I've read elsewhere that suppsoedly the two Toshiba HD-DVD players out now can decode TrueHD and DTS-HD with a firmware upgrade. Can't remember what connection(s) the decoded signal used though.
IMO having a 5.1/7.1 analog input on a receiver, along with some old-skool stereo ones, ought to nearly future-proof any receiver. Digital just is not the end all/be all of audio. And if you read the industry news sites, the RIAA and Hollywood reeeeeeally want those analog connections dropped & all the digital ones to be encrypted with some form of DRM (just like HDMI already is).
I don't know about that. Based on what I've read here and avsforum, the only thing that seems to be consistantly good about it compared to a component connection is that it consists of one cable instead of three i.e. less cable clutter - yay.
But
consistant image quality improvements? Jury's still out on that one. And I have seen some people here complaining that the HDMI plug doesn't even fit securely in its socket - not a big deal on the surface but its symbolic of the mess that is HDMI.
And as far as upscaling through HDMI, on this very forum several people admitted that every HD monitor
already upscales non-HD signals, because they
have to i.e. the screen would have visible scan lines if it did not.
One thing about any HD player I have yet to discover is whether or not they also include a bass management system for any of their audio formats. I'll readily admit I haven't checked out other receivers concerning this subject (actually I don't even know
which receivers decode [into analog] the LPCM sent via HDMI, rather than just act as a switching station*) but for a recent Panasonic digital receiver, the manual stated that when using the HDMI input, any bass management must be perfromed in the
player.
From the SA-XR57's
.pdf manual, page 18:
Quote:
|
Enjoying DVDAudio sources through digital connections Speaker settings (pages 14 and 31) are canceled when the unit receives a DVD-Audio multi-channel signal through the HDMI input terminal. Set distances from the listening-viewing position and speaker sizes on your DVD recorder or DVD player in such cases.
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It talks about dvd-audio signals, but dvd-audio signals are also LPCM.** And since AFAIK Dolby TrueHD is basically just rebranded dvd-audio, I think this would be true for TrueHD also.
Feisal, check out this statement, from page 5 (my emphasis):
Quote:
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Make connections instructed in “To enjoy high-quality analog sounds using DVD-Audio discs (DVD analog 6-channel connections)” (page 8) and perform DVD analog 6-channel playback (page 18) when the DVD recorder or DVD player you connected is unable to make digital output of multichannel sounds in DVD-Audio (e.g. HDMI Ver. 1.0 equipment).
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Version 1.0? How do you know what version a player uses?
Quote:
|
fairly safe for a couple of years
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Is something major on the horizon?
*
not all manufacturer sites allow you to download manuals without registering with them
**
and if the MLP lossless compression system was used on the dvd, I'm just assuming the player DEcompresses these and then sends them out
: a couple weeks ago I was checking out a Fry's electronics store I'd never been to. They have a lot of interesting audio gear from the big brands that brick-n-mortar Best Buy/Circuit stores don't carry I guess because its too specialized (like an Onkyo power amp for example & I think they sold a Mini-Disc player/recorder too) and less popular brands. They sell some stuff from AudioSource which in this story's case was a 
I've been waiting for someone to do this i.e. start chipping away at that system so the user HAS to buy speakers he doesn't absolutely need and force him to place them somewhere in his listening room. I just didn't think Onkyo would be the one to do it.
