Cheapskate Samsung Theater

[CowboyDren]

I'm cheap, and I like Samsung stuff, and I have a small room with an even smaller budget. That said, I'm looking at a Samsung UN46B7100 (LED lit, gray ToC), which has four HDMI inputs and an optical audio output.

I have a Dish Network VIP722 DVR, which supports Dolby Digital and Dolby Digital Plus from satellite or broadcast programs, which it can pass via HDMI.

I'm also looking at the Samsung HT-Z420, upconverting DVD 5.1-channel HTIB, which has one HDMI output and no HDMI inputs, but does have an optical audio input. This HTIB can also decode Dolby Digital, PL2, PL2x, and DTS streams, but nothing more advanced or recent.

To fill out the Blu-ray section, I really haven't decided on a BD-P1590 or a refurb BD-P2500, but they seem to have very similar audio features, including an output mode called "Bitstream (Re-encode)," which I think is my magic bullet. The Re-encode feature, according to the manuals, takes any surround sound encoding from the disc, decodes it into the main 5.1 channels, and then recodes it with DTS for output. Samsung recommends this "if you don’t have an HDMI supported receiver, but have a receiver with an Optical input that can decode DTS."

I'm looking at these options because the Samsung Blu-ray HTIB costs $100 more than buying a DVD HTIB and a BD player separately, so that's a double-whammy. Since all three Samsung components support Anynet+, one should theoretically be able to adjust the volume and skip chapters while watching a Blu-ray disc using the TV's remote...theoretically.

I think that if I set the BD-P's audio output to Re-encode, patch all of my inputs to the TV via HDMI, and then link the TV's optical output to the HTIB's optical input, I should get 5.1 sound (DTS) from pretty much any disc with a multichannel sound track and 5.1 sound (DD, DD+) from broadcast material. I'm assuming at this point that I can tell the TV to take the HDMI audio signals and pass them out via optical.

Should this not work? I realize that the audio quality will be compromised, but I'm not sure that I'll know the difference through the $10 amplifier section and $3 speakers included in the HT-Z420 kit. This will be my first multichannel sound system, so I'm pretty sure I'll be elated if the surround sound simply works.

 

[jvc]

I think that if I set the BD-P's audio output to Re-encode, patch all of my inputs to the TV via HDMI, and then link the TV's optical output to the HTIB's optical input, I should get 5.1 sound (DTS) from pretty much any disc with a multichannel sound track and 5.1 sound (DD, DD+) from broadcast material. I'm assuming at this point that I can tell the TV to take the HDMI audio signals and pass them out via optical.

I doubt seriously that will work like you want.
99.9% of the tvs out there will not pass 5.1 surround that way. The optical output on tvs is for getting 5.1 surround from the internal tuner, from your local HD channels, while using an antenna. Not for a piggy back or daisy chain connection, from other sources. The handful of tvs that will even pass any audio that way at all, will down mix the 5.1 to 2.0, so the best you can hope for is Dolby Pro Logic (simulated surround).

 

[jayn_j]

I doubt seriously that will work like you want.
99.9% of the tvs out there will not pass 5.1 surround that way. The optical output on tvs is for getting 5.1 surround from the internal tuner, from your local HD channels, while using an antenna. Not for a piggy back or daisy chain connection, from other sources. The handful of tvs that will even pass any audio that way at all, will down mix the 5.1 to 2.0, so the best you can hope for is Dolby Pro Logic (simulated surround).

I agree with JVC. I have attempted to do the passthrough with both a Panasonic plasma and a Visio 32" LCD. In both cases, only the front channels were passed through on the audio output of the TV.

What WILL work is to run the audio from the 722 to the optical connection on the HTIB. This will give 5.1 to everything, but you will need to switch both the TV and the HTIB when changing sources.

Personally, I would step up a bit to the HT-Z522. It has better speakers and an HDMI input with "multi-channel audio support" It costs about $80 more, but the convenience factor alone would be worth it to me.

 

[CowboyDren]

What WILL work is to run the audio from the 722 to the optical connection on the HTIB. This will give 5.1 to everything, but you will need to switch both the TV and the HTIB when changing sources.

Ugh, that's lame. Nothing ever works out as simply as I'd hoped, so I hadn't gotten my hopes too high. So what I really need is a TOSLink switch that I can move manually when I change sources on the TV...

Personally, I would step up a bit to the HT-Z522. It has better speakers and an HDMI input with "multi-channel audio support" It costs about $80 more, but the convenience factor alone would be worth it to me.

I'm not crazy about the big tower speakers, nor the wireless rear speakers, nor the 5-disc carousel (I want my kids to be able to use this, too, with a minimum of supervision). I see that it has one HDMI input, but I have to wonder if using an HDMI switch to go into this receiver will strip out the Anynet+ and BD-Wise functionality.

It kinda' kills me that the HT-BD systems are a) ugly and b) decode fewer audio formats than the component systems do, or I'd think about them harder. I think the TOSLink switch may be the best option, and I'd only bother with it when I'm in "cinema mode;" most of the time stereo-only is okay. Speaking of ugly:

For only $4.80 each when QTY 50+ purchased - 3X1 Optical Audio Toslink Bi-Directional Manual Switch | Toslink Switch / Converter

 

[jayn_j]

Ugh, that's lame. Nothing ever works out as simply as I'd hoped, so I hadn't gotten my hopes too high. So what I really need is a TOSLink switch that I can move manually when I change sources on the TV...

I'm not crazy about the big tower speakers, nor the wireless rear speakers, nor the 5-disc carousel (I want my kids to be able to use this, too, with a minimum of supervision). I see that it has one HDMI input, but I have to wonder if using an HDMI switch to go into this receiver will strip out the Anynet+ and BD-Wise functionality.

It kinda' kills me that the HT-BD systems are a) ugly and b) decode fewer audio formats than the component systems do, or I'd think about them harder. I think the TOSLink switch may be the best option, and I'd only bother with it when I'm in "cinema mode;" most of the time stereo-only is okay. Speaking of ugly:

For only $4.80 each when QTY 50+ purchased - 3X1 Optical Audio Toslink Bi-Directional Manual Switch | Toslink Switch / Converter

I found the 5 disc carousel to be a feature when the kids were young because I could load 5 discs and then place the unit up out of reach. Didn't take the little ones long to figure out how to swap discs, and it was a lot easier on the equipment than having little fingers messing with the tray.

Onkyo and Denon make HTIB units that do full decoding over the HDMI. However, they start at around $600 and head up from there.

As for that ugly switch: If you get one, you will find it has toslink inputs with ends and a plastic lens on each. The "switch" physically moves a light pipe inside to line up with the selected cable. Purely mechanical.

BTW, the unit you mentioned also listed wireless rear speakers. Hopefully, it is an external transmitter and you would be able to hard wire the rears. IMHO, wireless speakers are still unreliable. So many people complain about them losing signal and having it drop in and out during use.

 

[CowboyDren]

I've just always hated carousels; personal taste, I suppose. I'm also oddly okay with the selector being mechanical, as it still reduces the risk of damaging a fiber cable from inserting/removing it too many times. As for the Z420 having wireless rears, you're right, which brings me right back to the Z320 (street price: $230, available at Walmart).

If only the TV would just pass HDMI DTS via optical...sigh.