SACD Troubles (1 Viewer)

[JayG]

I didn't know whether this thread should be in the Receiver forum or the AV Sources forum, so I put it in both. If it's wrong, feel free to move it or delete one of them.

I have a Pioneer 563A DVD/CD player and an Onkyo HT-R510 receiver (from their 760 HTiB) I have the player connected to the receiever with the 6 channel analog inputs/outputs. The player is set to output in 5.1 and I have the receiver set to Multichannel input, so that it knows to use the analog inputs and not matrix or simulate any extra channels. When I put in an SACD, I only get sound from the two fronts and the L/R Surround. I get no sound from the center or the sub. The CD says it is a 5 channel SACD (don't know if that means 5.1 or 4.1) so I should be getting sound from at least one of those speakers or both.

Unfortunately I only have one SACD right now, and no DVD-A's so I don't know whether the same thing will occur with other SACDs or DVD-A's. However, just to test, I put in a video DVD and set the receiver to Multichannel analog input and let the player do the decoding. When I did this, the center and sub channels worked just fine.

I would appreciate any help or advice. Thanks.

 

[Phil A]

Many of the Pioneers require one to go to one of the audio (player) menus to select which portion of a hybrid SACD to play - CD Audio, SACD Stereo or SACD multi-channel.

 

[JayG]

Yeah, I made sure I had it set to play the multi-channel region of the disc, but thanks for the idea. Any other suggestions?

 

[Cliff Olson]

What SACD discs are you playing?

 

[Rachael B]

There are some M/C SACD's that have no centre channel. Your one disc could be one of them? It's more likely you need to adjust your player's menu though. You could be in phantom (sans) centre mode on the speaker selection menu?

 

[JayG]

The SACD I'm trying to play is Mahler's 3rd Symphony performed by the San Fransisco Symphony. I'm not as concerned with having the center channel as I am with having the subwoofer. In fact, it's very likely that there is no center channel sound, because like I said, the package states that it has 5 channel surround (I'm assuming fronts, surrounds, and sub, but no center). However, there is no signal making it to the sub at all. I'm fairly confident that I have adjusted all the related preferences on the player that have to do with multichannel SACD/DVD-A playback, but I'll take one more look at the menu to be sure.

Keep the ideas coming. Thanks again.

 

[Cliff Olson]

I'm not sure about Mahler's 3rd (I actually have it, but can't check it right now), but I know off-hand of one MCH SACD that has virtually NO sub activity - Alice in Chains "Greatest Hits". So, it's definately possible that's just the way it was mixed. You should try Beck's "Sea Change" or Peter Gabriel's "Up". If your sub doesn't get a workout from those two, then something is definately wrong with your setup, or equipment. You didn't get any SACD Samplers with the player?

 

[JayG]

I suppose that's a possibility, Cliff, but one would think that a Mahler symphony would definitely have sub activity. Also, the CD case indicated that it had 5 channel surround sound, and only 4 speakers are playing anything.

I picked up a couple of DVD-As today, and they both work fine, with 5.1 sound. So that narrows the problem a little bit.

 

[Lewis Besze]

Maybe your receiver act the same way as mine.
Switch back to say the DVD input,select a sound format that usually use all speakers like DPL II,and then switch back to the 6ch input on the receiver. Just to be sure, you did use 6 cables to hook things up right?

 

[Nick_G]

i just got the Pioneer 563A DVD player for Christmas and hooked it up yesterday. took the multi channel out from the player into the multi channel in on my Sony STR-DE985 receiver.

haven't any DVD-A or SACD discs yet to play, but i noticed when i played a couple of DVD-Video discs the subwoofer output was next to non-existant.

any ideas or suggestions as to whatz up with that??

 

[Lewis Besze]

There is a "review" thread of the 563 here check it out.

 

[John Garcia]

You may not get sub activity with SACD because bass is handled differently with hi-res music. Since it is an analog signal, the bass may simply be too low, as movies have a +10dB gain in the processing for LFE. A number of new players are starting to include a +10dB gain for this reason.

 

[Jeff O.]

John sums it up pretty nicely. In order to get past the -10dB for the sub on the analog outs, I set the channels to variable out and balance the main channels at around -4. The sub is set at +6.
Jeff

 

[John Garcia]

For movies, use a digital connection. Your receiver has better bass management. A calibration of your speakers may be in order as well, and when using the analog connections, you must do this at the player, not the receiver.

 

[JayG]

I tried setting the sub at +6dB, but there still wasnt any activity. In fact, the sub goes into standby mode when it's playing.

I have another SACD coming in the mail on the 31st, so hopefully I'll be able to make some progress with the problem when it gets here. It's the Dark Side of the Moon SACD, so I know it will have significant LFE activity.