any blu ray players out there that decode DolbyHD and pass it through 7.1 analog out?

the reason why i ask is that i'm setting up my unlce's HT and want to go with an outlaw amp/990, but i don't want to miss out on DolbyHD and 1.3 deepcolor. Any suggestions?

The Panasonic BD10A has a 7.1 analog output and decodes TrueHD. The newer BD30 does not support this, however.

gonk, does that mean if a buy the panny player i'll be able to get Dolby True HD from my 970 on all movies with a Dolby TrueHD track?

Yes, if you get the BD10A you will be able to get both TrueHD and multichannel PCM via multichannel analog. The BD50 that was announced this week will do the same. There was a rumor on AVS that the BD30 might get TrueHD decoding support via a firmware update, but I'm not holding my breath on that.

Glad to hear all this but is anybody yet marketing a unit that does a good job with everything from CD-R's to Blu-Ray AND HD-DVD? Until then, and at less than $500, no action from me.

You'll need to keep waiting, psyprof1 - at a guess, it'll likely be later this year before we've got a chance at seeing a combo/universal player that is in that price range and reasonably stable...

are there any blu ray players that have 7.1 analog out and can decode DolbyHD and DTS Master and i can buy now?

If you want DTS-HD Master Audio decoding, the only one that I know of is this beast due out next month from Denon - for the princely sum of $2,000. I know of no other player with DTS-HD MA decoding on-board.

Gonk,

What about the Panny BD50 you mentioned earlier in this thread: do you know if it has 8-channel analogue outs, like their BD10A?

If the info I have seen is correct, then it should have 7.1 analog output, but the info is still a bit sketchy for my tastes so I won't trust that 100% until it is shipping that way...

if i'm hooking up the new panny bd-50 with 7.1 analog cables to get DolbyHD or PCM, then i guess i'm using the Panny's DACs to convert the sound. Panasonic makes decent DACs?

So my question is, am i almost better off hooking up the panny with an optical cable, not getting the PCM or Dolby HD, and letting my 990 use its DACs and get the standard Dolby Digital or DTS. Which would sound better?

Yes, you would be using the Panasonic's DAC's for TrueHD and PCM. I have no idea what kind of quality the DAC's are in Panasonic's Blu-ray players, but based on my experiences with DVD-Audio and SACD I suspect that it'd at very least be worth connecting the 7.1 analog and comparing with traditional DD/DTS over optical - the benefits of lossless are likely to be significant, certainly enough so to justify the effort of making the comparison with a number of different discs.

The Denon website says that their upcoming $2k BD player: Hopefully a typo (the previous time I checked, they had cut and pasted the specs of their BD player on to the product page of their BD transport, leading some to believe that the transport would decode all the advanced audio codecs). In either case, the price and lack of profile 2.0 place it behind the Panny BD50 feature-wise. If it turns out that it can only bitstream DTS-HD MA and not decode it internally (as their product page suggests), then one wonders what you're getting for the princely sum of $2,000.

Interesting, Sanjay - your link certainly suggests that the Denon can't decode Master Audio internally, but this PDF mentions decoding TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio to multichannel PCM. Shame they can't get their facts straight about their own product. As you say, I wonder what their target market is. For the price they want for the 3800BD, you'd think that they could have at least tucked in DVD-A and SACD support.

Indeed, lack of SACD/DVD-A support is the most glaring ommision in a player at this price level. My Panny BD10A does DVD-A and the PS3 does SACD, so we know support for those formats is possible in a BD player. Thank goodness for my $149 Oppo.

When it comes to DTS-HD MA support, I'd rather believe your PDF than my quote from the Denon site. I guess we'll see when it finally comes out. The Panny BD50 still has the advantage when it comes to BD profile, at one third the price no less.

I'm still a 990 wannabe with limited equipment/experince. That said , I still think the dramatic diffrence between Dolby IIx in 7 channels and Dolby HD (from my 10a through the analog ports) and the amazing picture quality of blueray make it the best theater upgrade available for $400.