HDMI needed in new receiver?

[gburglax]

I'm thinking of upgrading receivers and wondering if HDMI is a must. Right now I'm running a Denon 1804 receiver to all Paradigm Studio speakers and to a 37" Phillips 1080i LCD TV. My TV is running on HDMI straight from the digital cable box. I also play xbox 360 and plan on upgrading to a blu-ray at some point. Basically I'm looking to pick up a used Rotel rsx-1056 or 1057 and was wondering if the extra money was worth it? or should i be looking at something else? Thanks for any help

[L.J.]

No it's not needed. As long as whatever AVR you get has multi-channel inputs, you can still take advantage of all Bluray has to offer. You would have to run HDMI video directly to your display and run sound to your AVR.

Just do some research before picking up a BR player and make sure it can decode all the HD audio formats. Something like the Panasonic BD50.

Now if you plan on getting a PS3, you'd need HDMI to take advantage of HD audio.

[kexodusc]

I think people considering using the multi-channel inputs on their a/v receivers should also check if the receiver will apply any processing to the signal. EQ, speaker level adjustments, delays, etc. I think most cases the basic level/distance adjustments are made, probably the crossover to the sub if so selected. Not sure about parametric EQ settings?

[audio amateur]

I think people considering using the multi-channel inputs on their a/v receivers should also check if the receiver will apply any processing to the signal. EQ, speaker level adjustments, delays, etc. I think most cases the basic level/distance adjustments are made, probably the crossover to the sub if so selected. Not sure about parametric EQ settings?

Isn't most of that supposed to be done on the player?

[L.J.]

I think people considering using the multi-channel inputs on their a/v receivers should also check if the receiver will apply any processing to the signal. EQ, speaker level adjustments, delays, etc. I think most cases the basic level/distance adjustments are made, probably the crossover to the sub if so selected. Not sure about parametric EQ settings?

Your right. I should have added that...just being lazy.

[kexodusc]

Isn't most of that supposed to be done on the player?

That would depend on the player, though I'm aware of zero players that have onboard parametric EQ's, and not many with distance settings for all speakers.

[Woochifer]

Isn't most of that supposed to be done on the player?

Not if the receiver runs the multichannel input through the receiver's DSP section, which would include the delay, bass management, and other signal processing functions. Typically, the signal processing utility on a video player is more limited than what a receiver includes.

The issue with using an older Rotel receiver's multichannel analog audio input is that it might function simply as a straight pass-thru. This was very common with AV receivers until a few years ago. In this case, the only adjustment you can make thru the receiver is the level. Other functions like the bass managment, EQing, delay/distance setting, etc. would have be handled thru the video player, and not all of them offer this functionality or do it particularly well.

[pixelthis]

I'm thinking of upgrading receivers and wondering if HDMI is a must. Right now I'm running a Denon 1804 receiver to all Paradigm Studio speakers and to a 37" Phillips 1080i LCD TV. My TV is running on HDMI straight from the digital cable box. I also play xbox 360 and plan on upgrading to a blu-ray at some point. Basically I'm looking to pick up a used Rotel rsx-1056 or 1057 and was wondering if the extra money was worth it? or should i be looking at something else? Thanks for any help

Doesnt matter if its a "must" or not, its going to be on all but the cheapest receivers
anyway.
I wouldnt buy one without it, for sure, I have said to pay attention primarily to the audio when buying a receiver, especially with video formats going through changes, but
if you're going to get a receiver anyway then make sure it has HDMI.
BUT, upgrading a receiver just for HDMI is a waste, IMHO

[f0rge]

No it's not needed. As long as whatever AVR you get has multi-channel inputs, you can still take advantage of all Bluray has to offer. You would have to run HDMI video directly to your display and run sound to your AVR.

Just do some research before picking up a BR player and make sure it can decode all the HD audio formats. Something like the Panasonic BD50.

Now if you plan on getting a PS3, you'd need HDMI to take advantage of HD audio.

LJ do other BR players do HD through anything other than HDMI? i thought HDMI was part and parcel, even with bitstream.

or can you bitstream HD audio over optical?

[L.J.]

LJ do other BR players do HD through anything other than HDMI? i thought HDMI was part and parcel, even with bitstream.

or can you bitstream HD audio over optical?

Perhaps I didn't word it clearly enough. Sorry about that. You need an AVR with 5.1/7.1 analog inputs or HDMI 1.1 or up for the HD audio. As stated by Kex and Wooch, you may end up running into limitations going the 5.1/7.1 analog route so you gotta do some research. MCPCM via HDMI may have some limitaions as well. An example would be the Onkyo 605. It can't apply surround processing to MCPCM via HDMI. This would be tough on people who have a 7.1 setup.

[robotec]

So HDMI 1.1 (minimum) is required in order to enjoy the full Blu-ray experience. (HD-Audio), right?

[L.J.]

So HDMI 1.1 (minimum) is required in order to enjoy the full Blu-ray experience. (HD-Audio), right?

Yeah as long as the player can decode and output the HD audio via HDMI. Not all early BR players can fully decode all 3 formats(MCPCM,TrueHD & DTSMA). Plus, some AVR's do not accept audio via HDMI(video pass-thru only) and some AVR's will have limitation on how it handles MCPCM via HDMI. Most newer stuff seems to be OK but it's best to do some research.

Check out this thread for some more info:
Bluray Breakdown