Question regarding SACD connections

[Tyler]

I just got my Sony SACD player yesterday. There are a few issues I have questions about.

First, here's how I connected it. I ran the all the cables from the 5.1 output on the player to the appropriate inputs on my receiver. I also ran an optical cable from the player to the receiver. S-Video from the player to TV, and two sound (red and white) and one video (yellow) to the TV. Then I have the red and black RCA's going from the D-TV output on my receiver to the input on the TV.

Now, I have to set my receiver to D-TV and have the TV on before I can get any sound out of a SACD.

I have the Dark Side of the Moon SACD and although the multichannel light illuminates on my player, no sound comes from the rear channels. How do I get sound from the TV to play through my speakers and the SACD to play 5.1 surround?

[markw]

That's quite a mouthfull. Let's take it one step at a time but have both owners manuals (SACD player and receiver) handy to double check me.


I ran the all the cables from the 5.1 output on the player to the appropriate inputs on my receiver.?

OK, that should be 6 analog RCA cables to 6 inputs on the back ofthe receiver. This will allow the analog multi- channel SACD output to talk to your receiver.

Your next step now is to ascertain (using the SACD's) owners manual how to activate these. Likewise, check your receiver's manual how to access these 6 inputs. It may not be as readily evident as switching from tuner to DVD



I I also ran an optical cable from the player to the receiver.

OK, this gets the digital signal from the DVD player to the receiver to give you DD/DTS signal feed. Again, check your receiver's owners manual to be sure it "knows" these are avaialble. Sometimes, these inputs need to pe programmed.


I S-Video from the player to TV,....

OK, this links the video from the DVD player directly to the TV. That allows you to "monitor" what's going on with the DVD player on the TV screen, Is is possible to use the receiver as an input selector to the TV?


I and two sound (red and white) and one video (yellow) to the TV..

Now I'm confused... the receiver does all the sound processing, no? I could see if you had two (red/white) connectors FROM the TV to receiver so you could watch the TV in stereo, but I don't know what's up here.

Is there a way to hook up an S-Video connection from the receiver (monitor out?) to the TV as well? .. or perhaps instead of. This way, the TV will show whatever the receiver selects.


Then I have the red and black RCA's going from the D-TV output on my receiver to the input on the TV.

This is a new one to me. What's the D-TV output do? Is that some kind of sound output from the receiver TO the TV? Does that somehow allow you to listen to DVD's using the TV's speakers? You might want to check your owners manual for more on this.


Now, I have to set my receiver to D-TV and have the TV on before I can get any sound out of a SACD.

Interesting... all audio selection should be done on the receiver if all is well. The TV sound should be simply another input on the receiver.


I have the Dark Side of the Moon SACD and although the multichannel light illuminates on my player, no sound comes from the rear channels. How do I get sound from the TV to play through my speakers and the SACD to play 5.1 surround?

Somehow methinks this D-TV thingie is somehow hindering what you want to do. Try to get the TV totally out of the sound path (aside from the red/white TO the receiver for stereo TV sound) and recheck your manuals.

All audio selection should be done on the receiver, not on the TV. If possible, use the receiver for as much video selection as well. It might simplify your life.

Here's a brief rundown on how I have my julk set up.

from my DVD player
- Coaxial output to receiver's coaxial input (for DD/DTS). Could just as well be optical but since there's no performance advantage and coaxial is cheaper.

- "S"- video from DVD to DVD input on my receiver.

Selected by receiver's DVD input.

* Check owner's manual as to how to avail yourself of all the possible combinations to get it to work.

- Also have old fashioned analog (red/white) output to my receiver's CD input (using internal DAC) Selected by receiver's CD input.

-------------------
From my receiver - (Denon 2802 but not uncommon)
- "S"-video from monitor out to TV's Video 2 input.
* This allows the receiver's on screen menus to be displayed. A BIG help in setting up

*DVD (video only) is selected by TV's Video 2 position and the DVD must be on, obviously.

From my VCR
- Analog sound & composite video (Red/White/Yellow) to tv Video 1 input.

*This is the ONLY audio that feeds thru the TV. Not much ya can do with VHS-Hi-Fi. It's the same as stereo TV as far as DPL goes.

From TV - Analog sound (Red/White) to receiver's TV audio input.
This passes the stereo TV sound as well as the audio from the VHS as well.

In my case, I use the TV for video selection.
-Video 1 is VHS, with it's analog sound being input (and output) as well.
-Video 2 is DVD

All audio selection (except VCR) is done on the receiver.
-DVD for DVD audio/video - may need programming on your system.
-CD for analog CD - again, may need programming
-TV for TV (and VHS, whichever is playing) analog audio.

CAVEAT... I do not currently have SACD/DVD-Audio capabilities. My receiver does, however, have these inputs available for when (and if) I do go that route. In such case, I would simply use those 6 RCA connectors and find out how to tell my receiver they are active. Likewise, I would be sure the player itself is outputting a signal to them as well.

That's pretty much it. Of course, I just might just be full of beans. I'm just offering what I did on my system. YMMV

Check your owners manuals for all three devices to see how they interact. They ain't plug and play anymore. Sometimes learning how to use these and get them to interact correctly is more difficult than some college courses.

[poneal]

OK, I'm not a SACD expert nor do I even own a SACD (maybe soon). But I do know how to do hookups. To be honest, unless I'm missing something, you do not need all those connections. All you need is a video feed and an audio feed. Use the optical cable since you have one and disconnect all other audio cables. Then connect the S-Video cable from the SACD/DVD player to the S-Video connection on the receiver or directly to the TV. I have mine running to my receiver for video switching. If you connect to your recevier then run another S-Video cable from the monitor out on your receiver to the TV. Bingo all done with connections. The optical is for audio and the S-Video is for video. Now select your SACD on the recevier and then go to the setup menus and assign whichever optical connection you used for this device. On the SACD player menu setup make sure you pick something that might say SPDIF RAW since you are sending audio via digital cable. Lastly, test everything and see that you have both video and audio. NOTE: the 6 RCA connections are for an analog connection to your recevier. You don't need to connect this since you are using digital/optical cable. The 2 RCA connections are for stereo analog audio connection. Again you dont need because your using the digital/optical cable. And since your using the S-Video instead of the composite (yellow RCA cable) you dont need this one either. Hope this helps and provides a little insight into what all those connections are for. Why do they put them all on there your probably asking yourself. Well, some people do not have 5.1 receivers and have only stereo amps or receivers (i.e. two channels). People with these types of amps or receiver would use the two RCA jacks to connect to there equipment. It goes on and on put I think you get the picture now.

[markw]

NOTE: the 6 RCA connections are for an analog connection to your recevier. You don't need to connect this since you are using digital/optical cable.

Although digital in nature and thereby similar to DD/DTS, SACD is an entirely different creature. While receivers can decode DD/DTS via a digital feed, no receiver at this time can decode SACD (or DVD-Audio for that matter) from a digital feed. All SACD (& DVD-Audio) decoding must be done within the player and fed, in analog format, to the receiver via those cumbersome 6 cables.

[poneal]

I stand corrected. In this case connect both the optical and 6 RCA connectors. When listening to SACD use the 6 RCA connection and when watching DVDs then use the optical connection. I believe that you could just use the 6 RCA connector to feed both SACD and DVD. I say this because my DVD player has the 6 RCA connectors and i hooked it up to see if there was any difference in sound quality. I didnt notice any so i went back to optical. Bascially it comes down to what you want and what sounds best to you.

[TinHere]

I stand corrected. In this case connect both the optical and 6 RCA connectors. When listening to SACD use the 6 RCA connection and when watching DVDs then use the optical connection. I believe that you could just use the 6 RCA connector to feed both SACD and DVD. I say this because my DVD player has the 6 RCA connectors and i hooked it up to see if there was any difference in sound quality. I didnt notice any so i went back to optical. Bascially it comes down to what you want and what sounds best to you.

FWIW when I want to hear DVD-A I have to go to the menu in the DVD player and switch digital to off.

[Over50]

On my receiver it has the external hook up and then it says 5.1 external, so when I hook up a dvda player that is the input I use, also I believe I can still watch the movies hooked up this way.The way my dvd player is hooked up is with 1 coaxial wire and 1 S-Video wire going to my receiver.

[poneal]

My DVD player does not support DVD-A so I wouldn't know. If you read my post carefully you would notice that my second response does not say DVD-A is says DVD :-).

[Tyler]

Well guys, I figured it out. My 5.1 analog inputs are labeled "external decoder" on the back of my receiver, and somehow, it slipped my mind to switch the receiver over to the external decoder input. All is well now. Thanks so much for the help.

[joel2762]

and find out how to tell my receiver they are active.
On my Sony, there's a button on the front labeled Multi Ch In, or close to that. Simply press it and you're in business, press it again, or another of the function buttons and you're back to normal. Simple. I don't know about any other recievers.