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Topic: blu-ray player for 5.1 system (Read 3462 times) previous topic - next topic
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blu-ray player for 5.1 system

Hi,

i'm making my first steps in 5.1 audio world so far i've acquired Denon sys-65ht 5.1 speakers and Denon AVR-1910 receiver, so what's left is the device to actually play my cds collection (stereo as well as 5.1 audio). As there's gonna be at least a few blu-ray cd's in my collection, i thought i'll go straight for blu-ray player. The information on blu-rays and contradicting opinions is overwhelming and most of it focuses on the video output part anyway. So i'll just go ahead and risk to get a 'just-google-it' and ask here if there's anything i should pay particular attention to when choosing? I don't own a TV so video is of no importance at the point (i guess at some point i might acquire a projector) i really care for the audio most - does this mean i can go for pretty much everything? In particular i have a cheap and little effort option to get a Samsung BD-E5300.
Thanx for feedback.

blu-ray player for 5.1 system

Reply #1 –
As far as audio (and video) quality, your choice of player shouldn't make any difference.  The player is going to send the digital data to your receiver via HDMI in one of the standardized Blu-Ray (or DVD) formats, and your receiver s going to decode it.    These things are standardized, so you shouldn't have any problems, as long as you are playing regular CD, DVD or Blu-Ray discs.

I actually don't know that much about the various Blu-Ray formats, but with DVDs all players are required to support LPCM and Dolby AC3.    And, all discs are requred to have at least one LPCM or one AC3 track.  That insures that every player can play every DVD.    DTS is optional on DVDs and players.

DVD-Audio is a special high-resolution audio-only format that never "cought-on" and most DVD players can't play it.

CD audio and MP3 are also optional on DVD players, but I haven't run across a DVD player that can't play these.

There are other formats that are not standardized, such as 5.1 Channel DTS CDs, FLAC, etc.  So, these can be "hit-or-miss".

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I don't own a TV so video is of no importance at the point
Some sort of video monitor is almost a necessity, because of the user interface.   i.e. If you are playing a Blu-Ray or DVD and you want to select the 5.1 track instead of the stereo track, you need to access the disc menu using the monitor and the remote. 



BTW - I have a shelf-full of concert DVDs, most have surround sound and I really enjoy the "surround sound experience".    This is just my personal taste & prefrence, but to me it's an amazing "improvement" over stereo CDs (or stereo DVDs).  And, with stereo music, I like to add some rear channel reverb with one of the Dolby Soundfields.  (Your receiver has Dolby Pro Logic II, so it should have various soundfield options.)

blu-ray player for 5.1 system

Reply #2 –
Damn, some good points!

Quote from: DVDdoug on
DVD-Audio is a special high-resolution audio-only format that never "cought-on" and most DVD players can't play it.


My prime motivation for 5.1 were King Cimson remixes by Steven Wilson and it says they're DVD-A. But i suppose they contain DVD-Video compatible data, thus making them playable on any DVD player (i don't posses the King Cimson remixes yet, but that is the case for other albums released in DVD that i have)? Otherwise, does the comment below suggest that without dvd-a player i'm missing out on 96 kHz frequency sound? As long as i don't delude to posses a golden ear, that should not be of concern?
Compatible with all DVD and DVD Rom Players, DVD-A players can additionally access a 5.1 Lossless Audio Mix and Losless Stereo Mix.

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Some sort of video monitor is almost a necessity, because of the user interface.   i.e. If you are playing a Blu-Ray or DVD and you want to select the 5.1 track instead of the stereo track, you need to access the disc menu using the monitor and the remote.


I feel rather silly not having thought about that. Surely there should be a device where LED display suffices for the function..
BTW, a DVD-A player will have the same problem, i assume? All this puts me off somewhat i must admit, as i don't want to buy additional screen just for the purpose of playing audio media.

blu-ray player for 5.1 system

Reply #3 –
Quote
My prime motivation for 5.1 were King Cimson remixes by Steven Wilson and it says they're DVD-A. But i suppose they contain DVD-Video compatible data, thus making them playable on any DVD player
Yes.  Your receiver and the Blu-Ray player you are considering both support DTS.  The stereo track (lossless LPCM, I assume) should play on any DVD player.

If you look at the files/folders on a regular video DVD, the AUDIO_TS folder is empty.  The AUDIO-TS folder is for DVD-Audio.  On your disc, you'll find files in both folders.    (I have one "universal" DVD-Audio disc like yours, and another that I cannot play.)

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suggest that without dvd-a player i'm missing out on 96 kHz frequency sound? As long as i don't delude to posses a golden ear, that should not be of concern?
Correct.  You won't be able to play the lossless surround track.

I don't think you'll be missing anything.  While I've never done an A/B or ABX test comparing AC3 or DTS (lossy) to lossless, I will say that AC3 or DTS can sound amazing!  I don't hear any compression artifacts, or any defects/weaknesses in the sound.  When I have a choice between lossless stereo and lossy surround (may DVDs do have that option), I'll take the surround any day!

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BTW, a DVD-A player will have the same problem, i assume?
I don't know...  If you can find a DVD-Audio only player, I would assume it doesn't need a display attached.  But, if you find such a thing, it's probably going to be an expensive "audiophile" item.

If there are any new 5.1 audio releases, I assume they will be on Blu-Ray (and your setup will support high resolution Blu-Ray playback).  So, I wouldn't recommend buying a DVD-Audio player just to play one or two discs in high resolution.  (Like I said, I've got one DVD-Audio disc that I can't play.  It may have come with in a 2-pack with a regular CD or a video-DVD... I can't remember...  It might be Roy Orbison Black And White Night, and in that case I'd rather watch the concert (enen though it's black-and-white) than just listen to it.) 


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All this puts me off somewhat i must admit, as i don't want to buy additional screen just for the purpose of playing audio media.
I can certainly understand that!  But, maybe you'll want to watch a movie or a concert video sometime, or a musical or a musically-related movie.    Of course the problem with thinking about THAT, is that you'd probably want to consider a bigger TV/monitor!

blu-ray player for 5.1 system

Reply #4 –
Quote from: InternazionalIV on
Surely there should be a device where LED display suffices for the function..


No. BR is far more complicated than CD. It isn't just a list of tracks. I'd guess even for streaming stuff it won't show much on the very basic readout that most players have.
 

blu-ray player for 5.1 system

Reply #5 –
Quote from: InternazionalIV on
My prime motivation for 5.1 were King Cimson remixes by Steven Wilson and it says they're DVD-A. But i suppose they contain DVD-Video compatible data, thus making them playable on any DVD player


Just a quick search for ITCotCK on Discogs: http://www.discogs.com/King-Crimson-In-The...release/2842703
DVD-audio compatibility will make the following differences, it seems:
- 5.1 surround version: any DVD player will give you the DTS 5.1 encoding. DVD-audio will give you a lossless version in addition.
- stereo version: any DVD player will give you 24/48. DVD-audio will give you 24/96.
Seems to me that it is the same for Red: http://www.discogs.com/King-Crimson-Red/release/2053801 . (Larks' Tongues do have a Blu-Ray edition though.)


Worth buying another device for ...?