AV receiver missing 5.1 channel inputs

G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: rec.audio.tech (More info?)

I have just bought a new home cinema 5.1 speaker and receiver package,
but notice that there is only provision for left and right audio input
for the DVD player, instead of 6 (5.1) seperate multi channel inputs
for the DVD player. (My DVD player has these 6 outputs, so it's a
shame I can't use this.)

Instead, I connected the left and right audio output on the DVD player
to the left and right audio input on the AV receiver, and it all works
fine - I hear the 5.1 sound coming out of the 6 seperate speakers OK.

My question is - am I missing out a lot by not having the dedicated 6
inputs on the AV receiver?

Thanks, regards, dnw.
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: rec.audio.tech (More info?)

>From my DVD player to my AV receiver, I have 2 connections: firstly
the one I mentioned - audio out to audio in (left, right), and I also
have digital coaxial output to DVD in coaxial. Is this what you mean?
- the digital connection? (I'm not bothered about DVD-A/SACD, although
there is provision for this on both my DVD player and my AV receiver.)

Thanks, regards, dnw.
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: rec.audio.tech (More info?)

On 7 Jul 2005 16:28:28 -0700, dotnw@hotmail.com wrote:

>I have just bought a new home cinema 5.1 speaker and receiver package,
>but notice that there is only provision for left and right audio input
>for the DVD player, instead of 6 (5.1) seperate multi channel inputs
>for the DVD player. (My DVD player has these 6 outputs, so it's a
>shame I can't use this.)
>
>Instead, I connected the left and right audio output on the DVD player
>to the left and right audio input on the AV receiver, and it all works
>fine - I hear the 5.1 sound coming out of the 6 seperate speakers OK.
>
>My question is - am I missing out a lot by not having the dedicated 6
>inputs on the AV receiver?

Yes, multichannel. OTOH, why not just use the digital connection? It
will convey all except multichannel DVD-A/SACD (and you might not even
have those on your player).

Kal
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: rec.audio.tech (More info?)

On 7 Jul 2005 17:47:34 -0700, dotnw@hotmail.com wrote:

>>From my DVD player to my AV receiver, I have 2 connections: firstly
>the one I mentioned - audio out to audio in (left, right), and I also
>have digital coaxial output to DVD in coaxial. Is this what you mean?
>- the digital connection?

Yup.

>(I'm not bothered about DVD-A/SACD, although
>there is provision for this on both my DVD player and my AV receiver.)

OK.

Kal
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: rec.audio.tech (More info?)

I believe it does have a digital connection, because it is connected
via the digital coax connection *as well as* the left/right audio
connection. Not sure why it needs 2 connection types, but that's what
the instruction booklet said to do.

My set up is purely for watching movies. I am not interested in music
for this particular situation.

Regards, dnw.
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: rec.audio.tech (More info?)

Thank you! I think I understand now. I have disconnected the R/L
connections, and I can (still) hear proper 5.1 sound. That's really
useful, because those R/L connectors were part of my hi-fi and I was
about to order some replacements!

Regards, dnw.
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: rec.audio.tech (More info?)

dotnw@hotmail.com writes:
> I have just bought a new home cinema 5.1 speaker and receiver package,
> but notice that there is only provision for left and right audio input
> for the DVD player, instead of 6 (5.1) seperate multi channel inputs
> for the DVD player. (My DVD player has these 6 outputs, so it's a
> shame I can't use this.)
>
> Instead, I connected the left and right audio output on the DVD player
> to the left and right audio input on the AV receiver, and it all works
> fine - I hear the 5.1 sound coming out of the 6 seperate speakers OK.
>
> My question is - am I missing out a lot by not having the dedicated 6
> inputs on the AV receiver?

If you are driving your 6 speaker system with 2 analog signals, you
are missing out on stuff.

The R/L outputs on a DVD player are downmixes of the 5.1 program.
Evidently your AV receiver is feeding the rear speakers with some
spatial processing of some sort if they're making any noise at all.
You're not getting the real surround.

For a receiver lacking analog 5.1 inputs, the proper interconnect is
typically digital -- either co-ax or optical.

The only receivers that typically have 5.1 analog inputs are those
that lack a digital decoder (like mine), in which case I had to
carefuly shop for a DVD player that had a decoder and included the
analog 5.1 outputs.

I'm thinking that you're a digital connection (either co-ax or
TOSlink) away from where you wanna be. Hopefully you'll find your DVD
player and AV receiver having digital inputs of the same type that are
currently sitting unused.

Best Regards,
--
/"\ ASCII Ribbon Campaign | Todd H
\ / | http://www.toddh.net/
X Promoting good netiquette | http://triplethreatband.com/
/ \ http://www.toddh.net/netiquette/ | "4 lines suffice."
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: rec.audio.tech (More info?)

dotnw@hotmail.com writes:

> I believe it does have a digital connection, because it is connected
> via the digital coax connection *as well as* the left/right audio
> connection. Not sure why it needs 2 connection types, but that's what
> the instruction booklet said to do.

You might have it hooked up okay, then. I'd disconnect the R/L analog
audio connections just to be sure. That'll ensure that hearing stuff
out of your speakers is the "right stuff" being read off hte digital
connection.

The manual probably tells you to hook up redundant paths just to
minimize the possibiility of tech-impaired consumers who could have
any of a bagillion variations on equpiment from the frustration of "I
can't hear anything." But as you suggest, the R/L connection is
unnecessary for your situation.

Best Regards,
--
/"\ ASCII Ribbon Campaign | Todd H
\ / | http://www.toddh.net/
X Promoting good netiquette | http://triplethreatband.com/
/ \ http://www.toddh.net/netiquette/ | "4 lines suffice."
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: rec.audio.tech (More info?)

As a newbie, I have now just seen my mistake. My DVD player has a
built in decoder!!
(So I have two decoders - one on my dvd player, and one on my
receiver.)

I was wondering why the dvd player had the same huge list of audio
settings as the decoder. I was setting everything up twice - once
inside the dvd player's audio settings, and again inside the av
receiver's audio settings.

I am guessing that if I now just use the coax connection between the
two units, then most of the dvd player's decoder settings will not be
used at all. I guess I can just carry on using the coax connection,
then set up all of my audio settings on the av receiver.

Regards, dnw.
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: rec.audio.tech (More info?)

<dotnw@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1120778908.305767.304930@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...

> My question is - am I missing out a lot by not having the dedicated 6
> inputs on the AV receiver?

You will be restricted to ProLogic multichannel sound over the two-channel
audio connection. If you had a digital or six-channel connection, you'd be
able to get other multichannel formats.

Whether this makes any difference to the listening experience I've no idea.
I often switch the surround sound off, and use stereo instead, because I
think it sounds better for music.

Tim
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: rec.audio.tech (More info?)

dotnw@hotmail.com writes:

> As a newbie, I have now just seen my mistake. My DVD player has a
> built in decoder!!
> (So I have two decoders - one on my dvd player, and one on my
> receiver.)

Ah hah...

> I was wondering why the dvd player had the same huge list of audio
> settings as the decoder. I was setting everything up twice - once
> inside the dvd player's audio settings, and again inside the av
> receiver's audio settings.
>
> I am guessing that if I now just use the coax connection between the
> two units, then most of the dvd player's decoder settings will not be
> used at all. I guess I can just carry on using the coax connection,
> then set up all of my audio settings on the av receiver.

You are correct. The digital connection just sends the bit stream
undecoded over to the receiver.

--
/"\ ASCII Ribbon Campaign | Todd H
\ / | http://www.toddh.net/
X Promoting good netiquette | http://triplethreatband.com/
/ \ http://www.toddh.net/netiquette/ | "4 lines suffice."
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: rec.audio.tech (More info?)

dotnw@hotmail.com wrote:
> I believe it does have a digital connection, because it is connected
> via the digital coax connection *as well as* the left/right audio
> connection. Not sure why it needs 2 connection types, but that's what
> the instruction booklet said to do.

The two connection types are likely there for older CD/DVD players that
don't have a digital output, *or* newer players that can play two-channel
SACD and DVD-A, which in most setups cannot be passed digitally.
Or maybe they're there in case you have two players but only one digital
input in the AVR. These days you should be connecting digitally if at
all possible.

There's no reason to connect the same player *both* ways except for
very particular situations (e.g., my DVD-A/SACD player can pass *all*
digital formats to my receiver via ilink, but I cannot get the DVD-A/SACD
two-channel tracks to undergo Dolby ProLogic II surround synthesis unless I
pass them via analog).


> My set up is purely for watching movies. I am not interested in music
> for this particular situation.

Then by all means, assuming your receiver decodes Dolby Digital and/or
DTS, I recommend using a digital connector (optical or coaxial).


--

-S
"You know what love really is? It's like you've swallowed a great big
secret. A warm wonderful secret that nobody else knows about." - 'Blame it
on Rio'
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: rec.audio.tech (More info?)

dotnw@hotmail.com wrote:
> As a newbie, I have now just seen my mistake. My DVD player has a
> built in decoder!!
> (So I have two decoders - one on my dvd player, and one on my
> receiver.)

If you are connected digitally to your AVR, the AVR is doing the
decoding. In terms of audio, the DVD player is really just a transport
in such a setup.


> I am guessing that if I now just use the coax connection between the
> two units, then most of the dvd player's decoder settings will not be
> used at all.

Right.


> I guess I can just carry on using the coax connection,
> then set up all of my audio settings on the av receiver.


Exactly. The only audio-related thing you might adjust in your DVD
player is the output formatting of the digital audio stream (e.g.,
bitstream vs PCM, whether to pass 96 kHz or to downsample, what to do with
MP3 sources, etc) -- if it already sounds OK, then you probably have it right.


--

-S
"You know what love really is? It's like you've swallowed a great big
secret. A warm wonderful secret that nobody else knows about." - 'Blame it
on Rio'