Dolby-HD & DTS-HD: How to prepare for it??

[Palmz]

Can today's 7.1 receivers decode the lossless audio formats found on HD-DVD and Blu-Ray Disks? Such as Dolby-HD and DTS-HD. I'm now contemplating the Denon AVR-887 but this article kind of has me scared off.

Read the last paragraph of this CNET article:
HDMI receivers: what to look for

If this is true I think I'll just get a $300 entry level receiver until these new audio formats are supported.

[Robert-The-Rambler]

Can today's 7.1 receivers decode the lossless audio formats found on HD-DVD and Blu-Ray Disks? Such as Dolby-HD and DTS-HD. I'm now contemplating the Denon AVR-887 but this article kind of has me scared off.

Read the last paragraph of this CNET article:
HDMI receivers: what to look for

If this is true I think I'll just get a $300 entry level receiver until these new audio formats are supported.

No receivers today have decoders for the new high resolution audio formats like Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby TrueHD. But do not fret. You can listen to these formats in two ways, analog or digital. You simply need a receiver with 5.1 inputs to listen to these formats with the onboard decoder in your HD-DVD/BLU-RAY player in an analog format. That is the bargain route. To hear digital goodness today you need to get a receiver that supports 5.1 linear PCM audio input via HDMI. I have no idea which ones do that but that is clearly the best solution for today for lossless audio. There should not be a loss of quality compared to internal decoding in your receiver if a good quality decoder is onboard your HD-DVD/ BLU-RAY player. There are no 7.1 movies out there so I would not worry about not being able to work in 7.1 if you buy today. So don't necessarily buy with the future in mind.

[Palmz]

That's good news. Thanks for your swift response!

So I'd also have to have 5.1 outputs on my Blu-Ray/HD-DVD player for analog listening right? And for digital it would just be HDMI from my player to my receiver and due to the player's decoding I'd get the same quality sound as if my receiver was decoding the sound anyway (assuming a good quality player)?

[Robert-The-Rambler]

That's good news. Thanks for your swift response!

So I'd also have to have 5.1 outputs on my Blu-Ray/HD-DVD player for analog listening right?

1. Yes.

And for digital it would just be HDMI from my player to my receiver and due to the player's decoding I'd get the same quality sound as if my receiver was decoding the sound anyway (assuming a good quality player)?

2. Absolutely!! Good luck with everything.

[Palmz]

Thanks for your help, I guess I can go forward with some confidence.

[PeruvianSkies]

The same way that you do for a nuclear strike...get under your desk and curl up into the fetus position. Remember....radiation and the blast will not strike you as long as you are safely secured under the desk.

[musicman1999]

If you are decoding in the player,at present the only way you can do it,using your analog outputs will give you uncompressed pcm,and that is the best you can get or should be.If and when recievers are able to decode you can use HDMI but it may or maynot sound as good as the player,depends on the decoder,one may be better than the other.It seems that with the current players analog is the way to go.

bill

[Palmz]

The same way that you do for a nuclear strike...get under your desk and curl up into the fetus position. Remember....radiation and the blast will not strike you as long as you are safely secured under the desk.

Over $1000 on a receiver could cause a nuclear strike if I'm not happy with it for a long time...heh :-). My wife is the budget queen (it's good for me).