Page 1 of Help with DVD Player and Amp

I recently set up my home theater system, and have a Yamaha amp and a Pioneer DVD Player. I connect the DVD Player to the amp using the 5.1 outputs as well as 2-channel stereo. At the time of setup, I thought I would use the 5.1 output mainly, but I find that in the 5.1 mode, the processing to dolby is at the dvd player`s end, and the amp`s processing is far better. I end up using the 2-channel mode most of the time.

Now, I used a decent bunch of JVC cables to connect the 5.1, but used an el-cheapo thing at home (which came free with the player) to connect the 2-channel. The sound output is pretty good - so will upgrading to a better cable make it better?

Also, I am confused by all the movie processing algorithms in the Amp - it is Dolby Standard, Prologic, Prologic IIx, Prologic IIx movie, and Neo Cinema. Which algorithm is better? Till now, my tastes veer towards Prologic IIx movie... but any comments on this?

T¦M3CH4S3R

"I am worst at what I do the best, for this gift I feel blessed. I found it hard... it was hard to find. Oh well, Whatever! NEVERMIND"

Has your DVD player got an optical out? If so, buy an optical cable. Also, check out how the sound is set up in your DVD player. I had one that defaulted to stereo, rather than 5.1 straight out the box, so it may be the same for you, so check the DVD players menu.

If you have a decent amp and speaker system, there is no way in buggery stereo should sound better than 5.1. So there is probably an option you have missed or a setting that has gone awry somewhere. A few weeks ago my system sounded crap. It turned out a few speakers were not working so I started freaking out. Turned out i had accidentally off one of the speaker banks when I was hoovering.

Thanks NTG - let me elaborate a bit. When I select 5.1 output in the DVD player, I need to select multi channel input in my amp, otherwise it just uses the feed from left and right inputs which buggers up the center channel. If I use the 5.1 mode in the amp and DVD player, then sounds ok, but rather flat and the LFE crossover settings dont work too well so the bass is muddy. However, when I set up the DVD player to 2-channel stereo output (this is done at full PCM), and use the amp for processing, the sound is much better, vibrant and the LFE works brilliantly.

I have tried all combinations (believe me I have, the wife has been p***ed about it a bit - me spending too much time with the HT system), but to no avail. 2-channel output from the DVD player gives the best sound!

I can use the optical out as you suggested, the DVD player has optical using both a coaxial and a toslink cable, however, for SACD and DVD-Audios, the sound is routed through the analog 5.1 connection - which IMHO provides much better bitrates for the sound anyway.

So my dilemma remains...

T¦M3CH4S3R

"I am worst at what I do the best, for this gift I feel blessed. I found it hard... it was hard to find. Oh well, Whatever! NEVERMIND"

Your setup is incorrect.
The multichannel outputs on the Pioneer are purely to enable you to obtain proper high quality audio from DVD-A and SACD which won`t play via the optical output.
Your player should be connected via the optical output for standard playback of everything bar DVDA and SACD.
There`s no point in connecting the 2 channel connection at all.
Get an optical lead,and once connected you should be able to set the amp to auto which will enable it to present 5.1 in either DD or DTS.
PL2xMovie is fine for other non 5.1 material.
The 2 channel connection will give you no proper surround sound at all,only Pro-Logic,so don`t bother.
If you are having sub crossover problems I suggest resetting once you are connected properly.
The .1 track from 5.1 won`t work to its best using the 2 channel connection

The above poster seems to to have hit the nail on the head with their reply. Forget using your DVD players internal processor for DD and DTS and use a digital link to your amp, let it do the work, and leave all those analogue forms of decoding switched off.

My set up sounds similar to yours. I have a Pioneer DVD player which will play SACD and DVDA discs, so I have a 5 lead analogue connection to my amp (Yamaha DSP A5) to listen to music recorded in these formats and I use a coaxial digital connection for movies.

To be honest I`ve always found the sound from SACD and DVDA discs a bit disappointing and I`ve just about given up on the formats. To me music played in 2 channel sounds fuller and more defined. Once the novelty of listening to drums and guitars flying at you from all directions wears off it starts to get a bit annoying.

So in short, get some kind of digital connection to your amp and stick to either plain old DD 5.1 or DTS for movies and use your analogue connections for SACD/DVDA playback only.

Cheers Pete.

Many thanks on the comments. I hooked up the digital audio output from the DVD player to my amp using coaxial connections, and the sound is much better - both for music as well as movies! Many thanks once again...

T¦M3CH4S3R

"I am worst at what I do the best, for this gift I feel blessed. I found it hard... it was hard to find. Oh well, Whatever! NEVERMIND"