The analog outputs are needed for the new high res audio formats such as Dolby Digital Plus, and TrueHD. The HDMI passes them, but if you dont have an HDMI reciever then you need the 5.1 analogs to get the full bandwidth of the new formats. Digital optical and coax do not have the bandwidth to carry all the info. They will still pass a downconverted version at 1.5 Mbps to your reciever which will sound great, and better than SD-DVD's but not quite as good as the full bandwidth version.
Hope this makes sence.”
Yes, that actually does. So the standard DD 5.1 stuff will be just fine although the higher 6.1 and 7.1 format won’t unless you have a newer receiver with HDMI functionality. For the people that purchased new receivers recently (without HDMI functionality) they’re pretty much out of luck for the higher audio options.
Fortunately I’ll be in the market for a receiver upgrade pretty soon (bought my current one with DD decode back in ’98 when I bought my first DVD player) so an HDMI capable receiver will definitely be a consideration since I’m guessing in a few years, analog audio options will probably be limited by other players in favor of a simplified all digital setup.
“An engineer explained to us that hundreds of ear impressions were gathered in the name of research, and while each one obviously boasted its own unique shape and size, one single characteristic remained uniform across the board: the entrance into the ear canal is not a perfect circle, it's an oval.â€
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“Pliepl,
The analog outputs are needed for the new high res audio formats such as Dolby Digital Plus, and TrueHD. The HDMI passes them, but if you dont have an HDMI reciever then you need the 5.1 analogs to get the full bandwidth of the new formats. Digital optical and coax do not have the bandwidth to carry all the info. They will still pass a downconverted version at 1.5 Mbps to your reciever which will sound great, and better than SD-DVD's but not quite as good as the full bandwidth version.
Hope this makes sence.”
Yes, that actually does. So the standard DD 5.1 stuff will be just fine although the higher 6.1 and 7.1 format won’t unless you have a newer receiver with HDMI functionality. For the people that purchased new receivers recently (without HDMI functionality) they’re pretty much out of luck for the higher audio options.
Fortunately I’ll be in the market for a receiver upgrade pretty soon (bought my current one with DD decode back in ’98 when I bought my first DVD player) so an HDMI capable receiver will definitely be a consideration since I’m guessing in a few years, analog audio options will probably be limited by other players in favor of a simplified all digital setup.