AVIA problem: any suggestions? (1 Viewer)

[Thad_C]

I tried calibrating with AVIA last night, and encountered the following two problems:

1. There is no distinction between the left and right surround speakers (the voice and pink noise come out of both simultaneously)

2. While I get the voice indicating "LFE", there is no tone from my sub.

I'm certain that I've wired the speakers correctly. When calibrating through my Onkyo 797, each speaker channel checks out, and other DVDs reproduce sound correctly through each channel. Any thoughts on why is this happening when I try to use AVIA? Thanks in advance!

 

[Vince Maskeeper]

other DVDs reproduce sound correctly through each channel.

Curious what you mean by this. How do you know if movie DVDs are producing stereo surround channels? Most people won't notice it's wrong unless they try test tones.

Also, how do you know for sure that the bass is correct? Bass you've heard could be dedicated LFE on movie soundtracks, and you'd still be missing out on bass rerouted from the main channels (and thus it would be incorrect).

You stated here that all other discs are "correct"- and I was just curious exactly how you were determining that these other discs were "correct" unless they had discrete tones that you knew where they were supposed to go? Sounds to me like your system is wired incorrectly, and configured incorrectly- and this should effect every disc in your collection.

-Vince

 

[Thad_C]

Vince,

Thanks for the quick response.

Also, how do you know for sure that the bass is correct? Bass you've heard could be dedicated LFE on movie soundtracks, and you'd still be missing out on bass rerouted from the main channels (and thus it would be incorrect).

I have tried to calibrate using the receiver settings, and I have separate and distinct "pink noise" tones from each of the speakers, including my L surround, R surround, and subwoofer. It just doesn't seem to work when I use AVIA. I've tried other DVD's, and I believe that the left and right surrounds reproduced sound separately, but I'll double check that when I get home.

I read elsewhere that I should check my DVD player is set to output bitstream format for digital audio and not PCM. I have a Sony DVD player (I can't recall the model number) with S-video and component outputs, but no progressive scan. I'm not exactly sure how to check the DVD player to change the output bistream format, but I'll try again tonight.

Am I missing something here?

 

[Vince Maskeeper]

Usually[/I]]Quote:

Check your manual- every dvd player has some sort of config menu to set at least the audio outputs and the TV format. Many also allow you to change various settings in regard to the look and performance of the player.
-V

 

[Thad_C]

Many thanks Vince for your excellent suggestions. I'm going to try your suggestions tonight when I get home.

A quick response to some of your points:

How is your sub wired? Are you just feeding signal from the RCA sub output on the ONKYO to the sub input, or are you running it in line with the speakers somehow? The sub is on and the volume on the sub is up? Does it have a crossover setting on the sub? Where is it set? Where is the crossover inside the receiver set?

I'm running a single Monster subwoofer cable from my receiver (LFE out) to my Carver Knight Shadow sub. I've left the Level, Crossover and Phase knobs at the normal settings-- I believe the Crossover is at around 60 or 80 Hz. I'll double check the crossover setting in the receiver.

Thanks again Vince, and I'll keep you posted.

 

[MichaelGomez]

Also, you might try your DVD menu. My DVD menu has setup for the different cables. I have mine set to read only an optical cable.

It also has a default sound field setting. I can set it to default to DPL, DD or DTS. I have it defaulted to DD for simplicity.

So, the problem might not be in the receiver but in the DVD player.

 

[Thad_C]

Vince and Michael:

You were correct-- it was my DVD player. After hunting down the manual, I found that it was set to PCM, not Dolby Digital/DTS. After the correction, it worked like a charm. Thanks for your invaluable insights!

Thad

 

[Vince Maskeeper]

Thad,
Now you will actually be listening to your DVD's in DD or DTS, where as before you were just getting ProLogic.
Welcome, to the real world.
Let me know if you notice a difference.

-Vince