Analog 7.1 Versus HDMI 1.3
Dear Gary:
Is there a clear difference between the two types of connections? I am very curious about this issue. At least I think there should be an article about this so consumers know that if they use HDMI 1.3 that they are getting the very best sound quality HDMI has to offer??that comes closer to the original PCM film track rather than analog 7.1 multichannel that isn?t featured with many Blu-ray Disc? players anyhow.
sfxjames
Contributing Editor Doug Blackburn Comments:
The multichannel analog audio might be every bit as good as HDMI processed by any good AVR or processor. What matters is how complete and flexible the audio options are in the disc player. If the disc player has settings for loudspeaker distance, loudspeaker level, crossovers, room EQ, and all the settings and modes available in the AVR/processor, the multichannel analog audio would be just as good as audio via HDMI. Of course the disc player would also have to have digital-to-analog conversion of the same quality as the AVR or processor, too. There aren't many disc players out there that can do all those things. The more of those things the disc player doesn't offer, or limits in flexibility (maybe the surround loudspeakers can?t be set to seven feet when the main loudspeakers are set to nine feet because the disc player software doesn?t allow shorter distances than the main loudspeakers), the more processing will be missing from the multichannel analog signals.
Most AVRs and processors have only two channels of analog-to-digital conversion. That means analog stereo inputs can be converted to digital and processed, but the analog multi-channel inputs will pass right through with no processing of any kind. There are a few products with six or eight channels of analog-to-digital processing that could convert the multichannel analog signal to digital, process them, and convert them back to analog. There is always a small loss when you add two conversion steps like that, but those losses might be preferable to just passing the multichannel audio through without processing.
There are a lot of peripheral issues also... getting the subwoofer levels right in the multichannel analog audio signals may be tricky if the disc player doesn?t have flexible controls for subwoofer level, for example. There?s no way you can say multichannel analog audio signals should never be used. Those who enjoy DVD-Audio or SA-CD may have no choice other than spending a lot more money on a more expensive disc player and AVR/processor. And there may be other combinations of components people own that make multichannel analog audio the only solution. But most of the time, if you are dealing with Blu-ray movies and have an AVR with good digital processing and HDMI capability, the best option is using HDMI for audio (and video) for surround sound.
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