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What will I gain by using a 5.1 Analog connection?

75.1.5.74

I have new Toshiba HD-XA2 hi def dvd player. It has 5.1 analog outputs. I have just ordered a DB25 cable with rca terminations on the other end to go from my prepro to the dvd player.

Even though my player plays hi def discs, I have chosen to play only standard def discs because of the outstanding quality of the upconverted picture and the larger screen area of the 4:3 format on my setup.

Since I will only be playing standard def dvd's, I will be limited to DD 5.1 and DTS. I won't be playing the hi-def sound formats. Will using a 5.1 analog connection via DB25 from the prepro to the dvd player be better than a digital coax cable that I am now using?

Somehow, on my screen and projector, the hi-def discs don't seem to be as bright as the standard def discs....and I get a much bigger picture on the standard format discs in 4:3.

I have a 16 ft by 12 ft screen. Please see my system page on the link below. I appreciate your help on this....

thanks......mitch

My Audio Video System (Open in New Window)

Follow Ups:

RE: What will I gain by using a 5.1 Analog connection? - David Aiken 14:57:36 07/08/07 (1)
As far as digital vs analog interconnect cables go, you can argue about which is going to be a more interference free connection, less likely to be affected by things like RFI, proximity to power cords and the like. A significant part of the answer will depend on cable quality. Good analog will probably beat bad digital and good digital will probably beat bad analog. There's a bit of "you pay your money and you take your choice' here.

More important are the following 2 factors:

� which has the best decoding and digital to analog conversion for standard def sound, your pre-pro or your Toshiba player? I'd expect best results from the device that does that best and if it's the pre-pro then you should get better results with the digital connection.

� a second issue is how the pre-pro processes analog inputs. If it does any sound processing in the digital domain, then it will probably convert analog inputs to digital and then back again after processing. If that's the case you're probably better off feeding it a digital signal and avoiding the digital to analog conversion in the player and the analog to digital conversion in the pre-pro.

I suspect my preference, provided both the player and pre-pro do a good job on the d to a conversion, is to leave the signal in the digital domain for as long as possible so I'd opt for the digital connection. That also offers the convenience of a single cable connection for audio instead of 6, and that keeps the back of the system a lot tidier, makes it easier to avoid cable placement that can result in interference being picked up, and makes it a lot easier to do cable tracing when something goes wrong. Simplicity has some virtues all of its own.

Finally, regardless of which approach measures best, you may still have a preference for the sound of the other approach. The best way to decide which gives the best sound, taking particular cable choices into account, is always going to be to compare both.

David Aiken
- Eventually, you'll want good DAC stages somewhere in the system... - oscar 20:32:13 07/10/07 (0)
  Unfortunately, I doubt anyone will have it yet for HD video for quite a while yet (both pre/pro and source player solutions - maybe the Pioneer Elite comes closest).
  
  I'm hoping the source player will eventually be good enough but I have my doubts this will happen anytime soon; I've heard from one possible "Player" that they will stay out of the HD format wars until a clear winner emerges. If I can get a suitable source, I might be able to avoid an HDMI-capable pre/pro solution and stick with my plain-jane DD/DTS pre/pro for the next 10 years.
  
  As it stands right now, I get the impression none of the high-end companies will have good pre/pro and/or source player solutions for HD video and HD audio (e.g. DTS HD MA decoding) for some time yet. In the meantime, I've opted for the source players' 5.1 analog output "mass-market" quality DACs for the near-term with uncompressed PCM soundtracks and the pre/pro's DTS 1.5M DTS core output when using DTS HD MA-encoded discs.

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