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You've got it. Your digital audio connection could come from either the TV or the DVD digital out. I'd use the most convenient or shortest run.
As long as your Arcam is set to 2.0 you won't lose any sound. The rest of the settings are up to your preference. I'm not familiar with the DAVE's menu.
Boy, digital cable..... As any cable you can go from cheap to outrageous. I do believe that though digital is 1's and 0's it still has to be handled carefully, so I buy quality cables. I have some Transparent and one by Zu. I recently found a brand called Tributaries that is a good value, they offer better than average performance at a budget price. I am using one of their HDMI cables and it does very well. If none of these are local and you don't want to order, your local shop probably offers a quality line, Audioquest, Kimber, Cardas etc.
You know I just pulled my Denon 1600 out of my HT system where I was using the digital audio out to my processor, I took it to the bedroom and ran L/R analog audio to my TV there, I did not switch anything inside the 1600 and it just played the analog 2.0 fine. I'm not sure what problem you are having with your sound but I'm sure it has nothing to do with a DVD being played in 2.0.
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You know as I think about this, DVD's have to have both 2.0 and multi-channel mixes. My remote has a button on it that scrolls through all the audio tracks on a disc. I could hit the button and it might go to 2.0, hit it again and I might start hearing the director's commentary and again, I would be back at 5.1. So as long as you go into the DVD's menu and choose 2.0 you be assured that is what you are getting.
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Here's a link to a page with links that may help with your seating question. Look at article #1 & #2 under "Most viewed EzineArticles".
http://ezinearticles.com/?720p-Vs-1080i-HDTV&id=91443
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I've been finding that most DVD's come with an optional 2.0 mix, yes, but some of them don't -- which I wouldn't have believed, either, if I hadn't seen it myself -- and it is precisely these movies that are causing the problems. ("Layer Cake" with Daniel Craig and Colm Meany, doesn't have a 2.0 audio track, for example.) This is what inspired me to think that it had something to do with one of the menu settings in either the DVD player or the TV: if the movie itself is only available in 5.1 (which my DVD player improbably refers to as "3/2.1"), then the onus is on the electronics to "figure out" what to do with all of those channels, on the way to a single pair of speakers.
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The menu might not give 2.0 as an option but I can't imagine a 5.1 only DVD. I'd be willing to bet that us who listen/watch DVD's in 5.1 are still a minority. I'm not exactly sure how the player knows what to output but I'm sure if you are using the 2 channel analog you are getting all there is to offer out of it.
Maybe an email to Sony will give a clue. AR's "digital domain" may be dead but try a post there are how DVD players output 2 channel, maybe some one will have more info.
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I just double checked and, no, Layer Cake isn't recorded in 2.0 at all -- unless you want to listen to the commentary. The 5.1 track is the only audio track on the disc.
I also got out the owners' manual for the DVD player again, and I was wrong: there aren't two or three different menu settings that could be the problem; there are more like ELEVEN. And none of them are written-up in a way that is of any use to me at all. Here's a sample:
"When you select one of the TV Virtual Surround Settings, if you use the DIGITAL OUT (OPTICAL or COAXIAL) / HDMI OUT jack and set "DOLBY DIGITAL" to "DOLBY DIGITAL," and "DTS" to "ON" in "AUDIO SETUP," sound will come from your speakers but it will not have the surround effect." (Page 43)
...Sound will come from my speakers? Does that mean "sound will come from my rear channel speakers (if I have any, which I don't), but they won't play the actual surround channel," or does that mean, "sound will come from my front speakers" (which it always does, just not always intelligebly)? Or does it mean something else altogether?
Here's another, from a completely different place in the manual:
"DOWNMIX switches the method for mixing down to 2 channels when you play a DVD which has rear sound elements (channels) or is recorded in Dolby Digital format. Normally, set to DOLBY SURROUND. Multi-channel audio signals are output to 2-channels for enjoying surround sounds. Set to NORMAL and multi-channel audio signals are downmixed to 2 channels for use with your stereo." (Page 66.)
Have I got that right? DOLBY SURROUND sends the multi-channel content to 2-channels, but, on the other hand, NORMAL is the setting if you want the multi-channel content down-mixed to 2-channels? Isn't that THE SAME FREAKING THING?
...And on into the night. There are, at least, six other settings you can toggle, that I didn't quote the manual on, here. If I quoted them all, the post would go on for two pages (and probably by the end of it there would be blood seeping from your ears).
I'll try e-mailing Sony, but I'll be very surprised to get an answer -- and, besides, they can't help me to make sure that the eleventeen different menu settings on the Arcam are all toggled just right, too.
Yikes.
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I think the first one means the virtual surround will cancel out the DD. Is this the manual to the TV or DVD player? It sounds like "down mix" and "normal" are the two setting you need.
In my profile I have my email turned on. This sounds like something that may need a phone call if you are interested.
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Great -- right now I'm going to bed but I'll contact you via private e-mail tomorrow (Saturday).
Thanks so much.
Dave.
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If you go digital to the Arcam it may not be that confusing because then you just have to set the Arcam and forget the player. If you send me a message I prefer regular email to PM.
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Just connect left and right analog connection dvd player to arcam.Player will downmix automatically 5.1 does not matter.
bill
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Quote:
Originally Posted by musicman1999
Just connect left and right analog connection dvd player to arcam.Player will downmix automatically 5.1 does not matter.
bill
That's what I was thinking too, shouldn't be an issue..the 2.0 mix will essentially be a fold-down of the 5.1.
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Well, the mystery is that in the past I've had it set up that way -- HDMI carrying only video to the TV and 2-channel analog outputs carrying audio directly to the amp. And even in that configuration I could always tell when the DVD in question had a 5.1 audio track, because I wouldn't be able to hear anything that wasn't a car chase or a Death Star exploding.
Many of the settings that I've experimented with (and subsequently complained about in my OP) seem to apply various manipulations to the signal -- from the creation of "virtual surround speakers" to adjustment of the sampling frequency of the output signal. There's even a setting labeled "DOWNMIX", which ostensibly changes the manner in which a 5.1 signal is mixed down to 2.0, though neither the manual nor repeated experiments have revealed exactly how the two options for this setting differ, or which one is right. And all of this stuff -- all of it -- effects the sound, even when using 2-channel analog outs.
So, I mean no disrespect -- please understand that I realize everyone's just trying to help -- but if one more person says, "All the content of a 5.1 signal has to be automatically downmixed to your 2-channel RCA analog outputs, so why don't you just do that," I think I'm going to slit my wrists.
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Wait, "...and subsequently complained about in my OP...." is a misnomer: I have a thread under video where I'm complaining about this, but my OP in this forum was about something completely different, sorry.
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When you listen do you use only the amp? It sounds to me like maybe your TV has a 5.1 decoder built in it which could cause your problem if only using the TV via a digital audio connection, which HDMI is. So if this is true, only using the TV for sound or both TV and amp it could drowned out some of the center channel info which would only be coming from the amps speakers as you have no center hooked to the TV. My suggestion, if applicable, would be to only use the amp for sound. It is impossible using L/R out into L/R in of the amp to miss any info.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dogorman
So, I mean no disrespect -- please understand that I realize everyone's just trying to help -- but if one more person says, "All the content of a 5.1 signal has to be automatically downmixed to your 2-channel RCA analog outputs, so why don't you just do that," I think I'm going to slit my wrists.
Without actually seeing what you are working with it's a little hard for us to give advice without being there, and because of that we are only going by what our experience tells us. You have posted quite a few times here in the past few days about all sorts of various HELP questions, which is fine, but don't be surprised when you get similar answers or even a variety of answers, we can only give you advice based on the information that you provide and what our level of expertise tells us.
With that I also would like to point out that there are 3 ways to hook something up:
1. the right way.
2. the wrong way.
3. the way that works, but is not ideal and has limitations.
To me, it sounds like you are mostly on the 3rd way in that your setup is not ideal and that you are retro-fitting many things in order to try and achieve a proper setup. Because of that you are going to find more challenges than answers. Also, the mixture of equipment with different compatibility affects this to, i.e. TV, receiver, player.
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