Joe_on

Next level for my yammy 1400

I do love my yamaha and very happy with its performance.

However, I have done the auto setup and performance overall is good. I read in one of the threads about the parameter EQ.

Is that in the 1400 and how can I take advantage of it. Im a newbie in audio.


Usually, when I see a movie , the receiver has the enchanced stereo setup and its good. I have 5.1 setup with infinity speakers. But in some threads it says action DPS is better or cinema.

What your opinions on that?


TIA

TimMc

Joe - If you ran the YPAO setup for your 1400 then you are already taking advantage of the P-EQ. You can cruise through your manual to check out more details, but the P-EQ is what YPAO uses to implement it's magic. Now, if you want to go in and do all of the P-EQ stuff manually you're outta luck, 'cause all that the user can get their paws directly on is the graphical equalizer. It's similar, but not the same as the P-EQ.

As far as which DSP is better for what - man, only you can decide that for yourself. It's perfectly fine to peruse all the threads & articles to scope out other's preferences, but please don't let other opinionated folks (especially me ;~) tell you what sounds best for you.

Having said that, it's time for my opinion, and the answer is "it depends" (my usual answer, too). It seems to depend on the specific source some days - some movies on satellite are better w/ SciFi, some adventure, some w/ PLIIx music (go fgure!). And some days I just try something different to hear something different. I've done the same w/ music and have found that my preference for that day often changes w/ the individual CD or album (although Direct for vinyl is still a fave). And the other hint in there is that my personal preference can change from day to day - there ain't necessarily one correct way to process for any particular source forever, 'cause my physiological state and my mood & the weather all change from day to day, too. That's getting too deep for a simple question - the real simple answer is just try them, see which you prefer, and then grin & be happy w/ it. Oh - and ignore the "Church" DSP

Joe_on

Good Answer

Steve Schaffer

Most purists (and I'm not using that as a dirty word) will tell you dsp modes are crap and you shouldn't use any of them. On most receivers this is pretty close to the truth.
Most mfgs include them because uninformed consumers like to play with the echo effects and such.

Yamaha takes them very seriously and has actually sent crews out to actual venues to sample their acoustics so they can be duplicated by thier dsp modes in their receivers. With the YPAO feature's capability to largely eliminate speaker frequency response and room acoustic discrepancies, these dsp modes can come a lot closer to sounding like the venues they're meant to reproduce.

The 1400 is my 3rd Yamaha (with a Sony ES and Pioneer Elite in between) and the dsp modes on all 3 have been similar in intent. The 1400s are noticeably better than on the other 2 Yammies, largely I think because of the YPAO.


I always recommend listening without any dsp mode at first, just push the "straight" button on your remote, then judiciously sample the effects of the various dsp modes on a per-movie basis to see if you like the effect.
I think "Enhanced Surround" is the most subtle of dsps.

On another note, I also prefer PLIIx music over PLIIx Movie for most films that only have 2 channel sound. Exceptions would be movies that are mainly dialogue with few if any action sequences. This was also true regarding the previous PLII scheme. The guy at Dolby who came up with PLII said himself he liked PLII Music over PLII movie for most 2 channel movies.

Steve S.
I prefer not to push the subwoofers until they\'re properly run in.

Joe_on

I use mainly surround enchanced, it seems to be the best. However, when you say a 2 channel movie- how can I tell if its a 2 channel movie?

Steve Schaffer

The speaker icons on the right side of the receiver's display tell you how many active channels there are on the incoming signal. If only the left and right are lit up that's a 2 channel source. If you turn on DPLIIx you can expand these 2 channels to 7.1 output if you have the speakers for it, but this display will still only have L and R lit up.

Also, in the audio setup menu on each dvd it states what audio formats are available, DTS-5.1, DD-5.1, with or without ES or EX respectively, etc. If it just says "Dolby Surround" or "Stereo" it's only 2 channel.

Keep in mind that Dolby Digital can be anywhere from 1 to 5.1 channels, so even if it says Dolby Digital on the back of the box, a dvd can still be only 2 channel or even mono.

Steve S.
I prefer not to push the subwoofers until they\'re properly run in.