Paul W

Need help replacing 10yo Sony to match new HDDVD player

I have a 10-year-old Sony STR series receiver and when I hooked up my new HD A3 HDDVD player (optical cable) and selected bitstream, the sound was echo-y and hard to listen to.

I'm gathering this old receiver cannot handle decoding the Dolby Digital Plus signal from the new fangled HDDVD player. When I select PCM output mode on the HDDVD player, I get 2.1 dolby pro-logic.

I'm guessing a receiver technology upgrade is in order. However, Santa already advanced me the player, I cannot push my luck on a new receiver.

That's why I am considering the Harmon Kardon AVR-146 receiver as a stop-gap measure. The only question (since I do not have a grasp of all this new multi-channel business) is will this receiver recognize a 5.1 PCM stream from the player?

The user's manual is not clear on this subject. It only mentions DD and DD-EX as well as DTS, but it doesn't mention DD+ or DTS-true HD.

Am I going to have to shell out more money for the higher-end receivers to decode DD+ and DTS-true or will the HDDVD player send the 5.1 channels over PCM and can this receiver handle 5.1 channels PCM?

Thanks in advance for your insight.

\"Hairs are your aerials. They pick up signals from the cosmos, and transmit them directly into the brain. This is the reason bald-headed men are uptight.\" —Danny, Withnail and I

Patrick Sun

Re: Need help replacing 10yo Sony to match new HDDVD player

Have you selected HDMI="PCM downmix" on the A3, as well as audio output (SPDIF) = "bitstream" so that it'll downmix the high-rez multi-channel audio track into a 5.1 DD 640kbs stream for the optical audio output on the A3? Your old receiver should be able to handle the DD 5.1 bitstream from the A3 with these settings.

"I am a leaf on the wind, watch how I soar!"
Patcave | 2006 Films | 2007 Films | Dragon Con 2008

Paul W

Re: Need help replacing 10yo Sony to match new HDDVD player

Actually, what I figured out what the echo problem was (and I feel like a damn idiot), the sound on the TV was turned up instead of off. I discovered this today when I started playing a DVD before turning on the receiver.

With the HDMI cable driving it, the TV was getting an actual sound signal for the first time ever. That's where the echo was coming from the other day -- milisecond differences between the downsamped sound from the TV and the real DD sound coming from the receiver.

Boy do I feel stoopid.

I'm glad I don't have to go out and buy a new receiver, but I will start saving my pennies for a good Harmon or Denon so I can use the full HDMI sound and video switching.

\"Hairs are your aerials. They pick up signals from the cosmos, and transmit them directly into the brain. This is the reason bald-headed men are uptight.\" —Danny, Withnail and I

Jeff Gatie

Re: Need help replacing 10yo Sony to match new HDDVD player

Paul, that's not stupid. Stupid would be continuing to watch/listen like that, marveling at the "expansive sound stage" and "immersive, large theater echo effect".

Bluzman

Re: Need help replacing 10yo Sony to match new HDDVD player

LOL