Sound profiles and A/V setup questions

[studly698]

I've always loved having big sound. I've never quite understood sound profiles and how to make a true 5.1 and 7.1 setup. First off I want to know if anyone knows a place I can find out what all the profiles stand for?I.E. Hd-dcs, PLMV II, PLMV II X. Etc.

Second- I have my room setup with right left center. Active sub in the front two speakers each side of the my head and two speakers behind and above my head( due to space restraints). So I think that's a 4.3.1? No acoustical treatment with a really odd room. I want to set this up as best as I can. A low budget setup.
Any input would be appreciated

Equipment
Sony STR-DN1030 AVR
Sony SA-W2500 active woofer
Pioneer S-FCRW2700 FR, center FL, RR and RL
Sony SS-TS43B SR and SL



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[studly698]

Sorry about the terrible photos i have a new temporary phone that is a piece of garbage


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[TheWarrior]

Hello!

The Audioholics main page provides a great number of articles that cover just about everything you would need to know. Even more in depth if you buy an e-book!

And then there's google. PL is Dolby's 'Pro-Logic' circuitry that is fine tuned for movies and games etc.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

More bitter man than me would just say - rtfm
However I would say that don't give these surround simulations modes too much though. I disabled them for surround signals and use whatever i like more for stereo sources

 

[herbu]

Looks like several problems. Your description sounds like a 4.1 setup. If you had a center speaker, not the sub, you would have a 5.1.

Speaker locations look wrong. It should be more like this:

Front Left & Right should flank the screen. Surround Left & Right should be beside or slightly behind you. Do some reading on this site. Start w/ the "Home Theater Setup" link at the top of the page.

 

[studly698]

Great thanks!

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[studly698]

Sorry about this long comment but i just want to learn and see where ive gone wrong.
So by playing around with the sound profiles and adjusting sound from xbox one etc. also talking to a local home audio retailer, i have got a better understanding of my receiver. Ive learned about the difference between pcm and bit stream. But still i cant understand.
1. Whats the point of 7.1 when all the movies i find are 5.1 dolby.
2. On my receiver i have it set to 3.4.1.
3. PLII movie x is 7.1 and PLII movie is 5.1. So i just set it to PLII mv. And the receiver set to auto on whether it does dts or true hd.
4. The xbox one is set to bit stream on optical... The hdmi sound set to off, because for some reason it tells me i cant set the hdmi sound to 5.1 uncompressed or 7.1 uncompressed or bitstream.. Gives me an error about making sure the receiver has that capability. ( could that be because that hdmi cord does not support anything higher than stereo?)
Yet the receiver still is recognizing the signal on the xbox as pcm. Why is that?
Thank you for helping a noob understand.


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[studly698]

Ok i keep plucking away at my situation and i keep figuring it out..lol.. Just going through setting after setting.. According to my avr manual hdmi can output more than the optical connection. So i reset the hdmi settings on the xbox one and was able to set it to bit stream.
Now my receiver is finding the bitstream dolby signal and it is set to 7.1 automatically. So i think these netflix movies that have 5.1 dolby are getting simulated to 7.1 by receiver taking the signal. Am i correct in my thought process about the receiver upping the signal (whatever the word is for it)?


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[herbu]

So i think these netflix movies that have 5.1 dolby are getting simulated to 7.1 by receiver taking the signal. Am i correct in my thought process about the receiver upping the signal (whatever the word is for it)?

Correct. Also correct that most movies are mastered in 5.1, with only a few blurays in true 7.1. Regardless of the master, you will find there is relatively little signal coming from your rear surrounds.

I have them, and lots of folks have them. But my advice to someone building a new system w/ budget constraints is to start w/ 5.1 and leave the rear surrounds for last.

As for HDMI, I use it exclusively. One HDMI cable from Bluray to AVR... one from TV to AVR... one from satellite box to AVR. Let the components use their smarts.

 

[studly698]

Now onto the proper speaker loudness.. I have the speakers set to small and they have calibrated distances. I've seen on a video someone said that I should have a sound meter and set the decibel gains to make the speakers 75db for THX while doing test tones.. Does this also apply to Dolby Digital. ?

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[studly698]

http://www.hometheatrebasics.com/home-theatre-tools/spl-calculator/
Found this article on a someone else's post so this helps a bit. But still need to know if 75db is still recommended by Dolby..

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[herbu]

http://www.hometheatrebasics.com/home-theatre-tools/spl-calculator/
Found this article on a someone else's post so this helps a bit. But still need to know if 75db is still recommended by Dolby..

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The level at which you "calibrate" your speakers is not so important. The important thing is their relative volume to each other.

If you calibrate them at 75dB, then set your volume knob at 12:00, it will be louder than if you calibrate at 70dB, then set your volume knob at 12:00. In other words, the only difference will be how high you have to turn the volume knob to get a given level.

 

[Alexandre]

The level at which you "calibrate" your speakers is not so important. The important thing is their relative volume to each other.

If you calibrate them at 75dB, then set your volume knob at 12:00, it will be louder than if you calibrate at 70dB, then set your volume knob at 12:00. In other words, the only difference will be how high you have to turn the volume knob to get a given level.

The only thing I'd add is that the volume at which you calibrate also matters as far as how much noise you tolerate. By default my receiver was outputting ~ 85dB when i started calibrating (the front speakers are fairly efficient/sensitive) and I must admit that pink noise at 80dB was a bit much for me. I ended up with fronts at -12dB on the receiver to get them around 75dB at the listening position.

Alex.