Jump to content

Basic audio question.


Hoosier1

Recommended Posts

I have the Yamaha RX-V2700 and the Toshiba X-A2 driving a Klipsch Reference 7.1 set-up. On HD-DVD's, but not standard DVD's, the panel of the receiver indicates that the audio is "MPCM," regardless of the processing used in the source. For example, when watching Batman Begins, it says MPCM even though the movie is processed in Dolby Digital. On T-2 (Studio Canal import), it says MPCM even though it should be in DTS. On standard DVD's, the receiver displays whatever processing the movie uses, be it DD or DTS. What am I missing here? Any help at all would be appreciated.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Everything should be hooked up properly, and I have read the owners manual about 3 times now. The issue only is present when I play HD-DVD's. I just don't understand why the receiver display indicates "MPCM" when DTS/Dolby processing is coming from the HD-DVD.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's not such a basic question. Receiver and DVD player combinations can be quirky and you may have to experiment a bit.

If your receiver has an HDMI input/bypass, you should run the HDMI cable from your player to that input and be sure you have the player and receiverr both set to HDMI outpuit and input respectively. Then run the HDMI output from the receiver to your TV to get picture to the TV (+ sound for when you may want to use thre TV speakers).

If you are running digital audio out via coaxial or optical cable to your receiver, you should be sure that both the DVD output and receiver inputs are set accordingly. But there's an additional quirk here. I found that when I ran my new Oppo via digital coaxial out to my (non-HDMI) Harman-Kardon AVR 235 receiver, with the DVD player set to the manual-recommended "RAW" digital audio position, the receiver would lose lock on the audio every time I jumped to a new scene, fast-forwarded, paused, or anything. It would revert from 7.1 to 5.1 and I had to go through a whole bunch of button presses to regain 7.1. Maddening. But when I switched the DVD optical output to "PCM," everything worked fine and continues to do so, steady as a rock.

So, experiment around some and let us know how you make out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good post DT. Also note that there is a firmware 2.0 update for this player that in the faq's does not exactly address this issue, but it may make a difference. Does your machine have the update installed? Another question is does it sound good when the receiver displays mpcm?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't have the 2.0 update, but that is a good thought. It's hard for me to judge the audio in "MPCM" mode because I have never heard those dvds in any other mode. I do know that I am not getting any sound at all from my rear surrounds.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm an old fart, and I don't read so well, but I really find todays owners manuals abit confusing, that's why I always ask if the poster re-read his owners manual. Some get upset by that question, but it is a fair one, and sometimes things are over looked, that's all I'm pointing out. This is not the simple 2 Channel World anymore, and todays equipment does much more than play music. Also, if the right cables aren't used, you won't get full use of your receiver.............that's all I try to point out.............

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I believe your receiver would say MPCM because the current HD-DVD and Blu-Ray players do the decoding for Dolby Digital + and Dolby Digital HD and DTS HD and DTS Master Audio whatever 5,000 formats there are at this point internally, and then send the Multichannel PCM (MPCM) already decoded signal through the HDMI to your receiver (essentially, a 5.1 multichannel signal but instead of using 5 analog cords like SACD and DVD-Audio, it's using the HDMI cable)

When the new players start coming out that can send uncoded signals, the receivers themselves will fo the decoding (for instance the new denon 3808 and 4308 and new onkyo's.)

the only player i know coming out that will send the signal to the processor to be decoded is the new denon 2500. the 3000 will have in internal decoded.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oldbuckster - no offense taken. I wish the answer was in the manual, but if it is, I'm not seeing it.

I didn't really mean you per- se`.....I have written that answer before and people get offended....Hell, I had a Sony that I couldn't get to play in DTS, farted around for almost a year, bought a digital co-ax cable and Bingo.....DTS.....You have to set receiver, and sometimes you have to set the DVD player too.......alot different than 2 channel........

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Moderators

OB,

I thought I was the only one that got confused by all this stuff. Even when you read the owner's manuals they are difficult to decipher. We recently purchased a DVD recorder....to record our VHS tapes onto DVDs....it was supposed to be one step recording...[bs]...it took almost four hours to figure out how to record a VHS onto a DVD....it's ridiculous.....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So after the 4 hours to figure it out, is it now a one-step process?

They really shouldn't let the engineers write the product manuals. Though I bet marketing wouldn't do much better since they probably don't know how to work it either [:o]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Moderators

So after the 4 hours to figure it out, is it now a one-step process?

They really shouldn't let the engineers write the product manuals. Though I bet marketing wouldn't do much better since they probably don't know how to work it either [:o]

Not exactly....but it's workable.

I didn't know until recently engineers wrote product manuals. You are right.....you guys make it much more complicated than it really needs to be.[;)] No wonder I can't understand the dang manuals!!!![*-)]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just wait until I start writing them [;)] I take great pride in getting my computer illiterate grandpa operating 3 computers over a network, FTP'ing updates for proprietary database software and managing email across every computer. It's just a lot of step by step instructions with pictures and everything labelled 10 million times [;)]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...