i can't get 5.1 to work.

[just-some-guy]

hello, folks

i just got my new pioneer vsx-818v hooked up to my older pioneer dv-333 & pioneer sp-d5191 52" tv.

i have the rca stereo, coax and optical cables connected.
i tried different settings in the menu to turn on or off the assigned ports.
the dvd played has the "dolby digital" light on.
but i cannot get it to play 5.1 with a movie on. it only displays DPL II.
(no dvd audio is connected to the tv. 818 on screen menu is working)
i was racking my humble brain for a few hours, and could not get it to work. so we, wife & I, watched Mr BROOKS in DPL II.

hopefully you fine folks can guide me to achieving my 5.1

TIA

hmmm, maybe i should have put this in the reciever room. but i think it may be an interconnect problem.

 

[jostenmeat]

Why don't you disconnect the RCA cables for now? (because you can't get discrete 5.1 with that anyhow).

Check DVD player settings as well for audio output. Maybe its defaulted to 2 channel? Set it to "bitstream" as well.

PLII is a matrixing algorithm. It can take 2-ch audio, and matrix it for "5.1" usage. However, it ?may or may not still say that even if you are getting true 5.1.

Many tracks have barely any surround whatsover. Make sure to test with action sequences.

Make sure the receiver has center, mains, surrounds, and sub set to ON. Let the receiver know that rears are not connected, OTOH.

This is strange...

 

[just-some-guy]

i did disconnect the 2 stereo rca cables = no sound at all.

i didn't think to check the dvd player settings. but it did say dolby digital on the display.

PLII is like the original PL ? then i know what that is.

yes. the Mr brooks movie didn't have much surround. know the surrounds are working correctly. i tested them, and i calibrated with the microphone.

 

[Adam]

Make sure that the digital inputs on the 818 are assigned correctly, and make sure that it is set up to either automatically detect the signal (digital or analog) or set it to digital. This is most likely why you have no audio now that you've disconnected the analog connection.

Also, as jostenmeat stated, make sure that the DVD player is set up to output the bitstream over the digital audio connection. That is a very, very common reason why people don't get 5.1 in the beginning.

If you have any questions about how to do that stuff, just let us know and we'll set you up.

 

[just-some-guy]

i'm going to check right now.

but i did set the 818 inputs as correctly as i can figure out. my audio knowledge is MANY years old.

 

[just-some-guy]

ok. the 333 digital out was not on. so i am hoping thats it. but i don't have a dvd to check it, i sent it back to netflix. i will have another in a few days.

now
do i use the optical and/or the coax and/or the rca's ? and what is better ?

and what is "digital pcm" ? that was a choice on the 333 menu.

 

[Adam]

You'd want to use either the optical or digital coax. They can both carry the full 5.1 signal. The analog connection can't. You don't need both the optical and coax - either one will be fine.

"Digital PCM" would basically give you the same audio over the digital connection as you would get over the analog connection on that player. There should be another setting called "bitstream" or something similar. The bitstream choice will send the encoded digital audio stream to your receiver for decoding, and it will let you have discrete 5.1 surround sound (e.g. 5.1 Dolby Digital).

 

[just-some-guy]

i see no bitstream or similar. maybe the player is too old for that ?

should i have "DTS" on or off ?

MPEG = MPEG or MPEG-PCM ? (i don't know what this is)

AUDIO DRC. what is that ? and on or off ?

thanx

 

[jostenmeat]

It appears in the Amazon description that your player can bitstream(?). It may simply be called something different.

I would leave DTS as on. Its the other main codec brand that is used besides Dolby. DTS offers higher maximum bitrate than DD as well.

DRC is dynamic range compression. Turn it off would be my advice. Unless you actually prefer that, but I have a hard time believing any audioholic would. Who knows though.

 

[just-some-guy]

gotcha.

i have LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA coming. a good action movie ? that auta(sp?) test it out pretty good.

 

[just-some-guy]

oh-yeah. my old receiver is a yamaha rxv850. i would have bought a much better unit than the 818. but i want to sell my condo, and get a house, soon. i will then upgrade to gear that fits the house

 

[Adam]

My apologies, but I haven't been able to find the owner's manual for the DV-333. I did find the manual for the newer DV-343, though. It's entirely possible that the menu system is different, but this might provide some insight.

The DV-343 has a menu setting for the "Digital Jack" that has listings of:

Dolby Digital/DTS
Dolby Digital/MPEG
Dolby D/DTS/MPEG
PCM
Not Connected​

In your case, you'd want to pick the "Dolby Digital/DTS" setting. I don't know how similar that is to your menu.

 

[just-some-guy]

thanx. i am going to wait for the movie to arrive, and fire the system up and check things out. i will report back.

 

[just-some-guy]

ok, i watched the movie last night. and you were right about the dvd player not having the right settings. the movie didn't have great surround, but it did sound pretty good. i'm going to put larger surrounds up.

thanx

 

[Adam]

Thanks for the update!

 

[just-some-guy]

ok, new problem.

i can't get my player to play audio cd's. it spools up for a few seconds. then stops and makes a ticking noise(like lightly taping a pen on a table) . then the drawer will open.
i checked my settings, can't find anything amiss. but there must be somewhere. dvd works fine. i use the coax cable. i hooked up regular rca's = nothing.

tia

 

[Adam]

Are you trying to play CDs that you bought, CD-Rs that you made, or CD-RWs?

 

[just-some-guy]

bought. 2 different test cd's, 1 is a DENON. and 1 music cd. same result for all.

 

[rnatalli]

Sometimes "Bitstream" is labeled as "Raw." Just in case you see that as an option.