Sony DVP-NS900V- won't play .1 channel on SACD (1 Viewer)

[Lanny M]

I picked up a Sony DVP-NS900V DVD player yesterday, and spent the day watching a couple of movies and listening to some CDs. Overall, I am extemely satisfied with this player, both audio (hooked to a Marantz SR18EX/Paradigm Studio 100/Velodyne HGS12) and video (hooked to a Sony 53HS30).

Last night I decided to throw in the one SACD disc I have-the sampler that comes with the player. There's a James Taylor tune, and a Roger Waters song, and both are listed as 5.1 recordings...however, the Vel sub was silent.

I rechecked everything I could think of:

-The 5.1 output on the player is properly connected to the 6 channel in on the receiver, and it is configured in the menu to "sub-on".

-I tried a different interconnect.

-The Marant manual seems to suggest that the 6 channel input bypasses all the internal bass management and settings. But in any event, all the setting that affect the sub are on.

What I did find is that the "bass management" settings on the Sony seem to say is that setting the main speakers to large sends all the bass to the mains, leaving only the .1 information to play on the sub. So, I set the mains to small, and sure enough, the sub played.

Now, this means that the bass info that was going to my mains is now going to my sub, but what about the .1 info? I have no way of knowing if that has now appeared as well.....

Does anyone have any ideas, or better yet, does anyone know if the songs I mentioned contain a .1 channel on them? That's the only other possibility I can think of...

Thanks,

Lanny

 

[John Giddens]

I've got the same player and the songs you mentioned do contain a .1 channel on them. The other two songs on the sampler disk that came with the 900V are only two channel SACD though. I would suggest leaving the speaker settings on the 900V to small, at least that's what I prefer but your mileage may vary as they say.

One other big suggestion I have is to break out your SPL meter and go into the 900V's speaker setup menu, cue up the test tones and adjust accordingly. I found the level balance on my 900V needed some tweaking out of the box to be perfect. After I calibrated I especially noticed improved bass on two channel SACD material. Once you have SPL'ed the 900V switch your speaker settings back to large and see if you notice any .1 info then. If not please reply.

 

[Lanny M]

I found the level balance on my 900V needed some tweaking out of the box

Good call, John....in my case, it needed serious tweeking! I had all levels at 0, I figured it would be good enough until my buddy retuns the Radio Shack SPL meter I lent him....

As it turns out, the sub level at 0 isn't even enough to turn on my Vel! I cranked it up to +10db, which is as far as it goes, and on it went. Still seems too low, may have to lower the other channels. What did yours end up at, and what equipment do you have?

Thanks for your help..

Lanny

 

[John Giddens]

Good to know it helped. I definitely don't want anyone to have a bad impression on the Sony DVP-NS900V if I can help it.

My level settings on the 900V are,

Front -6.0dB

Center -4.0dB

Rear & Sub at 0.0 dB

My equipment list at this point consist of,

Sony KDP-65XBR2

Sony DVP-NS900V

Sony STR-DE 935

2 Klipsch RF-3's

Klipsch RC-3

2 Klipsch SS-1's

Panasonic Showstopper PV-HS2000

Toshiba Diomage SV-771 S-VHS VCR

Samson S700 AMP

2 SVS 20-39 CS's

But as always, this list is always evolving.

 

[Roy Thomas]

Hi, I have a Sony FP 10HT. I am looking at the following DVD player, Sony 900, Panny 51K and the Toshiba 5700. Which do you thinkis best for my set up

Thank You

 

[John Giddens]

Hi Roy,
Unfortunately, I don't think I'm qualified to say what I think would best for your set up. I would hate to recommend a specific DVD player only for you to end up hating it. Also I have no experience with front projectors, but at least you have a good one that's recommended by many. I will give you a few suggestions none of the less.
First I would check out what other HTF members with the Sony VW10HT are using. Who first comes to mind is Robert A Fowkes, his web page is Link Removed I'm sure there are many others that also have a Sony VW10HT so I'd look at all opinions.
Next I'd recommend The Secrets DVD player benchmark, at Link Removed Off of this link I think the Progressive DVD Player Shootout # 2 - August, 2001 should be of particular interest to you, keep in mind that there have been a few players that have been introduced since this shootout that might be better.
In MHO Sony makes some great DVD players, I've never owned or tried any others though so I'm opinionated towards Sony, which can be a negative towards me recommending anything to anyone. I personally like the DVP-NS900V and I would recommend giving it a shot, but I'd test all of your options if I were you since you have a display that can magnify any flaws that a particular DVD player may have. Hope this helps instead of hinders.

 

[Roy Thomas]

Thanks for your reply John. It seems that a lot of Sony 10HT FP owners are using the Panny 91 and the 9000ES. I'm going to do a little more evaluation of the NS900.

Roy