Lossless audio made me go low-tech (1 Viewer)

[Mike Frezon]

Luckily, I had a cheap, passive switchbox not-being-used-for-anything at the ready.

That looks like the perfect unit for such activity, Ed...but if I had the $$$ for something like that, I'd probably just put it towards a new receiver that could handle all my input needs. It's amazing how much the technology in the hobby has changed since I purchased the receiver I'm using (Sony STR-DE445).

 

[Patrick Sun]

Wow, an old thread of mine re-surfaces. I'd advocate saving up for a HDMI-capable receiver (there are so many nice, affordable, choices out there nowadays, not so 2 years ago), and get rid of all that crazy wiring jungle.

I posted this set of photos once I got my new Pioneer SC05 about 4 months ago showing how the wire clutter goes away by using HDMI over the 5.1 wiring requirements from the high-def sources:

www.flickr.com/photos/patcave/sets/72157619490760200/

 

[Ed Moxley]

Originally Posted by Mike Frezon

Luckily, I had a cheap, passive switchbox not-being-used-for-anything at the ready.

That looks like the perfect unit for such activity, Ed...but if I had the $$$ for something like that, I'd probably just put it towards a new receiver that could handle all my input needs. It's amazing how much the technology in the hobby has changed since I purchased the receiver I'm using (Sony STR-DE445).

Oh, I know. I would too. I was mainly showing that such a thing was available, if you're willing to spend the money. People somewhere must be willing to spend the money, for it to even be on the market...........

 

[Mike Frezon]

There's always somebody. It's just never me.

 

[Gerald LaFrance]

Hi I also have went Low Tech using the Philips PH61148 and it has worked fine for me.. I have a Samsung P3600 BD Player and a Denon 1930 DVD Player I use for SACD and DVD-Audio and needed a switch as my Marantz 4001 reciever only has 1 set of 5.1 inputs..

This solution was perfect for me and it cost under 50$ USD for the upgrade to the Losless codecs..I had to buy some cables at RAM :

http://www.ramelectronics.net/audio-video/audio-cables/multichannel-5-1-7-1-cable/budget-series-5-1-audio-cable-55-509-6/prod555096.html


I also bought the Philips switcher on Ebay for like 15 bucks shipped.. On a side not they are only good for switching 3 - 5.1 signals but it is a 4 way switcher but NOT for 5.1 Audio as the 4th switch only has 3 inputs 2 for audio and 1 for video.

 

[Craig.c]

Monoprice shows a new HDMI switcher with Toslink and Digital Coax. Its backordered though

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=101&cp_id=10110&cs_id=1011002&p_id=5557&seq=1&format=2

 

[Subavision212]

Originally Posted by Patrick Sun

Since buying a new prepro/receiver with HDMI audio processing capabilities is not in the budget for the near future (bought a new car recently), and my old Outlaw 950 only has 1 set of 5.1 analog audio inputs. Got the Toshiba XA2 and the Panasonic BDP-10A, both have at least 5.1 analog audio outputs (for lossless audio, and anything else they can decode). So I ended up using two of those 3-port A/V switchers (just simple mechanical switchers for RCA connector inputs), and fed the front L-R-C into one switcher from each source, and the rear L-R-Sub into the other switcher. The video side is handled with direct connection of HDMI to the TV set.

Originally I had the BDP-10A using the 5.1 analog audio input on the 950, and the optical audio output from the XA2, but I really wanted to hear TrueHD from HD DVD, and after comparing the downrezzed audio from the XA2 with the TrueHD, it was well worth the hassle and cost of the A/V switchers to get the sonic upgrade for both HDM sources now. Sure, it's a low-tech and clunky solution for now, but it'll have to do until I upgrade the prepro/receiver in the future.

I, too, am using the Outlaw 950's analog ins and it sounds great. What's nice about the 950 is that it is one of the few pre/pros that does bass management so I just set my speakers to large in my OPPO BDP-83 set the sub to on and ta-da---HD sound with blu-ray.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

With my old Pioneer Elite 47TX receiver, I used the low-tech method of two Radio Shack manual a/v switchers for my SACD and DVD-Audio players. While it was an inexpensive, practical solution, I was quite happy to eliminate a bunch of cabling when I upgraded to an HDMI-capable Elite 94TXH receiver last year. I still have the Sony ES SACD player connected via 5.1 analog cables (it has no HDMI output), but my Oppo 980H player passes DVD-Audio via HDMI, eliminating 12 analog cables and two switch boxes. Between that and all the component video cables I've eliminated, I have quite a large pile of used cables boxed up in my basement. The back of the receiver does not look like a cabling nightmare anymore, either.

 

[Patrick Sun]

Originally Posted by Subavision212



I, too, am using the Outlaw 950's analog ins and it sounds great. What's nice about the 950 is that it is one of the few pre/pros that does bass management so I just set my speakers to large in my OPPO BDP-83 set the sub to on and ta-da---HD sound with blu-ray.

I might have continued to use my Outlaw 950, but its display died on me, so I couldn't see what the display said, which made it a pain to know what was going on, so I finally retired the 950 3-4 months ago. I won't say I'm all that sad to have moved on to something newer with less wiring clutter. Heh.

 

[PaulDA]

I'll be moving on when my receiver goes Kaputt. Otherwise, low-tech works for me.

 

[Jonathan Kaye]

Originally Posted by PaulDA

I'll be moving on when my receiver goes Kaputt. Otherwise, low-tech works for me.

Ditto.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Originally Posted by Ed Moxley Of course, I only get 2 HDMI inputs w/ the affordable, previous gen Yammy though -- you can do better in terms of HDMI switching in receivers nowadays for similar $$$ though the quality of certain circuitry might not be better (and could possibly be worse to some extent).

Of course, if I were to do another upgrade, I'd probably be looking at a dedicated preproc/preamp (now that more affordable quality ones seem to be trickling out onto the market), not another receiver to serve that purpose. Still, I've been happy enough w/ the Yammy and have not actually needed more HDMI inputs yet -- probably because I don't do the paid TV thing and so don't need an extra input for an HD cable/sat box (nor a DVR for more fancy TV viewing and timeshifting)...

_Man_

 

[Clinton McClure]

I didn't go low-tech, but I did recently take a step back from getting multi-channel Dolby TrueHD from both my BD and HD-DVD players to just getting bitstreamed legacy DD and DTS. I recently reroofed and during the process of replacing the decking, one of the roofers took a bad step and put a hole in my living room ceiling about the size of a water heater or a good SVS sub! No equipment got hurt but I had to have the ceiling re-sheetrocked, which meant moving my equipment out... plasma, rack and all. During the reinstall phase I decided to go back to legacy DD and DTS because, while the HD audio formats are vastly superior in every way, I was running both my BD player and HD-DVD player in to my Yamaha RX-V995 receiver via analog.

Anyone who's worked with that model Yamaha knows there is no bass management on the 5 channel inputs so I had to make some internal settings (lowering my main volume and all other channels around 10dB) to adjust the LFE gain +10dB to get it back to where it should be. This solved the problem until I added my BD player which has no onboard level or distance settings like my HD-DVD player does. Now all my levels are off because all the channels on the the BD player output at different levels than the HD-DVD player so I had to go back into the receiver and set it up for the BD player, then set up the HD-DVD player to be around the same volume level on each channel. By the time this was accomplished, the volume knob on my receiver was up to about 80%. I run an external amp so that didn't concern me as much as my next hurdle which is my BFD. While processing, it would eliminate most of the gain I just gave myself so I would end up turning the volume on my sub all the way up to 85 or 90% which I should not have to do (Paradigm Servo 15) just to get back to 80db reference.

After going back and forth with it for close to a year, I finally took the opportunity to just go back to a single digital coax and legacy surround for both players. Now my receiver's volume is about 45% and the sub's volume is 15% and it will just about blow you out of the room, even with the BFD processing. Maybe next year I can afford a new HDMI receiver with HD audio processing.

 

[PaulDA]

I've only been able to make a few lossless vs lossy direct comparisons (SACD of Alison Krauss Live vs DVD is one example) and while I can tell the difference without too much effort when there is no video, once I turn on the video for the concert, I find it far less of a "loss" (pun intentional). So far, I'm happy to devote my analogue inputs for DVD-A/SACD and live with the lossy/legacy DD/DTS that my PS3 and my HD A2 provide with optical toslink. When I do make the move to an HDMI equipped receiver, I'll use it accordingly, but I do not buy the "if it ain't lossless, it's crap" argument at all. Rather, I look at it as "legacy DD/DTS is great and lossless is excellent--and great ain't so bad".

Besides, with children to care for and a relationship to keep in good standing, I don't have the time I used to have as a single guy to devote to getting that last little bit of performance. And lets face it, the further past forty I get, the less my ears will notice the difference. When the gear is available to maximize performance, I'll do so, but I don't feel the need to upgrade nearly as much as I used to. I'll even, sometimes (gasp ) put a movie on in the living room and watch it without anything other than the TV and player (and I NEVER used to do that until a couple of years ago).