Sony STR-K750P Levels question

[Jedi2016]

Been going around on this for a few days now, on various forums and such, and realized that I probably needed a specialized forum for the tough questions.. so I found this place.. hehe.

First, a little background into the question:

For most purposes, my setup and system work quite well. DVD player is connected through coaxial, I've got nice rich DD and DTS sound and all that. The problem is video games and Dolby Pro Logic II.

The Playstation 2 doesn't support DD5.1 in-game. It does have DTS 5.1 capability, but only a few games have it (and I don't have any of those). Otherwise, the only true surround sound in PS2 games comes in the form of some pre-rendered cinematics in certain games. Basically, not enough to warrant me purchasing an optical cable, since I don't watch DVDs on it (the PS2 has no coaxial input, only optical, and mine is currently running with only the standard L/R RCA analog cables).

However, quite a few games support Pro Logic II in-game, to provide a pretty good semblance of surround sound. The problem comes from the fact that it splits the signal over five channels, but seems to leave the subwoofer out of the equation. Since all the other speakers are nearly pocket-sized, this results in very "tinny" sound, with no low-end. (As opposed to the normal stereo, which has quite good low-end).

In digging around online and through the manual, it seems the STR-K750P does not have Bass Management for Pro Logic II. The only thing it has is programmable bass/treble like most any other reciever. The manual states that these level adjustments are across-the-board, affecting all the various "modes" of playback.

I was hoping to get a little assistance in setting up my Pro Logic II Movie settings to give similar bass response to the standard stereo input. If someone else has the same reciever, and has set this sort of thing up, that would be most helpful. It seems to be a popular setup, that a lot of people buy for the same reasons I did.. it includes the reciever and speakers and has a wallet-friendly price tag, so I was able to get 5.1 (finally) at a good price.

What I'm hoping is to set up the Pro Logic II Movie settings independantly of the other settings, so that I can switch back and forth between Stereo and Dolby (since only a portion of my game library supports Dolby) without having to adjust and/or reset the bass/woofer levels every time I change modes. I'm not entirely sure that the system supports it, but I'm hoping someone with the same reciever, or a similar Sony reciever, can offer some tips.

It's quite possible that my own digging and experimentation will come up with an answer in time, but it never hurts to ask the experts. If that's the case, I'll respond here, perhaps to help others adjust a similar setup if they have the same problem with games and such.

Also, since I'm new here, I'm not sure if this is the proper place for the thread, but it seemed the most likely... if it's in the wrong place, mods, feel free to move it.

 

[Leprkon]

you might try setting the front and center speakers to "small" to see if the receiver will route more bass to the sub.

 

[Jedi2016]

Yeah, they're all set at Small.. it defaulted to that when I bought it, and since I was using the included speakers, I never changed it. Which is supported by the fact that normal stereo sounds great, nice and rich, because it's a proper mix of the front satellite speakers and the 'woofer. And the plethora of DVDs in my library all sound fantastic.

The subwoofer doesn't shut down completely during DPL2 modes, it's just a much lower volume. It's almost as if it's still only splitting low-end off from the left/right channels (as it normally does for Stereo) rather than all five, which would yield only 2/5 of the low-end that it should be playing. Which sounds about right, based on how much bass is in DPL2 vs Stereo.

I've heard of a feature called "Bass Management" that some recievers have, specifically designed to customize the sound of Pro Logic II. Unfortunately, my reciever doesn't have this feature... am I screwed?

 

[thehondakid]

hi

I have the same system you have. You are right in saying it has great sound with cd'd and dvd's. Its great. You might want to try adjusting the sub under the levels setting. This worked for me my sub sounds great. It did the same as yours did with ps2 and this solved the problem. I also found investing in a high quality subwoofer cable is a big help. The one that comes with it is too small and hurts the quality.

 

[MDS]

PLII Movie movie mode has no user adjustable parameters. PLII Music mode has parameters you can change (Dimension, Center Width, Panorama). None of those actually affect how bass is routed, though you may want to experiment with them anyway. Some receivers with PLII also include PLII Game mode - this mode has no user adjustable parameters but it does put more bass into the surround channels.

Most likely though, you need to do a proper calibration of the entire system and adjust the sub level.