[perryG]

I just bought a 1014 and it seems like a nice unit. I followed the advice from this forum and bought one. I am new to all this surround sound stuff and am a little puzzeled why the unit won't decode DVD's. I hit the auto surround sound button and it always comes up with STEREO as the source. It never comes up with any of the surround sound formats. I can manually select them but then it is only simulating surround sound is it not? According to the manual it should find and decode whatever format is there and the correct mode indicator should light up like dolby prologic etc. I have tried Matrix Reloded, Star Wars, and AI. What am I doing wrong here. The DVD player is connected by analog cable connections for Audio and Video.

Perry

[James Phung]

You need to connect your dvd player using either digital coax or digital optical cable from your dvd player to 1014. Make sure you assign the digital inputs to the right source inthe 1014 set up and also have your dvd player outputting the correct sound in its audio set up menu.

[John S]

Yep, exactly what James posted.

[John Garcia]

If you use stereo analog connections, then stereo is all you will get. If you used 6 analog channels, your receiver has nothing to decode, the signal is already decoded by the player.

When you make the digital connection, which is the recommended choice for movies, you will also have to make sure your DVD player's digital audio settings are correct - Dolby Digital is normally on by default, but you may have to turn DTS on, and set each to "bitstream" rather than PCM (depending on the options in your player).

[perryG]

Well I finally found in the manual about using the digital audio connection and Dolby PLIIx came up as the encoding method. I will look at what my DVD player says about output modes. I am catching on slowly. Still stuck in 70's stereo technology I guess.

Perry

[John S]

Soemtimes, with any given DVD you need to select the correct mode from the DVD menu itself as well. Many will be DD 2.0 by default. Sometimes it is under setup, and sometimes it is under languages on the DVD menu itself. This is different than the DVD Player setup menu.

[Jack Briggs]

Yes, Perry, you're "stuck" in the old way of looking at these things. AV receivers are far more complex, and DVD players, as you can see here, have their quirks too. Do as the others have described and you'll be in multichannel bliss soon.

[MonicaT]

Thanks to this great and helpful forum I am finally setting up my first HT.Not without a few bumps though...
I am having the same problem with auto surround. I connected the dvd player (Toshiba SD-H400) with a digital optical cable. The dvd player is set to bit-stream instead of pcm (although I have tried them both). I played LOTR in Dolby Digital and then Minority Report in DTS, checked the dvd display and it was correct. I verified the settings on 1014 as well: Signal Select : Auto or Digital, Multi Ch in: off. BTW, I do have 5 speakers connected (you never know, coming from a girl... Any ideas on what else could be the problem ?

[ChuckSolo]

You need to tell the receiver which input corresponds to which connection. For example on my Sherwood, I have to set it so that the Video1 (DVD Player) connection recognizes the optical digital connection. Video2 (DVD Recorder) recognizes the coaxial digital 1 connection and Video3 (STB/PVR) recognizes the coaxial digital 2 connection.