2. home-theater
  3. 156414-4917

Inexpensive AV Processor with bypass

Hi, I currently have a 5.1 system centred on an old Primare P30 processor. Unfortunately t does not properly decode Dolby Digital + or Atmos. I would prefer not to have to replace the processor.

Q1: is there any device which can convert Dolby Digital + and Atmos into old-fashioned Dolby Digital?

Q2: in order to maximise audio quality my system has a separate high quality DAC which, for music, feeds through the processor in bypass mode, thus avoiding conversion of the analogue signal back to digital. Is their an inexpensive processor which has: Dolby Digital, Atmos, and a similar bypass mode? Balanced XLR connections preferred. Sound quality need not be top notch, as it´s for movies only, not my priority. Thanks!

garbo
auxinput
2,920 posts
 
Is the TV your source?  If so, then you are using a "SmartTV" that supports stuff like streaming.  Most streaming uses Dolby Digital Plus or Dolby Digital.  It's possible you could connect the toslink digital output of your TV directly to your Primare P30.

Are you using a different source?  This question about Dolby Atmos may not apply.
garbo OP
27 posts
 
Sorry, I perhaps my question was not clear enough. Yes, the primary source is the Smart TV, which is connected to the P30 via toslink. The main problem is that Netflix seems to use Dolby Digital Plus, which the P30 cannot process properly. Atmos is not really relevant at this stage.

auxinput
2,920 posts
 
You are kind of stuck unless you get some other source that will stream netflix.  You could try getting a low cost Sony bluray player.  They are generally pretty flexible and they will stream netflix.   I would suggest the BDP-6700 for $99 at a minimum.  It may decode Dolby Digital Plus and down-covert to normal Dolby Digital over coax.
erik_squires
15,615 posts
 
With my LG I used the TV to do the conversion. It outputs either stereo or 5.1 via the optical output from HDMI sources.

I use Roku as my source more often than the TV because it has channels my LG does not, but the LG and Roku apps both come out the optical out, and it worked great to my stereo DAC, but I've since gotten an Anthem AVP (old school, no Atmos) and am using the ARC (which has a dedicated HDMI connection).

Best,

E

garbo OP
27 posts
 
Thanks for your comments. It seems the problem might lie with my TV, which would be annoying as it is a brand new top range Samsung Q90. It appears that when external sources are connected by HDMI into the TV and Toslink audio out, then there is no option but to have the audio in PCM format. Other sources are enabled for Dolby Digital. I need to play with it for while. This article is useful:

https://www.rtings.com/tv/tests/inputs/5-1-surround-audio-passthrough
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