Walk Me Through Audio Setup?

[Line6ix]

I've got the Hsu VT-12 (6.1) Ventriloquist set with a Hsu STF-2 subwoofer, an Onkyo TX-SR606, and I use a PS4 for video games and blu-rays.

I'm fairly certain I have the speakers wired correctly, though the room layout is less than ideal and they are in a not-great arrangement.

I ran the Audyssey speaker calibration last night and thought it was great, I had thrown in the Adele Royal Albert Hall blu-ray and everything sounded pretty great. I wasn't getting all the listening modes I expected seeing as the blu-ray lists DD2.0 and DTS-HD, I think I got the Neo:6 setting which sounded pretty great. Next, I wanted to see what a movie would sound like so I threw in Guardians of the Galaxy, which I believe is DTS-HD 7.1. This one was not so great and I wasn't getting any of the Listening Modes I thought I would, just cycling through things like All Channel Stereo, Mono, Theater-Dimensional.

Anyway, I read more stuff online about setting up audio and I end up just getting more confused. Now I'm not sure if I should trust Audyssey or calibrate everything myself. But I haven't got the slightest idea how to do that.

So, if anybody wants to jump in and help me kinda go step-by-step through everything I need to do, I'd really appreciate it because I don't seem to be finding what I need online.

 

[shadyJ]

As I remember, the ventriloquist speaker setup does not hookup to amps in the same way that other speakers do. Double check your connections with this owner's manual. Also, here is the Onkyo 606's owner's manual, that is worth going through as well. Here is a quick setup guide for the 606.

Hooking up everything should be pretty easy. Follow the Ventriloquist guide, then hook up a HDMI cable from blu ray player output to receiver input. After that, it is a matter of receiver settings. If this is the first time you are setting this receiver up, you might want to revert it to factory default settings.

 

[Line6ix]

Thank you shadyJ! I actually have those manuals, and I have the speakers wired in the unconventional manner they have outlined in their manual. I'm more concerned about understanding how to get the OSD audio settings properly set.

For example, on page 40 of the 606 manual, you can see in that Step 7 diagram the frequencies for each of the speaker channels. When I ran Audyssey, it set the fronts (I believe, can't quite remember now, I'm not home) to 120Hz and the rears to 150Hz. I had been reading online that 80Hz was the crossover frequency most commonly used, and the VT-12 manual lists the speaker range at 80Hz-20kHz. So then I became confused about whether I should trust Audyssey or what I had found and switch them all down to 80Hz.

I also would like to understand why I don't always get the DD or DTS listening modes when playing blu-rays that specify using those on my PS4. I didn't get why the Adele blu-ray would give me that Neo:6 mode, GotG gave me no options, and then The Dark Knight Rises allowed me to select DD and DTS (though then I didn't feel like the audio was well balanced, really loud sound effect, dialogue tough to hear over it.)

Also, there's a section in the OSD similar to the frequency-setting menu that allows me to adjust the volume of each speaker while it sends a static-like sound individually as I select a speaker. I have no idea what I'm supposed to do here.

 

[TheWarrior]

Helloooooo! (sorry, you said Adele)

Audyssey does a pretty good job on its own, but its definitely not a perfect solution. You should be able to make manual adjustments, so try lower crossover frequencies and see if the sound improves for you.

The listening modes depend on how the disc is encoded. If you have specific speakers sounding louder than others, find the menu option that allows you to adjust the levels for each channel individually.

The static sound you get for each speaker allows you to manually calibrate with a SPL meter.

 

[PENG]

I wasn't getting all the listening modes I expected seeing as the blu-ray lists DD2.0 and DTS-HD, I think I got the Neo:6 setting which sounded pretty great. Next, I wanted to see what a movie would sound like so I threw in Guardians of the Galaxy, which I believe is DTS-HD 7.1. This one was not so great and I wasn't getting any of the Listening Modes I thought I would, just cycling through things like All Channel Stereo, Mono, Theater-Dimensional.

Please make sure you select bitstream on your PS4. If you selected PCM you will not see those codecs such as DTS-HD 7.1 on your AVR because the PS4 would have been doing the decoding.

 

[Line6ix]

Thanks TheWarrior and PENG for your replies!

PENG, I just went into PS4 settings and yes, PCM was the audio output, so I switched it to DTS. I then popped the GotG blu-ray back in and yes, I was able to select Dolby Listening Modes and Neo:6.

I then went a bit further as TheWarrior had mentioned and bumped the crossover frequencies to 80Hz. And, what? Now as i cycle back through Listening Modes, these are my options:
Multich, Mono Movie, TV Logic, All Ch Stereo, Full Mono, Theater-Dimensional, Mono.

I had also adjusted the individual speaker volumes (Setup->Speaker Adjust->Level Calibration)

Any idea why it took away the Dolby options?

For reference the Speaker Config menu shows:
5 options (Front, Center, Surround, Surr Back, and LPF of LFE) all set at 120Hz (or 80, but it didn't seem to change anything for the better.)

I just turned off my PS4, and the red Dolby logo is back displaying on the receiver (blue screen, no source) I can choose Dolby PLIIx and DTS Neo:6. Turned it back on, showing the Dolby logo still, but as soon as the movie starts playing it's gone.

 

[Line6ix]

Aaand of course, now my on-screen display isn't working and I have to navigate by the front LCD.

 

[Jay aLBERS]

As I remember, the ventriloquist speaker setup does not hookup to amps in the same way that other speakers do. Double check your connections with this owner's manual. Also, here is the Onkyo 606's owner's manual, that is worth going through as well. Here is a quick setup guide for the 606.

Hooking up everything should be pretty easy. Follow the Ventriloquist guide, then hook up a HDMI cable from blu ray player output to receiver input. After that, it is a matter of receiver settings. If this is the first time you are setting this receiver up, you might want to revert it to factory default settings.

This^^ and be sure to check the output setting of your PS. Make sure that it is not set to PCM audio. Also check the hdmi setting to make sure the pcm is turned off. They should be set to bitstream, surround, dolby...ect. Good luck. With the pcm engaged the AVR will not be able to find the dolby/dts encoded tracks and just default to the built in algorithms that decode a stereo track into sudo surround.

Didn't read the whole thread. Sorry to repeat info.

 

[TheWarrior]

Thanks TheWarrior and PENG for your replies!

PENG, I just went into PS4 settings and yes, PCM was the audio output, so I switched it to DTS. I then popped the GotG blu-ray back in and yes, I was able to select Dolby Listening Modes and Neo:6.

I then went a bit further as TheWarrior had mentioned and bumped the crossover frequencies to 80Hz. And, what? Now as i cycle back through Listening Modes, these are my options:
Multich, Mono Movie, TV Logic, All Ch Stereo, Full Mono, Theater-Dimensional, Mono.

I had also adjusted the individual speaker volumes (Setup->Speaker Adjust->Level Calibration)

Any idea why it took away the Dolby options?

For reference the Speaker Config menu shows:
5 options (Front, Center, Surround, Surr Back, and LPF of LFE) all set at 120Hz (or 80, but it didn't seem to change anything for the better.)

I just turned off my PS4, and the red Dolby logo is back displaying on the receiver (blue screen, no source) I can choose Dolby PLIIx and DTS Neo:6. Turned it back on, showing the Dolby logo still, but as soon as the movie starts playing it's gone.

Dolby Pro Logic was created for the purpose of taking a 2 ch stereo recording, and allowing it to be played back in surround sound. So naturally your modern Blu ray movies are not going to be mastered in only stereo, thereby, negating the need for PLII. The same applies to Neo:6.

Multich is going to be your standard setting for surround sound movies and music.

So aside from the confusion with all the listening modes, is there an actual problem you are experiencing?

 

[Line6ix]

Thanks, Jay, for the reply!

TheWarrior: thanks for that info, that clears up my understanding of why some of those formats become available only under certain conditions.

I am still confused about why GotG is giving me such problems, but the other Blu-rays I've tested out have all given me results i'm looking for now so that's good!

As for problems, now my on-screen display menus have gone away and I've no idea why! I was using them through most of yesterday evening, and then at one point they went away. I'd press the "Setup" button on the Onkyo remote, the screen would go black as if switching to the receivers OSD, but then it would just go to the blue screen and I could only view the setup menus one at a time on the receiver's lcd screen. I did notice, and I'm pretty sure it's changed, that once on the blue screen came on my TV threw up a box that listed it was displaying in 720 res. I'm almost certain it had always previously said 1080. Is that why I'm not seeing the menus on screen anymore? Not sure what I would have done to change that!

I'd also like a better understanding of how to do the SPL meter stuff, even if you can just point me to a website. The sources I've found on my own so far have just left me confused.

Thanks!

 

[PENG]

Thanks, Jay, for the reply!

TheWarrior: thanks for that info, that clears up my understanding of why some of those formats become available only under certain conditions.

I am still confused about why GotG is giving me such problems, but the other Blu-rays I've tested out have all given me results i'm looking for now so that's good!

As for problems, now my on-screen display menus have gone away and I've no idea why! I was using them through most of yesterday evening, and then at one point they went away. I'd press the "Setup" button on the Onkyo remote, the screen would go black as if switching to the receivers OSD, but then it would just go to the blue screen and I could only view the setup menus one at a time on the receiver's lcd screen. I did notice, and I'm pretty sure it's changed, that once on the blue screen came on my TV threw up a box that listed it was displaying in 720 res. I'm almost certain it had always previously said 1080. Is that why I'm not seeing the menus on screen anymore? Not sure what I would have done to change that!

I'd also like a better understanding of how to do the SPL meter stuff, even if you can just point me to a website. The sources I've found on my own so far have just left me confused.

Thanks!

Couple of points:

Available choices of Dolby Digital, DTS, DTS-HD, STS-HD MSTR Dolby Digital+ Dolby TruHD etc. - That depends on the movies as not all of them offer all of the formats.

Onscreen menu disappearing - You should do a keyword search in the instruction manual for menu, onscreen etc. My guess is that you might have accidentally pressed a button that turned it off, or something like that. If you can't get it back and don't want to keep playing around, then just do a processor reset to bring the AVR back to the factory default setting and go from there. If I have time later I can read the manual and see if I can find the possible root causes.

 

[Line6ix]

Thanks PENG. I did find, on page 78, a setting called Immediate Display.

This setting determines whether operation details are displayed onscreen immediately after an AV receiver function is used.
On: Displayed (default).
Off: Not displayed.
Even if On is selected, operation details are not output if the input source is connected to a COMPONENT VIDEO IN or HDMI IN.

That last statement is confusing me. The input source is what component? I could use a better explanation of that if somebody understands it because it's going right over my head.