2 channel dvd output

NeilGabriel

I thought I would ask movie people about this...and I am too lazy to go test it out this morning. If I have a dvd that has only DD or DTS track (no 2 channel), but I play it out of the 2 channel rca outputs, do I get all tracks in my sound, or only 2/5? I switched the living room system back to 2 channel and then had a dvd last night that was only a 5.1 track...and so I threw the 5.1 system back together.

Gaara

I would think it would depend on the dvd player and the settings.

My player the 2ch out can be set to do a downcoverted output which will output all of the sound, or can be set to just output the L/R channels. It also has a dedicated L/R out.

heiney9

I only use 2 ch for movie watching and I find in most cases if there is no 2 ch audio selection then you have to play it back in DTS. I notice that many of the center voice info is very low or missing.

danger boy

your receiver/pre amp should be able to do 2 channel mixdown. taking all the channels and mixing it down to t2o.

NeilGabriel

heiney9 wrote: »

I only use 2 ch for movie watching and I find in most cases if there is no 2 ch audio selection then you have to play it back in DTS. I notice that many of the center voice info is very low or missing.

That is the experience I have had, and which caused me to run out and buy a center channel a few years ago when I had a Santana DVD and could not hear the vocals. I have a feeling this "serviceable" Yamaha HTR doesn't downmix.....so, I thought maybe the dvd player did if you used the rca oputputs.....I'll go pull out the manuals.....and ask my wife to read through them.
Thanks.

Disc Jockey

If you're running analog you should be able to downmix it at the dvd. If you're running digital you should be able to downmix it either at the dvd or the pre/receiver.

heiney9

Disc Jockey wrote: »

If you're running analog you should be able to downmix it at the dvd. If you're running digital you should be able to downmix it either at the dvd or the pre/receiver.

So is the downmix automatic? I have a very straight forward 2 channel system. Pioneer DVD hooked via coax to an outboard DAC; the DAC is hooked to a simple 2 ch preamp (aux) and then to the amp.

For concert or movie DVD's that don't offer a 2 ch or PCM mix I only have (1) other choice and that's 5.1 Dolby Digital. I mis-spoke earlier as I cannot play the DTS selection. I get no sound at all. In 5.1 I eperience low level or complete los of many of the center frequencies.

H9

Disc Jockey

With your setup it doesn't sound like your preamp can do the downmix, I believe that it needs to have the ability to see all the channels before it can downmix them and would certainly explain why your dialogue and center frequencies are weak. But you should still be able to do it with the dvd player. Check under your audio options, you should be able to find something that defaults all output to two channel/downmix and will output all of the channels into L/R no matter how it was put on the dvd.

engtaz

I believe that it's not like a switch, It always downmixes to two channel and 5.1/6.1/7.1 at the same time. Digital and analog outputs. No special seting other than the digital side.

heiney9

Disc Jockey wrote: »

With your setup it doesn't sound like your preamp can do the downmix, I believe that it needs to have the ability to see all the channels before it can downmix them and would certainly explain why your dialogue and center frequencies are weak. But you should still be able to do it with the dvd player. Check under your audio options, you should be able to find something that defaults all output to two channel/downmix and will output all of the channels into L/R no matter how it was put on the dvd.

Correct, I have a 2 channel only system and the pre-amp is very basic audiophile pre. I was just unclear if the DVDp was doing the downmix or not.

heiney9

Also when I am referring to center channel I mean the center image. In 2 ch PCM mode everything is either L or R where as in 5.1 DD the dialog which is normally very clear in 2 ch mode is missing or at a much lower level. I don't have a center channel speaker (strictly 2ch (L & R)). I was speaking of the center channel dialog which is present in the mix.

Make sense?

Disc Jockey

engtaz wrote: »

I believe that it's not like a switch, It always downmixes to two channel and 5.1/6.1/7.1 at the same time. Digital and analog outputs. No special seting other than the digital side.

This may vary from player to player but mine has two options for the digital output:

1 Raw-passed the digital stream unaltered, for use with receiver/preamp can process DD or DTS

2 PCM-forces downmixed two channel digital output, for use with receivers/preamps that only support PCM audio.

H9, if you've got something like this select option 2 and you're good to go.