Surround receiver - how are analogue inputs handled Options

[thesurfingalien]

Hi All,

Maybe a strange question, but if I use the analogue surround (x.1) inputs on a surround receiver, will the be passed on to the amps directly, or are they first converted to digital?

Thanks,
Peter

[krabapple]

This answer is 'it depends'.

Older AVRs might not do a digital conversion. Older as in, from before 2005 or so. Many could not apply bass management, for example.


Newer receiver typically can and do (in order to apply the modern array of digital signal processing that comes with virtually every AVR),
but you can also override it to get a 'pure' analog path.

[GeSomeone]

This answer is 'it depends'.

Older AVRs might not do a digital conversion. Older as in, from before 2005 or so. Many could not apply bass management, for example.

Newer receiver typically can and do

Your answer is correct, it depends on the brand, the model and the year (of introduction).

The cheaper series never seem to be able to process the analog 5.1/7.1 inputs, although they usually will do on the stereo analog inputs. This feature is also dropped by a lot of brands around 2007/2008.

For example my surround receiver from 2005 did capture the analog 5.1 inputs (@24bit/192kHz) and all functions worked the same as on the digital inputs (including bass management).
A year or 2 later (when HDMI was getting common) they dropped this feature from the newer models (same series) in favor of new features (like Audyssey). Now only digital (multi channel) signals will be processed. Stereo analog however still as before.

As an aside, the analog Hi-Rez outputs on playback devices are also phased out, as was laid down in the "Analog Sunset" plan. (As you know analog outputs don't provide copy protection).