Help Still Not Happy!!!!!! HT-s894 Onkyo (1 Viewer)

[bobh33]

I need suggestions please!!! I'm afraid I might have "champagne taste on a beer budget", but I just not that happy with the audio from TV or DVD. I have HDMI hookup from DVD to AVR and HDMI to TV with optical coming back to AVR. It just seems to lack the crispness/clarity I thought I would get with 1000 watts. The bass is great. Does room size/speaker calibration make that much of a difference? I still have the 22 guage wires going to the speakers. I have cable coming in direct to the TV and am able to get some of the HD stations. I have read where the cable companies don't always broadcast audio on a consistently 100% basis? If so, does a dish do any better as far as consistency, etc??? I just want to make sure I am doing allI can before I start upgrading speakers already.
Thanks ahead of time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[JohnRice]

Does calibration matter? Um, YES!

 

[bobh33]

Please further explain. The system has the "Odyssey(?)" function to automatically calibrate although it's just a button, no microphone or anything else involved.

 

[Ed Moxley]

The Audyssey EQ setup can be good, depending on the room. But, you even need to tweak that with an SPL (sound pressure level) meter too, to really get it on the money. Ideally, each speaker should be the same volume, at the sweet spot (sitting position). Some folks turn the center channel up a touch, to help make sure the voices are loud enough. Make sure the speaker distances (delay) are set right too. I think most of us gets Radio Shack's SPL meter for about $45.

I guess the audio is coming from the dvd player over HDMI also? Did you go into the dvd player's setup menus, and turn on digital output for the audio. For your digital coax it needs to be set on "Bitstream". Not sure about HDMI, but there may be a setting to tell the player to send audio via HDMI too. Your HDMI version is 1.1, so not sure how much is being done with the audio. Version 1.3 is supposed to be the best for audio, so I thought anyway.

If audio has been over HDMI from dvd, try running the audio with your digital coax to the receiver. It may sound better.

You said you have an optical cable out from tv, to receiver. Normally, those are for when you get HD channels over the air, with an antenna, from the built in tuner. Not sure how that's gonna work with cable. Usually need a cable box, with digital output, to get 5.1 from tv programming on cable.

The only channels in 5.1 surround will be HD channels, premium movie channels (HBO, Starz, etc.) and some PPV channels. The best you'll get from everything else is Pro Logic (simulated surround), which isn't bad at all sometimes.

I'd replace the 22 gauge speaker wire with at least 14-16 gauge, but 12 would be even better.

 

[bobh33]

So without an HD cable box and just the cable from the wall to the TV and optical from TV to receiver, I might not be getting 5.1 from the HD channels I am receiving? Even though the AVR says DD on it? There is no way to hook up the cable coaxil into my AVR is there? Me thinks we might be on to something!!!

 

[Ed Moxley]

If the AVR says DD on it, it must be getting a DD signal. But DD isn't always 5.1 either. It can be 2.0 also. I'm guessing some settings aren't right somewhere. That Onkyo should sound pretty decent. The calibration of speakers may help more than you think.

Since you have a sub, your speakers should be set to "small", so all the bass goes to the subwoofer. You didn't say............have you tried a digital coax cable from dvd to receiver? I'd say get a box with digital output from the cable company, for tv. It should work better.

 

[Ken Seeber]

Three more points to clarify:

1) Your receiver isn't 1,000 watts. It's 110 watts per channel.

2) 22-gauge speaker wire is a little anemic. I'd move up to 12 gauge, or at least 14.

3) Are you getting your DVD's audio from the HDMI connection, or are you using the optical output from the TV? Make sure your DVD input is set to use the audio from the HDMI connection.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

Dolby Digital can also be 1.0, that is, mono. DD is simply a digital mechanism for delivering whatever audio signal is being sent. Given the set-up described above, there is a good chance that the TV's digital output is just a transport mechanism for any signal other than over-the-air HD. Since it can't decode the DD signal coming out of the wall (that's one of the things a cable box is for) it is just passing the matrixed 2 channel, stereo or mono soudtracks to the receiver. Odds are Bob isn't hearing DD from anything other than the DVD player.

And ditto on the 22-gauge wire. 12 or 14, by all means.

Regards,

Joe

 

[bobh33]

Thank you everyone!!! I will try all your ideas!!!!

 

[bobh33]

Thanks everyone!! Here are my initial settings on the matching DV-SP404 DVD player:

1) Digital Out: On
2) Dolby Digital Out: Dolby Digital
3) DTS Out: DTS
4) 96 kHz PCM Out: 96kHz > 48 kHz (It Won't Let Me Change To "96KHz")
5) MPEG Out: MPEG > PCM (It won't let me change to "MPEG")
6) HDMI Out: Auto

Is #4 & #5 set at the best option and why can't I change it if not????

 

[bobh33]

Or how about optical from DVD to AVR for audio & HDMI from DVD to TV for video????

 

[Ed Moxley]

That should be just fine..........

 

[bobh33]

Thanks Ed! Does this make any sense? If the AVR is a pass through system, then if the video passes thru to the TV, doesn't the audio pass through to the TV also and then come back thru optical, which might "dilute" the quality of the audio??