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BDP-95 & XA5400ES: HDMI v analog

In his comparison of the BDP-95 and XA5400ES in the recent Stereophile, Kal Rubinson wrote that the audio of either was excellent for HDMI, but he preferred the BDP-95 for analog. I would have found it interesting had he had compared the HDMI audio from the BDP-95 with its analog audio.

db
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dbphd OP
1,616 posts
 
Sandstone,

I don't have a BDP-95 to make such a comparison. I think I slightly prefer HDMI to balanced analog (XLR) from the XA5400ES, but it's such a close call it's not worth the quibble. I use a Cary Cinema 11a pre/pro.

I also have a BDP-93 connected via HDMI. I have been toying with the idea of selling the BDP-93 and XA5400ES and buying a BDP-95 after reading Kal's review in Stereophile.

As a generalization, I think the BDP-93 sounds a bit "warmer" than the XA5400ES in my system, but I'm not sure what the acoustic correlates of warmer might be, a bit more mid-range, a bit less detail, I just don't know.

db
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dbphd OP
1,616 posts
 
I understand your point, Kal. Had I been a bit more reflective, I should have realized how fruitless such a comparison would be. I too enjoy multichannel, but won't accept multiple analog lines, so I'll stick with HDMI and the BDP-93 and XA5400ES.

db
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