Will a Proceed AMP handle LPCM input?

Let me try to summarize this. The OP may already have figured this out, but here goes.

The AVP and AVP2 were state of the art multichannel digital preamps when DVD was the standard source. If you can feed them an audio signal like the DVD signal, they should work fine. Those formats are lossy 5.1 Dolby Digital or lossy 5.1 DTS.

The Proceed will not decode the new lossless formats on Blu Ray, namely Dolby Digital True HD or DTS-MA. But if you select the lossy format (Dolby Digital or DTS-MA) from a Blu Ray the Proceed should decode that fine. The Blu Ray standard says there must be a lossy format available on the Blu Ray.

The way to get a DD True HD or DTS-MA into the Proceed is to have the source downmix it to 2 channel, either LCPM or analog of feed that to the Proceed.

The AVP seems to support 2 channel LCPM at 16/44.1 and, with the upgrade discussed in the review above, at 24/96 over S/PDIF.

Correction: The upgrade to 24/96 came from a review of the AVP, not the AVP2. Sorry.

Sorry to beat this to death.

By the way, why are you trying to use the Proceed rather than the newer Rotel?

Thank you for all of the information. Yes, my question was really if the AVP or AVP2 could get the 5.1 LPCM data and do something with it. I now know the answer is nope - 5.1 LPCM is newer than the AVP/AVP2 DAC can handle. Fair enough.

And yes, I was considering moving away from my Rotel in favor for a AVP2 - I do not currently own an AVP/AVP2.

I am a big Proceed fan and have the following in my system:
CDD, PDP, PRE, AMP2, AMP3 in addition to the Rotel RSP-1069. I run the front channel pre-outs from the 1069 to the SSP pass-through on the PRE. This way I have a pure 2-channel solution and HT all together.

My interest in the AVP(1998)/AVP2(2001) was that the DAC's are much newer than my PDP(1990) and they are going relatively inexpensive on eBay. The idea was to sell the PDP and PRE and replace with an AVP/AVP2 for almost a wash. But the sticking point is integrating home theater into the picture - aka, the AVP/AVP2 would not have a SSP pass-through like the PRE. So then the question in my head became could the AVP2 replace the 1069. If I give up the Dolby HD/DTS-MA feature, than the answer is yes. I would need to buy a HDMI switcher. There is a cool Octava unit which will send the audio from the HDMI to an optical out.

My budget will not allow me to get something amazing like the Arcam AV888.

I'm not unhappy with what I have, it's just that little voice in my head that wonders how much better could it be...

"Hi my name is Tim and I'm an audioholic..." (no offense intended)

Tim,

I have a number of Proceed units, including a PAV/PDSD pair that does surround sound but not lossless. I still use that pair with an Amp 2 in a secondary system.

One solution might be using the analog output of an Oppo 95 or 105 as input to an AVP-6. The Oppo processes lossless codecs, and has excellent analog output. You would take HDMI video from the Oppo directly to your monitor or TV. The 105 has an HDMI input, so if your needs are simple enough, many would argue for taking the output of the 105 directly to your amps, eliminating the processor for sonic purity.

I input analog from a 105 to Cary Cinema 11a inputs set to bypass. HDMI video goes directly to a projector and a monitor. I need a processor for HDMI from a Sony 5400ES and analog from a Parasound JC-3 phono stage. I use Proceed HPA 2 & 3 monsters in the main system.

Dpphd,

Thank you for your response. I do not currently own a AVP or 2 or 2+6 for that matter. There is currently a +6 here on agon for $2K. At that price, I think I'd probably throw in the towel and go with something more modern.

From what I gather, even the DTS Core track to an AVP/AVP2 track would be an improvement over the DVD DTS; and I have read there is much debate how much better the HD/MA tracks are over the DTS Core track. So that could be an option worth testing out if I come across a great deal on a used Proceed unit.

Out of curiosity, are you using the PAV/PDSD for 2-channel work these days? I've read many people say to go this route as opposed to the AVP's for surround.

Cheers!

The same observation can be made about Dolby Digital. Dolby Digital on DVDs is typically 384 Kbps. However, the core DD on Blu Ray is 640 Kbps, the maximum for the format. I can hear the difference. Dolby True HD is noticeably better than 384Kbps, but less so when compared to 640 Kbps.