subwoofer using 5.1 analog out (1 Viewer)

[Kym O]

I use the 5.1 analog outs from my Toshiba 4700 to my receiver(Pioneer VSX-810s. But when I play DVD movies the subwoofer level is low compared to using the optical input. I have calibrated each input using the test tones from the receiver and it's still the same. The setup menu on the DVD player allows me to set the size of the speakers and whether the subwoofer is on or off. All this is set correctly. All speakers set to small with the sub crossover turned all the way up. Is there anything else I should be doing?

 

[Jeramy_K]

I may be wrong on this (I'm sure someone will correct me if I am ) but I believe turning your crossover all the way up on the sub could be the problem. Have you tried setting the crossover at about half ?

-Jeramy

 

[Doug_B]

Does the receiver bypass processing (i.e., A->D & D->A conversions) for the 5.1 inputs? If so, I could see how the receiver's test tones may not help to calibrate the 5.1 inputs from the DVD player. In any case, what's most important is whether or not the the sub level from the analog output is lower relative to the other 5 analog channels. In other words, if the levels from the 5 analog channels sounds the same (or is measured to be the same) as those from the digital 5 channels of the optical connection but the analog sub out is lower relative to the digital sub out, then the analog sub level needs to be calibrated relative to the analog 5 ch levels (supporting the assertion that the receiver's test tones do not help with the analog 5.1 input calibration.

My suggestion is to get a DVD-based calibration disc.

Also note that a different crossover setting in the DVD player relative to the receiver will alter the distribution of frequencies set to different speakers, so that a comparison of levels for a given channel (e.g., left main analog vs left main digital, or sub analog vs sub digital) may be different.

By the way, keep the sub crossover set to its highest value, or disable it if possible (unless you depend on the sub crossover for splitting the signal, which doesn't sound like what you are doing).

Doug