Quote Originally Posted by JStudrawa
Howdy all, been a few years since I trolled these forums and I've always found great help here, so I have a "perceived" dilemma I need help with...

Gear:
Denon AVR-1601
Samsung BDP 1500 blu-ray
Mirage FRx-7 center and fronts
Infinity bookshelves rear

I have a Denon AVR-1601 and while it has performed amazingly for years now, I am curious if the following is an actual issue or my perception.

I've recently purchased the Samsung BP 1600 blu-ray player and while watching Constantine last night I thought the center channel was muffled and dull. I'm running toslink from the blu-ray to the AVR, and IIRC the output for 5.1 on Constantine is Dolby HD?

If so, is there any issue having the blu-ray decode HD audio and send it via toslink (as in the AVR-16901 altering the HD decoding) or is there a better way to go, including a new Denon receiver?

Or was it an anomaly?

Thanks all!

- Josh
Josh, unfortunately you are not hearing Dolby TrueHD through the toslink connection. You are hearing Dolby Digital through the toslink connection. Since your Blu ray player does not have 6 channel analog output, the only way to access HD audio is through the HDMI connection, of which your receiver does not have.

You will have to purchase a new receiver to get HD audio. Your player has the built in decoders, but there is no way for you to access that audio, as you player only has 2.0 analog outputs. Your receiver has the multichannel inputs, but since your player does not have the complimentary outputs, you are dead in the water as far as HD audio.