Help with analog audio out please!

Scott Tufts · 03-18-2004, 11:51 PM

I just got my new DVD player and I'm trying to use the analog audio out.

I've hooked it up to my 5.1 in jacks on my receiver (in order to pass up the processing and let the DACs on my DVD player do it instead) but I'm not getting any sound out of my subwoofer.

If I'm using analog audio outs should I be getting any signal sent to my subwoofer or just both of my mains?

Just FYI, I hooked it up through my optical digital out and I get a subwoofer signal just fine.

Please let me know where I've gone wrong...

Thanks!

Scott

Jerome Grate · 03-19-2004, 07:52 AM

If believe, if you are using the 5.1 channels out from the DVD player and to the 5.1 channels in, the possible problem is that this should be used for DVD-Audio or SACD Multi-channel playback. Bass Management has always been an issue and therefore you sub is not getting the bass and your speakers are getting it. However I can only guess that's what you did. However if you just took the red and white wires and put it into the front l/r input section of the 5.1 section as oppose to the analog connection of the DVD or Video inputs of the receiver, well that explains it as well.

Tim Hoover · 03-19-2004, 11:15 AM

Scott, please tell us more about the equipment you are using...i.e. model #s of receiver and DVD player. It sounds like you may simply need to go into the DVD player's setup menu and enable the sub thru the 5.1 outputs.

Scott Tufts · 03-19-2004, 12:03 PM

Sorry for being vague

I'm using a Cambridge 540D DVD player and a Denon 1803 receiver.

I went into the setup menu and the subwoofer is listed as "on"

There's a "downmix" option and I can select from L/R, Stereo, V Surround and 5.1. I've tried every single one of these.

Here's the owners manual

cambridgeaudio.com/pdfs/azur_540D_users_manual.pdf

Scott

Marvin · 03-19-2004, 12:09 PM

What option are you selecting on your receiver? I have a Denon 2700 receiver and to listen to the SACD 5.1 output, I have to select "6 channel ext. in" on the receiver.

Also, does your player have a setup option to generate test tones for each speaker? You can try that to see if it's generating a ".1" signal.

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Ray_C · 03-19-2004, 01:01 PM

Many/Most receivers bypass all bass management/speaker settings when using the external 7/5.1 analog inputs, leaving it up to either the adjustable settings on recent DVD/SACD players or an outboard crossover like the Outlaw ICBM. So whatever speakers that are set to small on your other inputs on the receiver (CD/DVD etc.), are now set to large when choosing the 5/7.1 ext. analog inputs. Hence, nothing is being sent to the subwoofer if there is nothing being sent into the sub input on the 7/5.1. Your best bet is to just use the normal CD input on the receiver, or get an Outlaw ICBM and hook it up between the 540D and the 7/5.1 inputs. My Denon DVD 2200 has bass management (large/small speaker settings), mostly used for SACD playback, and speaker level/distance settings onboard, so it does re-rout bass frequencies below 80Hz to the sub input of my NAD T163's 7.1 inputs. And when I play regular CD's, even though it's only playing the front L/R channels, the bass mgmt. setting on the player is still active. In your case, if your DVD player does not have multi-speaker settings or SACD capability, the outlaw is a worthwhile investment, as it will alow you to set the crossover frequencies for each speaker (or pairs) separately, even if you're only using a L/R RCA input. You can even use the ICBM and use the 5.1 analog outs from your DVD player, and see if you like it better than using a digital coax when listening to DVD movie soundtracks.

Scott Tufts · 03-19-2004, 01:31 PM

My DVD player has an option in the menu called "SPDIF"

The manual says:

"Switches the digital audio section of the decoder/output between bitstream (RAW) and and uncompressed stereo digital out (PCM). The bitstream (RAW) must be selected to enable surround sound (Dolby Digital/DTS) to be sent to an external decoder via the audio digital output. If only a stereo speaker system is to be used then it is only necessary to set this option to PCM, then only two channels of information are decoded and sent to the stereo audio outputs."

Which one of these should it be set on in my case?

Thanks

Scott

Ray_C · 03-19-2004, 02:20 PM

If you're using the digital coax only, then it can really be set either way if you're playing CD's, which are 16-bit 44.1kHz stereo. Bitstream is what sends the multi-channel info from DD and DTS DVD's to an outboard decoder (a receiver in most cases). If you use LPCM for DD or DTS DVD movies, all the 5.1 sound will be forced into two-channel. This is mainly for those with two-channel systems when playing DVD movies, as many DVD's default to the DD 5.1 soundtrack upon startup.

Tim Hoover · 03-20-2004, 10:42 AM

Hmmm....looking at the 540D manual, it appears that you need to go into the 540's speaker setup menu and do the following: select downmix as 5.1; turn subwoofer on; and select small as your speaker size all around. On the audio setup menu, leave the SPDIF output set to "raw/bitstream"...it appears that setting this to PCM will only allow 2-ch playback.