EQ On Sony SACD (1 Viewer)

[Jamey N]

Okay, I bought the SONY 500v and hooked it up to my SONY DE 945. While playing my first disk, (Billy Joel An Innocent Man) i found the sound very flat.

It seems I can't EQ or adjust any tones while using the 5.1 output. Help!

Any suggestions? Is there something on the receiver? Can I use my old and study SoundCraft EQ>

Thanks!

jamey

 

[Ryan Spaight]

An external analog EQ should be fine, though I'm a bit surprised. I haven't heard Innocent Man, but I have the other two Joel pop SACDs and they are both very nicely balanced.

If you're using a sub and small speakers, you won't get the bass you should listening to the stereo SACD track through the 5.1 inputs (or through the stereo CD inputs in analog direct, for that matter). I believe the 500V can let you change the stereo behavior from "2Ch" to "2Ch + Sub", which will route the bass to the sub.

Alternatively, I've got my sub hooked up speaker-level with my front speakers, which eliminates the need for bass management in stereo and gives me much better crossover control than either my player (same as yours) or my receiver offers. Then I set my fronts to LARGE and the sub to OFF in both my receiver and player, and all works well.

Ryan

 

[Jamey N]

The sound of the SACD is flat and lifeless. It just screams for EQ. I'll move some settings around, but so far it just doens't jump out like DVD or even DVD-A.

The salesguy told me I could use optical lines for the SACD part of the player. But the manual says I can't....i must use the 5.1 output.If I could by-pass the 5.1 it would be much much better.

ja

 

[Ken Cerce]

Jamey,
I think what you mean is that you cannot adjust the tone controls (bass, treble) for the 500V, therefore the music sounds flat. Try setting your soundfield to AFM or "auto format decode". I believe this still allows for EQ or tone control adjustments on the 5.1 direct input mode of your receiver. If you are currently set to "soundfield off", I believe this defeats the internal EQ. Also, make sure you have your bass management set up properly for your DVD/SACD player. You want to direct the low bass material to your sub to allow for the added punch you are looking for. I believe you have to set your speakers to "small" and activate the sub in your DVD player setup menu. I hope this helps you.

 

[Ryan Spaight]

Try setting your soundfield to AFM or "auto format decode". I believe this still allows for EQ or tone control adjustments on the 5.1 direct input mode of your receiver.

On the Sony receivers I've used, these functions are not available with the 5.1 direct input.

Which is as it should be, I think, because if you used the receiver's "sound fields," you'd be doing an analog-to-digital-to-analog conversion in the receiver, which would seriously compromise the quality of the SACD (since the whole point of SACD is that the digital processing in the player is far better than that in conventional CD players or receivers).

Best to use the player's bass management, as you suggest.

Ryan

 

[Jamey N]

So, am I stuck with the 5.1 outout? It sounds terrible. Any suggestions?

ja

 

[Ryan Spaight]

Just what I outlined above -- if you're using small speakers and a sub, use the bass management in the player to make sure the bass is going to the sub. Otherwise, you're getting full-range signals sent to your front speakers and nothing to the sub.

Alternatively, you can hook up your sub with the speaker-level inputs and set the bass management in your receiver and player accordingly.

I can't speak to the sound quality of the Innocent Man disc -- I haven't heard it and it may well be "flat and lifeless." I can tell you from personal experience that The Stranger and 52nd Street are anything but.

Ryan