Cables - do I need to change...

[timechaser]

I recently setup my home theater, and bought a decent (not too expensive) bunch of cables from a local shop to connect the 5.1 sockets from my DVD player to the amp. As an afterthought, I used a cable which had been lying around at home to connect the 2-channel stereo output as well.

I find myself using the 2-channel output much more than the 5.1 as in the 5.1 output mode, the processing is done at the DVD player's end and the amp's processing is much better and cleaner.

Should I take the trouble of replacing the cable which I have running from the DVD player to the amp? The sound quality is pretty good as it stands, so I am loathe to do that. Will it make an immense difference?

 

[timechaser]

Oh, and also, I am confused by all the movie processing algorithms in the Amp - it is Dolby Standard, Prologic, Prologic IIx, Prologic IIx movie, and Neo Cinema. Which algorithm is better? Till now, my tastes veer towards Prologic IIx movie... but any comments on this?

 

[Johnd]

To the former, why waste your money if you are already satisfied with the sound? You have failed to mention what equipment you have, but high end cables will not make mediocre, or even good equipment sound that much better, if at all (than the presumably good quality ("not too expensive") cables you already have).

To the latter, whatever suits you. PLIIX is a phenomenal format. Sample the other formats if you feel that you're missing something, or just want something different in movie sound. Happy listening.

Edit: upon seeing your sig, you do have some good equipment. But not to the extent that you would benefit from exotic cables imho. Cheers.

 

[Buckeye_Nut]

Time,

You might want to read your manual because it will explain what each mode does, and is used for. For example, PLIIx is a mode meant only if you have 7 speakers connected, and plan to listen in 7.1 mode. PLII is for 5.1 mode. It will also explain the rest. Also, you DVD player isnt processing anything. It just outputs.....

Your receiver processes what reaches your speakers!! You do want to activate DTS and 5.1 in your DVD player menu so that it will output the multichannel signal, but to listen in that format, your receiver must be set accordingly. If not, your receiver will downmix the signal and process it as 2 channel audio. If you're watching movies, you DO NOT want to do that.

Good luck...

 

[mtrycrafts]

I recently setup my home theater, and bought a decent (not too expensive) bunch of cables from a local shop to connect the 5.1 sockets from my DVD player to the amp. As an afterthought, I used a cable which had been lying around at home to connect the 2-channel stereo output as well.

I find myself using the 2-channel output much more than the 5.1 as in the 5.1 output mode, the processing is done at the DVD player's end and the amp's processing is much better and cleaner.

Should I take the trouble of replacing the cable which I have running from the DVD player to the amp? The sound quality is pretty good as it stands, so I am loathe to do that. Will it make an immense difference?

The analog 5.1 out from the DVD player could be used for 5.1 DVD-A or SACD as that would be your only option today.
To transfer Dolby digital, a digital connection could be used and in your case should be used as you believe the receiver does a better job.
You could experiment by using one of the cables you have and connect it to the digital audio connection.

 

[mtrycrafts]

Time,
Also, you DVD player isnt processing anything. It just outputs.....
Good luck...

I believe he has connected 6 audio cables from his DVD player to the receiver, and perhaps the 2 ch analog as well.
In either case, he would be sending analog audio to the receiver then, not digital and his DVD player would be processing the DD. But, I could be wrong about what he did wire up.

 

[mustang_steve]

Best quote I have ever heard about cables:

"A good cable will NEVER make anything sound better, it will just make sure it won't sound any worse than the rest of the equipment allows"

So, that being said, if you already have good cables, leave them alone. Figure out what surround mode you like. Here's a breakdown of them:

Dolby pro-logic: A "matrix surround", where a specially encoded track is used, where the center channel and surround channel (surround is mono through two speakers) are approximated from the encoded recording.

Dolby Pro-logic II: Again matrix surround, but does not need a specially encoded track...it works with normal CDs radio, and such.

Dolby Digital: true 5.1 channel surround. This is the most common surround used for watching DVDs.

Then the rest are either variants of those basica technologies, or are "DSP modes", where they take an existing format (usuall Dolby Digital) and perform some signal processing to the audio, in an attempt to simulate a certain listning environment or to make the sound fit better with certain movie types.

In this case, experimentation is key.

 

[timechaser]

Update...

I did some tweaking/experimentation on the weekend. Once again, to recap my setup - I have a Pioneer DV585A DVD player with onboard Dolby processing, but I find it rather flat and toneless. I wanted to send the full signal to my amp, but inputting 5.1 from the DVD player didnt solve the problem. As someone pointed out, for some reason, I was ignoring the digital out on my DVD player. I used a spare cable I had to connect the Digital Coaxial out from the DVD player to the Amp, and the sound is much cleaner/better and the full 5.1 output from the DVD player reaches the Amp, where the processing occurs. As a result, the sub's performance is much better - the room shook when the bus blew up in the Interpreter.

So for the moment, my setup is 5.1 with 5x B&W M-1 sattelites and a REL Storm 5 subwoofer, mated to a Pioneer DV585A DVD player and a Yamaha AX757 amp. I am running component from the DVD Player to the amp, and to the TV from there.

The sound from the DVD player goes via two sources - a 5.1 output (which I plan to use only for DVD-Audio/SACD sources) and a digital coaxial connection which I plan to use for music/movies. I have removed the 2-channel output to prevent confusion (in my mind mainly, am sure there is no interference at either end).

I have the choice of Dolby Digital, Prologic, PLIIx and Neo Cinema 6. Will have a play with the settings and see what suits the best. Till now, the PLIIx seems to sound the best - funnily enough!