Can't get surround speakers to work with Dolby Digital (1 Viewer)

[Dashingww]

Hi Peeps,

okay I have a yamaha Dolby Digital/DTS receiver, I have all my device players going into the receiver with HDMI cables and the receiver going out to the TV with an HDMI cable.

When my receiver is receiving a Dolby Digital signal it displays Dolby Digital on the LCD on the front panel so I know what the feed is. But when I am playing a movie with Dolby digital, I can't get the rear surround speakers to work with the background sound. Everything is just through the front speakers unless i go to the 7 Channel music mode, then I get it in all speakers but thats voices and everything not just back ground noise. I have tried every setting but I cant get the true surround effect.

If I play a Blue ray DVD or regular DVD through the BlueRay player the Surround works but then it's not showing Dolby Digital it shows the PLIIX Movie. Should it not be showing Dolby Digital for both types of DVD's.

I'm sure I had this working, don't know when it stopped, i have had this system for years. Maybe I'm getting to old and losing it...

You can get just the background sounds on you back speakers in DD just like the old Dolby surround right ??

 

[JohnRice]

You're jumping all over the place with your explanation. If your receiver has hdmi inputs, then it's probably capable of more than Dolby Digital and DTS. It should be capable of the HD versions of those as well.

It sounds like the Blu Ray player has the digital audio output set to mixdown to two channel. Check that in the setup menu for the player. You want to choose an option like bitstream or something like that, but the terminology differs with the manufacturer.

Otherwise you need to be a little more specific with what the models are and what source you are getting the DD signal with.

BTW, there's no such thing as a Blu Ray DVD. It's just a Blu Ray.

 

[Dashingww]

Thanks for the Help, ok you were right the Blue Ray player setting needed an adjustment. Now Blue ray plays with the rear surround and shoes DD on the LCD panel. DVD shows DD on the LCD panel as well but still does not come in on the back speakers except when on the main Movie menu (weird)

My other audio source I am trying to get surround on is My Nvidea Sheild with Android 7 and Kodi V17 with avi, mp4,mkv etc.. files on Harddrive that have AC3 audio.

Now I'm thinking maybe my problem is that Android 7 does not support surround right now. I have gone into my Nvidea and selected 5.1 surround option. I have gone into Kodi audio settings and made sure the Digital Passthrough is on and 5.1 is set as well as DTS

My receiver is a Yamaha Rx-V571

Update - I tried another android device with Android 6 and still no Surround from the rear speakers...

Anybody ??

 

[David Willow]

The Shield supports it. Set the output to passthru. Setting to 5.1 makes everything 5.1. Also be sure to tell Kodi your system is 7.1 (these are separate settings in the Shield and KODI).

 

[Dashingww]

First of all I David think you are normally supposed to leave kodi at 2.0, but I tried 5.1 and 7.1 anyways and it didn't make a lick of difference. Still show dolby digital but no sound out of rear speakers. I Aleady had both set to passthru and Sheild to 5.1

What version of Kodi do you use David ??

Also what Sheild experience upgrade are you on 5.1, 5.2, or earlier i think 3.2 ???

 

[David Willow]

Not sure what version it is (I'll look later). Whatever is available in the app store. I use it mainly for PLEX since I have had issues with TrueHD and PLEX recently.

I just upgraded to 5.2 last night. I have not had a chance to mess with it yet. Before that I was on 5.1. I also have the original Shield TV.

I'll check my settings when I get a chance later tonight or tomorrow.

 

[Dashingww]

Problem Solved, Thanks anyways

I guess on my receiver if you want Dolby Digital and surround there is an option on the receiver one has to chose to receive both at the same time called "Extended Surround". Came across it accidentely and it seems to have solved all issues whether I am playing form a DVD player, The PC or an Android box.

 

[David Willow]

"Extended Surround" sounds like some sort of matrix setting (artificially sending sound to all the speakers). Not sure that's what you want if you want to hear the movie as it was intended.

I grabbed some pictures of my Shield and KODI rather than try to describe the settings. With this setup I get the correct sound 100% of the time.

 

[Dashingww]

yeah I use the same settings but I don't get the audio out of the rear speakers. But with the extended I do and it's still outputting Dolby digital as it is displayed on my lcd of the receiver.

Are you getting voices and back ground sound off your back speakers or just background sound ??

 

[Dashingww]

Extended Surround(EXTD Surround) - Selects the 5.1 to 7.1 - Channel signal playback when surround back speakers are used. that is the definition I got from the yamaha manual

 

[Stephen_J_H]

Thanks for the Help, ok you were right the Blue Ray player setting needed an adjustment. Now Blue ray plays with the rear surround and shoes DD on the LCD panel. DVD shows DD on the LCD panel as well but still does not come in on the back speakers except when on the main Movie menu (weird)

DVD main menus are typically encoded in Dolby Digital 2.0; for these to play in any form of surround sound (if matrixed channels actually exist on the menu audio), you'd have to turn on the Dolby ProLogic IIx decoder. If the Direct mode is selected on your receiver, you'll only get 2.0, even if ProLogic IIx is selected. Direct mode is switchable (on/off), so play with it to see when you get your desired results. DTS Neo: 6 serves roughly the same purpose, but is more simulation than actual decoding.

 

[Mark-P]

DVD main menus are typically encoded in Dolby Digital 2.0; for these to play in any form of surround sound (if matrixed channels actually exist on the menu audio), you'd have to turn on the Dolby ProLogic IIx decoder. If the Direct mode is selected on your receiver, you'll only get 2.0, even if ProLogic IIx is selected. Direct mode is switchable (on/off), so play with it to see when you get your desired results. DTS Neo: 6 serves roughly the same purpose, but is more simulation than actual decoding.

Yeah, I'm kind of wondering if all the original poster's problem was, is that he doesn't understand the difference in source material, some being 2.0 and some being 5.1 and that to get surround sound to work for 2.0 you have to engage pro-logic, which I believe is what "extended surround" does.

 

[Dashingww]

oh i understand the difference, but I am using .avi files AC3 5.1 channel audio encoded files but am not getting any sound on the back speakers, just a little tiny hiss and im sure I was before whyich is why it's really throwing me. I have never used the extended before now, fouind it by accident. and when it plays my Lcd alternetes showing dolby digital and then PLIIx Movie and then back and forth like that which kind of tells me i am playing the dolby digital signal along with the PLIIX decoding. And I have all the setting on Kodi and Nvidea Shield on the 5.1 surround settings

Yet if I play a blueray on my blueray player without the extended on, I get a normal surround sound experience out of the back speakers

And yet if I play "The Mummy" DVD in the player and make sure the audio 3/2.1 Channell Digital is selected I still don't get sound outg of the rear speakers if the Extended is not on. Should it not just play in surround with back speakers like the blueray ??

 

[Alf S]

Tiny nit-pick

It's Blu-Ray, not Blueray

Carry on.

 

[Stephen_J_H]

What is the output on your DVD player set to? You have to go into the options and select bitstream, as some DVD players are set to default downmix to 2.0. I saw in your settings above that you had "Maintain original volume on downmix" turned on, while "stereo upmix" was turned off on your Kodi device. I would turn anything to do with downmix off, since you have no need to downmix. Stero upmix, you could play with and see if you like the results, but it's neither here nor there.

 

[David Willow]

Extended Surround(EXTD Surround) - Selects the 5.1 to 7.1 - Channel signal playback when surround back speakers are used. that is the definition I got from the yamaha manual

I see what you are asking now... You want 5.1 to play as 7.1. You're correct in that only way to do that is to matrix it to the rear speakers. PLIIx will do this as well.

oh i understand the difference, but I am using .avi files AC3 5.1 channel audio encoded files but am not getting any sound on the back speakers, just a little tiny hiss and im sure I was before whyich is why it's really throwing me. I have never used the extended before now, fouind it by accident. and when it plays my Lcd alternetes showing dolby digital and then PLIIx Movie and then back and forth like that which kind of tells me i am playing the dolby digital signal along with the PLIIX decoding. And I have all the setting on Kodi and Nvidea Shield on the 5.1 surround settings

Yet if I play a blueray on my blueray player without the extended on, I get a normal surround sound experience out of the back speakers

And yet if I play "The Mummy" DVD in the player and make sure the audio 3/2.1 Channell Digital is selected I still don't get sound outg of the rear speakers if the Extended is not on. Should it not just play in surround with back speakers like the blueray ??

Why AVI files? The best container is MKV (or MP4 but it has limitations). The codec should be H.264 for the best compatibility. MKV files with H.264 and almost any sound track will play directly on the Shield (assuming it is passing the audio through to a capable receiver).

 

[David Willow]

FWIW, I don't bother matrixing my rear speakers. If the sound track is 5.1, I live with it. Adding rears seems a bit unnatural to me (if the sound track is not already 7.1).

 

[Stephen_J_H]

7.1 is room-dependent as well. If your seating area is a short distance from the back wall, 7.1 is pointless, which is why I switched my 7.1 setup to ProLogic IIz with height channels. This actually doesn't work too badly with Atmos or DTS:X either.

 

[Dashingww]

Ok we are getting off track here... lol. I'm, not using 7.1, i was giving the manuals definition of the EXTD option which doesn't sound like it's matrix.

However, this made me think, so i went into my speaker setup and sure enough for some reason there are 7 speakers showing in the setup instead of 5. I take out 2 and everything is back to normal. My 5.1 is playing normally on my DVD, PC and Sheild.
I knew it had to be something stupid....

Thanks peeps