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Onkyo TX-SR805: Review of HD audio

Onkyo TX-SR805: Review of HD audio.
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By Henning Molbaek
 FIRST ONLINE Dec 19, 2007
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We have added a new part to review of the ONKYO TX-SR805 A/V Receiver. We finally had a chance to truly review HD audio.

Below is the new part. It has also been added to the full review.

HD Audio - Does it add anything ?
When I first reviewed the ONKYO TX-SR805 A/V Receiver, I had no player that could supply the unit with Dolby TrueHD sound. As a matter of a fact, not many people in the world had such a player. A few months have passed, and Toshiba finally released a firmware upgrade for my XA2 HD DVD player allowing it to pass a HD bitstream via HDMI to the receiver.

I could finally test the HD audio parts of the receiver. I lined up my favorite HD audio titles from when I used the player as decoder and could not wait to let my ears be spoiled. At least I hoped for this.

Many have reported that HD audio appears lower than regular audio codecs if they use their HD DVD player for decoding through the 5.1 analog outs to the receiver. This is not the case when using the receiver with HDMI. A first pleasant surprise.

I popped in "Batman Begins" and quickly found one (of many) of my favorite scenes in the movie. It is the scene where Bruce Wayne trains with Henri Ducard (played by Liam Neeson) on the ice. There are many things going on sound-wise in this scene. We´ve got swords clashing, ice cracking, and music and a dialogue that gets more and more intense as Liam's character tells Bruce that it was his father´s fault that both his parents died.

What was noticeable using normal Dolby Digital 5.1 became even clearer in Dolby TrueHD. The ONKYO does an incredible job. It keeps each element tight, clear, and precise, avoiding any kind of muddy sound field. The audio is clear and distinct, which allows you to absorb each detail.

I used the opening scene of "Terminator 2" for my test in this movie. It´s got music, dialogue, laser guns, and much more going for it, so it seemed like a logical choice. Once again, I was pleasantly surprised. Being an older movie, it did not seem as detailed and well produced as "Batman Begins," but it surely packed a punch when needed.

What you begin to realize is that precision is key to good audio. If your receiver does not deliver each detail in each channel with millisecond precision, your interpretation and appreciation of the sound will be less. So be sure to run the setup correctly. If you do, this unit will not let you down, and that goes for HD audio as well, adding even more detail and clarity to the viewing and listening experience.

This was part of the the full review of the ONKYO TX-SR805 A/V Receiver.

Amazon.com:
Onkyo TX-SR805 - Price from $677.02


Please Note - More details:
Be sure to check out the full details under related releases.

Related Releases:
Batman Begins
HD DVD/Widescreen, 
Coverart: Batman Begins
Terminator 2: Judgment Day [French Import]
HD DVD/Widescreen, 
Coverart: Terminator 2: Judgment Day

News Comments ::


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Wednesday, December 19, 2007
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Member since:
May 2007
Speaking of running things correctly. If the HD-XA2 was available during the initial review of the 805, Henning could have output PCM through HDMI from the player when selecting either the Dolby Digital Plus or Dolby TrueHD soundtrack (all HD-DVD players can decode these internally and output as PCM). It was not necessary to wait for the bitstreaming capability of the XA2's latest firmware in order to hear the HD audio referenced.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
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Member since:
February 2002
The point was that we wanted to test the decoder of the Onkyo unit. The only way to do this was to wait for the update.

It is correct that we could have used the decoder in the player but that would not give us a sense of the true capabilities of the receiver.

[Post edited by Henning on Dec 19, 2007]
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
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Member since:
November 2007
I think too many people are confused by True HD and LPCM. There seems to be a general consensus that your audio quality will somehow be better if you decode the True HD audio at the receiver through a bitstream rather than using LPCM to my knowledge this is not the case. If you use the Toshiba HD DVD player to decode the True HD signal and output over LPCM to your receiver your audio quality should be the same as the reciever decoding the signal. All you are really doing is decompressing the file, you are left with the exact same one's and zero's either way no? It's like having a zip file that you are de-compressing.
I think people just like to see the True HD lit up on the front of their amp, gives them a warm fuzzy feeling.

[Post edited by Bosshog7 on Dec 19, 2007]
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
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Member since:
May 2007
Whether DD+/TrueHD is decoded in the player or in the receiver, you are still using the receiver's "qualities" (ie. DAC's) to get the sound to your speakers. Remember that only if you output from the multichannel analog out to the receiver do you bypass most of the receiver's processing. By bitstreaming from the XA2 to the 805, you are only adding the additional work of decoding the codec in the receiver, which should be identical whether it's done in the player or in the receiver. The final product after decoding is PCM and what the receiver does with that will separate the 805 from the more lowly 605, for instance.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
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Member since:
November 2007
Shaddai you and I are saying the same thing....the decoding makes no difference whether it is done in player or receiver, the result is identical. You are correct that the quality of the receiver comes in to play once it is dealing with the LPCM signal.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
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Member since:
May 2007
Bosshog7, I think you are absolutely right. So many people are so hung up on getting the codec to light up on the screen of their shiny new HDMI 1.3 receiver that they don't realize most HDMI 1.1 receivers that handle LPCM correctly can do the same job. The only exception would be DTS-HD MA at the moment since no current player can decode internally and output it as PCM (PS3 is rumored to get this in a firmware).
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
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Member since:
November 2007
Well I was one of the people confused about this issue initially. I bought a Yamaha RX-v2600 a year ago, and I was pissed when True HD and these other codecs were released just after my purchase. After lots of reading I figured out that it didn't matter, my HDMI 1.1 connection could handle the LPCM and give me the same audio, just as Shaddai pointed out. Now if only my receiver could handle 1080P instead of just 1080i....

[Post edited by Bosshog7 on Dec 19, 2007]
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
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Member since:
September 2007
There seems to be some confusion with HDMI and Lossless audio. As stated the only way to test the dacs on the receiver and let the receiver decode the better sound is with the firmware update. You CANNOT use HDMI as PCM and get the Lossless audio!!!! If you use this way the reciever decodes it as REGULAR digital not Plus or HD sound. Even though the DVD lets you select Plus and HD sound YOU ARE NOT GETTING IT. You will need to use the multi-channel outs on HDDVD to get lossless sound, this is the only way other than just reported with the update. The multi-channel outs by the way is still the better way to go as the processing is being done outside of the receiver and allows the receiver to become a power amp and the dvd player becomes your pre-amp, similar to component systems (B&K, Krell, Mark Levinson). Use high quality interconnects such as Audioquest King Cobras and your in business. It seems that everyone on this site has it connected incorrectly. It's a shame that the industry (HD DVD, Blu-ray, AV Receivers) doesn't do a better job of clarifing this topic.

[Post edited by MovieGuy on Dec 19, 2007]
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
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Member since:
October 2007
Don't you lose the secondary audio streams (like the annoying menu clicks on the popup menu) if you let your receiver do the decoding via bit-stream?
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
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Member since:
May 2007
Movieguy and Henning, please read the following thread in this AVS forum as it has all the info you need as it seems "marketing" is getting in the way:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=789994

I have been enjoying HBR audio from my PS3 and HD-A3 for some time now and I have an HDMI 1.2a receiver. The key is internal decoding being done in the respective players and outputting as PCM through HDMI. If you use the optical connection, then your audio will be re-encoded as DTS@1.5Mbps or Dolby Digital@640kbps, depending on the player (is this what you are refering to, Movieguy?). There's no way I'm getting "lesser audio" through my HDMI connection.

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