about to get a dvd audio capable player... (1 Viewer)

[DarrylWHarrisJr]

i am getting the toshiba 4700 (from the toshy 2700)...do i need to have an "DVD audio ready" reciever to match (looking at the Technics 1050). My current reciever is a technics DX 930. Or is my 930 all ready to go (i figure my 930 recieves the digitial input signal so why would it matter if something is dvd-audio ready - dts is dts signal and dd signal is dd signal; sounds like marketing to me)...

thx for the help guys...

 

[John Kotches]

Darryl,

Your plan is great except for one minor detail.

Except for some very expensive gear, DVD-Audio is strictly analog output.

While the 4700 will output a downsampled stereo track digitally during DVD-A playback, if Digital out is selected, it is nowhere near the potential quality of DVD-Audio.

Regardless of brand, you need a receiver with 5.1 inputs with analog bypass.

Regards,

 

[DarrylWHarrisJr]

hmmm...but my 930 is 5.1 and has a surround sound hooked and it's blaring Heat right now...but as far as surround sound..it sounds nice, but I am talking true audiophile way of listening to music ....STEREO (just at higher resolution). But if I do want surround sound..I have to hook up RCA cables to 6 channels?

 

[Dan Hine]

Darryl,

I think you are confusing different formats. DVD-Audio is not refering to audio on DVD but rather a specific format. In other words, DVD-Audio is NOT Dolby Digital or DTS. No matter whether the DVD-Audio recording is two channel or multi channel in order to take advantage of the full resolution of the music you will need to use analog cables.

I have a Technics SA-DX940 powering my sub...it doesn't have any 5.1 inputs analog inputs. I would doubt that the 930 does. I was pleased with the overall performance of the 940 though for the price. I would surmise that for $350 (or less) the SA-DX1050 would work very well.

Regards,

Dan Hine

 

[John Kotches]

Dan,

Exactly correct. The most you'll get out of a digital output is a downsampled, dowmnixed version.

This would be the equivalent of taking a 20 year old, superb Scotch and mixing it with equal parts water. Sure you can drink it, and you can get a feel for it, but in the end, you just aren't getting the full measure of the product.

On a side note, I would be remiss if I didn't mention the two solutions that can (or very soon will be able to) do a digital output of DVD-Audio without downsampling. Meridian has their 800 DVD machine with the 861 Preamp/Processor, which goes for over US$35K. Denon will shortly release their 5803 Receiver with the SD-9000 DVD player which will also do a digital output of DVD-Audio without downsampling.

Regards,

 

[DarrylWHarrisJr]

but can't i just use the 2-channel analog outputs on my dvd-a player (i really don't care for surround) and get the high resolution audio?

 

[Jon_W]

A DVD audo player has the decoder needed to hear the high resolution dvd audio track built into the player thus you need to connect the players 6 channel outputs into a compatible receiver with 6 channel inputs. If you just use your two channel outputs than it would be no different than taking your current DVD player and doing the same.

 

[John Kotches]

Jon_W:

Some players have both stereo and 5.1 outputs. L/R are active on both (in most cases) at all times.

Daryl:

The answer is, it depends.

For stereo playback, many titles have dedicated stereo mixes. Some titles require a downmix, that I found (frankly) not good sounding, but that's just me. Some titles don't allow downmix, so you'd get just the left and right out of a surround sound mix, which would sound a bit unusual.

I'm not sure if this helped you or not Daryl, there isn't a cut and dry answer to this one, I'm sorry to say.

Regards,