What setting do you listen to your DVD's on? (1 Viewer)

[Harminder]

I was fiddling around with my Panasonic receiver and I came across something I didn't really take note of before. It has built in sound settings such as:

HEAVY
CLEAR
FLAT
HALL
LIVE
DISCO
SOFT

I have built in subwoofers into the front speakers (called Superwoofers) in addition to the 100W Mission subwoofer I have. And on some movies, for example Jurrasic Park: DTS Edition, my fronts go absolutely nuts during the opening scene. The front subs are rumbling and it's actually a turn off to listen to. The setting was on HEAVY and front subs on MAX. When I put the front subs to MID and choose the setting of CLEAR it sounded absolutely great. However, when I put on Terminator 2: Judgment Day UE DTS it sounds the best when the setting is on HEAVY and front subs on MAX.

Thing is, I seriously cannot remember for every DVD I have what sound setting is the best. My question is, for people who have sound settings like this, what do you usually leave your settings on?

And for people who don't have these settings, do you also fiddle with your sound settings for every DVD for optimal results?

 

[Magnus T]

Cinema Studio EX A for regular movies. Cinema Studio EX B for action films. Cinema Studio EX C for musicals. I own a Sony reciever and can't for the life of me hear any difference between the audio options.

 

[Vince Maskeeper]

OFF

 

[greg_t]

Straight Dolby or DTS with NO other sound processing. Those things usually hurt rather than help.

 

[Edwin-S]

With the setting on Dolby Digital EX or DTS ES and no DSP settings. The receiver I have (Yamaha RX-V1) has a ton of DSP settings, but I find them of little use. I wish the receiver had the ability to be upgraded for new sound formats like DTS 6.1 discrete, instead of all those useless processing modes. Still like the sound of the receiver though.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Usually THX Surround EX or THX Ultra 2 for 6.1 and 5.1 material, and either DPL II or DTS:Neo6 for Dolby Surround material.

 

[Jeremy Allin]

I also do NOT have any DSP modes on when I watch movies. I figure the sound designer has taylored the soundtrack just the way he/she wants to.

 

[Paul D G]

I have a Sony as well. I just leave it on Auto Format Decode. I'll switch on the Virtual 6.1 for such encoded discs, tho.

-paul

 

[Bill Williams]

I also have a Sony DVD player as well, and I typically watch my DVDs in either TVS Dynamic or TVS Wide. I'm currently going through Two Towers: Extended, and I've got it on TVS Wide. Sounds really boss, except for the fact that at times it goes a wee bit quiet in some of the very quiet dialog moments. Thank goodness for captioning!

 

[Jesse Skeen]

NONE! These are bastardizations. I'll occasionally play around with them when listening to cheesy music or old TV commercials, but anything I'm actually watching I keep the Sony on "Normal Surround", which decodes everything as it should be (AFD doesn't work since it won't always engage pro-logic when it should.)

 

[Arnie G]

I put my amp on 11

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

 

[Dave H]

I don't use any of those setting either as I want the pure sound that was intended.

 

[David Von Pein]

The front subs are rumbling and it's actually a turn off to listen to.

Yes, I agree with you on this. Actually, IMO, any subwoofers are annoying and a "turn off" in general when listening to any movie. But, that's just my own personal preference. I'm sure many, many HTFers love their subs (sandwiches
and otherwise ).

I bought my first one last year. Had it two days. Couldn't stand the almost-constant annoying "rumbling" during almost everything that was on the screen. Disconnected the darn thing asap. :frowning:

IMO, who needs everything "rumbling" and a-rollin' constantly during a film-watching session??

(Now: Earthquake (circa 1974), starring Charlton Heston and the fetching Genevieve Bujold, might be OK in "Sensurround". But other than that, I can live without the floor rumbling every five seconds.)

 

[Cliff Olson]

I bought my first one last year. Had it two days. Couldn't stand the almost-constant annoying "rumbling" during almost everything that was on the screen. Disconnected the darn thing asap.

Hi David. Did you have it properly calibrated? It takes a bit of tweaking/moving, and most importantly, an SPL Meter to properly set the gains. IMO, subs are a definate necessity to HT.

 

[EduardoBonifaz]

I found that te best way (to my ears) is with auto format decoding, with my sony receiver , all the other settings make more harm (noise) than help

 

[Garrett Lundy]

Indeed, I have never heard of a sound process that is worth having. The music/movie should be heard as the sound producers make it.*

*Possible exception for "Midnight" or other process that prevents radical shifts in playback volume, as some of us live with other people.

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

Speaking of midnight modes, one audio oddity to look out for with Sony DVD Players is the dynamic range setting. Some of them have three settings labeled "Normal", "TV", and "Wide". The one with no dynamic range compression applied is called "Wide". "Normal", which is usually the default, applies dynamic range compression to the audio, which is useful at times, but not so much that I think it should be called "Normal". "TV" mode applies a lot more compression to level out the soft and loud passaged for small TV speakers.

Regards,

 

[Jeff Whitford]

Garrett and everyone else who doesnt like processing added,you should sometime listen to Lexicon's Logic 7. I think that would change your mind.

 

[TrevorST]

I can't believe this thread exists, let alone some of the replies... Any movie that has a Dolby Digital or DTS soundtrack should be played back using them. If you switch to any other setting then you are using a 2 track downmix version to feed into your receivers DSP engine. Why would you want to do that ??? You are throwing away all the discrete surround information and then the DSP engine is producing a fake surround, why would you want to do that ??

The only time you should ever use a DSP setting is on either a mono or stereo soundtrack on older moview. I don't like them even then but at least I can understand why someone would use them.

On the poster that thinks subwoofers are a waste of time because of the rumble.. Get a good sub. Most low end subs rumble because they have a heavy peak in the 50-60Hz range and don't go much lower. This gives the boom box effect and also creates rumble on movies. A good sub will be felt more than it is heard as a lot of the bass in modern movies is in the sub sonic range.

 

[Nick_Scott]

I can't believe this thread exists, let alone some of the replies...

I thought the same thing at first, but I think DSP modes are something that alot of HT newbs are very confused about.

When you are shopping for a good DD/DTS receiver, the DSP modes is something that many brands REALLY HYPE UP.
I think my receiver has over a hundred of them!
So, I'm sure some people don't understand that most receivers down-convert the 5.1 to 2.0, then back to 5.1 when adapting the DSP mode.

So, basically a useless gimmick. I think the reason its hyped up is its entirely a software item, and mostly free to implement.

Nick