Getting DD 5.1 from cable...

MrNightly

Ok,

This is a fairly straight forward question: I have a single cable running into my TV right now, so sound only plays through the TV Speakers when watching cable... how do I get the cable to play DD 5.1 for the superbowl tomorrow!

I tried searching, but didn't see anything that didn't includes cable boxes. I don't have a cable box just a cable! I need to go pick up the necessary cables before tomorrow and get everything set up!

Thanks for helping me out with this silly problem.

phuz

You will need a cable box that has a digital coax or toslink output. Then that will go to your receiver to decode the DD signal.

If you hurry, you might be able to go by one of your cable companies offices and pick up a box for tomorrow.

WilliamM2

Does your TV have optical out? I'm sure it varies by model, but on mine, optical out gives you 5.1 DD on most HD channels, and stereo on SD channels. I have no cable box.

MrNightly

WilliamM2 wrote: »

Does your TV have optical out? I'm sure it varies by model, but on mine, optical out gives you 5.1 DD on most HD channels, and stereo on SD channels. I have no cable box.

My TV only has the Coaxial cable (Can be out or in i think right?)...

Could I just run the cable in to the AVR, then run a coaxial cable from the AVR to the TV? Would that work?

The Judge

If your TV has Stereo Out- Thats 2 RCA jacks for L and R- I know you know that, Run them into your Receiver and set the sound to Dolby and that might do the trick.

The Judge

It's possible that the coax will work too since the signal will be decoded in the receiver.

PolkThug

Get a cable box ya cheapskate!

MrNightly

PolkThug wrote: »

Get a cable box ya cheapskate!

Hey now!

Is this something that RadioShack sells?!

I'm a HT guru, not a Cable guru!

MrNightly

Ok, I got a cable box from my provider today, got the picture running perfectly, but when I hooked up the coax cable from the box to the AVR, nothing. I set everything right in the AVR (Coax 2 to TV) and the Cablebox to accept DD, but still nothing.

Does the signal have to come through in Digital to actually hear anything? Should I also run a red/white to get sound for TV that's not digital? I thought all sound would come through... show's my ignorance on cable issues!

Willow

From cable box, use either toslink or dig coax to AVR. Set cable box to output DD. Run reg cable coax from wall to TV. from cable box to TV use either component,DVI,HDMI and or Svid.

Make sense? is your cable box an HD one or just digital ?

MrNightly

Willow wrote: »

From cable box, use either toslink or dig coax to AVR. Set cable box to output DD. Run reg cable coax from wall to TV. from cable box to TV use either component,DVI,HDMI and or Svid.

Make sense? is your cable box an HD one or just digital ?

It's just a digital one. Don't have an HDTV yet...

So, you are saying running the cable from outside to the TV, then run the TV to Cablebox via S-vid/whatever? Interesting. I'll try that, but I don't see how that will affect the sound.

I have the outside cable running to the cablebox, then another cable to the TV and digital coax to the AVR from the cablebox. I hooked up the red/white and it plays regular sound the way it is now. I will try what you say and see if I can get it to play digital sound. (Will the AVR read Dolby Digital?? when the TV is playing DD?)

Thanks.

phuz

No, it sounds like you have it right.

Outside cable to box, box to tv. This will give you your video signal.

Then, toslink or digital coax to your receiver. You may have to go into your cable box settings and enable the digital output that you are using. A short call to your cable company should be able to get you up and running.

MrNightly

phuz wrote: »

No, it sounds like you have it right.

Outside cable to box, box to tv. This will give you your video signal.

Then, toslink or digital coax to your receiver. You may have to go into your cable box settings and enable the digital output that you are using. A short call to your cable company should be able to get you up and running.

Ya, I did go into the settings, and it didn't work.

So am I correct to think that only Digital TV programming will show up as DD? Or is all cable TV digital thesedays?

phuz

If you have a digital cable receiver, then it should all be at least broadcast in digital. You will get digital audio for all channels, but not all of it will be Dolby Digital. Some will just be a PCM stream or maybe another format.

Willow

From what I remember, you cannot get DD from a non HD box, yes you will get digital sound but not 5.1

MrNightly

Willow wrote: »

From what I remember, you cannot get DD from a non HD box, yes you will get digital sound but not 5.1

AH HA!

Here is the silly cable box I got. It appears I need to switch to a HD cable box to get the Dolby Digital sound... arg.. dumb salespeople that work at the store.

I believe this cable box only plays in stereo. That would explain things!

Guess I just get 5 channel stereo for the game tomorrow... Tell me though, DD 5.1 with football, does it work your sub out at all? Or am I just wishing! Tell me I ain't missing that much! Ha.

Willow

I don't watch football, but I do hockey and..well there isn't much bass in those types of sports, it might be different with car racing.

MrNightly

Willow wrote: »

I don't watch football, but I do hockey and..well there isn't much bass in those types of sports, it might be different with car racing.

Thank you father!

The Judge

OK, Try this, it really WILL work.
Run a pair of RCA type cables from the Box to the AVR.
The dolby signal will be decoded after it reaches the AVR if you tell the AVR to play it back that way. It's really very simple and will save you another trip to the local merchant.
You will get 5.1 sound.
Don't make it more complex than it has to be.

seeclear

Willow wrote: »

From what I remember, you cannot get DD from a non HD box, yes you will get digital sound but not 5.1

Maybe satellite is different from cable, but...
I had a optical cable connection from a non-HD DishTV box and could get DD 5.1 from that setup.

olilugo

Nighty, Don't know if this will help but once you connected the digital out from your cable box to your receiver, I believe that at the receiver, you need to go into the settings and assign that digital connection to one of the imputs, say CD, or DVD, or TV and set your receiver to that imput, then you should be able to listen via the digital connection.

mark090852

MrNightly wrote: »

AH HA!

Here is the silly cable box I got. It appears I need to switch to a HD cable box to get the Dolby Digital sound... arg.. dumb salespeople that work at the store.

I believe this cable box only plays in stereo. That would explain things!

Guess I just get 5 channel stereo for the game tomorrow... Tell me though, DD 5.1 with football, does it work your sub out at all? Or am I just wishing! Tell me I ain't missing that much! Ha.

Your cable box will work fine for 5.1 surround. On page 11 of the manual you linked to you will see "digital audio out" (#4). Attach a digital coaxial cable here and run it to the "digital coax in" input on the back of your avr. On your AVR you may have to "select" or "assign" digital to that input. That varies with AVRs.

You have to understand that not all channels are broadcast in 5.1 even when supplied via cable. Some are only two channel stereo. And then it is up to your provider as to whether or not they give it to you in 5.1. I have DishNetwork satellite tv and even before I had HD I could get some pay per view movies in 5.1 and some only in 2 channel stereo. Even if the Super Bowl is only available in two channel stereo your AVR should be able to decode it using Dolby Pro Logic and give you sound from all five speakers.

Good luck and enjoy the game.

Willow

Let us know how it works out for you.

Acadian

mark090852 wrote: »

...your AVR should be able to decode it using Dolby Pro Logic and give you sound from all five speakers.

Good luck and enjoy the game.

Quick question...is 5.1 and Dolby Pro Logic the exact same thing?

I was trying to get 5.1 through my DVD player (dig. coax.) last night and i had to select Pro Logic to get all speakers to work. Is this normal or am i missing something?

AVR is Yamaha 6050.

mark090852

Acadian wrote: »

Quick question...is 5.1 and Dolby Pro Logic the exact same thing?

I was trying to get 5.1 through my DVD player (dig. coax.) last night and i had to select Pro Logic to get all speakers to work. Is this normal or am i missing something?

AVR is Yamaha 6050.

No, they are not the same thing. Dolby Digital 5.1 is from a source that has 5 discreet channels plus a LFE (low frequency) subwoofer channel. I believe Dolby Pro Logic is a method where two channels are split by the receiver into 5.1 channels.

When playing a DVD be sure to go to the set-up or audio set-up menu portion of the DVD menu and select DD5.1 if it is available. Not all DVDs are encoded with DD5.1. Now days most are, but not all. Many times even if DD5.1 is available the default mode is 2 channel. You have to select DD5.1 or DTS if your receiver can decode it.

MrNightly

mark090852 wrote: »

Your cable box will work fine for 5.1 surround. On page 11 of the manual you linked to you will see "digital audio out" (#4). Attach a digital coaxial cable here and run it to the "digital coax in" input on the back of your avr. On your AVR you may have to "select" or "assign" digital to that input. That varies with AVRs.

You have to understand that not all channels are broadcast in 5.1 even when supplied via cable. Some are only two channel stereo. And then it is up to your provider as to whether or not they give it to you in 5.1. I have DishNetwork satellite tv and even before I had HD I could get some pay per view movies in 5.1 and some only in 2 channel stereo. Even if the Super Bowl is only available in two channel stereo your AVR should be able to decode it using Dolby Pro Logic and give you sound from all five speakers.

Good luck and enjoy the game.

Excellent! Yes, I have assigned the AVR to the correct Coax1/2 channel and everything is set up exactly as you said... TV plays in Dolby Pro Logic, which is fine, but it's nowhere close to a DD 5.1. Regardless, I think I'm stuck with this until Time Warner actually sends a signal in DD. I was watching "War of the Worlds" last night on ABC, but it was only an analog sound which I thought it might be in DD. Oh well. I'm spoiled with the DD/dts as opposed to a Pro Logic choice. 5 channels pushing out sound is not nearly as impressive as each one coded with a bass LFE channel as well!

Thanks for the help guys! I guess I will be set for game day. My only main question is, why I get no sound with the digital coax hooked up even if it is only in Analog... I'm gonna double check all the settings on the AVR again!

Cheers!

seeclear

MrNightly wrote: »

My only main question is, why I get no sound with the digital coax hooked up even if it is only in Analog... I'm gonna double check all the settings on the AVR again!

Cheers!

You should get audio via the coax, whether it is stereo, DD 5.1, or DTS. And while the stereo RCA hookup would be fine for stereo or pro logic, the coax would be a better way to get your digital audio formats (OBVIOUSLY, I guess ). Check that your box is sending audio out via the coax (SETTINGS or OPTIONS menu?) and the AVR is set to receive audio via the coax.

Also, in the manual it mentions an RF bypass module, do you have that on your box (it enables you to watch one show and record another, and it looks like it might be a smaller box-like thing attached to the back of the big cable box)? If you have that you may need to disable the bypass (page 29 and 14-15).

The Judge

I explained to you in a post how to get 5.1 from a broadcast. Coax cable hook ups are the Worst way to get sound and picture. When the sound signals are sent for broadcast they have DD 5.1 encoded onto the Stereo Signal, That is why you want to use RCA jacks and Not the coax cable.

danger boy

pretty sure... you would have to have a HDTV signal for you to get DD 5.1 audio over cable, outdoor antenna or a cable box..

The Judge

No you don't, the 5.1 signal is already encoded into the mix, you just have to hook up your equipment right and decode it.

Acadian

mark090852 wrote: »

No, they are not the same thing. Dolby Digital 5.1 is from a source that has 5 discreet channels plus a LFE (low frequency) subwoofer channel. I believe Dolby Pro Logic is a method where two channels are split by the receiver into 5.1 channels.

When playing a DVD be sure to go to the set-up or audio set-up menu portion of the DVD menu and select DD5.1 if it is available. Not all DVDs are encoded with DD5.1. Now days most are, but not all. Many times even if DD5.1 is available the default mode is 2 channel. You have to select DD5.1 or DTS if your receiver can decode it.

That's what i thought!

I did set the audio to Dolby Digital 5.1 on the DVD's menu screen, so i guess i need to dick around with my AVR. Seems to me like the "straight" mode should've picked up the signal to decode....maybe my cable is bad.

I'm listening to Troy Aikman on FOX right now (says it's in 5.1 on the channel), but i only get 2.1 when i select "straight" on my AVR. I know this can be the channel, but i thought FOX DID broadcast in real 5.1.

EDIT: The AVR shows PCM on the front instead of Dolby Digital....