HK Digital vs Analog Sound

[rr2465]

I'm just diving into the whole digital audio thing so bear with me.

I'm using a HK235 receiver that is getting a digital signal (via coax) from the DVD player and it is getting a digital signal (via optical) from the HD tuner. I don't know if this is normal but when I play a DVD and toggle between the digital and the analog signals the sound is much louder with the analog than the 5.1. The same goes for the sound when I'm watching TV via the HD tuner - if it is a regular 2-channel analog signal it is fairly loud and when I switch to a HD channel (5.1) I've got to turn the volume way up. Is this normal with a digital and analog signal? Or am I missing something with my receiver? The HK is set to "auto-polling" so it can discriminate between the signals.

On another note, I'm still getting the freaking pop when the DVD switches from 2-channel to 5.1. The DVD player is set to DD/PCM stream to the receiver. I've tried different cables and different imputs/outputs but thats not helping. Any opinions on if this is likely the DVD player or the receiver?

Thanks in advance,

Newbie

 

[jcPanny]

Volume Levels

I think that you are noticing the difference in compression and line voltage levels from different audio devices. The DVD volume starts low so that it can have more dynamic range through the movie. This allows a larger difference from the quiet parts to the loud parts of the movie.
Also, Your receiver has a volume trim or memory feature. Once this is adjusted, you should be able to switch from DVD to CD to TV while maintaining the same volume level.

How do you like the receiver? It is a strong contender for my next purchase.

 

[rr2465]

You're right...

You're right about the trim level, but I don't know it can adjust the trim when I go from an Analog TV channel to a HD 5.1 channel when I'm watching TV. It will switch from analog to digital but I'm not sure that the volume is attached to this option. Maybe I haven't figured it out yet.

How do I like it? For somebody like me who is just entering into the HT hobby there are pros and cons for this receiver. The EZ set up has helped me equilibrate the speakers, sub etc. Once set up DVD's, TV, CDs, mp3's all sound fantastic to me. On the other hand all of the different options on this thing are mind-boggling for a beginner. And the manual is awful. For somebody with experience I could see how they would really like the options on the HK235 because it seems like there are a lot of things that can be tweaked, etc.

The big con for me is that I'm getting this popping with DVD's going from analog to digital. This has been brought up in some other forums and some people have been able to get rid of it. I haven't figured it out yet. Just something for you to think about.

Good luck.

Rob

HK 235
Paradigm Titans, Atoms, CC170, PDR8