal clear yet to me. I did just order the Yamaha RX-V663 for HDMI audio processing from a PS3, Toshiba HD-XA2 and Oppo DV-980H. I will see how well that works with my HDMI switcher and other HDMI devices I currently own.

Chris

One thing. If I understand correctly, it's often a good thing to let the player decode to multi-channel PCM for output to HDMI, particularly in cases where you want to use certain extra features like PiP commentary. I guess if the player passes the lossless audio unconverted/unprocessed as bitstream, then it cannot pass more than one track at a time, which would be needed for something like PiP commentary -- if I understand correctly.

Ideally, you want a player that can do both bitstream and internal decoding, but if you cannot have both, you might be best off having the internal decoding instead of only bitstreaming.

BTW, Chris, I think I saw you bought that Yamaha 663 (off eBay just yesterday or so?). I was actually eyeing the same batch from that dealer. If that's indeed you and you receive yours quickly, please do let me know how the transaction went for you. Seems like an excellent price for a brand new unit -- though I'm not sure if the warranty is still good since I'm not sure if that's an authorized dealer.

_Man_

Timothy J Wolfe · 06-08-2008, 11:26 AM

Thanks for all your feedback I went ahead and got the Samsung BD-P1500 today it seems like it should be great.

Chris Gerhard · 06-09-2008, 11:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Man-Fai Wong

One thing. If I understand correctly, it's often a good thing to let the player decode to multi-channel PCM for output to HDMI, particularly in cases where you want to use certain extra features like PiP commentary. I guess if the player passes the lossless audio unconverted/unprocessed as bitstream, then it cannot pass more than one track at a time, which would be needed for something like PiP commentary -- if I understand correctly.

Ideally, you want a player that can do both bitstream and internal decoding, but if you cannot have both, you might be best off having the internal decoding instead of only bitstreaming.

BTW, Chris, I think I saw you bought that Yamaha 663 (off eBay just yesterday or so?). I was actually eyeing the same batch from that dealer. If that's indeed you and you receive yours quickly, please do let me know how the transaction went for you. Seems like an excellent price for a brand new unit -- though I'm not sure if the warranty is still good since I'm not sure if that's an authorized dealer.

_Man_

Yes, it was me and it is not an authorized dealer. Whether or not Yamaha would have to honor the warranty depends on a number of factors in my opinion, one of which is whether or not the seller got the receiver from Yamaha to sell to the consumer. Yamaha would have a tough time convincing me that the company can sell products to resellers then not honor the warranty. I have had warranty work done on products that indicated on the box came directly from the manufacturer to the reseller even though the reseller wasn't listed as an authorized dealer. It won't be an issue of course unless I have a problem with the receiver but I do understand the point. If as I suspect the recently made receiver did go to the seller directly from Yamaha, I am confident it will be covered if warranty coverage is needed.

Since my PS3 only decodes and doesn't bitstream the advanced codecs, most of the time the RX-V663 will just be handling PCM. My HD-XA2 and Oppo DV-980H both bitstream various audio codecs so I will have a choice there. The HD-XA2 only bitstreams DTS-HD MA, doesn't decode that.

Chris

Man-Fai Wong · 06-09-2008, 08:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris Gerhard

Yes, it was me and it is not an authorized dealer. Whether or not Yamaha would have to honor the warranty depends on a number of factors in my opinion, one of which is whether or not the seller got the receiver from Yamaha to sell to the consumer. Yamaha would have a tough time convincing me that the company can sell products to resellers then not honor the warranty. I have had warranty work done on products that indicated on the box came directly from the manufacturer to the reseller even though the reseller wasn't listed as an authorized dealer. It won't be an issue of course unless I have a problem with the receiver but I do understand the point. If as I suspect the recently made receiver did go to the seller directly from Yamaha, I am confident it will be covered if warranty coverage is needed.

Well, I just went ahead and took the plunge like you. Will see how this turns out soon enough. Hopefully, everything works out smoothly (as one would normally expect), and we don't need to find out more firsthand about the warranty issue. I did pay for it via PayPal w/ my Amex card, so in worst case, I can maybe bring Amex into the matter if problems arise w/in the first 90 days.

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