DVD-Audio: a Couple of Questions (1 Viewer)

[JasonWaddington]

I recently got a DVD audio disk. However, in surround mode I am not getting any Dolby Digital. My DVD Audio player shows 5.1 channels, but the Dolby Digital light never comes on. Are most DVD audio disks 5.1 sound but not Dolby Digital. And if so, what do I have to do to get the multichannel sound? I have to use prologic because DD doesnt recognize a DD signal on my receiver.

Also, I got some HDCD's, but the HDCD light doesnt come on on my HDCD player (Cambridge D500SE). Are they HDCD's? If not, I am returning them to CD Now. Also, the cd's dont have HDCD anywhere on them.

THanks, Any help would be nice.

 

[Mike Capulli]

Yo Jason

I think I can help you out. I basically have the same DVD player as you. In the DVD player setup menu, you need to fool around with the audio settings. I Believe you can scroll through "PCM, PCM/Dolby Digital, STREAM PCM"...

If your dvd player is set to PCM or PCM/DD, you are most likely getting digital stereo surround. Which would explain why your reciever is reading "Pro-Logic". I believe I have my JVC DVD player set for "STREAM PCM".
If you fool around with these settings and then try a DVD, your Reciever will eventually display the dolby digital or DTS light.

 

[JasonWaddington]

So if I fix that, the DVD player should read "Dolby Digital" and send a signal to the receiver? k, great!
What about the HDCD problem?
Here is a link to the DVD audio disc I got:
http://www.cdnow.com/cgi-bin/mserver...itemid=1406470
These are the HDCDs I got:
http://www.cdnow.com/cgi-bin/mserver.../itemid=796369
http://www.cdnow.com/cgi-bin/mserver.../itemid=791223

 

[James Q Jenkins]

Jason,

You need to hook up six wires between the analog 5.1 channel output on your DVD-A player to the 5.1 channel input on your receiver to hear DVD-A. You will not see "Dolby Digital" light up, you'll have to select the "Multichannel input". Make sure to set your speakers to "small" in the DVD-A player's setup menu.

 

[Mike Capulli]

You need to hook up six wires between the analog 5.1 channel output on your DVD-A player to the 5.1 channel input on your receiver to hear DVD-A.

Jason's DVD player doesn't have any digital outputs?

 

[Seth Paxton]

Jason's DVD player doesn't have any digital outputs?

It's not because of that. It's because DVD-A high resolution is not transferred by current digital connections (though I think the new high end Denon DVD-A and receiver, 5802 maybe will have a SPECIAL Denon digital connection).
But your normal fiber or coax that you use for DD/DTS will NOT carry the high resolution stereo or 5.1. You will need the DVD-A player to do the D/A and then send the analog over to a receiver/amp that can take in 5.1 analog inputs.
However, most/all DVD-As have several different versions on them, so many of them do have DD 5.1 as another option (or DTS like the Queen album).
If you aren't careful with the JVC menu you could have DD or DTS disabled (like setting it to PCM only). If you have it set like that it will not pass the DD/DTS. If you have a DTS receiver you want your digital setting to be PCM/Stream (stream being the DD/DTS bitstream).
I suspect that the DVD-A in question might not have a DD 5.1 track. Perhaps the light is just indicating a high definition 5.1 track instead. Which album is it?
Also, you should be able to select the various sound formats available on the disc. If you have selected the high definition 5.1, the player will say multichannel but you won't hear it since you don't have the analog connections setup.
I hope you aren't about to be bummed by finding out your receiver doesn't have 5.1 analog inputs. :frowning:
One other thing to be careful with. If you do get the analog lines hooked up, be sure to turn OFF the downconversion in the JVC menu (the one with the Lo/Ro setting - put it to OFF). Otherwise it will take the 5.1 and convert it to stereo and send it out on the L/R analog only, as well as normal resolution stereo on the digital input.
All you are doing with the Pro-Logic setting at this point is taking a straight stereo signal and incorrectly playing it as Pro-Logic. I don't believe any DVD-A's actually have a Pro-Logic track. It's either the traditional stereo, DD/DTS 5.1, or high rez 5.1 (via 6 channel analog connection).

 

[Eric F]

Does decoded HDCD get passed through the S/PDIF? I don't think it does. Unless your stereo can decode it (which yours doesn't) you need to use the analog outputs of your CD player to get the HDCD quality decode.

Then again, I have one HDCD which I cannot get my player to recognize. It worked once, then never again.

 

[JasonWaddington]

The DVDA disk has a surround sound option. It is on. There is no recognition of this on my Receiver. I doubt I have to hook up every channel to the 6.1 input, I think coax should work (or so ive read). I am sure there is just a setting somewhere that must be changed.

As for the HDCD, my CD player is an HDCD player that should recognize HDCD. Any other suggestions? You don't need an HDCD decoding player AND receiver, just one or the other.

 

[Vince Maskeeper]

As Seth said above-- this is the issue. The audio contained on DVD Audio discs is 6 channel- BUT NOT IN DOLBY DIGITAL FORMAT. As such- the current grade of audio receivers have no internal ability to make the conversion from digital to analog, as they simply do not recognize the format.

In order to take advantage of this higher quality audio format- one must have a player with internal converters- and use them by connecting the 6 channel analog connections between the player and a properly equipped receiver ( a receiver with 6 channel input).

Most DVD-A discs also have some sort of backup track compatible with DVD-Video players (note in order to get real DVD-A material- YOU MUST HAVE A DVD-A PLAYER!!). Some discs have DD and some have DTS backup 9some have Stereo). If you use the digital output on the player- it is likely supplying one of these lower resolution formats to this output.

The same type of thing is true for HDCD-- you need to use the internal converters in the player as most receivers do not have converters to handle this type of digital stream. So in order to achive HDCD playback- you must be connected to your receiver via an analog connection (this will use the internal converters and pass the audio onto the receiver).

So, follow Seth's advice listed above- and skip the other info as it is not correct in regards to DVD-A discs.


_v

 

[JasonWaddington]

Ok, well my HDCD player does decode HDCD's, supposedly.

As for DVDA...The disk's package has a DD logo on it. So you say I need to use the 6 channel input to get DVD audio. Meaning, I need to go buy 6(!) rca cables??? Thats alotta cash....

 

[Chris Moe]

Yes, you need to buy 6 RCA cable if you want to listen to DVD-A.

 

[Justin Lane]

As for DVDA...The disk's package has a DD logo on it. So you say I need to use the 6 channel input to get DVD audio. Meaning, I need to go buy 6(!) rca cables??? Thats alotta cash....

If you want true high resolution 6 RCA cables is a must. However, as mentioned earlier most DVD-A do have a lower qality DD or DTS mix. Depending on your player you may or may not even be able to access this track (why would you want to ona DVD_A player, as it is lesser quality). This is passed through your digital cable (optical or coaxial). The audio presented on most DVD-A is 5.1 in nature but NOT compressed like DD or DTS.

J

 

[Eric F]

Oh why don't they add DVD-A decode to some computer software? Yes, I know they're paranoid about it being cracked, that's why. But since I own a soundcard that can handle 192/24 6-channel output it seems the easiest way.

What would be really nice is if Microsoft actually eliminated the kMixer crap that ruins everything WMP9 plays, rendering HDCD output moot. At least I can use that ASIO Winamp plug-in. Off topic a little bit, but when you hear bit-perfect audio there's no comparison.

 

[Shawn Shultzaberger]

I've got an RP-91 DVD/DVD-A player and love DVD-A! Yeah the cash for 6 Outlaw Audio cables was a bit hard to chew on but I love the sound. I prefer the DVD-A over DD or DTS for music.
Get the cables and enjoy!

 

[JasonWaddington]

I connected using the 6 channel and for some reason I'm not getting multichannel sound, just 2 channels. I check every setting on my dvd player and found nothing that could cause this. Still no reading on the HDCD's. I am just gonna send the DVDA back along with the HDCDs, it was really only for testing and such.