DTS vs 5.1 (1 Viewer)

[RichN]

I have a JVC XV-SA70BK DVD player and a Kenwood VR-509 receiver, and they sound great in 5.1 mode (DVD/6ch mode).

My question is: If I have the 5.1 connections from the DVD going to the receivers 5.1 inputs (these are analog signals, correct?) and also connect the digital coax out from the DVD to my tuner DVD coax input, and change my tuner setting from DVD/6ch to Digital-Auto, when I start a DTS DVD-audio disk playing, the receiver should automatically detect the digital signal and switch to DTS mode, right? But I get no sound unless I select the DVD/6ch input mode for the DVD on the receiver. Does 5.1 overide a digital (DTS) signal? Do I have to unplug my 5.1 connections to get a digital signal? DTS disks seem to play fine through the 5.1 connections, so is there much noticeable difference between that and a true digital signal?

RichN

 

[Vince Maskeeper]

Rich,

1) You might need to enable the DTS digital send on the player via a player setup menu. Most panasonic players, for example, come default with DTS off-- I don't know about JVC.

2) If you do get audio when listening to DTS from the 6 channel input on your receiver- you DVD player must have built in DTS decoding (DTS is being decoded by converters inside the player, turned to 6 analog sends, and then passed to the receiver).

If that is the case (if you're really getting 6 channel audio and not just 2 channel), there isn't any real difference between doing the digital vs the analog- except that doing the digital connection will use the D/A converters in the Receiver and analog will use the D/A converters in the DVD player.

In my experience, the DVD player converters are usually worse (but this will depend on your receiver and DVD player relative quality), so personally I would lose the 6 channel connection and use the digital (not sure why you are using the analog if you have digital available).

But, you might try to A-B the two connection types and see if you can tell a difference.

-V

 

[Bill Kane]

I think RichN will want to keep his six analog cables from the DVD to receiver to play DVD-AUDIO in DVD/6Chl input mode.

The confusion is the DVD audio coax is used to pass the DVD MOVIE 5.1 soundtrack digital signal to the recveiver. With DVD setup enabled to output the DD and DTS bitstream, and the amp mode set to AUTO detect, and the DVD/6Chl turned off, that is, switched to DVD input, everything oughta be in place, yes?

 

[RichN]

Too many menus !!!!
I think you were both right to a point. I did have to change the setting on my DVD to Stream/PCM (from 6ch) to get the receiver to work in Digital-Auto for movies. But apparently, I will have to manually switch back to DVD/6ch if I want to listen to DVD-audio disks with a 5.1 format. As of now, I have both digital coax and the 6 channel cables connected from DVD to recever and the receiver IS detecting DTS and other digital (movie) formats. With one audio disk I have (which came with the unit, and is apparently recorded in 5.1) I have to change the input mode for DVD on my receiver to 6ch, but one I purchased that is in DTS format works in Digital-Auto. I can live with that. Thanks for your inputs. I just checked the manuals, and both DVD and receiver have DTS and Digital Dolby decoders.
RichN

 

[Bill Kane]

good, rich

I hope you will be able to find a way to pop in a DVD-A music disc to playback w/o having to use the JVC remote to manually switch to the 6chl mode each time!

No further "advice" -- I dont have DVD-A nor SACD.