Sony BDV-E880 3D Bluray Home Theatre

[sarbagna]

@samy: Actually mine is LG LD460. It has 2 HDMI "In" slots - not sure weather that helps or not. But the optical cable is doing a good job so far.

Coming to Blu Ray, what will be a good buy? I basically want to buy something - which will be a bit futuristic. E.g. something with Net access feature (like the Smart TVs). In that sense, what could be a good purchase? Since the TV is LG, should I look at LG only?

Any advise?

Thanks & regards

 

[sarbagna]

Somehow my posts are not getting published! I posted almost 3-4 hrs back...it never surfaced! Not sure what is going on.

What I posted was (in nutshell):
I am indeed planning for a Blyray...but not sure which one will be value for money & a bit futuristic (e.g. Net access/streaming etc.). I was ruling out Sony, as it has most of the additional features - all towards Bravia. Since I have LG LD460, should I be looking at LG BluRays only?

Also, in my LG LD460, I have 2 HDMI - In ports. But stil I was asked to use the optical cable. I guess that was needed, right? Also, how much does a cable cost? I was charged Rs. 2500/- for 3 mts.

 

[baijuxavior]

Before buying a blu-ray player think again - will you buy BR disks or use downloaded movies? BR disks are expensive and after a few purchase you will probably stop buying them. If you go the download way, then HD media player is the one you should buy. You can use any brand bdp with your tv. But better will be a region free one.

The price of belkin you paid is high. In ebay belkin optical cables are available for much lesser price. I wonder, why you need 3 meter cable?

As for the optical connection, I guess it is connected between TV optical out to Optical in of AVR. If your tv has Audio Return Channel (ARC) then there is no need for optical, HDMI will suffice.

 

[sarbagna]

@baijuxavior: Excellent idea! This came to mind once, but somehow I totally lost it. Sure, I will love to go for it. Any specific recommendations?

Actually I could have managed with less as well. My TV is on the wall & the AVR is almost at floor height (at the lower rack). But 6 ft/2 mts would have worked fine. What happened was, when the guy came to install, I was at work. Now he called me & explained that I would have needed an Optical Cable & he had only one with him - 3 mts (for 2500/-). Since I was not sure how/where to get one (except this guy) & also wanted the system to be up & running as soon as possible, I confirmed this deal (also the showroom told me the price will be 3000/-). Problem is, I don't know what is the brand they gave (it is kind of soft greyish color, with red ends). I will try to pull it out (it is concealed wiring...so when I reached home, never understood what brand it was) & let you know the brand.

For the LG 42LD460, we have 2 HDMI In ports (1.3). Not sure weather that can help to replace the optical cable or not. Any feedback?

BTW, what is the deal with "HiFiMart"? Is that a good place to buy? I did check eBay last night itself & found Belkin cables coming for much less price. Does the quality affect across these brands by a significant margin (so much so that it will affect AV performance)?


Thanks & regards

 

[samy]

Before buying a blu-ray player think again - will you buy BR disks or use downloaded movies? BR disks are expensive and after a few purchase you will probably stop buying them. If you go the download way, then HD media player is the one you should buy. You can use any brand bdp with your tv. But better will be a region free one.

The price of belkin you paid is high. In ebay belkin optical cables are available for much lesser price. I wonder, why you need 3 meter cable?

As for the optical connection, I guess it is connected between TV optical out to Optical in of AVR. If your tv has Audio Return Channel (ARC) then there is no need for optical, HDMI will suffice.

I dont know why a HD media player is required instead of a Blu ray player and I am not sure about its cost though. If a HD media player is cheaper than a BD player then you definitely go for it after enquiring its file format playing capacity. But if you want you can buy a blu ray player which will play everything even downloaded stuffs e.g. MKV, MP4 etc with Dolby or DTS sound. Besides it can play blu ray dics incld DTS HD master audio or Dolby True HD (both loseless audio formats), dvd, mp3, audio cd, VCD as well.. and it will definitely produce excellent picture and sound.

My choices would be either Sony BD370/380 which will cost around 8 to 9K or Samsung D5100 which is around Rs 6900 in Kolkata..Samsung is better in terms of more file formats capability than Sony and it has excellent graphical user interface. I personally own Sony s370 which fulfills my requirement i.e. it plays downloaded Blu ray HD MKVs, MP4s files with ease.

 

[sarbagna]

@samy: Thanks for the post. Makes sense!
The reason I am bit inclined towards HD Media Player is, it does play a lot of file formats, supports up-scaling, some comes with internal storage, network connectivity & finally, I do plan to buy a PS in the coming days - which will serve the purpose of Blu Ray player, right? :licklips:

 

[sarbagna]

Experts,

Do you have any specific feedback/advise on what could be a good HD Media Player? I have a target budget of around 5-7K (if absolutely required, can stretch another 2-3 max). I heard that some HD Media Players do up-scaling, but I am not too sure.

I have so far been checking the following few:
1. ASUS O!Play Mini
2. Seagate FreeAgent Theater +
3. WD TV Live

Can you advise on something which will not pinch my pocket, yet will provide good performance (movie viewing in particular)?

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[baijuxavior]

I suggest Himedia HD600a, Measy X6, Kaiboer (model not remembering) etc. for your budget.

 

[sarbagna]

@baijuxavior: Thanks
But will it work seamlessly with Onkyo 3400? I noticed in one of the related posts, someone complained about this:
"

I am using a Measy X6 media player and the 3400. Problem i have is if i set the media player to send lpcm multich, no voice from 3400 just music. Shows input as 6 ch and output as 4.1. If i set it to raw then it shows input as 2 ch and not 6 ch. This problem i have is only with aac audio. DTS & AC3 shows 5.1 correctly.

"

Is that going to affect me as well? Is there any way around? I saw your response there...but quite honestly, these technology is out of my reach. :'(

 

[baijuxavior]

The problem is that most of the avrs can't decode aac 5.1 audio in raw mode. But in your player you can set it to send the output as LPCM which all avrs understand. But I have read that some players like asus oplay, wd etc. cannot send aac audio as 5.1. They will dowmix them to two channel. I found the same problem with himedia hd600b. But when I installed xtremer firmware in it, it sent the audio correctly in 5.1 LPCM, so I guess the problem is with the firmware. What I do is to convert the mp4 aac video to mkv with ac3 (dolby). It will take around 10 minutes only on a laptop. This works correctly.

 

[sarbagna]

@baijuxavior: Please pardon my ignorance. Am I to understand that I can still play .mkv movies without any problem. This issue is only with mp4 files?

 

[baijuxavior]

The problem is with any movie file where audio is in aac format. Normally mp4 files contain audio in aac. mkvs usually have ac3 audio so no problem with avrs.

 

[sarbagna]

@baijuxavior: I found "Measy X6 Media Player" at eBay.in for approx 7K. But is this Chinese product? Reliable enough? Or should I go for WD Live?
I just want a reliable/stable performer for good Movie viewing. So, which one will you recommend? Quite honestly, being totally new to this domain, I am not familiar with Measy/Himedia, whereas I am comfortable with WD/Seagete. I could be totally wrong - as I am ignorant about this field. So, looking forward to your reconfirmation on this.

Thanks & regards

 

[baijuxavior]

Not only measy, himedia but almost all HD media players are chinese products. But that doesn't mean inferior quality. You should see himedia hd600b to know how beautifully it is made. Also, these players have very active forums too. I haven't personally checked measy, but it is a well known brand. Other models you can consider are xtreamer, playon HD etc. It is upto you to decide which one suits your needs and budget.

 

[sarbagna]

Quick question:

I have an Amazon.com gift coupon. So, will it make sense to buy stuff directly from Amazon.com (& ship to India). Does it involve any additional payment than the product cost & shipping charges?

Also, will Black Friday bring in better deals online? Does it make sense to wait for it or should I go ahead & place orders at Amazon?

Looking forward to expert opinion.

 

[sarbagna]

Any advise on Amazon.com buying? Plz!

 

[sarbagna]

Can someone help me understand the role of an optical cable? Is it only meant for audio/sound transfer?
I am kind of messed up in my Onkyo setup...not sure how to connect the DVD Player with Onkyo 3400 & tv (LD460). Can someone help me please?

 

[baijuxavior]

Optical cable is for audio only. You will need to use component or composite out of your DVD for video assuming the dvd has no HDMI out. Onkyo 3400 cannot upconvert analog signals to HDMI. So you will need to use the composite/component out of your AVR to the TV.

Composite/Component Out of DVD > Composite/Component In of AVR
Composite/Component Out of AVR > Composite/Component In of TV
Optical Output of DVD > Optical IN of AVR

Then assign the optical input to the selected Composite/Component In of AVR. Check your AVR manual to know about assigning inputs.

 

[sarbagna]

@baijuxavior: Thanks so much for explaining. Much appreciated!

In between what I have done is:
(1) Audio Out (front L & R) + Video (yellow) of DVD > In BD/DVD (L & R) + Coaxial BD/DVD (orange) In of AVR
(2) Composite/Component Out of DVD > Composite/Component In of TV

It seems to be working. But I am not sure weather I am really getting the best sound or not (as I said...I hear everything the same...)

Am I harming the AVR?


Now, as you have advised:
(1) Composite/Component Out of DVD > Composite/Component In of AVR
(2) Composite/Component Out of AVR > Composite/Component In of TV

Since my DVD (Philips DVP3356) doesn't have any optical out, I will have to follow steps 1 & 2 above. Now, "component" means the Red/Yellow/White cable combination, right? :sad:
If so, I (with -ve running exposure on sound/audio matters) need your help in mapping the connections. :sos:

The cables that I have are Red-Yellow-White, which goes where? I am totally lost!

Thanks & regards

 

[sarbagna]

Any help??? Please!!!