Possible Stoopid question about 7.1 movies

bassaholic

I recently bought a new Denon 3805 7.1 receiver. Does a DVD have to be recorded in 7.1 to play on all 7 speakers. I know I can run the receiver on(7 channel stereo) and watch movies on all 7 speakers but I doesnt sound right. When I play a DVD the receiver automatically goes into Dolby Digital mode and sound only comes out of 5 speakers. I thought the receiver set-up was pretty straight forward am I missing something? Thanks, Steve

Dennis Gardner

Here is a list of Dolby EX and DTS ES movies that I use. Only a couple hundred movies have been done in 6/7 channel.

HTF ES and EX List

Pablo

If it's not a 7.1 (6.1) movie, you need to set the reciever to Widescreen mode. This will simulate 7.1 with a 5.1 recording. The 7 channel stereo mode basically just sets it to 2 channels and puts it on all the speakers (I like my CDs & and sometimes DVD music video that way). I know it's a little dry reading, but the manual gives an ok explanation of what sounds like what and how to set it (although I still haven't mastered it).

John K.

Bass, although there are of course 7.1 speaker setups, there is no such thing as a 7.1 audio format. As Dennis pointed out there are a relatively few DVDs which have a sixth mono back channel which can be played over one or two back speakers, but generally we're working with CDs and other two channel material and five channel DVDs. Your 3805 does have the capability to use all your 7.1 speakers with all of this two or five channel material, and do it more realistically than simple 7 channel stereo. As Pablo mentioned, you should study the manual, in particular the section describing the surround modes. What you may be missing is the use of DPLIIx to take the surround ambience which is naturally present in two channel material to various degrees and steer it to the surround speakers where it belongs. Likewise, DPLIIx will process the side surround channels in DVDs to spread the effect over four surround speakers to give a more realistic envelopment with different sounds in all of the four speakers. Experiment with the dimension and width adjustments available with DPLIIx and you'll be able to make fuller use of all your speakers to increase your enjoyment.

bassaholic

Thanks for the great answers. I love A/V gear both home and car I just wish I new as much as most of the people on this forum. Sounds like understanding the equipment would definately make listening to it much more enjoyable. Be on the lookout for more potentially stoopid questions from me.

cfrizz

Welcome to the forum Bass! Stick around & you will aquire more knowledge then you ever thought of.

The only thing you can do that is stupid, is NOT asking questions! That's how you learn!

SCompRacer

I'm sure your center and R & L front are working, but which two rear or surrounds are not working?

I'm not at home to look but if IIRC, you need to go into the Dolby/DTS under surround speaker setup and check the surround assignment. Selection depends on where you connected the surrounds, either to A or B on the back of the AVR.

If I'm wrong, I'll delete this post and hang my head in the hall of shame.....