Re: Onkyo TX-SR805: Review of HD audio

So seriously, is there any difference in sound between using the 5.1 analogue inputs or listening through the HDMI cable on a receiver that can decode HD audio like the new Onkyos?

There should be NO difference right?

Bosshog wrote:

Quote:
Falcon I would spend the money on the XA2 for the very reason you brought up...the Reon chip. Your audio will also be great using your 5.1 inputs on your Yammy as the XA2 also has high quality DACS (Sharc I believe).

I didn't know the XA2 had better audio DACs. You just made my day!

[Post edited by Falcon01 on Dec 19, 2007]

shaddai,

One good reason to upgrade to an HDMI receiver and get rid of all those cables is if you have cats in the house. We do, and one likes to chew. The RCA cables have a rubbery kinda coating and are thinner, being the cat's preferred chewing cable. The HDMI cables are thicker, and have a harder shielding that this cat finds less attractive. Plus less cables = less chewing maintenance. I'd personally kick the cat to the curb, but like many of us I'm married to a wife that loves this darn animal.

See you wouldn't get this kind of advice on cabling from most AV type forums. This advanced stuff can only be found here!

Edit: BTW, you don't want to know about the other cat and what happened when I spent over $300 one time on floor-to-ceiling velvet curtains for the home theater room!

[Post edited by Skyhawk on Dec 19, 2007]

Wow, I didn't think so many people would respond. I went through this a year ago with my XA1, and trying to use the HDMI for the lossless material, only to be dissapointed. As this is what I do for a living, I have heard first hand both scenerios. Actually recently, I set up the the Pioneer Elite 94 receiver to run both Blu ray and HD-DVD Lossless though HDMI and yes while it looks nice to see the TrueHD and DTSMaster light up on the display, I stand with firm conviction that the Multi outs are far superior than letting the receiver do the decoding through the HDMI. Since both are using Sharc DACs and the XA1 having 4 floating Sharc DACS, and the aforementioned component arrangement being better anyway, I found it vastly superior in sound to the HDMI. The LG combo (100) also sounds fantastic, as does the new Samsung 5000 HD/Blu-ray combo that just came out yesturday at the stores. All hooked up with Multi out. Also: Look on AVS forum if you need more info on HDMI and TrueHD and you'll see for yourself if you don't believe me, it won't work with HDMI using PCM out on the DVD menu. I leave a 1% chance of being wrong. I'm not perfect.

Movieguy, thats some good information. Thanks

Personally I found the Onkyo doing a better job than the the XA2. Not saying that the analog out option is bad jut not at par with the HDMI solution.

Quote:
So seriously, is there any difference in sound between using the 5.1 analogue inputs or listening through the HDMI cable on a receiver that can decode HD audio like the new Onkyos?

There should be NO difference right?

If you use the 5.1 discrete inputs you may notice a lower overall bass volume until you play with your levels. Other than that, it will depend on what has the better DACS, your receiver or the XA2. Your Yamaha amp if it is like mine will have Burr Brown DACS, which are also good quality...so it will really be a subjective thing on what you prefer.

[Post edited by Bosshog7 on Dec 19, 2007]

Quote:
Look on AVS forum if you need more info on HDMI and TrueHD and you'll see for yourself if you don't believe me, it won't work with HDMI using PCM out on the DVD menu. I leave a 1% chance of being wrong. I'm not perfect.

You're right Movieguy you aren't perfect because you are incorrect on this one
If you output True HD over HDMI in PCM format it will be lossless and identical quality to your amp decoding to PCM. Are you sure that you have your HD DVD player set correctly? You have to go into the Toshiba set up menu in order to enable PCM over HDMI. Also, your problems with passing True HD via PCM over HDMI may be due to old firmware. I think this feature was enables as part of a firmware upgrade at some point.

[Post edited by Bosshog7 on Dec 19, 2007]

I recall Amir, the Microsoft VP "Insider" at the AVS Forums, suggesting that it is always best to use the fewest number of stops in any chain of equipment. Using a Tohsiba HD DVD player's internal encoding and then a receiver's new HDMI TrueHD decoding requires an additional step in the audio processing that you simply don't have to deal with when using an appropriately equipped player's 5.1 outputs directly to a receiver's 5.1 inputs.

However, that doesn't mean a listener will like one over the other. If you can hook up your system both ways (assuming you've just bought one of these new, compliant receivers), you can listen both way and judge for yourself. As someone mentioned, though, the 5.1 inputs require a 10-db bass boost to compensate for their not having the low-end equalization built into Dolby decoders.

John

[Post edited by John J. Puccio on Dec 19, 2007]

Movieguy not to beat a deadhorse but...
If you have version 2.0 or higher firmware (on your Toshiba XA1) you will be able to output 5.1 lossless True HD PCM to your receiver over HDMI. The firmwares previous to 2.0 limited the XA1 to 2-channel True HD only...maybe this was your problem.

[Post edited by Bosshog7 on Dec 19, 2007]

Movieguy, it doesn't seem like you are up to date on your news. The Samsung 5000 has a known bug where if you try to decode TrueHD internally and then output either through the multichannel analog outs or even PCM through the HDMI, you will only get 2 channel TrueHD! There are over 947 posts in this thread alone:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=955388

I believe the latest LG dual format player suffers from the same deficiency as well. Owners are hoping for a firmware fix. I hope for their sake they get it. Note that this deficiency is the exception and not the norm. Lossless PCM from player internal decoding and decoding in the receiver will give you the same result. The only time the multichannel out from the player comes into play is if the DAC on the player is better than in the receiver. The majority of DAC's in CE devices are comparable. You need to buy super high-end to get any appreciable difference.

Movieguy, it seems like you could raise your home theater IQ by frequenting the AVS forum. I know I did. Sometimes there's a lot of "drama" but newbies are usually treated well.