Cheapest 7.1 BD Player

With X-mas & Black Friday rapidly coming upon us, any recommendations for a decently priced 7.1 BD player?

I currently have a Sony BDP350 but I understand it is only a 5.1..

Also saw this from the Sony PS website

Theater-quality audio Hear it how it"s meant to be heard. Up to 7.1 channels of surround sound. A device compatible with Linear PCM 7.1 Ch. is required to output 7.1 Ch. audio, supported by Dolby TrueHD or a similar format, from the HDMI OUT connector. This system does not support output from the DTS-HD 7.1 Ch. DTS-HD 7.1 Ch. audio is output from a 5.1 or lower channel.

So if I have a 7.1 Receiver, certain movies can be played in 7.1???

Thanks in advance!

Upgrade your receiver.

Your current BD player will output 7.1 bitstreaming IF you have a receiver with HDMI version 1.3 or higher that has the HD audio decoders built in. So no need to replace the player to get it. Also note that most soundtracks are (and likely will continue to be) in only 5.1 as that is what the theaters still use.

Your current BD player will output 7.1 bitstreaming IF you have a receiver with HDMI version 1.3 or higher that has the HD audio decoders built in. So no need to replace the player to get it. Also note that most soundtracks are (and likely will continue to be) in only 5.1 as that is what the theaters still use.

Ok but I thought if I have a 7.1 receiver and the BDP350...and watch a 7.1 movie it will only simulate the 6/7th speakers and not give true sound.....Am I wrong?

Ok but I thought if I have a 7.1 receiver and the BDP350...and watch a 7.1 movie it will only simulate the 6/7th speakers and not give true sound.....Am I wrong?

Use the BDP-S350 with any 7.1 receiver with HDMI 1.3a and decoding of the advanced audio codecs and you will get 7.1 audio when the Blu-ray disc is encoded at 7.1. Most 7.1 receivers, maybe all, also have the ability to expand 5.1 to 7.1 but I have never messed with that. I have used the BDP-S350 with a Yamaha RX-V663 and 8 speakers and can state first hand, it works for 7.1.

Chris

Thanks Chris,

I am looking at the Onkyo 706 as an X-Mas Gift to myself and knowing I dont have to upgrade my Player = fantastic....

Next question...why arent there more movies in 7.1? Is it just the population has more 5.1 receivers?

Thanks Chris,

I am looking at the Onkyo 706 as an X-Mas Gift to myself and knowing I dont have to upgrade my Player = fantastic....

Next question...why arent there more movies in 7.1? Is it just the population has more 5.1 receivers?

Movies are mixed for movie theaters. All mutli-channel theaters are 5.1 with a few at 6.1 (addition of a back surround channel) called Dolby Digital EX. Lucas used this for his last 3 Star Wars movies.

There are no 7.1 mixes for theaters because there are no 7.1 layout theaters.

What they do for a 7.1 soundtrack is take a 5.1 mix and remix it for the additional 2 surround channels (now 4 instead of 2)

Thanks Chris,

I am looking at the Onkyo 706 as an X-Mas Gift to myself and knowing I dont have to upgrade my Player = fantastic....

Next question...why arent there more movies in 7.1? Is it just the population has more 5.1 receivers?

Here is a list of 108 titles from Blu-raystats.com:

http://www.blu-raystats.com/Stats/Stats.php?OrderBy=Title&Audio=7.1

Disney 8 - 7.41 %
Lionsgate 46 - 42.59 %
Paramount 5 - 4.63 %
Sony 1 0.93 %
Universal 2 - 1.85 %
Warner 13 - 12.04 %
Other 33 - 30.56 %

Chris

Excellent info.