Best sound mode for Yamaha RX-V673? (1 Viewer)

My husband and I just purchased a Yamaha RX-V673 to go along with our 5.1 Definitive 600 surround sound speakers. We mostly watch DirecTV channels (sports, TV shows), not DVDs or anything like that. What is the best sound mode to leave the receiver on? Straight? Sur Decode? I'm not even sure what all the options do, but they all sound different. Is there a best one to leave it on when just watching regular tv? Thanks so much for the help!

If you have a High Definition DirecTV receiver then when watching an HD channel (broadcast in 5.1) it should be Dolby Digital. If you are watching a program broadcast in stereo then I would choose Dolby ProLogic or DTS Neo:6 if you want to convert the stereo signal to 5.1. I prefer Neo:6 (Cinema) but ProLogic is also nice. Most people just listen to whatever the native signal is, stereo in stereo, Dolby digital in Dolby Digital etc. "Straight" might bypass all of the receivers processing like YPAO room correction and bass/treble controls. The other sound modes like Hall, Orchestra, Game, etc. are usually not used very often as they don't sound very realistic.

If you haven't already done so, you need to properly setup the DirecTV (audio setup menu) receiver and the Yamaha receiver (did you run the YPAO auto setup and room correction feature?) to get the best audio quality.

Adding to what Gene said...There is no "best sound mode".There is "most appropriate" though. If you've set the DTV STB correctly, you'll get 5.1 from quite a bit. The last Yammy I had was a HT-R6180. It had a "last valid" setting.Meaning if you used "straight" for 5.1 and DPL for 2.0...it would keep switching back and forth as needed. It could also be set input specific. Meaning 2.0 on CD could be set all-channel stereo, while DVD/BD defaulted to DPL.

On my Yamaha receiver, I use 7:1 Stereo for music and Neo:6 Cinema for movies.