New Processors passing HD Sound?

At the moment, I know only of the Integra and the Onkyo Pro with the NAD and the CaryCinema combo due shortly.

Kal

C'mon. This is not a problem with the guys at the AV forums. You can get high rez audio via HDMI either in the original bitstreams (LPCM, Dolby True-HD or dts-HD MA) or, if decoded in the player, all as LPCM. They will have equal resolution in both cases but the design of the particular player will determine which options are available.

In addition, if the player decodes and converts these formats internally, the same high resolution may be available on the analog outputs. Again, the design of the particular player will determine if these options are available.

AFAIK, no current player will decode dts-HD MA internally.

TOSlink and coax will handle the lossy DD/dts as well as stereo hi-rez but, again, the latter depends on the specific player.

Kal

Kal

If you send me a link to the manual, I will look at that matter but please check to see if it is decoding dts-HD MA, the MA indicating that it is lossless.

www.avsforum.com
www.htguide.com/forum/

Kal

Actually, I do not really see anything on p12 that is definitive either way. Also, p48 is equally amibiguous about what you get from the 5.1 analog jacks.

First of all, this is typical of most BRD and HD-DVD manuals since the number of variables and the non-standard terminology make accurate but simple descriptions almost impossible. I have 4 players and none of their manuals is completely clear (and they all have charts like p48).

Second, one cannot generalize about HD-DVD and/or BRD since individual players have unique feature sets. For example, I recently got an HD-DVD player, which on the manufacturer's website seemed identical in its audio features to another model, only to find that it did not do what I wanted while another model did.

The only reliable source is to find a hand's on review in print or on the web where an actual user tells you what the player does.

Kal

Can no one describe how these HD audio's differ from non HD audio ?

The HD codecs are lossless, unlike the predecessors.

Is it just pulling the same ole thing from a new type of decoding system ?

Depends on the source. Some of the newer materials on HD are spectacularly good.

Kal

First, the report was by Wes Phillips. Barry Willis is no longer affiliated with Stereophile.

Second, the lossless version of dts is dtsHD-MA. The MA stands for master audio and is lossless. dtsHD (no MA) is less lossy than regular dts but not truly lossless.

Kal

Wes's discovery is not a surprise to me. Very few high end companies are on the cutting edge of MCH technology these days and there have been very few MCH demos, at shows or in showrooms, that utilize high-end equipment effectively. That's why I write "Music in the Round": To spread the word, even among the writers.

Kal

There are suitable AVRs (and a very few pre/pros) available now that will do the job but there will, undoubtedly, be more coming. A problem has been the unpredictability of the players' capabilities in decoding and/or outputting the lossless formats coupled with the lack of explicit info from the manufacturers. Sometimes the only way to know what the player will do is to try it or get the info from someone who has. I try.

Kal http://www.stereophile.com/musicintheround