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Very subjective question...

post #1 of 6
1/22/09 at 8:56pm
Thread Starter 
... itching to buy a new receiver. Are the new HD audio codecs "night and day" better than traditional DTS, DD5.1, etc.? I have a Yamaha RX-V995 and thinking about an upgrade spending < $1200... Thoughts? Thanks much!
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post #2 of 6
1/22/09 at 9:29pm

Re: Very subjective question...

I wouldn't call it "night and day" but there is a difference. My Samsung 1400 BluRay player allows me to switch between Dolby TrueHd and DD/DTS on the fly and TrueHd does sound better. I used to say it was like comparing DD to DVD-A but I now think the difference is even more than that.

And there are other reasons to up-grade the receiver like room correction eq's, video up-conversion, hdmi, multi room capability, etc. The list goes on. For $1200 you can get almost anything you want. But to be fair, my two receivers are an H/K 520 and a Pioneer Elite 59txi so who am I to push others into spending their money .
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post #3 of 6
1/23/09 at 7:05am

Re: Very subjective question...

Kevin - I also own an RX-V995.

To me, the difference is readily apparent in both audio and video quality. I would have to give the edge to audio, however. In my opinion, the HD tracks give a much more expansive soundfield. Night and day? I might have used that comparison before but that's how it seems to me. But with a lot of other things, YMMV.
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post #4 of 6
1/23/09 at 7:28am

Re: Very subjective question...

In my case, it's been hit or miss on improvements. Some HD audio tracks have absolutely blown me away -- The Nightmare Before Christmas and The Incredible Hulk come to mind -- but some others didn't seem much better than the old lossy tracks -- Cars was such a title.

The simplified cabling setup with HDMI has been a bonus. I ended up with a rather large pile of unnecessary cables that I removed after upgrading my Pioneer Elite 47TX to a new Elite 94TXH and later replacing my Panasonic RP-91 480p DVD player with an Oppo 980H. For example, the RP-91 had ten cable connections (3 for component video, 6 for 5.1 analog, and 1 for coaxial digital), while the new Oppo has a single HDMI cable. Plus, I was using a switch box for the 5.1 analog with the RP-91 -- I also own a SACD player -- so that was another six cables I removed with the Oppo.
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post #5 of 6
1/23/09 at 7:52am

Re: Very subjective question...

It really depneds on the movie, I have found movies that there was a huge difference and others where I found no improvement. You also have the option of getting a Blu-Ray player like the Sony S550 that outputs the HD formats via analog.
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post #6 of 6
1/25/09 at 4:11am
Thread Starter 

Re: Very subjective question...

you guys are great! what a good website... thanks!
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