Best Sound Options

Leopardi

I recently purchased a Panasonic DMP-BD75 Multi-Region player which I have connected to my TV via HDMI. My TV (Panasonic TXP50VT20) is connected to my surround sound system (Sony BDVE370) through an optical cable.

I assume my options are limited, but I would appreciate advice on how to get the best sound from my Multi-Region player. I am utterly clueless when it comes to such issues.

Dazzling D

Check the writing beside HDMI 1 on the TV - it should say ARC there. If so, connect the BDV-E370 to HDMI 1 and the player to any other HDMI connection. ARC should send the sound from what ever content is being shown on the TV down through the HDMI to the home theatre without the need for optical.

Leopardi

Dazzling D wrote: »

Check the writing beside HDMI 1 on the TV - it should say ARC there. If so, connect the BDV-E370 to HDMI 1 and the player to any other HDMI connection. ARC should send the sound from what ever content is being shown on the TV down through the HDMI to the home theatre without the need for optical.

Thanks for the reply - much appreciated. I'll check that out.

mossym

Dazzling D wrote: »

ARC should send the sound from what ever content is being shown on the TV down through the HDMI to the home theatre without the need for optical.

it should, but in many cases it will only send stereo from anything it receives on it's hdmi inputs, meaning any mutilchannel source will be restricted to stereo,

op, much better to connect hdmi sources to the amp directly then on to the TV

Leopardi

op, much better to connect hdmi sources to the amp directly then on to the TV[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately, there is no HDMI input on the surround sound player.

On my Panasonic player I have the following options sound-wise:

Dynamic Range Compression - On or Off
Digital Audio Output - DolbyD/DolbyD+/Dolby TrueHD - PCM or Bitstream
DTS/DTS-HD - PCM or Bitstream
BD-Video Secondary Audio - Off or On

Downmix - Surround Encoded or Stereo

What would be the best options for me to choose? Given my connections?

dharn

mossy as you seem to be expert in this area, can i ask will an analog source audio ,be passed via mdmi arc to an amp ,i have a chorus mmds box connected to the tv via scart and i am trying to get the audio output from the tv to the amp via hdmi (1.4) lead to amp, i can get audio out via phono to amp but not hdmi i am presuming the chorus set top box is digital but perhaps its not it is received by Ariel rather than cable

mossym

Leopardi wrote: »

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately, there is no HDMI input on the surround sound player.

]On my Panasonic player I have the following options sound-wise:

Dynamic Range Compression - On or Off
Digital Audio Output - DolbyD/DolbyD+/Dolby TrueHD - PCM or Bitstream
DTS/DTS-HD - PCM or Bitstream
BD-Video Secondary Audio - Off or On

Downmix - Surround Encoded or Stereo

What would be the best options for me to choose? Given my connections?

does your surround sound system have a spare optical input you could use? pity not to get 5.1 from movies if you have a 5.1 speaker system

DRC - OFF(unless you're listening late at night and don't want to wake the kids
Digital audio output Bitstream
DTS/DTSHD - bitstream
secondary audio - off
Downmix -Stereo

mossym

dharn wrote: »

mossy as you seem to be expert in this area, can i ask will an analog source audio ,be passed via mdmi arc to an amp ,i have a chorus mmds box connected to the tv via scart and i am trying to get the audio output from the tv to the amp via hdmi (1.4) lead to amp, i can get audio out via phono to amp but not hdmi i am presuming the chorus set top box is digital but perhaps its not it is received by Ariel rather than cable

it depends how the tv is designed. in theory it should work, the ARC should be picking up the audio from the TV SOC and passing it down, so anything the tv is playing should be sent, regardless of source

what tv have you and do you have a link to the manual i could take a look at?

Leopardi

mossym wrote: »

does your surround sound system have a spare optical input you could use? pity not to get 5.1 from movies if you have a 5.1 speaker system

DRC - OFF(unless you're listening late at night and don't want to wake the kids
Digital audio output Bitstream
DTS/DTSHD - bitstream
secondary audio - off
Downmix -Stereo

Cheers mossy. I have an optical input on my SS player. I was using it until I found out about the ARC function. There is no optical output on the Panasonic player, so I was using the one from my TV.

dharn

mossym wrote: »

it depends how the tv is designed. in theory it should work, the ARC should be picking up the audio from the TV SOC and passing it down, so anything the tv is playing should be sent, regardless of source

what tv have you and do you have a link to the manual i could take a look at?

i have a panasonic TX-L42E30B ,I Know it has ARC on hdmi 2 so i have the monitor out on the denon connected to that socket but no sound from telly is heard,

this is the link on panasonic support page http://tda.panasonic-europe-service.com/docs/2z4f99610dz3z30424z656ez706466z22zfdd2f0b8c8f40e1800ddde43a3d8d91f6ee6967b/tsn2/data/EU/TXL32E30B/OI/850766/TQB0E2096.pdf

Dazzling D

mossym wrote: »

it should, but in many cases it will only send stereo from anything it receives on it's hdmi inputs, meaning any mutilchannel source will be restricted to stereo,

op, much better to connect hdmi sources to the amp directly then on to the TV

Not the case. Will pass multichannel down through ARC. Yes, ideally the home theatre would have HDMI in but that's not a feature on many of them until recently.

Dazzling D

Leopardi wrote: »

op, much better to connect hdmi sources to the amp directly then on to the TV

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately, there is no HDMI input on the surround sound player.

On my Panasonic player I have the following options sound-wise:

Dynamic Range Compression - On or Off
Digital Audio Output - DolbyD/DolbyD+/Dolby TrueHD - PCM or Bitstream
DTS/DTS-HD - PCM or Bitstream
BD-Video Secondary Audio - Off or On

Downmix - Surround Encoded or Stereo

What would be the best options for me to choose? Given my connections?[/QUOTE]

Most of those are if you are connecting to an amp which you aren't.

Dazzling D

dharn wrote: »

i have a panasonic TX-L42E30B ,I Know it has ARC on hdmi 2 so i have the monitor out on the denon connected to that socket but no sound from telly is heard,

this is the link on panasonic support page http://tda.panasonic-europe-service.com/docs/2z4f99610dz3z30424z656ez706466z22zfdd2f0b8c8f40e1800ddde43a3d8d91f6ee6967b/tsn2/data/EU/TXL32E30B/OI/850766/TQB0E2096.pdf

Does the Denon support ARC? Both devices need to be compatible.

dharn

yes it does , i have it sorted since but i dont know how !!, went through all the tv menus , and the amp menus and low and behold i am now getting tv audio via hdmi to amp i thing the tv audio out had to be changed to analog that's what made the difference but the menus are so complicated sometimes i see options i had not seen before and then cannot find them again when i look to try something

mossym

Dazzling D wrote: »

Not the case. Will pass multichannel down through ARC. Yes, ideally the home theatre would have HDMI in but that's not a feature on many of them until recently.

disagree. the arc can carry multichannel audio down the cable using arc, that doesn't mean it will. in many cases, the edid for the tv will specify the sink can only process stereo, as in most cases the audio processor in the tv is a stereo only processor and cannot handle multichannel. in this case multichannel audio never even makes it to the tv, so cannot be sent down to arc. in other cases the I2S output from the TV SOC(stereo only) is connected to the arc input on the HDMI RX, and again is stereo only.

i didn't say this was always the case, there is case where multichannel will be passed. but i've seen several tv's which don't, so buyer beware.

mossym

Dazzling D wrote: »

Most of those are if you are connecting to an amp which you aren't.

again, disagree, the settings above apply if you are using the amp or not. especially if you want to use arc. arc is a single SPDIF connection, and if you convert a DTS signal for example to pcm there is much less change of it being able to use ARC.

Leopardi

I am considering my options with this issue. I am tempted to buy the ONKYO HTS6405 (receiver + speakers package). If I do so, I assume I'll get the best sound quality from the Panasonic player.
At the risk of asking a stupid question, would the picture quality from my Panasonic player be diminished by running it through the Onkyo? There is only one HDMI out on the Panasonic player; how much better off would I be with a player which has a dedicated HDMI output for sound?
Thanks in advance.

andy1249

I am considering my options with this issue. I am tempted to buy the ONKYO HTS6405 (receiver + speakers package). If I do so, I assume I'll get the best sound quality from the Panasonic player.

You should do , you will have the option to use the Dolby tru hd and DTA MA audio sections of the Blu ray discs , which are usually higher quality and lossless.

At the risk of asking a stupid question, would the picture quality from my Panasonic player be diminished by running it through the Onkyo?

No , HDMI does not work like that , the amp justs takes care of the audio and passes through the video data.
Some amps have video upscaling and processing capabilities , with 1080p video ( i.e. Blu ray ) it usually does nothing , with lesser signals you have the option to turn video upscaling/ processing off, its always worth a shot to see if it does a better job than the TV. ( though seeing as you have a VT20 thats not likely).

There is only one HDMI out on the Panasonic player; how much better off would I be with a player which has a dedicated HDMI output for sound?

You wont ! Players with extra HDMI's for audio are for those not interested in replacing TV's or amps with 3D models. 3D players must be connected to a 3D screen or 3D capable amp , if you want the HD audio soundtracks and only have a non 3D amp , then you use the separate HDMI audio out.
This doesnt apply in your case.

Leopardi

andy1249 wrote: »

You should do , you will have the option to use the Dolby tru hd and DTA MA audio sections of the Blu ray discs , which are usually higher quality and lossless.



No , HDMI does not work like that , the amp justs takes care of the audio and passes through the video data.
Some amps have video upscaling and processing capabilities , with 1080p video ( i.e. Blu ray ) it usually does nothing , with lesser signals you have the option to turn video upscaling/ processing off, its always worth a shot to see if it does a better job than the TV. ( though seeing as you have a VT20 thats not likely).



You wont ! Players with extra HDMI's for audio are for those not interested in replacing TV's or amps with 3D models. 3D players must be connected to a 3D screen or 3D capable amp , if you want the HD audio soundtracks and only have a non 3D amp , then you use the separate HDMI audio out.
This doesnt apply in your case.

I deeply appreciate your detailed reply. I was on the verge of buying another multi-region player with separate HDMI outputs - thanks for setting me straight!

dharn

two great people on this forum, mossy and andy always very knowledgeable and helpful

Leopardi

dharn wrote: »

two great people on this forum, mossy and andy always very knowledgeable and helpful

I second that. I feel completely out of my depth with most A/V issues, so I'm indebted to such members.