I am looking to buy a blu-ray player with 7.1 analog outs and was wondering about audio connections with the 950. I have my Pioneer DV-47Ai connected to the 950 with a coaxial connection for audio and I am using amplifiers for my 7.1 setup for sound. Can I just connect the blu-ray player to the 950 via coaxial connections and leave everything else the way it is? And, will that allow the new audio formats to be used? I am a major amateur when it comes to these things (thought the 950 has and is an amazing piece of equipment and I was proud to get everything set up and have it work ) and would appreciate any help people can give me to make sure I don't buy something that may not be compatible with my setup. thanks.

The coaxial audio connection will carry only the core DD and DTS tracks - it will not allow access to the new audio formats. To get those, you will need to have a player with onboard decoding and a multichannel analog output. Since the Model 950's multichannel analog input is 5.1, you have a few extra options. For example, Panasonic's BD50 is being replaced by the BD55 (in part because the BD50 has a 5.1 analog out instead of 7.1) and might be available for a nice price in the coming weeks as BD55's start to ship.

Oh, there's a link in my sig to an HDMI FAQ. You may or may not find it of use when delving into the world of Blu-ray and HDMI...

Thanks for the info. The BD55 was one of the players I was looking at so does that mean I would use the player to decode the new formats? Could you explain how that would be set up with the 950 and the connections that are available. If it can work with the 950 I'm ready to buy that player tommorrow.

ed

When connecting with the 5.1 or 7.1 out of a blu-ray player to the 5.1 in of the 950, do you need to setup the speaker distance in the blu-ray and the 950? Does the 950 process the delay in by-pass mode?

Do speaker distances and trims in the player. The 950 can provide analog bass management for the 5.1 input, but that's all.

Okay, so the moment of truth has arrived. Received my Sony S550 bluray player today and I am still confused as how to hook up audio. The Sony has 8 multichannel outputs. I have the 8 audio channel output jacks on my 950 connected to my amplifiers for my speakers. So how do I connect the Sony to the 950 and get to use the new audio formats or can that not be done. Do I just have to continue to use the coaxial connection and just wait for the 997 to take advantage of the new formats? Do I just connect the Sony to the 950 via 5.1 input jacks and will that pass the new formats through? I am pretty perplexed and will not be able to check this unit out unless someone thousands of times smarter than I helps out. thanks for helping once again.
ed

The S550 needs to be connected to the 950 via multichannel analog (from the S550's analog outputs to the 950's 6CH input).

I appreciate the help and will be setting it up tonight. one other question. Should the bass management switch be on or off. this is the first time I've ever used the multichannel inputs and so I'm not sure how to set it. thanks again.
ed

I would set it to "on" and make sure the S550's audio settings have all speakers set to "large" and the sub "on".

So of course the set-up has a glitch. no sound I connected my 550 as instructed, analog out to the analog in on the 950. all 550 speakers are at large and sub is on. set audio according to posted S550 guides from other users:
setting: output priority multi channel analog
audio (hdmi): 2ch pcm
BD audio setting: direct
Audio ATT: off
dolby digital: downmix pcm
48khz/96khz pcm: 96khz/24 bit
audio DRC: wide range
downmix: dolby surround
950 input set to DVD, analog but no sound. but when I connect the 550 via coaxial to the 950 I have sound. So not sure if it's the 950 connections or the 550 that is the problem. I hope someone can figure this out and help me out. thanks so much.