7.1 Sound that is NOT True HD

TheMARPATNinja7

Basically I have a 7.1 receiver that does not support True HD or DTS HD, however it does support Dolby Digital and DTS. I'm trying to decide whether to biamp or to go 7.1. I've read up on how to biamp in the manual and it seems beyond my range of knowledge (or i may just be reading the manual incorrectly). Without True HD capabilities what will 7.1 sound like? Will it basically be a modified 5.1 or will I be able to get distinct sound from every speaker? The reciever is a Denon AVR-1709 if anyone knows anything that can help me out about this.

Also I have the option for 6.1 but I won't be taking advantage of all the power this receiver has to offer. The receiver does have 6.1 surround modes though.

Thanks

rdb2001

TheMARPATNinja7 wrote: »

Basically I have a 7.1 receiver that does not support True HD or DTS HD, however it does support Dolby Digital and DTS. I'm trying to decide whether to biamp or to go 7.1. I've read up on how to biamp in the manual and it seems beyond my range of knowledge (or i may just be reading the manual incorrectly). Without True HD capabilities what will 7.1 sound like? Will it basically be a modified 5.1 or will I be able to get distinct sound from every speaker? The reciever is a Denon AVR-1709 if anyone knows anything that can help me out about this.

Also I have the option for 6.1 but I won't be taking advantage of all the power this receiver has to offer. The receiver does have 6.1 surround modes though.

Thanks

What is your source for blu rays?

millerman 3732

True HD has nothing to do with 7.1, in fact I don't think I've even seen a 7.1 TrueHD track. True HD means that the sound track is in a lossless format, not how many channels are driven, DD EX on the other hand usually , but not always, means there extra channel of discrete sound.

comfortablycurt

7.1 is nice...but at this point there isn't even enough stuff that's coded in 7.1 to really make it worthwhile. I have a 7.1 setup myself, and it does make a difference even in stuff that isn't recorded in 7.1...but it isn't exactly a night and day difference. It does widen the soundstage considerably though.

The Bi-amping process is pretty simple with a receiver like that. What kind of speakers are you using for your fronts? They have to have two pairs of binding posts in order for it to work.

First and foremost...remove the jumper that joins the two pairs of binding posts together...failure to do so could kill your speakers. Hook your mains up to their respective channels on the receiver. Then you also run a wire from the "surround back right" terminals of your receiver to the other pair of binding posts on your right speaker. Then run a wire from the "surround back left" terminals to the other pair of binding posts on your left speaker.

I'm not to familiar with the Denons, but you'll have to go in the speaker setup menu, and find an option to switch the speakers from "normal" to "bi-amp".

TheMARPATNinja7

I have Sony ss-u501s, theyre pretty old (1990) and only have the positve and negative terminals. So basically there are only two terminals on that back of them. My source for BD is optical not hdmi. And I thought True HD was mixed for 7.1?

millerman 3732

TheMARPATNinja7 wrote: »

And I thought True HD was mixed for 7.1?

BD has the space for up to 7.1 lossless audio ( TrueHD, DTS HD MA,and LPCM) but its not required, most disc are still only 5.1.

comfortablycurt

TheMARPATNinja7 wrote: »

I have Sony ss-u501s, theyre pretty old (1990) and only have the positve and negative terminals. So basically there are only two terminals on that back of them. My source for BD is optical not hdmi. And I thought True HD was mixed for 7.1?

Well in that case Bi-amping isn't an option unless you upgrade your speakers.

True HD can be encoded in 7.1, but it doesn't have to be. Most of the releases are still coming out in 5.1. In the future I'm sure more will start being released in 7.1 though.

Since bi-amping isn't an option for you, I say go 7.1. The terminals are just gonna sit there unused otherwise...they might as well do something...lol

rdb2001

TheMARPATNinja7 wrote: »

Basically I have a 7.1 receiver that does not support True HD or DTS HD, however it does support Dolby Digital and DTS. I'm trying to decide whether to biamp or to go 7.1. I've read up on how to biamp in the manual and it seems beyond my range of knowledge (or i may just be reading the manual incorrectly). Without True HD capabilities what will 7.1 sound like? Will it basically be a modified 5.1 or will I be able to get distinct sound from every speaker? The reciever is a Denon AVR-1709 if anyone knows anything that can help me out about this.

Also I have the option for 6.1 but I won't be taking advantage of all the power this receiver has to offer. The receiver does have 6.1 surround modes though.

Thanks

Also, make sure your room allows for a 7.1 setup. I am running 5.1 because I dont have room to setup a proper 7.1 system. Alot of polks members will say that a properly setup 5.1 setup will out do an unproperly setup for 7.1. Also since your receiver does not decode true hd and dts master, make sure your blu ray source does and make sure your receiver can accept mutichannel pcm. Hope this helps.

TheMARPATNinja7

My BD player does, and my receiver accepts multichan pcm so I guess I'm set. Thanks for all the help I'd be lost with all this stuff if it weren't for this forum. Once you think you know all the ins and outs of something, theres always something new to blow your mind, luckily I've had all your guys' help for that. Thanks again, I really appreciate it.

comfortablycurt

TheMARPATNinja7 wrote: »

My BD player does, and my receiver accepts multichan pcm so I guess I'm set. Thanks for all the help I'd be lost with all this stuff if it weren't for this forum. Once you think you know all the ins and outs of something, theres always something new to blow your mind, luckily I've had all your guys' help for that. Thanks again, I really appreciate it.

I've gotten a lot of help here myself. You've got to ask a lot of questions when it comes to things like this. You've gotta be happy with what you buy...otherwise whats the point? Glad it worked out for ya.

TheMARPATNinja7

Absolutely, If you drop a big check on stuff like this you gotta make sure you're getting every penny's worth out of it.

Fongolio

To receive the true hd and dts master signals make sure your disk player is outputting pcm and NOT bitstream and have the receiver on multichannel and you will be receiving hi def audio via blu-ray. If it's set to bitstream you will receive dolby digital and regular dts via optical or co-axial or HDMI. HDMI can do both pcm and bitstream.

sandworms

here are some 7.1 soundtracs
http://www.blu-raystats.com/Stats/Stats.php?OrderBy=Title&Audio=7.1
i prefer having 7 channels for a more enveloping sound in my room, although some may not have the dimensions to allow this. it only makes a real difference in my set up when using all channel stereo on my avr, even though some 5.1 movies i've listened to sound better in dd ex

TheMARPATNinja7

Sweet, thanks alot for the info, I actually just got everything set up and you're defintely right about the sound being enveloped, it sounds great.