Denon or Marantz help

[Nebraskachers]

Hi everyone, I have a small dilemma.

I own a Marantz SR5012

I have figured out everything except for the sound mode when watching my blu rays.

I have my blu ray player to output bitstream. I set the PURE button to Auto.

However when watching a movie and pressing the info button I get the following:

Source: Blu Ray
Sound : Dolby TrueHD + Dolby Surround
Signal : Dolby TrueHD

Why is it saying that the Sound is both Dolby TrueHD and Dolby Surround?

Does it mean that both sound modes are available but will play the first one unless i manually change it to the second one? I dont want to use either direct mode because i want to use the Audessey settings. Thanks for helping a noobie

 

[lovinthehd]

It seems you are getting the Dolby TrueHD fine and are using the Dolby Surround upmixer on top of it. I have a Denon that you can add sound modes/upmixers to base content, this looks to be similar; it remembered this from last time you used a Dolby TrueHD soundtrack I assume. Use the sound mode button "movie" on your remote to change it back to just Dolby TrueHD (and it should remember that the next time you play a bluray with that format).

 

[Nebraskachers]

Ill have to try that, thanks, I'll let you know what happens.

 

[Trell]

I've the same on my Denon AVR-X4200W and I think it is a bug in the receiver. When I push the "Movie" sound mode button the mode will jump to the Dolby TrueHD/DTS-HD Master instead of just showing the current sound move. I use Quick Select button to let the receiver remember to use TrueHD/DTS Master but that fails now and then.

One of the failure modes could be when some discs are DTS-HD Master while others are TrueHD.

 

[Nebraskachers]

I just figured that if i set the PURE button to Auto then the reciever would just play the best audio mode that was on the current blu ray being Dolby TrueHD or DTS master. And if you wanted to change it to something else manually like dolby digital you would use the movie button. Or am i thinking wrong?

 

[Trell]

Unfortunately that does not work for me.

 

[Nebraskachers]

It seems you are getting the Dolby TrueHD fine and are using the Dolby Surround upmixer on top of it. I have a Denon that you can add sound modes/upmixers to base content, this looks to be similar; it remembered this from last time you used a Dolby TrueHD soundtrack I assume. Use the sound mode button "movie" on your remote to change it back to just Dolby TrueHD (and it should remember that the next time you play a bluray with that format).

I went ahead and tried your suggestion and switched it to Dolby TrueHD using the movie button. When I shut off the stereo and turned the Blu Ray back on it went back to the same problem in Auto mode.

 

[lovinthehd]

I went ahead and tried your suggestion and switched it to Dolby TrueHD using the movie button. When I shut off the stereo and turned the Blu Ray back on it went back to the same problem in Auto mode.

I don't have this auto mode on my Denon. Will need to look it up in the manual. How about if you switch it off? It could be similar to what some avrs do with 5.1 DTS HD-MA if you have 7ch hooked up and will automatically expand to full set of speakers?

 

[Nebraskachers]

Update:

I talked directly with Marantz with a gentleman who was very knowledgeable about this situation.

Basically when you set the PURE button to Auto it will play through the sound from the Blu Ray such as Dolby TrueHD or DTS HD Master Audio but will adjust it even more by adding another codec to make it even "better" according to Marantz.

In order to play the source sound exactly as it is on the disc without any Audyssey settings you need to switch the PURE button to DIRECT or PURE DIRECT according to your own opinion.

To play the sound exactly as it is on the disc and to have Audyssey settings included you have to push the MOVIE button and set that to match what sound mode is coming from the Blu Ray.

I asked if there was any way to have it on AUTO without Marantz interference to make it "better" he said no.

 

[lovinthehd]

Update:

I talked directly with Marantz with a gentleman who was very knowledgeable about this situation.

Basically when you set the PURE button to Auto it will play through the sound from the Blu Ray such as Dolby TrueHD or DTS HD Master Audio but will adjust it even more by adding another codec to make it even "better" according to Marantz.

In order to play the source sound exactly as it is on the disc without any Audyssey settings you need to switch the PURE button to DIRECT or PURE DIRECT according to your own opinion.

To play the sound exactly as it is on the disc and to have Audyssey settings included you have to push the MOVIE button and set that to match what sound mode is coming from the Blu Ray.

I asked if there was any way to have it on AUTO without Marantz interference to make it "better" he said no.

What exactly do you want to be "auto"?

 

[Nebraskachers]

What exactly do you want to be "auto"?

Do you have a button marked PURE on your remote? By pressing this button you are telling your receiver how to play the sound mode. Pressing it will cycle between AUTO, DIRECT & PURE DIRECT

 

[lovinthehd]

Do you have a button marked PURE on your remote? By pressing this button you are telling your receiver how to play the sound mode. Pressing it will cycle between AUTO, DIRECT & PURE DIRECT

On my Denon the pure button on the remote merely cycles between direct and pure direct, neither of which I use much, but my avr will remember that I did from a previous session for that input/type of source, so it's automatic in that sense.

 

[Nebraskachers]

That's weird i have an auto selection, so i guess nothing to worry about on your end

 

[lovinthehd]

That's weird i have an auto selection, so i guess nothing to worry about on your end

I'm scratching my head on the usefulness of the auto feature with the direct/pure button you have, especially since it's to have the avr decide to make it less direct/pure....so I looked it up in your manual. It's called Auto Surround Playback, p.118 of the manual, which says:

Auto surround playback
This mode detects the type of input digital signal, and automatically
selects the corresponding mode for playback.
Perform stereo playback when the input signal is PCM. When the input
signal is Dolby Digital or DTS, the music is played back according to the
respective channel number.
1
Press PURE to select “Auto”.
Auto surround playback begins.
0
This can also be set by pressing PURE DIRECT on the main unit

 

[PENG]

There is nothing wrong guys, HD got it right in the first place. The difference is the newer D&M units have the "auto" surround playback that uses all the speakers by "upmixing". There really is no down side, just different. On the older models such as HD's, if he wants to do upmix, he has to press a button to select, on the newer model, if the OP don't want the upmixed channels he has to press the movie button to select. Either way, you have to press a button to select, so different but same..

 

[Nebraskachers]

Ok thanks for the info, now if they would explain that better in the manual. So since I have a 5.1 system and I'm getting Dolby TrueHD or DTS Master Audio sent to me from the Blu Ray its got 2 back rear surround channels that are being blended into my 2 rear surrounds so its not upmixing anything in reality. Is there a way besides pressing a different sound mode in movie to turn this upmixing feature off completely when set to Auto or just ignore that it says its upmixing?

 

[PENG]

Ok thanks for the info, now if they would explain that better in the manual. So since I have a 5.1 system and I'm getting Dolby TrueHD or DTS Master Audio sent to me from the Blu Ray its upmixing the 2 channels that I don't have into what I do have? Is there a way besides pressing a different sound mode in movie to turn this upmixing feature off completely?

That is correct. I don't see a way to turn it off permanently, other than turning it off manually each time. I am sure D&M can fix that easily via a future FW update, but I doubt they would bother. It does no harm, so if they ask me I would say keep it simple even though it seems stupid in this case.

Edit: For clarity, I don't consider this an issue because like HD said before, if you change in manually once to, say, Dolby Digital without the upmix Dolby surround, next time you turn the receiver on, it should remember you want Dolby Digital without the upmix for that input/source.

 

[Nebraskachers]

Thanks for explaining that to me, it's very much appreciated.

 

[PENG]

Thanks for explaining that to me, it's very much appreciated.

I edited my post to avoid confusion.