I just orderd the hda1 and will also be using my motorola 3412 cablebox. I am looking for the best possible way to hook up for audio and video performance. I have been using a direct hdmi cord from my moto box to my FP to avoid any colorspace issues. Would I be best off going component from moto box to FP and hdmi from hddvd player directly into FP or do the hdmi to dvi conversion. I am not sure if you loose anything from colorspace or not.

Also on the audio side of it should I use the analog inputs from the hda1 into the reciever?

Anyone who has this type of setup please help.

Thanks

You might try running HDMI from both the Motorola and the HD-A1 to the 990's DVI switching, then from the 990 to the projector. The switching is a straight pass-through, so there shouldn't be any colorspace issues. As for audio, I'd probably go with the 5.1 analog for the HD-A1.

Ok. I thought that dvi was 8bit. I know that on my sony dvd player it says that if I hook up a dvi to hdmi adapter it will not allow 4:4:4. So conused on this hdmi to dvi conversion stuff.

There are so many discussions about hdmi to dvi that I am stumped.

If you connect a DVI source to an HDMI display, you may have problems with the blacker-than-black. Technically, both are 8-bit formats, but put simply (because I don't have any better an explanation at hand) HDMI uses the color range from 0 to 255 while DVI uses 16 to 240 or so. As a result, blacker than black and whiter than white can get clipped off when feeding DVI into HDMI. In the case of the 990's switching, however, the DVI connectors are just pass-through - no video processing takes place. As a result, HDMI sources can go to HDMI displays without losing blacker than black and whiter than white.

need a little help here , i thought the ultimate connection for audio would be digital , either a digital coax or fiber
im curious why we should consider an analog connection, ive read this before but i find it confusing when using the toshiba hd-dvd

The ultimate connection would be digital, but the only digital connection that can carry the new audio formats is HDMI. To get access to the new HD audio formats, we have to do the same thing we've been doing for years now with DVD-Audio and SACD: analog output from the player. Check out my HDMI FAQ for more information than you wanted to know about HDMI and digital audio...

Ok I finally got my toshiba hda1 and got firmware version 2.0. I also hooked up the analog 5.1 inputs to the 990. Now I am confused how to get the bass management to work.

I have Very large Martin Logan Monoliths for my fronts and the areius in the rear and the cinema for my center and a sunfire sub. Problem is that I understand that the hd dvd player has a problem with the sub being way to low and people are reporting a -10db loss from the analog route. How can I get my system to have the proper bass for the analog direct inputs and also make sure that when I switch from my hd dvd to my comcast cable box I don't get blasted from the difference in volume for analog to digital inputs.

I am sure there is somone on this forum or better yet from outlaw audio that has this same hd dvd player hooked up into a 990 that could help me out.

The best bet with the analog is to disable the Toshiba's bass management entirely and let the settings already configured in the 990 take care of bass management for you. To disable the Toshiba's bass management, go into the Toshiba's audio settings and set all speakers to large, the sub to on, and zero all the speaker levels. I hadn't heard about the sub signal on the Toshiba being low, but if that's the case regardless of source you can set the sub trim in the Toshiba's menu to +10 and if it's an inherent issue with the Toshiba's sub output that'll equalize it with the other sources you're using.

Interesting topic as I just ordered HD-A1 myself. I plan to do as Gonk suggests and set the Toshiba's speakers to large so as to bypass it's BM.

Question I have is since I'll be listening to the HD-DVD player through "7.1 Direct" on the 990, do the channel levels/distance/x-over settings for digital inputs on the 990 apply to the 7.1 analogue inputs as well?

The channel levels, distance settings, and crossover settings do apply for the 7.1 direct input (unless you have all speakers set to large in the 990's speaker set).

I have an HD-A1 on order as well. If I use an analog connection to the 990, can I set up the 990 to apply PLIIx to generate rear surround outputs?

I'm afraid not - you can't apply surround processing to the 7.1 Direct input. I have heard of folks using a Y-adapter to split the surrounds and send the same signal to the side and rear surrounds, but I haven't heard much about the results.

Thanks, gonk. When I get the Toshiba I'll try that and compare the results to s/pdif+PLIIx.

Gonk, I use a Y-adapter to send the same signal to the rear and side surrounds, It seems to for lack of a better word surround you with sound, but I think it comes down to a matter of taste.