DTS-CD Bluray-player not supposed to support DVDa - still plays them?

Ninecats said:

Aye, so I'll go for an HDMI compatible player, else it will work just as fine if it's got 5.1 analog out? Basically, the only difference is where the conversion takes place?

I don't follow when it comes to transport (bit vs LPCM), basically, is that two different ways the signal travels? Is any of them lossy? Forgive me for being a bit slow but this is the best answers I've got so far on this

Click to expand...

Sorry for the late reply. Some parts are already covered by the guys
as Gene (GOS) said, is one able to tell the difference between one way of decoding above the other?

In theory it is better to do the decoding with the machine that has the best DAC (Digital-to-Analog Converter). When you let the player decode from digital to analog you use the analog outs from the player and connect those to the analog in on the receiver.

When the receiver has a better DAC, you can either send , using HDMI connection from the player to the receiver, a bistream (which is the unaltered Dolby, DTS etc) and let the receiver decode the whole thing to analog. Or you can let the player decode from DTS/Dolby/MLP to LPCM and send throught HDMI and let the receiver decode from LPCM to analog.

The advantage of letting the receiver decode from digital to analog is that you can use bass management in your receiver, which can have more features than a player.

My set-up is analog out of the player to my pre amp, which sounds fine. I choose this route as I already had the pre amp and amp. If I would start again I might go the HDMI route.

So hopefully I am not making it more confusing for you

but the 'problem' with your Sony BDP is that it will not recognize the dvd-a layer of the dvd-a disc, as far as I can see in the manual. Therefore it plays the DTS surround mix and not the hi res MLP layer.

Yes, there are some older discs that are DTS, no DVDA layer. Common on older movies and music videos too. Of course this is not a DVDA disc, it is multichannel though and can sound very good.

For myself, anyway, if I'm not considering BluRay (and backwards compatible with everything), I want my player to play everything else (SACD, DVDA, DTS, and DD) through analog.

Thanks again!

Robert Van Diggele: I think I'm following, either way I don't think I will hear much difference to be honest but thanks for the clarification. But, the main problem which you nail, is my bluray player that doesn't play dvda full scale. Until I get a dvda/sacd compatible bluray player I'll settle with a simple dvda-player that can get out all the data. Now, most dvda players seem to do this if I'm not mistaken, either hdmi or analog 5.1 even if they are not DTS compatible as most DVDA discs have a second hi res or lossy option?

Alright, thanks for all the answers, I decided to go safe and went for an Oppo 980h, it may not be audiophilic (then again I'm not too picky either) but its price combined with playing basically anything made it pretty easy to choose.

Ninecats said:

Aye, so I'll go for an HDMI compatible player, else it will work just as fine if it's got 5.1 analog out? Basically, the only difference is where the conversion takes place?

I don't follow when it comes to transport (bit vs LPCM), basically, is that two different ways the signal travels? Is any of them lossy? Forgive me for being a bit slow but this is the best answers I've got so far on this

Click to expand...

I used analog for years until I could afford HDMI capable Amp. It was at one time the only way to get lossless.
But, finding an AVR today that will take analog is almost impossible. Analog the signal will be converted twice, bass management is done by the payer-HDMI is straight no conversions and bass is manged by the AVR.
I have a S550- my 1st BD payer, it will play DD DTS and stereo portions of dvd a only. POS will not do SACD!
If you desire another let me know. Or just buy an Oppo.

Ninecats said:

Alright, thanks for all the answers, I decided to go safe and went for an Oppo 980h, it may not be audiophilic (then again I'm not too picky either) but its price combined with playing basically anything made it pretty easy to choose.

Click to expand...

not safe enough- what about Blu ray music? or videos?

That I will leave for my current bluray player, Sony bdp s5500 does that just fine for me. Until I get a bdp/dvda compatible bluray player, this will be just fine.

Cds and bluray discs on my Sony
Sacd, hdcd and dvda on the Oppo

YEAH, i'm on the look-out for a Blu-Ray player that will support the DVD-A (which has never been an issue), BLU-RAY, since that is where alot of 5.1 audio has gone lately, and the Hybrid MultiLayer SACD's, which are not often supported by BluRay players.

I hate that this industry has gotten so convoluted. And now we have 7.1 and even greater.... no wonder no one has interest in this area of music. It's much easier just to download a shitty mp3, put on your shitty phone and play it through your shitty Apple earbuds.

Phew, anyway. Got carried away. Any recommendations on a BlueRay / SACD / DVD player?!

Oppo is a good place to start. Many members here have one and swear by then.

Sent from my Elephone_P3000S using Tapatalk

There are cheaper alternatives than the OPPOs (atleast in Sweden), though not sure they reach to OPPOs standards.

Yamaha BD-A1040 and Denon DBT-1713UD to name two.