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Digital Output

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Old 12-01-2004, 2:14 PM   #1
G8PCW
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Digital Output

I have what I think is a fairly straightforward question - but I'd like some advice anyway!

I am in the market for an AV Amp which will include DTS and Dolby Digital decoders. I plan to connect it to a DVD player through a co-axial digital cable. Am I right in thinking that, as far as sound goes, it's irrelevent how much I spend on a DVD player since they will all simply stream the digital audio data down the cable to the Amp which then has to do the hard work of decoding the digital data and doing something with it?

Thanks for your help.

Pete
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Old 12-01-2004, 3:03 PM   #2
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Has it ocurred to you that you may want to obtain the best Picture Quality, too? Here, the work is always all done in the player.

Plus there are issues of transport stability (and 'jitter') that can theoretically affect the quality of the audio bitstream regardless of where it is decoded.

It's probably also true that a really good quality player will be more tolerant of errant discs than a poorer one is. I know this is the case with my (ageing, now) Pioneer 737.
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Old 13-01-2004, 10:44 AM   #3
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Just noticed this thread...

To be honest, yes, you're pretty much right (save the arguments that nigel has mentioned above) - the main difference as you "move up" tends to be in the area of picture quality rather than sound.

Analogue outputs are a different story, but if you only ever intend to use the digital out then I sincerely doubt that you'll notice a huge difference between a £100 player and a £1000 player (IMO anyway - I'm sure there will always be people who "can" )

Hope this is of some use to you... good luck!

K.
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Old 13-01-2004, 1:47 PM   #4
G8PCW
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Nigel/Kelvin,

Thanks very much for your responses. You've confirmed what I thought to be the case - which is exactly what the salesman at Sevenoaks Hi-Hi didn't do when he told me that I'd notice a significant increase in "height, width and depth" of the sound!

Regards,

Pete
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Old 13-01-2004, 2:18 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally posted by G8PCW
which is exactly what the salesman at Sevenoaks Hi-Hi didn't do when he told me that I'd notice a significant increase in "height, width and depth" of the sound!
LOL - don't you just love these phrases that salesmen come out with...
What a load of cobblers.
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Old 13-01-2004, 2:35 PM   #6
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No problem

Quote:
Originally posted by G8PCW
significant increase in "height, width and depth" of the sound!


K.
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