DVD Player Setup.

Hi TIC,

I have only PCM digital connection out of my DVD player. My experience is that the player may choose Dolby 2.0 on its own. Forcing the audio format to Dolby 5.1 (the playere would show "Dolby 2.1") sounds better to me.

If the DVD player automatically chooses the format with most discrete channel (as the one described by jz), then there is no need to change anything after setting the digital format to PCM. Otherwise, I would double check to make sure Dolby 5.1 instead of Dolby 2.0 is used.

All,

I think you guys missed my point. Sorry I wasn't clear. I assumed that RoryFan asked the question because he was using a DVD player in a 2 channel setup. Otherwise, I've never found it necessary to set the audio on my player (unless I wanted to listen to the DTS soundtrack in my HT system).

So, RF, if you are going to use the player in a 2-channel system, just set the player to PCM and forget it. If you are using it in a multichannel system and want to choose between PCM, DD5.1 and/or DTS, you'll want to set the player and check the disc menu.

Enjoy,

TIC

Hi Kenn39,

I agree with you regarding PCM.. my comments above were regarding the typical Dolby Digital choices on movie DVD's and was just quoting my Sony owner's manual where "best" choice = most discreet channels... I agree the PCM track can sound great and as a bonus is often provided in high-res 96/24 and can sound awesome in stereo. I prefer the 96/24 stereo PCM track on the Eagles' "Hell Freezes Over" concert DVD to the DTS 5.1 version for sonics.

Check your player's specs, however, most DVD players can decode 96/24 but many (esp. older) DVD players will downconvert 96/24 to a lower 48khz spec to output via their digital output. 96/24 tracks may sound better through your players's analog outs on these players.. jz

TIC,
If you set the digital output to PCM format, it is always stereo PCM from the digital output, regardless of the original format. Analog output may be different.

jz,
I agree with you mostly. For some reason, Dolby 5.1 sounds better than Dolby 2.0 even after downmixing to stereo. However, if there is a PCM track available, I would use the 2 channel PCM track instead of 5.1 DTS or DD for stereo playback.

Hi Roryfan,

I respectfully disagree with Reubent on this one. As far as movie discs are concerned, it's always a good idea to check the disc's audio menu before starting the movie to be sure it is set to the "best" soundtrack (ie: highest number of channels) for that particular title. Sometimes the software on the disc will default to a lower soundtrack like Dolby 2.0 if that was how the disc was authored. Your player may not override this by itself.

One exeption that I know of is Sony. Most if not all of their models have a feature called "Audio Priority" which will seek out the soundtrack on a disc with the highest # of channels. This feature works well but is optional and must be enabled in the player's setup menu. I am not aware of other brands that offer this feature but check your owner's manual. Good luck! jz

RF,

If you set up the audio output in the DVD player, it is not necessary to set it up again each time you play a different disk. Once it is set up in the players menu, it should stay the same.

I've done this several times when I had a DVD player in a 2-channel system. I set the DVD players output to PCM and connected the DVD player to my DAC. I never had to go into the movie's menu to select PCM.

Enjoy,

TIC