More fun with Yamaha RX-V365

[Perry45]

Hi All,
My apologies if this question seems simple, but it is driving me nuts. I have a Yamaha RX-V365 reciever. I would start by telling you that whomever wrote the users manual should be sent to singapore and caned until he bleeds to death. This manual absolutely SUCKS. Have no doubt Yamaha seriously needs to build thier technical writing skills to match thier electronics.

Anyway; I have the following set up:
HD/CBL box- HDMI to RX
Audio cables from HD/CBL box to RX
Samsung 4600 Blu-Ray-HDMI to RX
Audio cables from Blu-Ray to RX

I cannot gget this reciever to output audio onto the five speakers attached to it, it will only go to two (2) speakers.
The manual ia absolutely useless when it comes to getting the audio to the five speakers.

Anyone?

 

[Adam]

Welcome to the forum, Perry!

Couple of questions:

1. Which "audio cables" are you using? Digital audio (i.e. optical or coax), or analog audio?
2. Is the receiver set to the "2ch Stereo" mode? (That's not meant to be patronizing, btw - I just want to make sure.)

 

[Perry45]

Adam,
Thanks for your reply.
Yes I am using analog audio. I don't see an option to set the output to 5Ch. It defaults to 2 chan.

I have tried to read the manual in every direction, it just makes no sense.

 

[Adam]

Gotcha. By analog audio, do you just mean the two red/white cables? That carries, at best, matrixed surround (e.g. Dolby Pro-Logic). If you are using multi-channel inputs, you can only do that for one of the sources (either blu-ray or cable box), so you must be using two-channel analog connections for at least one of them, correct?

I'm going to strongly advise using the digital audio connections. That will GREATLY improve the surround sound as compared to two-channel analog connections. First, let's talk about how you have everything connected with the analog connections. Which inputs are you using?

 

[Perry45]

Yes I am using the analog audio, red/white cables Actually I am using two-channel analog connections for both them.
To accurately describe the connections;

I have the Samsung BD-P4600 Blu-ray player connected to the "DVD" HDMI input of the RX-V365, and the red/White Audio cables conneted to the "DVD" audio inputs. Yes there are "Multi-Ch"inputs, but this Blu-ray player doesn't support them.
The Brighthouse HD DVR Cable box is connected to the "DVR/CBL" HDMI input on the Yamaha RX-V365 reciever,and the red/White Audio cables conneted to the "DVR/CBL" audio inputs.

Exactly which digital audio connections would you think I should use? Yes there is an Optical link available on the Blu-ray, but thats primarily for video correct?

Adam, the real problem is that Yamaha has done such a horrible job explaining how thier product works. I think that this set up will do what I want, it's a mater of setting in the RX-V365. Unfortunately the manual doesn't explain them well.

 

[Adam]

Hi, Perry. The optical digital audio connection is actually for audio only - no video involved at all. The same is true for coax digital audio connections.

The Yamaha manual might be really bad, but those analog connections aren't what you want. They cannot give you discrete 5.1 surround sound (such as Dolby Digital or DTS), but the digital audio connections can. Believe me, the difference in the audio will be HUGE (once it's set up correctly).

So, the blu-ray player (which is quite cool looking, btw ) has an optical output. How about the cable box? Does it have either an optical or coax digital audio output?

Coax digital audio connections can be made using a regular cable with RCA connectors on both ends (you could just use one side of the red/white analog cables that you're using now). Optical connections, of course, require an optical cable. Do you have one of those?

 

[KevInCinci]

My question is: why are you using the red/white RCA cables at all? You say you've connected both your Blu-Ray and Cable box using HDMI cables. HDMI carries both (high def) video AND audio, so you don't need any other connections and it will give you the best quality sound. I'm not 100% sure of the internal logic of the receiver, but it's probably prioritizing the 2-channel analog audio signal it's receiving via the RCA cables over the 5.1-channel digital signal from HDMI. Unplug the audio cables from both devices and see what happens.

Cheers,

Kevin

 

[Adam]

HDMI carries both (high def) video AND audio, so you don't need any other connections and it will give you the best quality sound.

Hi, Kevin. That receiver won't process audio over HDMI, so separate audio connections are necessary.

 

[KevInCinci]

Hi, Kevin. That receiver won't process audio over HDMI, so separate audio connections are necessary.

Really? Wow, didn't realize Yamaha's entry-level stuff was like that. Sort of defeats the purpose of HDMI, at least in the cable-saving department. I guess you still get the HD video part.

Cheers,

Kevin

 

[Perry45]

Adam/Kevin,
Sorry for the delay. I'm dealing with a rental property I own, and trying to get it set up for the next renters.
Back to the Reciever and the issues associated with it.
I had a single 6ft optical cable so I connected the Blu-ray to the RX, and still cannot get anything but 2 channel sound to work. I KNOW that there has to be some setting that not right, but this manual SUCKS!!!! Really. I have benn writing tech manuals for the last 12 years, and this one would get a F- grade if it were being reviewed by my company.
I still have the red/White cables from the HD/DVR box, (only because I haven't been to the store.)

I am almost to the point that I will take this POS back for a refund.

 

[Adam]

Hi, Perry. Now that you have the blu-ray player connected to the receiver using an optical cable, I bet that there's a setting that you'll need to change on the blu-ray player.

Check out page 39 of the owner's manual for the BD-P4600. You'll want to make the following setting:
Setup - Audio - Digital Output - Bitstream (Re-encode)

I'll bet that the default is PCM, which will give you two-channel audio over an optical cable.

Please let us know if that fixes that issue.

 

[Perry45]

Adam,
We haev a no-go. Nothings changed. I reset the 4600 as you suggested, and then went back through the set up o the RX. Nothings changed.

Any other ideas that mighht work?

 

[Adam]

Perry, I need to get to another computer because my battery is almost out. I'll brb.

Be sure to leave the 4600 set up to output in the Bitstream (Re-encode) mode. We'll check on some other things.

 

[Adam]

Just to be absolutely certain - when you connected the optical cable for the blu-ray player, did you disconnect the red/white analog cables and assign the optical input to the blu-ray? I want to make sure that you're actually using the optical input.

Also, are you certain that the sound track on the disc that you are playing is set to a multi-channel audio track? You'd be surprised how often that's the cause.

In addition:

• When playing the disc, check the front panel of the Yamaha. There are indicators on the lower right corner of the front display (below the volume) that show the audio channels being received. Does that show more than the front two speakers?
• Put the Yamaha into the "Straight" playback mode.

 

[pzaur]

Don't forget to alter the audio settings in the receiver. The digital audio inputs need to be assigned with the appropriate video inputs. If the audio input is unassigned or assigned to the wrong place then you will never get the audio and video that you are waiting for.

See page 34 in your manual for instructions on assigning audio and video inputs.
You need to keep track of which slot (1, 2, or 3) that each component is connected to for audio.

Finally, did you enable the sub, surround and center speakers? Pages 32-33 in the manual.

If you don't like this manual, be thankful you didn't buy a Denon...

-pat

 

[dutchman]

Question regarding re-assigning digital audio inputs

Don't forget to alter the audio settings in the receiver. The digital audio inputs need to be assigned with the appropriate video inputs. If the audio input is unassigned or assigned to the wrong place then you will never get the audio and video that you are waiting for.

See page 34 in your manual for instructions on assigning audio and video inputs.
You need to keep track of which slot (1, 2, or 3) that each component is connected to for audio.

Finally, did you enable the sub, surround and center speakers? Pages 32-33 in the manual.

If you don't like this manual, be thankful you didn't buy a Denon...

-pat

If I use the "Input Assign" menu to re-assign the Optical CD connection (3) to DVD audio input from a Blu-Ray player, will I still get audio from CD's with this one optical connection? At present, I'm using an optical cable to connect my Samsung P1600 Blu-Ray player to the RX Optical CD connection (3) and while I get great sound from my CD's, I get no audio at all from DVD's or Blu-Ray disks.

Also, the user manual states that this re-assignment can only be done once. Does this mean that an input re-assignment can't be undone?

Any/all help is much appreciated ...

 

[pzaur]

If I use the "Input Assign" menu to re-assign the Optical CD connection (3) to DVD audio input from a Blu-Ray player, will I still get audio from CD's with this one optical connection? At present, I'm using an optical cable to connect my Samsung P1600 Blu-Ray player to the RX Optical CD connection (3) and while I get great sound from my CD's, I get no audio at all from DVD's or Blu-Ray disks.

Also, the user manual states that this re-assignment can only be done once. Does this mean that an input re-assignment can't be undone?

Any/all help is much appreciated ...

You're reading it wrong. All the manual states is that each audio input can only be assigned to one place (CD or DVD or whatever) and not multiple (CD + DVD).

If you reassign the optical connection to DVD you'll get audio for your videos when watching them. Just listen to your CDs using the "DVD" input without the TV turned on. You won't notice any change other than your 365 saying "DVD" on the front.

The namings for the inputs are generic. They really mean nothing. I went through and changed the display for every input I use. It has no affect on performance.

-pat

 

[dutchman]

Perfectly clear now ..

You're reading it wrong. All the manual states is that each audio input can only be assigned to one place (CD or DVD or whatever) and not multiple (CD + DVD).

If you reassign the optical connection to DVD you'll get audio for your videos when watching them. Just listen to your CDs using the "DVD" input without the TV turned on. You won't notice any change other than your 365 saying "DVD" on the front.

The namings for the inputs are generic. They really mean nothing. I went through and changed the display for every input I use. It has no affect on performance.

-pat

Simple, terse explanations such as yours do wonders for technology-challenged people like me.

Thank you, Pat.

Arie

 

[BudgetHT]

One thing with the 365 is to not run an audio cable from the cable box to the receiver, but instead run it from the receiver to the TV.
I have a 365 and this is how I got it to run audio.
Cable box to HDMI in on receiver. Blu-ray to HDMI in for video and coaxial for audio to receiver. HDMI out to TV for video and optical out to TV for audio. Reads Dolby digital and DTS just fine when set to auto.

 

[pzaur]

Simple, terse explanations such as yours do wonders for technology-challenged people like me.

Thank you, Pat.

Arie

I hate manuals...Denon is really bad! The Yamaha manuals are loads better than the instructions to setup my daughter's swingset. That was like a choose your own adventure story...

-pat