HDMI Pass Thru Audio Diluted ??

[bobh33]

Thanks again in advance!!! Since my HT-S894 system is pass thru, does my audio also make the same loop that the video does from DVD? I have HDMI from DVD to AVR and from AVR to TV with optical coming back from TV to AVR. The AVR does recognize the HDMI but could I get better quality audio running another optical from DVD to AVR???????

[eugovector]

Nope, digital is digital, all 0s and 1s, no degradation.

[hyghwayman]

bobh33 wrote:

Thanks again in advance!!! Since my HT-S894 system is pass thru, does my audio also make the same loop that the video does from DVD? I have HDMI from DVD to AVR and from AVR to TV with optical coming back from TV to AVR. The AVR does recognize the HDMI but could I get better quality audio running another optical from DVD to AVR???????

Here is what I've read and have been told many times;
"you may want to run all your vidio straight to the t.v. and audio straight to the amp good luck to you and please post back to us steweee"

• DVD video out to TV = HDMI
• DVD audio out to AVR = Optical
• TV audio out to AVR = Optical

[bobgpsr]

Optical is lossy for anything greater than two channel stereo. HDMI supports multichannel lossless audio connection to the AVR.

[MatrixDweller]

HDMI pass-through will not give audio at all to the receiver. Pass-though means that it will just pass the HDMI signal to the other device. I would normally take the optical straight out of the DVD player to the AVR in that case and run the HDMI straight to the TV, unless you have multiple HDMI devices and want to switch between them with the AVR and not the TV (if the TV has multiple HDMI inputs).

[hyghwayman]

bobgpsr wrote:

Optical is lossy for anything greater than two channel stereo. HDMI supports multichannel lossless audio connection to the AVR.

, Optical and Coaxial will both support Multichannel Audio and does it well. It will not do HD Audio though and that is where HDMI is preferred.

[thxgoon]

hyghwayman wrote:

, Optical and Coaxial will both support Multichannel Audio and does it well. It will not do HD Audio though and that is where HDMI is preferred.

I think he was referring to optical and coax's abilities to pass Dolby and DTS as multichannel formats only whereas HDMI would pass full resolution lossless multichannel audio.

[bobgpsr]

hyghwayman wrote:

, Optical and Coaxial will both support Multichannel Audio and does it well. It will not do HD Audio though and that is where HDMI is preferred.

I was refering to the fact that S/PDIF via coax or optical toslink can only use legacy Dolby Digital or dts for sending anything more than two channels of audio. Those legacy audio codecs are lossy -- they do not do the best that can be done which is lossless multichannel audio.

Lossless multichannel audio with new advanced audio Dolby TrueHD or dts-HD Master Audio codecs can be sent over HDMI or decoded in a BD/HD DVD player and output as multichannel analog.

Using HDMI the player either decodes to lossless multichannel linear PCM or sends (with version 1.3 HDMI only) the raw bitstream to a HDMI 1.3 capable AVR for decode.

A few low end AVRs a while back had HDMI but only did switch selection of HDMI input and did not pick off the audio. That practically defeats the purpose of using an AVR.

[MatrixDweller]

The HT-S894 DVD player has a few setting for Dynamic Range Control. If that is turned on it will compress the sound. The TV could be doing that also.

The AVR with the HT-S894 (HT-R640 ) package does support LPCM, PCM and Bitstream so I would go HDMI out from the player to the receiver then the receiver to the TV. The only benefit you would have from running the optical out from the TV to the AVR would be if you use the antenna to get your TV stations over the air. That would pass the audio to your AVR then.

[bobh33]

Thank you all! Zip, can you explain a little more on those Dynamic Range Settings? Do you have this system? I just don't think I am getting the "crispness" that I should from DVD's. If you do have this system, I might have to post my settings so you can take a look at them. Like I said before, I might have "champagne taste on a beer budget", but I really think this system can produce great audio!!!

Also, I was looking at the speaker specs which give "frequency response" for all speakers but subwoofer as "65 Hz-35kHz". If have the crossover settings at 80. Am I reading this right and they should be between 35-65??

[MatrixDweller]

I was looking at the manual found on the Onkyo site. You basically want to turn off Dynamic Range Control and Dialog Enhancement in the DVD player, AVR and TV if they have those options.

Dynamic Range Control compresses the audio so that the bass is less and there isn't as much shift in dynamic range from one part of the movie to the next. It's good if you're listening at low volume, say late at night. Your TV could be doing this automatically or through a setting too. AVRs often have that feature too and call it either night mode or Dolby Digital Compression.

Dialog enhancement boosts the center channel. That should be done in the AVR by adjusting the speaker levels.

Have you tried using optical from the DVD player straight to the AVR (use the cable from TV to AVR)?

[bobh33]

Thanks Zip! Are those two settings on the DVD players audio settings menu (I'm at work now)? I just bought another optical cable to try that out too. That's why I was wondering since it's a pass-thru system and although it does carry both video & audio to the AVR from the DVD, if the audio wasn't being sent to the TV & back, this "diluting" the audio quality. How about the question I had on the frequency response/crossover question on the speakers?

Thanks!!!
Bob

[MatrixDweller]

Sorry for the late reply.

An 80Hz crossover is most probably perfect. It is the THX standard and recommended for most systems. Your speakers are rated down to 65Hz which would be at a -3dB roll off, so in actual fact they probably play best above 80Hz. Setting the crossover to 80Hz means that the sub is going to cover the frequencies under 80Hz.

As for the dynamic range settings: I believe they are in the DVD player and the AVR. In the AVR it would be called Dolby Digital compression and/or night mode. In the DVD player it would probably be called Dynamic Range something-or-other.