Information from Rotel about RSX-1058

[TommyV]

I posted this over on AVS so I thought I would post here as well:


Here is the e-mail I wrote to Rotel tech support.

Hello,

I am a proud owner of a RSX 1057 but am considering upgrading to the 1058. I need to get some solid information before I do. I am getting conflicting reports from different sources and I am hoping you can clear this up once and for all.

Now I know the 1058 cannot decode the new audio formats, ie. Dolby True HD etc. What I am wondering is how it handles the already decoded digital multi channel LPCM signal being fed to it via HDMI by a new HD DVD or Blu Ray player. Can it add post processing like bass management, speaker distance settings, and Dolby PLIIx to the high rez digital LPCM signal?

I believe this is important so you are not at the mercy of the player to handle this. I think some of the Blu Ray players do not even have bass management and speaker distance settings in them if I am not mistaken.

Now if it can not do post processing at this time, is it something that could be added as a firmware update later and is there any intentions on doing so?

Here is the response I received today.

Yes, the RSX-1058 handles the HDMI PCM stream as if it were any other digital PCM stream. You get post processing, bass management, etc…



Best Regards,

Mr. Shane Kea

Rotel Service Supervisor

B&W Group USA

This is very good news but is also conflicting what is being reported over on the Club Rotel. I believe there has only been one actual owner to post on the forum. He reported he was not able to add Dolby PLIIx processing to a multi channel PCM signal(don't know if this was some kind of user error). Other than that I think everything else has been speculation.

[Kevin D]

As soon as I get a 1069 in the store I will be testing everything. The reports that you can't add PLIIx processing to a high-res multi-channel input come from very reliable sources, so at this point I would trust them over the '...' from the email.

Kevin D.

[TommyV]

So you work at a store that sells Rotel and you don't have a RSX 1058? I am interested in the RSX 1058 and not the 1069. The PLIIx while nice is not a deal breaker for me. I think the bass management and speaker distance settings are more important as I recently found out some Blu Ray players don't even have these settings.

Edit: One thing I forgot to add, when I went into my local dealer and asked them this question they had no idea. They contacted the regional rep, called me back and stated something about that with the testing 9 out of 10 discs were able to add processing or something like that. He said it had to do with the disc being 24/48 or 24/96 or something. He didn't really have any idea what he was talking about so I could not ask any follow up questions. I wish the rep had called me personally.

[Kevin D]

Small custom dealer, not a lot of walk in traffic to sustain every model from every line. I usually have to wait for a job to come up, buy it myself, or hope we turn the showroom upside-down.

What the 1069 can do, the 1058 can do. I know there's certain things that can be done to a high-res multi-channel PCM signal, and there's less that can be done to a high-res multi-channel that was a DD-HD or DTS-HD signal.

Several blu-ray discs have native PCM soundtracks, while others have DD/DTS tracks that get converted to PCM signals. So it's a question of what can be done to native PCM tracks, versus converted to PCM tracks.

Kevin D.

[apodaca]

I also would be interested if the new units can post process the PCM signal from a DVD-Audio and or SACD player when connected via HDMI. Hearing high rez music in 7.1 is very high on my list.

[TommyV]

Small custom dealer, not a lot of walk in traffic to sustain every model from every line. I usually have to wait for a job to come up, buy it myself, or hope we turn the showroom upside-down.

What the 1069 can do, the 1058 can do. I know there's certain things that can be done to a high-res multi-channel PCM signal, and there's less that can be done to a high-res multi-channel that was a DD-HD or DTS-HD signal.

Several blu-ray discs have native PCM soundtracks, while others have DD/DTS tracks that get converted to PCM signals. So it's a question of what can be done to native PCM tracks, versus converted to PCM tracks.

Kevin D.

Well I look forward to your reports as it looks like NAD really dropped the ball on the T775. I want to stick with Rotel anyway because I love my 1057 and the sound it produces.

So if the 1058 is the same as the 1069 then I guess it will have the upgraded DACs also? That would be another benefit for me if I upgrade.

I do REALLY wish Rotel had stayed out of the video processing business. I would prefer my video signals remain completely untouched and sent to my display. Hopefully they included a ways to totally defeat that "feature upgrade".

[rpgonzalez]

I do REALLY wish Rotel had stayed out of the video processing business. I would prefer my video signals remain completely untouched and sent to my display. Hopefully they included a ways to totally defeat that "feature upgrade".

OTH, Rotel getting into the video business got ME into ROTEL :T

BTW, the video (bluray) looks untouched to me!