Sony Bdp-S300: Dolby TrueHD with latest firmware (1 Viewer)

[Larry Sutliff]

It looks like I don't need a new player as soon as I thought. With TrueHD added to the S300, I'll keep this player for a little while longer.

Sony eSupport - BDP-S300 - Software Updates & Drivers

 

[Tim Glover]

Just picked up one of these myself for a bedroom player for about $150! And it came with FW 3.9. It amazed me how fast it loads since so much has been written about this model being the slowest player ever built.

Granted, it's not blazing but loads as fast as my Sony ES Blu-ray player.

Wonderful Blu-ray image as well. I found it superior to the new Sony s350 model.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

I was just coming here to start a topic letting my fellow BDP-S300 owners know of this awesome news!

Performing the download on my player as we speak.

EDIT:
Done!

These firmware upgrades are amazing, by myself in less than a half an hour I turned my entry level player only capable of DDPlus into a serious machine that can now decode DolbyTrueHD...and it didn't cost me another 400 smackers!

Of course, now I need a DolbyTrueHD and DTS-HD MA capable reciever lol. I'll ask for that for X-Mas this year.

 

[Rick Johnson]

Now do you think Sony will add Dolby DTS Master Audio decoding with the next firmware upgrade for the BDP-S300 Blu Ray player?

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

I certaintly hope so.

BTW, I just got my player in June, how long was this player out before this upgrade finally became available? I ask because I know that many people have been waiting awhile for this.

 

[RickER]

I have owned this player for a year. Bought the 350 about a month ago too. Anyway, Sony is great when it comes to firmware updates. I bet the 300 has had 5 or 6 in the last year. Most to fix JAVA Blu-ray disc load times, and so on.

 

[Rick Johnson]

I bought my Sony BDP-S300 last Decemeber (2007) and I have done 5 firmware upgrades. I hope Sony gives us a Dolby DTS Master Audio decoding firmware upgrade next!!!

 

[Larry Sutliff]

That's good to know, Tim. I'll definitely cross the 350 off the list when I finally get a newer player.

 

[Jonathan_Clarke]

I am having the HARDEST time installing this firmware! I burned a dvd and it said it couldn't read it. Then I burned it inside a folder. It recognized the data disc but I couldn't open it. I'm going to try a cd next but I'm really confused.

Can someone help?

Never mind. I didn't realize I had to open the file (then open the file again) on my PC before buring it. I thought the player would open the file itself. Finally got it installed. It's faster but still doens't play the Batman Begins movie experience feature.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

Yikes! Jonathan, be very careful when doing this procedure, if you mess up you could crash your player and it will need to be repaired.

Did you follow the directions provided on Sony's site for burning and downloading the upgrade? You should have used a CD from the get go, also you need to write the file on the disc as an image file not a data file.

I printed out the directions and followed them to the letter, I was terrified when I downloaded the 3.95 version but this time it was very easy.

 

[DeanR]

Do you have to change anything in the Sony set-up menu to get Dolby TrueHD? My TrueHD is still not lighting up on my Denon 3800 display when I played a movie with this codec. Thanks

 

[Darren Pillans]

Hey there folks,

If you guys can't help me, no-one can.

I'm trying to decide whether to get a 300 or 350.

I'll be using it with a Sony 1080i CRT.

All I really care about is 1080i (Blu-ray) and 480/576p (DVD) picture quality, from Component. (Cause that's all I'm gonna get, right?)

Plus, do these players handle CD-RW and Mp3?

Can someone please help me?

P.S. Do these players handle PAL?

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

I can tell you what I know about the S300, it can play CD-RW's for music playback and it can also play mp3's. I'm pretty sure that it's an NTSC only player but someone else can tell you better than I on that aspect.

As for your connection (I assume your TV doesn't have an HDMI input, correct?) if your TV has a DVI input, which i'm willing to bet it does since it is an HDTV, you can purchase an HDMI-to-DVI cable and use it that way, no need to use componant. Only drawback is you won't get any audio from the HDMI cable by connecting it that way but if your running the audio seperately through an A/V reciever than the loss is negligable enough.

My boss just bought the S350 and he also has a Sony television with only 1080i and he said it looks great using that same connection.

 

[Darren Pillans]

CD-RW and Mp3 playback... Cool.

I'm guessing it would be NTSC only.

My TV can only handle 1080i. I'd assume Component and DVI would look the same. I'll have to double-check if my TV has DVI to compare.

Now, all I need to know which has a better picture for Blu-ray and DVD.

Thanks for your help.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

No sweat, Darren, good luck.

 

[Jordan_E]

Actually, just sold my 300 for $200. Time to upgrade, but the machine has been a nice for the bedroom.

 

[Clinton McClure]

Maybe I've read it somewhere in the posts I've been pouring through all night, but does the S300 have 5.1 ch. analog outs? My receiver is not HDMI and I've found the S300 for $250.

With onboard decoding of DD+ and TruHD (via firmware updates I've read), if it could be sent decoded to my receiver's 5.1 channel ins, I would pick one up today.

Also, what would it do with DTS-MA? I know it's not internally decoded, so would it be sent through the analog outputs as DTS core?

What's the audio difference between HD codecs (DD+, TruHD and DTS-MA) and PCM, and does the player output lossless PCM via analog outs?

 

[Jari K]

This player now $199.98 in Amazon.com:
Amazon.com: Sony BDP-S300 1080p Blu-ray Disc Player: Electronics

Not sure how long, though.

 

[Dave Moritz]

I own the 300 and it has been a nice Blu-ray player even though it does not decode DTS-HD Master Audio. My 300 will be upgraded sometime after I upgrade my current Yamaha RX-V995 receiver. At that point I think I will place the 300 back in its box to be used as a back up player just incase my next player ends up in the shop.

You might want to go with the 350 model as it can bitstream Dolby True HD and DTS-HD Master Audio via HDMI for an MSRP of $299. Sony's website says there will be a BD Live upgrade available soon. So I honestly feel that between the 300 and 350, go with the 350.

BDP-S350 | Blu-ray Disc™ Player | Sony | SonyStyle USA

However if you wanted to step up from the Sony 350 you could go with a Pioneer BDP-51FP that has Wolfson Audio DAC's for CD playback. And a beefier chassy design compaired to the Sony, basically a better player IMHO.

Pioneer USA - Pioneer Blu-ray Disc Players

My Sony BDP-S300

 

[surfun]

Hello experts, I’m hoping you can help me resolve my question, as I can’t get a straight answer from Sony. I’d like to know how to hear Dolby True HD output from my Sony BDP-S300.

I’ve updated the firmware on the BDP-S300 to the latest version, which Sony claims supports Dolby True-HD decoding. I have this hooked up to a Pioneer VSX-91TXH, which supports Dolby True-HD as well. I am using an HDMI cable and have a 5.1 speaker array.
Regardless of the settings I use on the Blu Ray Player and the Receiver, the Dolby True HD light does not illuminate on my Pioneer receiver when playing a BluRay Dolby True HD encoded disk. At best, I see “Dolby Digital + PLIIx”. The support folks at Pioneer tell me I need to find out how to get Bitstream Output from the Sony Blu player so that the Pioneer receiver can do the proper decoding. Pioneer advised to set their receiver to “Auto Surround” decoding. In this mode it is supposed to decode based on the input it detects.

I have tried setting the Sony Audio output to PCM instead of Auto, and also setting the Dolby Digital option to downmix. No combination yields a dolby true HD output seemingly.

I’ve posed that question to Sony along with how to set their Audio output settings, without any meaningful answer. Here are a few of the replies:

“Thank you for contacting Sony Support.

I'm sorry that your Sony Blu-ray Disc player does not output Dolby True-HD audio when using the HDMI cable. Based on the information you've provided, I suggest that you set the Audio (HDMI) to Auto in the Audio Setup of the player and check the operation.”

And

“Thank you for contacting Sony Support.

I'm sorry for the confusion in the previous email. Although, the Firmware Update of your Sony Blu-ray Player adds Dolby TrueHD Audio and Dolby Digital Plus Audio decoding functionality. It can decode and play disc encoded with Dolby TrueHD Audio and Dolby Digital Plus Audio. However, the Player cannot output Dolby TrueHD Audio and Dolby Digital Plus Audio, it outputs in Dolby Digital Format.

Thank you for your time.”

So, I’m confused. Sony says it decodes Dolby True HD, but outputs Dolby Digital? What do I need to do to hear Dolby True HD with my Pioneer receiver? Thanks in advance for your time!

-michael