For All Pro's Out There..help Needed!!

[Unregistered]

Had an old Pioneer CLD-D580 LD Player with RF AC3 OUT, Purchase a Yamaha APD-1 Demodulator to convert AC3 to DTS/Dolby Digital.(That's what I read online)

This Demodulator gadget had 1 INput for AC3(Coxial) and 2 OUTput for Toslink & Coxial.

So I connect from my LD RF AC3 OUTPUT to Demodulator AC3 in and Both from Demodulator Toslink & Coxial OUTPUT to my Yammy Receiver.

YOU KNOW WHAT???????? NO SOUND AT ALL?#@!!

Where do I start to troubleshoot here?
LD Player AC3 Output hardwares?
Coxial Cable for AC3 OUTput?Any special cable to use?
OR the Yammy APD-1 Demodulator gadget?
How can I tell which of theses are causing the problem?

Got tonnes of LDs to watch here...Please Help all PROs' out there. If anyone had the Pioneer CLD-D580 Manual/Servicebook..Care to share? Thanx ALL...al'

 

[toquemon]

1.The Laser Disc Source Doesn't Have Dolby Digital Or Dts. You Need A Dvd. When You're Using the Digital Out Of Your Ld And Conect It To the Demodulator, This Is Sending A Signal That Doesn't Exist In The Primary Source, That's Why You Happen To Hear Nothing.

2. You need to enter de "setup" menu of your LD, go to sound or sound output options and activate "stream/PCM" OR "DOLBY DIGITAL/PCM" OUT.

 

[Unregistered]

Laserdisc Often do Have dts or DD!

You are incorrect that he needs a DVD. If the laserdisc is encoded with Dolby digital Ac-3, or dts, he can access the sound, provided he has a receiver capable of playing those digital formats. He also needs a RF demodulator, which he has.

I do not have a RF Demodulator, so unfortunately, I cannot access the DD tracks on my laserdiscs that have them. However, I do have one laserdisc with dts (The Rock), and all I do is connect the LD player to my receiver's optical digital input, and I get dts.

It's only the Dolby Digital that requires the demodulator.

 

[happy540i]

Unregistered, I have a Pioneer DVL-909 and I only use the fiber optic cable to connect to the receiver and I get both DTS and Dolby Digital signal. Maybe it's in the setup of your LD. In the back of my LD I have these output, Coaxial, AC3-RF, and fiber optic. Do you have the same type of output?

 

[DTS Rocks!]

DD with an optical cable?

Happy540i: I am now registered (mine was the 2nd unregistered post above). The back of my laserdisc player has only an opical digital output and the AC-3 output.

It is my understanding that Dolby Digital cannot be outputted from a laserdisc player via the digital outputs. On my player, in order to have Dolby Digital 5.1, I need a RF Demodulator to convert the 5.1 signal from the AC-3 output into a standard digital one, which could then be inputted into my Onkyo 5.1 receiver. This was done so as to keep laserdisc players backwards-compatible for people who did not have rf demodulators. They could still access the traditional Pro-Logic digital sound from the digital tracks of the laserdisc, but the 5.1 information was put onto one of the analog tracks and was only accessible via the demodulator.

As I mentioned above, the DTS guys did not do their laserdiscs that way, and opted to put the DTS information on the digital track. this is why my (now 2) DTS laserdiscs play DTS sound out of the optical output.

I suppose your "extra" coaxial output may be the answer. It could be that you have one of the rare high-end laserdisc players that have a rf demodulator included in the player? Maybe the coaxial output is for this?

 

[DTS Rocks!]

So I connect from my LD RF AC3 OUTPUT to Demodulator AC3 in and Both from Demodulator Toslink & Coxial OUTPUT to my Yammy Receiver.

YOU KNOW WHAT???????? NO SOUND AT ALL?#@!!

Where do I start to troubleshoot here?
LD Player AC3 Output hardwares?
Coxial Cable for AC3 OUTput?Any special cable to use?
OR the Yammy APD-1 Demodulator gadget?
How can I tell which of theses are causing the problem?

I have more info on this. Since I last posted, I managed to snarf up a RF Demodulator. I got one from ebay, a Sony SDPE800 for around $118. This is a cool unit. You can input several digital sources into it, so I was able to connect a second DVD player via its optical out, along with the laserdisc player. Even though the unit does not specifically decode dts, it allows the dts signal to pass through to my Onkyo digital receiver.


If you truly connected everything where it goes, the only reason I can think that you have no sound (unless the demodulator is defective) is that the laserdisc you are playing is not recorded in Dolby Digital AC-3. You mention having "tons of laserdiscs", but they did not start including AC-3 or dts until the waning days of laserdisc. I only have 10 or so discs that have AC-3 or dts. On mine, I connected the RF out from my Pioneer laserdisc player into the RF in of the Sony with a digital coaxial cable. I then connected the digital optical out from the laserdisc player to the digital optical in of the receiver. Because I have a couple of really old analog sound discs (pre-digital), I also connected the analog sound outputs, or else, that too would have left me with no sound (my Sony unit is really a multi device receiver that includes a RF demodulator, so it has many of the inputs and outputs of traditional receivers).

On my unit, because I can switch between several digital devices, I have the choice of using the AC-3 sound or "Optical". Even though the AC-3 does make use of the optical cable along with the rf out, it also allows me to play "Optical Only", which means it will allow a pass-through of the non-AC-3 signal (or dts) to my digital receiver.

I may be mistaken, but I do not believe the "barebones" RF dmodulators (Kenwood, Pioneer, etc-the ones with only one RF input and one digital input) can do "pass-through" of non-AC-3 sources. I believe that they will only output the signal if it is, in fact, AC-3. If I am correct in this, you will need to unhook from the RF demodulator and hook your digital out directly to your digital receiver whenever you play a non-AC-3 disc. When I was considering such a RF demodulator, I was prepared to do that, but luckily, I found a unit that id more for a good price.

Remember: the disc may say "Digital Sound", or "Dolby Surround", but if it does not say "Dolby Digital" or "Dolby Digital AC-3", then it is not a true Dolby Digital 5.1 disc.

 

[happy540i]

DTS Rocks

Before my Laserdisc player was connected to a Yamaha DSP-A1 processor. I'm using the toslink and coaxial connections only. The Yamaha also has an RF in but I haven't played with it. The Yamaha is set to auto-detect what input is coming in. So far it displays Dolby Digital or DTS depending on what input is coming in. Now the Laserdisc is connected to a Denon 5803A and its doing the same thing, the Denon auto-detects everything. Again, this is without the AC-3 RF connection.

 

[DTS Rocks!]

Not sure of Receiver hookup

The Yamaha also has an RF in but I haven't played with it.

Hmmm. I'm kinda confused. Here is an image of the schematics of your Yamaha demodulator:

[/IMG]


Your laserdisc's AC-3 RF out needs to plug into the Yamaha's AC-3 RF in. You are doing it that way, right?

The part I would have a had time understanding is how to get the rest your digital sound from the laserdisc to the Denon receiver, because the demodulator only has one input.

The SonySDP E800 I recently bought on ebay is really a receiver with a demodulator. Here is a pic of its rear panel:

I have my laserdisc connected into 'Digital 1'. You will notice there are inputs for the AC-3 RF from my LD player, as well as an analog video input, and either an optical or coaxial digital audio input. I am using the AC-3, Optical input, and digital input. I have a second DVD player connected into Digital 2.

To the left is an analog monitor out, and though you cannot see it, another optical digital out. These connect to my Onkyo receiver's 'Video 3" audio and video inputs. So, on the Onkyo receiver, when I select 'Video 3', it receives whater is coming out of the Sony SonySDP E800, and I can switch between the laserdisc and 2nd DVD player via the remote control of the Sony.

Now, here is what I do not understand about the Yamaha APD-1 (or similar demodulators). You output that unit into your Denon receiver, as say, 'Video 3' like I do. What do you do with the rest of the sound from your laserdisc player, the sound that comes out of its digital (optical or coaxial) out? If you connect it to, say, 'Video 2' of your Denon receiver, how will you be able to play all the sound from the laserdisc if some of it is plugged into one selector and some to another? Is this, in fact, your problem? Or do some digital receivers allow 2 digital inputs from the same source?

Anybody out there with a similar demodulator that can explain the hookup procedure?

 

[happy540i]

DTS Rocks

To answer your question, yes some receivers allow multiple input from the same source. Base on your diagram and picture anything you plug into digital 1 or 2 should be sent to the output of the demodulator. All this box is doing is converting the signals from one format to another. From the demodulator it goes to your Onkyo video 3 input. If your connections are correct and the demodulator is working properly you should hear sound. You also stated that you are using the monitor out and optical out going to your Onkyo, have you tried to use the multi-channel analog out of the demodulator going to the Onkyo? Does the Onkyo support Multi-Channel analog in?
Also regarding the question about multiple input from the same source, some receivers detect it this way. First it checks signal from the optical connector, if it doesnt detect one it checks the coaxial then it checks the analog.

 

[DTS Rocks!]

happy540i: Actually, the Sony unit that I posted the pic of works fine for me. I like using the optical out of the Sony and plugging that directly into the Onkyo receiver. Whenever possible, I try to use digital connections. Because the Sony receiver/demodulator had several inputs from one source, that solved my dilemna of trying to connect both the AC-3 out and digital optical out from the laserdisc.

However, I do not know what I would have done if I were using the Yamaha demodulator whose schematic I posted. It looks as if it needs to have a digital input in addition to the AC-3 input.

My Onkyo receiver does also have analog inputs, but only for the device designated as 'DVD'. I have my DVD player connected to it via a digital coaxial cable. In order to connect the demodulator to those inputs, I would have to move my DVD to 'Video 3' and let the demodulator take the place of the DVD player in that slot. I think I see what you are getting at. If I had one of those Yamaha units, I could have connected the demodulator to the Onkyo's digital input and then connected the laser into the receiver via the analog inputs?

 

[happy540i]

DTS Rocks. Do you have more than one optical input in your Onkyo? If you do, just connect the Yamaha demodulator optical out to other optical input not being used. If you only have one optical input, then it's going to be a problem. Your onkyo doesn't have a separate input for LD?

 

[DTS Rocks!]

Onkyo TXSR500

Hi, happy540i The Onkyo TXSR500 receiver has 2 optical inputs and one coaxial. You can input as many as two digital devices. One optical and the coaxial are an either/or type of thing. I have one input already designated on the remote and lighted display as "DVD", and 3 other video inputs. Videos 1 and 2 are strictly analog, and Video 3 can do digital. This limits me to 2 digital inputs. Here is a pic of the back of the unit (Video 3 is not visible because it connects to the front):

 

[happy540i]

DTS Rocks
Please check your PM box.