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HK AVR630 and Dolby Digital problems, Help! (1 Viewer)

JamesGL

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I just picked up an AVR630 a couple of months ago and it is connected to a cheapo JVC xx44SL prog scan DVD player.

Sometimes (about 20% of the time), I put in a disc, it will say Dolby Digital but only the L/R speakers are working. I turn off both units and turn on again and it will get fix and all speakers indicator will light up.

What is the culprit? DVD player, amp or
faulty optical cable? (Monster brand).

I doubt it is the disc since I have put on a couple of brand new discs and it happened.

Thanks.
 

John S

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This is not so uncommon, I have seen some receivers, not switch back, when various content (like the DVD menu) puts out PCM stereo, then the content switches back to DD for the presentation and/or playing a CD, has a similar effect.

It is like the PCM/Bitstreem setting is tied to this somehow, and takes a reset to get it to go back to Bitstreem or something.

I never ran into this on an H/K, but I have run into on Sony receivers before.
 

Michael Reuben

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Are you sure those discs have 5.1 soundtracks? They could have 2-channel stereo, or even a mono track that's repeated on the left and right channels (which is very common).

Contrary to popular belief, "Dolby Digital" does not equal "5.1".

M.
 

John Garcia

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Set your receiver to "auto" and it should take care of it. If you "force" your receiver into a certain mode, such as stereo, often it will retain that setting for everything, and putting it back in auto should generally work for DVDs. I occasionally have this problem as well with my Marantz 8300, but just selecting auto again while a disc is playing always fixes it.
 

JamesGL

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Dec 17, 2003
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Thanks for input. I will look into this "auto setting" when I get home.
I am sure the discs are 5.1 since after I do a reset, all 5.1 speakers works again and they are new DVD releases.
 

Michael Reuben

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Neither of these items is dispositive. Lots of new DVD releases are not 5.1, and many 5.1 discs come with alternative 2.0 surround tracks. And as for all speakers working, there are numerous DSP modes that can achieve that effect with 2.0 tracks (or even 1.0). So before experimenting, just make certain that you're using a disc that is clearly labeled as 5.1 and confirm that you've selected the DD 5.1 track.

M.
 

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