which meathod is better

[peterS]

if one got a high end dvd player/bluray/hddvd and just fed analogue out to a 5 channel amp
assuming it has a volume control- or buy an external volume control

or digital out into a processor then to an amp


to me a buying a processor isnt a good idea unless its upgradeable like the anthem

so for someone on a budget which method is best- assuming they want something future proof?

[Chris D]

Going for an amp with "volume controls" doesn't sound like a good approach. IF you do find one with controls, it won't be fully integrated with your system.

Digital out is fine, but unless you use HDMI, you won't be able to do anything more than the legacy formats.

If you want to buy something NOW, and it HAS to be future-proof, buy the newest thing with as much gizmos, processing, and connectivity as you can afford, and then just make sure it also has multichannel analog inputs. That's the only way to say for SURE you can accept all future surround sound formats.

So--me? I'd just buy the latest Denon/Sherwood Newcastle/Pioneer/whatever receiver with HDMI and multichannels, if that's your goal.

[Azeke]

I concur with Chris, you would need a receiver/pre-pro, especially if you are looking at DD, DTS, DD True HD, etc. without that, it would seem to defeat the purpose of a high-end DVD player, IMHO.

Chris, has made some excellent receiver suggestions, I would also include Yamaha and Outlaw in that list. Keep us posted.

Peace and blessings,

Azeke

[peterS]

i was unclear
i meant the dvd player has volume control
im surprised one doesn't see it more as it should be preferable
is volume adjustment difficult in the digital domain?

to me buying a nice universal player then buying a processor is redundant at certain price points

also at this point it would seem that feeding analogue out will be more and more common if one doesnt use hdmi- if its the higher rez audio you cant use hdmi in most cases anyways so a processor only acts as a very expensive volume control (unless it has a/d d/a conversion which would also be suspect)

thoughts?

[Chris D]

You wouldn't want to "bump up the volume" in the digital domain--you'd be bumping up the gain, and likely get noise with it.

You're not too far off with saying that a pre/pro is an expensive volume control with analog inputs. It would depend on what the processor is able to do with the analogs. Mine just gives it a straight pass-through to the outputs. The purpose there is so that absolutely no noise is introduced. However, this also means that I can't use the Dolby Pro Logic II processing that I always use on audio.

Always a tradeoff.

[whoaru99]

is volume adjustment difficult in the digital domain?

Not difficult as far as I know, but I read somewhere that volume adjustment on the digital side cuts bits and therefore affects resolution. That CAN'T be a good thing.

[Nick M]

The whole point of a pre/pro in A/V is to simplify things.

One HD DVD/BR player with built in processing and gain controls (if someone makes one of these) piped directly into an amp will allow you to use your home theater for only that player. No cable box, quality stand-alone CD-player, tuner, video game systems, EQ tones (from say a Velo SMS-1 or DD), record player, etc. Not to mention that they also handle video switching if you have more sources than TV inputs.

For Home Theaters a receiver or pre/pro is the way to go for sure. Right now there really aren't any up-to-date models out yet though, so I would wait until models with HDMI 1.3 switching and HD DVD/BR processing are released. Sherwood Newcastle should have one out soon...

Unless of course you are a fan of full-range 2.0 like me! Then you just need a preamp or integrated amp with enough L/R 2ch inputs for the sources you have, and a display with enough inputs! No surround sound, but in my experience I enjoy a $10,000 2.0 setup much better than a $10,000 7.1 setup (in an average living room). As the budget increases beyond this and a dedicated "theater" room becomes available, I would probably shift back towards multichannel.

[peterS]

You wouldn't want to "bump up the volume" in the digital domain--you'd be bumping up the gain, and likely get noise with it.

You're not too far off with saying that a pre/pro is an expensive volume control with analog inputs. It would depend on what the processor is able to do with the analogs. Mine just gives it a straight pass-through to the outputs. The purpose there is so that absolutely no noise is introduced. However, this also means that I can't use the Dolby Pro Logic II processing that I always use on audio.

Always a tradeoff.

the way i understand it is an analogue volume control wouldnt be amplification of the signal (turntables excluded)
an analogue volume control regulates the ground voltage so it can only attenuate the input voltage

using a gain control as a boost (as people mistakenly like to do in car audio)
causes noise along with clipping

so how a volume control on our pre/pros operate i dont know- either as a true volume control or a gain

if you were to play your cd player directly to your amp it would be very loud

have you ever compared the regular DD or DTS from the dvd vs the processor?
how big of a difference is there
i just suspect that any good universal player does a very good job and probably on par with a 1k receiver... curious if anyone can confirm or refute that

[peterS]

The whole point of a pre/pro in A/V is to simplify things.

One HD DVD/BR player with built in processing and gain controls (if someone makes one of these) piped directly into an amp will allow you to use your home theater for only that player. No cable box, quality stand-alone CD-player, tuner, video game systems, EQ tones (from say a Velo SMS-1 or DD), record player, etc. Not to mention that they also handle video switching if you have more sources than TV inputs.

For Home Theaters a receiver or pre/pro is the way to go for sure. Right now there really aren't any up-to-date models out yet though, so I would wait until models with HDMI 1.3 switching and HD DVD/BR processing are released. Sherwood Newcastle should have one out soon...

Unless of course you are a fan of full-range 2.0 like me! Then you just need a preamp or integrated amp with enough L/R 2ch inputs for the sources you have, and a display with enough inputs! No surround sound, but in my experience I enjoy a $10,000 2.0 setup much better than a $10,000 7.1 setup (in an average living room). As the budget increases beyond this and a dedicated "theater" room becomes available, I would probably shift back towards multichannel.

well for arguments sake lets say that one just wants a universal device so input switching is not needed- the average consumer wants that, they are very intimidated by even a reciever

of course this is what hdmi tries to rectify but at the same time you are paying for redundancy- ie the universal player can decode everything that it is just passing digitaly

i do see that buying a good universal player and reviever (assuming hdmi 1.3 was attainable right now) is probably cheaper than even curcumventing this redundancy-but i feel that a volume control on a universal player would add a lot of flexibility for those that want or need more elaborate amplification and would also have the added benifit of being more user friendly

does anyone else have info on digital volume control?



btw
i also only have 2 channel but every now and then i hear a good 5 channel that blows it out of the water

[Nick M]

I'd have to disagree. I believe the average consumer will have at least two sources... cable/satellite and an optical player. Many households also have some form of video game system.

I would agree that the average consumer would like a one box solution though... which is why HTIB units with the DVD player/Receiver in one unit have been so popular along with the Bose systems.

[peterS]

I'd have to disagree. I believe the average consumer will have at least two sources... cable/satellite and an optical player. Many households also have some form of video game system.

I would agree that the average consumer would like a one box solution though... which is why HTIB units with the DVD player/Receiver in one unit have been so popular along with the Bose systems.

well thats easily resolved with a spdif input but i see your point... im using the "tape" inputs on my rc-1070

it just really seems to be a bad time to buy into ht audio but there is very high interest.... maybe it will all be mute in a year or so but i doubt it