HDMI vs 7.1-channel analogue outputs


I am looking at new 4K blue ray players and the Panasonic model I am targeting has the 7.1-channel analogue outputs.  Are these beneficial over the HDMI connection? If so how? 
puffbojie
My AVR is the DENON AVR 4400H and the DVD player is the Panasonic DP-UB9000.  I guess to your point it depends on which device has better processing.  
HDMI is just a DVI with sound, HDMI supports encryption for the lawyers and simplicity for newbies. The sunset rule from 2011 stated high definition video content could not be transported over analog connections, it was for copy right protection and nothing to do with performance. I personally prefer the digital conversion to be done at the source.
So if the digital signal is passed out of the source/dvd via hdmi, does the processing just take place at the AVR level?  As long as the the AVR has decent processing I wonder if the main issue with HMDI is additional signal noise with a longer path to digital to analog conversion.