Denon - low sound??

[gwhizz35]

I have a Denon receiver and lately whenever I play a movie, I really have to crank the volume to hear it. The radio/tuner and everything else sounds up to par, it's only when I pop in a dvd. Any ideas?

 

[corysmith01]

Have you checked the output by your dvd player? I too had the same problem a couple of months back...CD sound, radio, etc was all up to par, but then when I'd play a DVD, it was significantly lower. What I found out was, though I had my receiver set up to play in surround mode, the DVD player itself wasn't sending surround information...it was still set to send analog signals...why that was lower, I don't know. At any rate, I went to my DVD players instruction manual and found that, by default, it was set on analog...if I wanted dolby, I had to go into the user functions and actually set it to send surround info... I guess they do that for the folks who aren't planning have surround and just have the DVD player hooked to the back of their tv. After setting it to send Dolby info, it was significantly louder.

I don't know if this is, in fact, what's going on with yours, but it's a start...your problem sounds similar and this is what fixed mine. Hope it helps.

 

[cmusic]

I've noticed the volume levels on most DVDs are lowered to allow a greater dynamic range. I have a Denon 3805 and the lower DVD volume level is not any different than when I used other brands of previous DVD players or recievers.

 

[shokhead]

How is it hooked up? Maybe you are using the bass management in the DVD player and dont know it.

 

[Buckeyefan 1]

Are you running a coaxial cable from the dvd player to the receiver?

 

[gwhizz35]

thanks for all the answers. i will indeed check the dvd player's output settings..yes i am running coax to the receiver.

 

[Cygnus]

do you have Dynamic Range on or off?

 

[MasterChief]

The recievers are like that dvd movies are usually lower than radio or other inputs.I dont think the coax or optical would have nething to do with it.

 

[smokey007]

just too add something to this. i have always used a fiber optics cable for my system and a freind told me to try a coaxial cable. well i did and i found a noticable difference in movies the coaxial sounded very low as you described when i switched back to the fiber optics it sounded much better. i did not try seeing if there was a difference in cds but dvds there was a big difference in my case. the coaxial made it sound like my system was muffled very low sounding try a different cable. coaxial can be used for both but i think its ment for cds more so then movies thats probaly why it sounded like it did for movies.

 

[mwheelerk]

Analog Interconnect versus Digital Coax

just too add something to this. i have always used a fiber optics cable for my system and a freind told me to try a coaxial cable. well i did and i found a noticable difference in movies the coaxial sounded very low as you described when i switched back to the fiber optics it sounded much better. i did not try seeing if there was a difference in cds but dvds there was a big difference in my case. the coaxial made it sound like my system was muffled very low sounding try a different cable. coaxial can be used for both but i think its ment for cds more so then movies thats probaly why it sounded like it did for movies.

If you are not using a digital coax cable you might indeed experience what you describe. Just because the connectors are the same (rca plugs) does not mean the cable construction is the same. Digital Coax cables are constructed much like video cables (75 ohm cables). Be sure your "coax" is indeed a "digital" cable and not an analog interconnect with rca connections. Bottom line is don't use 1/2 of an rca interconnect for a digital cable.

 

[Leprkon]

a tuner will almost always be much louder than a DVD. I think they do that to make you look stupid in front of your date when you are changing inputs...

is the DVD much more quiet than any other external components (cd, xbox, etc) ? cranking is not a big deal, particularly if all you have for reference is the number in the minus dB box. There are a ton of posts in here that attempt to compare minus 30 on a Denon to minus 30 on a Yamaha or minus 30 on a dearly beloved older Denon. The numbers aren't calibrated the same, so they mean nothing when compared to each other.

as long as the receiver is not clipping or getting too hot, there's nothing to worry about.

 

[Golovko]

I just bought a Denon AVR-3806 and hooked up my xbox 360 and Samsung DVD player to it both using optical for audio. everything works great however my volume levels seem very low. for example when i have it at -30 or -25db it just sounds 'ok' and its hard to hear vocals while watching a movie. I dunno what the problem is, i've messed with the DVD players audio settings, messed with all the audio settings of the receiver but everything seems too low for -25db. Any ideas?

 

[Jack Hammer]

I just bought a Denon AVR-3806 and hooked up my xbox 360 and Samsung DVD player to it both using optical for audio. everything works great however my volume levels seem very low. for example when i have it at -30 or -25db it just sounds 'ok' and its hard to hear vocals while watching a movie. I dunno what the problem is, i've messed with the DVD players audio settings, messed with all the audio settings of the receiver but everything seems too low for -25db. Any ideas?

My Denon 2805 sounds rather low at that volume with most movies too. Some movies I can easily watch at that volume or even at -30, but it's not many. Lately, I've been watching in the -20 to -12 range for most films. I think it is just the design by Denon.

 

[Golovko]

oh, ok, glad i'm not the only one. Also, why is it that the 'speaker setup' icon on the left side of the denon reciever shows only FL and FR while the 'speaker setup' icon on the right shows the enitre 5.1 setup i have? whats the difference between the two status screens?

 

[Jack Hammer]

oh, ok, glad i'm not the only one. Also, why is it that the 'speaker setup' icon on the left side of the denon reciever shows only FL and FR while the 'speaker setup' icon on the right shows the enitre 5.1 setup i have? whats the difference between the two status screens?

The speaker icons on the left show what is being input to your reciever. The icons on the right show what your reciever is outputing to the speakers.

If you are only seeing the FR & FL icons on the right, check your dvd player or proper 5.1 setup, unless you are using only the R/L audio outputs. If you use a digital connection you will see more channels coming in with proper setup. Some dvd players come set to output sound in stereo (two channel). Make sure your's is set to output 5.1.

 

[Golovko]

thanks man, that fixed everything, now both the right and the left display 5.1 setup and also it displays the Dolby Digital and DTS logo's on the reciever as 'active' whenever i watch a DVD with either DTS or Dolby Digital