"PCM Digital Output", "Double Remaster" settings???

[Johnny Canuck]

I have had this Panasonic F 85 DVD player for a few years now and there are a few things I still don't understand and I hope some of you guys can help me out.

In the Audio settings there is a setting for "PCM Digital Output" and my options are "OFF" , "UP TO 48kHz", TO "UP TO 96kHz" and "UP TO 192kHz".

The instruction manual does not explain these at all. I do know from experimenting that CD's don't play when it's OFF. Is this setting mostly for DVD A? Does it affect sound at all with CD's or DVD's?

There is also a "DOUBLE REMASTER" feature and when you push that button you get options "OFF 44.1 kHz" and either option 1,2,and 3, all at 176.4 kHz. Is this upsampling? Is this a good thing considering CD's are recorded in 44.1kHz? My Denon shows "176.4 kHz" on the display when I turn on the DOUBLE REMASTER. Some CD's you can really hear a difference. When using EXT IN there is very little bass with this remaster feature.

So do these things help the SQ? The Denon manual recommends leaving all filters off. Where do you guys set yours at?

One more thing. What is AL24 on the Denon when I am playing CD's?

 

[racquetman]

pcm digital out

Redbook CD's come through the pcm digital out at 44.1 khz/16 bit. If you turn the pcm digital out off, you get no sound. The DACs (digital to analog converters) in your receiver can only handle certain sampling frequencies. What you are doing in the dvd player menu is basically telling the player what your receiver can handle. Check your receiver manual for this information. DVD-audio is converted by DACs in your player and sent through the analog outputs. Therefore this setting has nothing to do with DVD-audio in this case. I'm assuming the high frequency settings are there for when DVD-audio and SACD information is allowed to be passed digitally to your receiver. I don't know of any other formats with 96 or 192 khz sampling frequencies.

 

[racquetman]

oops I forgot

Actually DVDs can be up to 96 khz pcm stereo. Most people are used to movies which are normally DD or DTS surround on DVD, but music DVDs in stereo can be send digitally up to 96 khz. I don't think 192 khz is an option in the DVD spec. It is for DVD-audio obviously.

 

[racquetman]

I'm bored

Ya, I'm bored so I checked up on that other stuff.

Double remaster is, as you thought, upsampling of the 44.1 khz signal of a CD. As with any signal processing, I would try it out if you want and see if you think it makes a difference.

Here's a link to AL24 plus I found real quick. Pretty self explanatory.

http://www.audioholics.com/productreviews/avhardware/Denon-AVR3805_review10.php

 

[MDS]

Just to add some more to what alandamp said (which is correct)...

Most dvd players have similar settings, but named differently. For example, my Onkyo dvd player has the same option but it calls it 'PCM downconversion' and the choice is OFF or ON.

When it is OFF, 96 kHz signals from a DVD will be passed untouched thru the digital out to the receiver. You would have to have a receiver with at least 96 kHz dacs to use that setting; if the receiver does not have 96 kHz or higher capable dacs, you would hear nothing. By changing the setting to ON, the player will downsample 96 kHz signals to 48 kHz, which even older digital receivers can handle.

The downconversion setting is also for the case of copy protected dvds at 96 kHz which cannot be passed digitally. With those dvds, you must have downconversion on to convert the signal to 48 kHz; otherwise you will hear nothing. I personally haven't encountered such a dvd yet, but I know they exist.

So those settings are to enable you to match the output sampling rate to a rate that the receiver's dacs can handle. If the receiver has 96 kHz dacs, set it to 'up to 96 kHz'. Anything higher will get downsampled to 96 kHz.

 

[Johnny Canuck]

I think my Denon 3805 can do 192kHz because when I play a CD it says "176.4kHz" on the display. Or is it 96kHz? I will look it up. So reading what you guys have said, it's best to put it at the highest setting (192) and let the DVD player/receiver do it's thing? Or does downsampling affect quality and it should be set at 96kHz?