Marantz x200 reciver bass management help (1 Viewer)

[ericLee]

I've had the marantz sr 6200 for about 8 months now and I always noticed a big diffrence between lfe in DD and DTS tracks. first of all here's the setup
sr6200
chiro c-300 amp for LCR
dahlquist qx9, qx60, qx20r
sv 20-31 pci sub
harman kardon dvd 25
I used avia and the spl meter to calibrate to 80 db
DTS always has so much more bass so i looked under all the settings in the osd and under the SURR-MODE screen there's a setting for dts/dd lfe level. The poorly written manual says default for DD is the 00db setting and default for DTS CDs is -10db setting. Why does it say CD's does this also mean DVDs to? So i guess DD sound is set correctly but DTS is way to high. So i changed it to -10db so now dts is ok but DD is -10 too. I tried changing between dts and dd in the auto mode and the lfe setting is still -10db so do you have to change the lfe setting everytime you change soundtracks? How are you supposed to acuratly level for both DD and DTS? But going back to avia, which is DD, Since i calibrated correctly for that shouldn't the DD be properly calibrated-so why is the bass level so low? I heard about marantz puting a lfe peak limitor, is this true and how would you compensate?

 

[ericLee]

Any marantz reciver users out there?

 

[ericLee]

Cmon there must be someone here that actualy keep there 6200 long enough to figure out the menus. Anyone? Please...help.:frowning:

 

[Steve_Ma]

I have the SR7000 and am not too familiar with the x200 series, but I do not believe the differences are drastic. I also love my SR7000 for a number of reasons… None of which have anything to do with the documentation
Now, with the disclaimer in place, I'll take a stab at this.

I do not know why the manual says that about the different levels. As best as I can tell, it serves only to needlessly confuse the user. There should not NEED to be any difference in the LFE settings. Keep in mind, once you calibrate your speakers relative to each other, you should be all set. After that, any changes with regard to the LFE channel’s output SHOULD be done by the software (Movie, CD, whatever) and the processing of the Marantz. The user should not NEED to specify different LFE settings for the various DSP modes… I’m not sure what mode you typically use and how you have your speakers/sub configured, but my SR7000 almost never leaves AUTO mode. It automatically detects and properly decodes both DD and DTS signals. It also plays 2ch material in STEREO, engaging the crossover for the sub (which I like, even for music). I’ve never noticed a problem with my LFE setting/levels. All my speakers are set to small with the sub = yes. Sub is connected via the LFE out.

I know, I know, the Marantz has this neat little “feature” where the listener can change channel levels for different DSP modes, but if the desire is for “accuracy” none of that needs to be done, and it’s been my experience, most people throw off their speaker calibration in the process. On my SR7000, you can go into the menu and calibrate your speakers. If you then change the channel levels in any DSP mode (except, I think, 5ch for some unknown reason), you have also reset the Channel levels in the setup and have, “un-calibrated” your speakers. It’s weird. I’ve corresponded with Marantz about it and never really got an answer as to why this is. But the unit has so many strengths, I can live with this idiosyncrasy.

Hope this helped.
--Steve

 

[John Garcia]

I have a 6200 and I leave it at 00dB for everything. I listen to DTS CDs in source direct, but never noticed any bass problems with this setting when not using S-dir.

 

[ericLee]

I think i should leave the setting to 00db. I think that DTS music/CD is encoded with a diffrent level LFE but movies should work automatic. But i still don't know why there is always better bass in DTS, maybe dts can handle bass better? Anyway I learned that the RS spl meter read low so i should recalibrate again. When i leave it auto it automaticly changes to the source input. I was just saying that since it's in auto mode when i change from dts to dd the lfe level stays at 00db i thougth that if i choose dts it should change -10db automaticly, but this is probably only used for a few dts cd's, and since i don't own any i shoudn't worry about it. I don't know about the sr7000 but i don't know what you mean by change channel levels in dsp modes. do you mean in PL2 or CC5.1 or the other simulated soundfields? I don't see an option to customize them without a global change in speaker levels. My unit is messed up so hopefully when i send it in to the service center they could check it out and fix the audio drop outs and noise problems. thanks for the help.

 

[Chris A H]

My SR7200 manual says that "Select the output level of the LFE signal included in the Dolby Digital signal or the DTS signal. Select 0dB, -10 dB or OFF with < or > button.
The level is ordinarily set to 0 dB. When use DTS
music source, LFE level is set to -10 dB." So it is true for all DTS sources.

Reason for the difference in the way LFE is handled/processed in DD vs. DTS...

"To be backward compatible with Dolby Pro-Logic, Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtracks often have parts of the LFE removed and placed in the main speakers, since the LFE gets thrown away when the DVD player downmixes the soundtrack. In other words, the master is compromised so that people using old technology get more bass, while people with Dolby Digital 5.1 get a hampered LFE channel. Dolby actually recommends this practice when there is no DD2.0 soundtrack on the disc that contains the 5.1 soundtrack. This may be why many reviewers find DTS versions to have superior bass to the DD versions of movies."

See the full article here.

Chris