Help - Pioneer VSX-1019AH-K questions

[randomxt]

just bought a VSX-1019AH-K and a set of Polk Audio 5.1 speakers.

I have them all hooked up right according to the tests the receiver ran on the speakers.

I have a comcast digital box hooked up through HDMI
I have an XBOX 360 hooked up through HDMI

But I do have a few questions

My XBOX using Auto Surround (Pioneer's automatic figure out which settings/decoder to use) works great and says it's using Dolby Pro Logic 2x and all 5 speakers and it does and it sounds great.

1. But when I use my comcast digital box I get the same Dolby Pro Logic 2x and all 5 speakers are lit up except I get nothing from the rear speakers (only the front 2 and center)

Now if I use Pure Direct (just straight pipe nothing extra) it says I have Dolby Digital and all speakers work right

Is that ok? Should I care? Am I getting worse sound than I could be?

Question #2

With my settings I'm supposed to be able to choose from 3 different Dolby Pro Logic 2x settings (Movie, Music, Game)
For some reason I can only choose movie and music.
Any ideas?

Also is there a place for recommended settings?
Should I use up-mix with 5.1? what about Virtual Surround mode, what about phase? stuff like that

Thanks much!

Is there any reason why I wouldn't just use DIRECT all the time?

 

[Adam]

Hi, and welcome to the forum! I just saw this today, but I see that you haven't been back since shortly after asking the questions. If you come back, let me know and I'll do my best to answer your questions.

 

[randomxt]

I'm here

Basically right now I'm using Stream Direct which then says "Dolby Digital" on the screen for just about everything. It sounds great, not sure if it's the best though.

thanks!

 

[Adam]

I'm here

Cool. Now I need to get some answers for you.

My XBOX using Auto Surround (Pioneer's automatic figure out which settings/decoder to use) works great and says it's using Dolby Pro Logic 2x and all 5 speakers and it does and it sounds great.

1. But when I use my comcast digital box I get the same Dolby Pro Logic 2x and all 5 speakers are lit up except I get nothing from the rear speakers (only the front 2 and center)

Now if I use Pure Direct (just straight pipe nothing extra) it says I have Dolby Digital and all speakers work right

Is that ok? Should I care? Am I getting worse sound than I could be?

I can't think of why that would happen. The Dolby Pro Logic setting would be selected if the receiver was receiving (or thought it was receiving) a two-channel audio signal. However, if you get 5.1 Dolby Digital when you select the Pure Direct mode, then the receiver isn't getting a two-channel signal.

BTW, "Pure Direct" will bypass the MCACC settings (including the equalizer). The "Direct" mode won't bypass those.

With my settings I'm supposed to be able to choose from 3 different Dolby Pro Logic 2x settings (Movie, Music, Game)
For some reason I can only choose movie and music.
Any ideas?

The Dolby Pro Logic IIx Game setting is only available for two-channel sources. It isn't available for multi-channel sources. However, the Movie and Music settings are only available on multi-channel sources if you have the Surround Back (SB) speakers turned on (which you shouldn't because you only have five speakers and a sub). So, two questions - (1) Are you using two-channel sources when you select Movie or Music, and (2) Do you have the SB speakers turned on?

Is there any reason why I wouldn't just use DIRECT all the time?

No reason at all if that's what you prefer.

 

[randomxt]

Thanks for the help

Ok question 1, should I disable SB since I have 5.1 I thought I should but I didn't know if it made a difference.

I want to use the MCACC settings so I'm using Direct over pure Direct.
Is there any reason I should use Dolby Pro Logic over Direct?

Anything I'm losing?

thanks

 

[randomxt]

Also I was wondering if you knew about the up-scaling to 1080i on all HDMI connections, should I be seeing any difference on DVDs played on my 360 over hdmi? Are there settings somewhere?

thanks

 

[tcarcio]

Thanks for the help

Ok question 1, should I disable SB since I have 5.1 I thought I should but I didn't know if it made a difference.

I want to use the MCACC settings so I'm using Direct over pure Direct.
Is there any reason I should use Dolby Pro Logic over Direct?

Anything I'm losing?

thanks

You should have the option to choose auto in the surround back menu. That way it will only work when the source calls for it and not be on all the time. That is what I do with my Pioneer and it works well.