Dolby Pro Logic IIx (1 Viewer)

[Biba]

Once again somewhat sorry to bother you high end home theater guys, but my lowly Onkyo TX-SR603X (using six speakers + subwoofer) receiver's instruction manual has two pages of delightful ways I can set-up my listening modes, the title/subject being one. Unfortunately they give no instructions as to how to do so.

Suggestions?

I'm aware the IIx is pretty much a pretend surround sound 'program' but since listening to FM is my major (though not only) interest, I assume this is the best I can do to get those two lazy arse rear speakers to work. Yes, they make a funny sound after plugging in the test mic so I know they're working, or should I say, workable?

I'd like to be able to easily switch to other listening modes when watching a DVD for instance, but assume that is asking way too much.

Biba

 

[gene c]

Even music mixed in discreet DD and DTS 5.1 generally make passive use of the surrounds. As for ProLogic, Neo:6, Logic7, etc. there's little you can do to increase the amount of info sent to the rears. The computer chip controls that. Give "5 Channel Stereo" a try. That's what I use for 2 channel music, when I feel the need for more than 2 channels.

 

[JeremyErwin]

Really.


With DPL IIx, you could set 'Dimension' to five or six.

 

[gene c]

Even though I only have a 5.1 setup I knew PLIIx can create a 6th or 7th rear channel. But, unfortunately my H/K 435 doesn't offer this "Dimension" setting you speak of, or at least I haven't found it yet, so I am unaware of it's capabilities. If it does create a deeper sound stage than the basic PLIIx then maybe Biba can find it useful, if Biba's avr has it. Personally, I use DPLII, Neo:6 and Logic7 for 2 channel tv/movies but for music I find 5 channel stereo makes better use of the surrounds which is why I recommended it to Biba. But I will have to look into this Dimension thing.

 

[JeremyErwin]

Not as dramatic as 5 channel stereo, but perhaps more realistic.

If the Onkyo 603 is anything like my Onkyo 502, 0 is equivalent to F-3, and 6 is equivalent to R-3.

 

[gene c]

Silly me for looking in the "operation" section of the manual instead of the "system configuration" part. Anyway, thanks for enlightening me! It is only available in 6.1/7.1 which is why I didn't stumbled across it earlier. I'm going to stick some speakers in the back some day and see what effect it has. I wonder if any of this has been helpful to Biba or just a little embarrassing for me!

 

[JeremyErwin]

It should be available with DPL II, not just IIx. The effect is probably more dramatic with the surround back speakers, though. Remember, this is for Music, not Movie. (It may be used with Game, as well, but as far as I'm concerned, "Game" is just weird.)

 

[Biba]

Boy I've sure not been keeping up with this at all. Today I accidentally figured out how to go through all of the various configurations for the setup. Along the way (not a clue how) the rear speakers began working. I'll go back and revisit the (I believe this is correct) Input Setup. I did get to something which said (again I think) Dolby EX. All I know is the cd I'm listening to at the moment (Leonard Cohen "Ten New Songs") and it sounds terrific...except my subwoofer doesn't seem to be working.

I'm aware this is an entirely new area and will throw it out to you two guys first - incidentally thank you both for all of your input.

The speaker system is an Onkyo SKS-HT240 6.1 channel except I'm using my vintage Dahlquist phased array DQ-10 speakers for the front ones, and have then moved the Onkyo front speakers to center and now have two rear speakers.

I've rebuilt the base speakers on the Dahlquists and they can get down very low and wonder if this is the reason the subwoofer isn't working. Originally the light was on red - meaning standby, but is now on green meaning it should be working. However when using the mic for automatically setting up the speakers, the subwoofer doesn't make a peep.

Yes, the subwoofer is configured to be On. I have the crossover frequency for the subwoofer set at 150 Hz since i felt it would be more likely to come on. I've also played with the knob on the back of the subwoofer.

Is it a situation my base speakers on the front Dahlquists are somehow taking the place of the subwoofer (they've definitely been rumbling - I have the receiver set at 8Db for base)?

Thoughts or should I start a new thread?

 

[JeremyErwin]

Speakers can be set to be either large (full range) or small (no deep bass). Presumably, the auto setup program believes that the DQ-10 are full range speakers. If that's the case, you have two choices. You can set the speaker to small-- and all of the sound below the crossover slope will be diverted to the subwoofer. Or you can keep them as large, and turn double-bass on, which sends the lower octaves to both the subwoofer and the dahlquists.

There are two advantages to using a subwoofer. First, a good subwoofer will be able to reproduce notes that the satellite speakers are incapable of reproducing. This may not be strictly true in your case... Secondly, bass notes require a lot of power to reproduce. Since a subwoofer has an amplifier of its own, the receiver need not output as many watts. The result? Cleaner, louder output.

Oh-- do check to see that "subwoofer" is set to "Yes".

 

[Biba]

Boy is my face red. Yesterday for the first time in two weeks I turned on the Zone 2 speakers, and hark!, my sub woofer started making sounds. Seems as how I had SW plugged into the Zone 2 sub woofer slot rather than Pre Out. Certainly adds to the mix. Thanks for hanging in there with me.

Biba

 

[gene c]

I was thinking of what the problem may have been, but I doubt I would have have thought of that! Glad to see things have worked out for you. I learned a thing or two myself!

 

[JeremyErwin]

I think it would be neat if the latest receivers could be controlled with xml-- and such files could be posted, so geeks like me wouldn't have to read the manuals, imagine what could go wrong, and so on.

Of course, this wouldn't helped in this case. I wonder if multizone receivers get more than their fair share of technical support requests.

 

[gene c]

I wonder how many people just give up and do without. But that's an interesting question. What generates the most tech calls? Around here it seems to be no sound/picture. Well, "what to get" is probably first, but that's not a tech issue.

 

[Biba]

Being an old guy I didn't have a computer until 'much later in life'. At least this is my excuse for many electronic items not being intuitive for me. I personally like a hard copy, but sure would make a few changes to the Onkyo TX-SR603X receiver's instruction manual. An example was getting the Zone 2 working for the first time. Once I did it, it was a piece of cake. The other was figuring out one has to click on the upper button of the up/down left/right buttons to go from window to window. Again simple, except the manual doesn't mention the fact.

All in all I'm now quite pleased with my set up, though still have to see if I can get the DVD/CD player (Onkyo) and TV (Sony) all to work off the receiver's remote.

I might take photos of my very humble 'home theatre' and add to the picture gallery to show others there's no shame in not having loads of dough to spend on a first class set up.