Help with Sony S550 (1 Viewer)

[Doug_H]

Glad to help Gary! Now go enjoy the sweetness that is HD audio.

 

[Nathan Eddy]

I take it you've never had a SACD player.

I thought this might be the culprit, which is why I made sure and backed up that detail in my post.

 

[Gary Shipley]

You're right Nathan. Never had an SACD. Never had the need. My system is for 90% movies,8% gaming, 2% music.

 

[Mark Zimmer]

Really, if Sony wanted these players to make an impact, you'd think they'd include a little useful documentation and/or not make them so incredibly complicated to configure properly. Poor engineering and poor technical writing.

 

[T r o y]

Well, I finally received my S550 from Amazon yesterday. Hooked it up using the HDMI to projector and I'm using the 5.1 ch. analog outs going to my yamaha DSP-A1 5.1 ch. analog ins. I went through the setup for audio settings and got a tone out of each speaker which I was happy about.
My question is , is there a way to properly calilbrate each channel to 75db in the S550 since it's doing the processing now ? I had my DSP-A1's channels calibrated to 75 db. , but now since i'm having to bypass my receiver's internal decoder and use the S550's decoder , what are you guys doing to get your channels as close to 75db? As it is now, the sound seems to way to loud coming out of each channel. also, my sub seems very loud at a low volume setting.
I noticed on the speaker settings for tone output that it starts with 0DB and you can dial up or down each channel . I just need a little help in this department if you guys have any to offer.
Thanks,
TroyH

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Troy,

You will need a sound pressure level (SPL) meter if you want to get the speaker levels set to a 75db reference level. Radio Shack sells an analog SPL for around $45.

Just set your receiver's volume level to its reference level, then adjust the speaker level settings on the S550 until each channel's test tone measures at 75db on the SPL meter from your listening position. For the subwoofer, you may need to adjust the volume on the sub itself, and then recalibrate your receiver for your other inputs after you are done calibrating the S550.

 

[T r o y]

Scott, when you say... set your receiver's volume level to reference level, ...... what would I be playing or hearing out of the receiver to get it to this point as reference. Do I use it's internal test tones and set it to 75 db and then go into the s550 and then adjust from there ?

thanks.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Troy,

By reference level, I mean the volume level where you get a 75db reading when playing test tones from your receiver, assuming it has been calibrated already.

 

[T r o y]

Okay Scott, that helps. thanks I will do that tonight.
After I have the volume knob dialed in at 75db on my receiver , I won't touch the volume knob anymore. Then go into the S550 audio settings for tone /level and adjust each channel's output . The settings for each speaker in the S550 speaker settings starts at 0db. You can only decrease the volume of each channel or either leave it at 0db. I have a feeling I will need to dial down each channel after going back into the S550 because my speakers are very loud right now even at a very low volume location on the knob.

Thanks again,
TroyH

 

[Nathan Eddy]

I absolutely HATE this player. If I could get my money back, I would. The piece of crap is only 3 months old, and it consistently has audio problems. Sometimes it won't play the advanced codecs, sometimes it will. The latest annoyance is that it will play part of the soundtrack, but not the center channel. Sometimes it plays the mains, but not the surrounds. Sometimes it is out of synch with the picture. I really wish I'd never wasted my money on this piece of junk. Pure crap. I'm probably going to just throw it away and get a Panasonic.

 

[Clinton McClure]

Try a firmware update first Nathan.

 

[bmeyer6472]

I'm with Nathan on this one - a firmware update disc directly from Sony did not correct the audio problems. I ended up buying a Panasonic, and I'm trying to return the Sony, considering that I've only had it less than a month. The last three Sony products I've had have all had problems. A pre/pro, a HDTV, and now this. Enough is enough.

Bob

 

[Ed Moxley]

If you're going to throw it away, send it to me..............

 

[Nathan Eddy]

I tried the firmware update, and it's working again. But this is the third time I've got it to "work again." The first two times didn't involve a firmware update. I have no idea what fixed it then. It seems to go from randomly working to not working. Oh well, I hope the firmware update is a permanent fix. I had to reset all my speaker levels, and I couldn't get the player's test tone to pass through the center or surrounds, though these did work when I actually played a disk.

Sorry about the drunken rant post.

I was very pissed I couldn't watch my Rush Snakes and Arrows concert BD that night.

 

[Mark Zimmer]

This kind of weird transient problem almost sounds like it might be a slight overheating. Is the unit getting plenty of ventilation?