Dolby Digital on a RCA, 2 questions.... (1 Viewer)

[Matt Heebner]

Hey all, just picked up a RCA drd480re DD receiver and have a couple questions. First, I couldn't find a whole lot of reviews on this receiver, and was wondering about how decent this receiver is. I got it from a friend who is a dealer, and he gave me an awesome price, but was wondering about reliability and quality. So far, so good, but would like a little input from someone who has owned one for a while. Second, I am running an optical cable, and have it doing all the sound on the channels (at 48khz PCM) instead of analog. I do still have analog running to my receiver. I played around with it, switching back and forth and I was amazed with how much better the sound was using the optical. Does everyone experience this, or do my analog cables (Radio Shack Gold Series) just suck really bad??
TIA....
Matt
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"....And remembers being small, Playing under the table and dreaming....."--DMB

 

[Chip Nestor]

Hi Matt,
I've had the RCA 480re receiver for about 9 months now. Overall I'm pretty happy with it.
The only problem I ever had was a color pulse that would happen every few minutes. Many other folks with this & other RCA models experienced this too. For a second or so, the color would shift to a more reddish setting, then return to normal. RCA & DirecTV did a lot of finger pointing as to who was at fault. My unit hasn't had the problem for about 2-3 months. Coincidentally in December DTV sent a software update to my unit for their new "interactive" channels (Weather, CNN, etc.) I can only guess that the update also included a patch that fixed the color "pulse" problem.
I have to agree with you on the sound - much better using the optical connection than RCA's. Now if they'd add Dolby Digital to HBO! For now 5.1 is only on Starz & PPV, but at least we benefit from the improved overall sound on other stations.
Good luck with the unit.
Chip

 

[Matt Heebner]

I upgraded my package to include Starz just for that reason. I watched a couple of movies so far in DD 5.1. It sounded excellent. I have not had any color shifting problems EXCEPT with X-Files on FOX, but I had the same problem with the Hughes receiver so I figure its not the receiver at all. Its kinda weird that it only happens with that show, and seems like it just started happening recently. To try and explain....its like there is a ghost image of the red hue for a second, and then it "snaps" back after a second or so. Happens after a camera movement or scene change. Doesnt happen on other shows or channels. I cant explain it.
Matt
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"....And remembers being small, Playing under the table and dreaming....."--DMB