Question about 96/24 sources...

[Vader]

Hi all,

I am somewhat confused concerning a setting in my Denon 1600 DVD player. In setup, there is a setting for PCM downconversion of signals recorded at either 96kHz or 88.2kHz. It states that only non-copyrighted material will not be downconverted to 48kHz or 44.1 kHz if this is turned off. Further, my AVR (Denon 2105) states that it will take a 96/24 signal, but it only says this in a DTS context. So, my confusion is twofold:

First, every DVD I own is copyrighted, so is there any point in my allowing 96/24 to pass through, since it will be down converted anyway?

Second, if my AVR will only take a 96/24 signal in a DTS context, what about the DD material?

Obviously, I am grossly misunderstanding this stuff. Could someone give me a "Audio for Morons" version? Thanx!

[yourgrandma]

I dont know about the 2105, but my 3803 will play a 96khz bitstream in stereo, without the need for DTS. I think it would be best to leave the downconversion off, anyway, but it should work fine. Most DTS is 48khz anyway, so I'm not sure if it would be a major issue unless you have a lot of Superbit or DTS 96/24 music discs. But I still think theres something missing, Denon isnt a poor quality company, I couldnt see them intentionally hurting their products' performanxe.

Thats probably not much help, but at least i didnt fall over while typing!

Oh, I forgot to mention that as far as I know (not real far) Dolby Digital is 44.1khz, so again the limit (if there is one) wouldnt affect it. I believe the option Is for older avr without 96khz capabilities.

[Vader]

Randy,

Thanks for the reply. If I understand this correctly, the 96/24 is a DTS thing (as DD maxes out at 44.1 kHz), right? Here are the relevant parts of the respective owners manuals that are confusing me...

From the 2105 AVR user manual:
Denon_2105.JPG

And the 1600 DVD player user manual:

Denon_1600.JPG

It looks to me as if the AVR is only prepared to to 96/25 on DTS stuff, so only my DTS DVDs (superbit and normal) would benefit? But then the 1600 manual does not mention DTS at all, and it says that it will downconvert any copyrighted protected material anyway (which most DVDs are... so what's the point? ). Right now, I have it set to 'Yes' so that it will force downconversion, just to be on the safe side (I dont want to sent something the 2105 can't handle), but then I agree with you that Denon is great stuff, and I cant see them crippling their products. So, the problem is with my vast understanding () of this stuff...

[yourgrandma]

I'd change it to no. Your AVR can handle the 96khz, and it just wont play if it can't, so I don't see any point to turning the downconversion on. It is wierd that it would downconvert copyrighted stuff. But if it does,it does, I'm sure if you popped in a DTS Music disc in 96/24, it would play just fine. I have Denon gear and have had no problems.

[Vader]

Thanks, Randy!

[yourgrandma]

Word.

[bobgpsr]

DD (Dolby Digital) aka AC-3 can natively transport sample rates up to 48 kHz. Choices are 32, 44.1 or 48 kHz.

http://www.dolby.com/assets/pdf/tech_library/a_52b.pdf