Eric Massey

Using an Older Reciever with a Blu-Ray Player

Hi.

I have a Denon AVR-1604 wich is about 5 years old but still works great. It's a 6.1 DTS-ES capabale reciever, although I only have a 5.1 speaker system due to the space constraints of my condo. It has s-video inputs (irrelevant) with 3 digital optical, one digital coaxial, and 5.1 analogue audio inputs.

I would like to upgrade my current DVD player to a high definition blu ray unit. Obviously I will not be routing the video signal through my reciever since it lacks HDMI inputs, instead I will use my sony bravia LCD for video source selection. My main questions are in regard to the audio, specifically the new HD codecs (DTS-HD Master Audio and Dolby TrueHD):

For those of us who's recievers lack those decoders, I understand it is still possible to take advantage of them using the analogue outputs on most blu ray players (and using the player's DAC). Is it worth the hassle of running all those connections or would I be better off simply using an optical connection and allowing the signal to downmix to DTS when I play material with the new codecs? Is there a significant/audible difference between DTS and the new formats? What exactly happens to the signal in the conversion from TrueHD or Master Audio to DTS? Also, I guess I will lose all the crossover, bass management, and level matching functions of on my reciever if I use the analogue inputs....correct?

Also, say I have a player with 7.1 analogue outputs, but my reciever only has 5.1 inputs. Will I be losing any material in this exchange or is the player's convertor smart enough to "matrix" the missing surround material down to 5.1? Are there any players specifically reccomended for this type of setup (I realize the PS3 is out since it lacks the analogue outputs altogether).

I have heard that using the analogue inputs on a reciever results in "level matching" problems. Does this refer to the difference in volume level when switching sources, or differences between the levels of each audio channel?

Thanks for the help.