Panasonic BD10A or PS3

[JeffKnob]

Ok so I have a decision to make. I am thinking about going for blu-ray. I am just now trying to decide which way to go, Panasonic BD10A or PS3.

On one hand, I have heard the PS3 is a very capable blu-ray player. I can only get the regular surround sound formats. There will be no Dolby True HD or DTS HD because I don't forsee upgrading my receiver anytime soon. I can play games though. I think my wife would enjoy playing DDR (Dance Dance Revolution).

On the other hand I have the Panasonic BD10A. This is a good player as well. I can get all of the surround sound formats via the 7.1 analog outputs. I think I have to wait for a firmware upgrade to get the DTS HD Master Audio. I can't play games here though.

I am not a big gamer. I guess the big thing to consider is, just how good are these new surround sound formats? I don't have 7.1 setup, only 5.1.

What I am trying to decide is, would the new audio be worth having right now and give up the gaming capabilities, or is the PS3 that great that I should just get it and wait to get the extra sound capabilites when I get a new receiver down the road?

I guess what I am trying to say is that I would go with the PS3 but I don't know if I would be missing out on the possible sound improvements available with Blu-Ray.

[musicman1999]

If you are not a big gamer,go with the Panasonic and enjoy the new audio formats right now rather than later.I am like you deciding which player to buy but the audio is a huge factor for me and i need analog output for the new formats.

bill

[L.J.]

If you went with the PS3 you would still gain some form of sound improvement since BR offers DD & DTS at a higher bitrate than DVD. But as stated, you would need an HDMI capable AVR to take full advantage of it's HD audio capabilities, including MC SACD playback.

[pixelthis]

Check out Sonys new 499$ player,. I SAW TEENAGE MUTANT NINGA TURTLES
and 300 on it and it really looks nice

[JeffKnob]

Check out Sonys new 499$ player,. I SAW TEENAGE MUTANT NINGA TURTLES
and 300 on it and it really looks nice

Does that Sony have a 7.1 analog output?

[musicman1999]

Only 5.1 I believe.

bill

[topspeed]

If you went with the PS3 you would still gain some form of sound improvement since BR offers DD & DTS at a higher bitrate than DVD. But as stated, you would need an HDMI capable AVR to take full advantage of it's HD audio capabilities, including MC SACD playback.

Wait a sec...the PS3 does SACD??? Does it do DVD-A as well?

Ok so I have a decision to make. I am thinking about going for blu-ray. I am just now trying to decide which way to go, Panasonic BD10A or PS3.

Two words: Guitar Hero.

BluRay shmu-ray. Pick up Guitar Hero and you'll find the inner gamer you didn't know existed.

[JeffKnob]

I bought the Panasonic BD10A. All i have to say is WOW!!!

The uncompressed sound is fantastic!

[L.J.]

Wait a sec...the PS3 does SACD??? Does it do DVD-A as well

No it does not do DVD-A, but yeah it will decode the SACD/DSD and output it as MC PCM via HDMI.

[topspeed]

Doesn't the conversion to PCM kind of defeat the purpose of SACD? IIRC, our 2910's BB dac's decode SACD in straight DSD with no conversion.

[L.J.]

Doesn't the conversion to PCM kind of defeat the purpose of SACD? IIRC, our 2910's BB dac's decode SACD in straight DSD with no conversion.

Yes that does make sense. My simple ears wouldn't be able to hear any difference between the PS3 and my 2910 though. I've gone back and forth and seem to get a stronger bass response when using the PS3. My 2910 is still used for most of my music playback and I use the PS3 for streaming.

On a side note: I found some additional info on the PS3's SACD capabilities.

http://www.ps3sacd.com/faq.html

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

Doesn't the conversion to PCM kind of defeat the purpose of SACD? IIRC, our 2910's BB dac's decode SACD in straight DSD with no conversion.

This player may be able to decode the DSD stream, but if you use bass management, delay, or channel levels either from the player, or at the receiver level, you must transcode DSD to PCM to handle the process. When transcoded to pcm, it is usually at 16 to 20bit resolution at 48 or 96khz sample rates.

The PS3 decimates DSD at 24bits and at a 176.4khz sample rate. It leaves the processing to the reciever, so the only sonic price to be paid is at the mercy of the post processing of your reciever.

My PS3 sounds much better than my dedicated Sony SACD player. That kinda pisses me off because the dedicated player cost about three times my PS3.

[kelsci]

Nice to hear from you again, your lordship.