3802 PLII Problem?!

sarll

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Hi

I recently brought a 2nd hand Denon 3802 off the classifieds and I am very pleased with it.

However, I have a question about PLII and Dolby Digital (stereo?). On my previous receivers (Marantz 4200,5400) if I play a DVD with only a Dolby Digital Stereo soundtrack (something like Friends or The Office), the display on the amp would light up the Dolby Digital symbol (as if playing a 5.1 track). On the 3802 however the Dolby Digital indicator is illuminated (as is the digital symbol), but the display says DPII. Is this correct?? When playing a 5.1 DVD the display says D Digital....Am i incorrectly assuming that a DD 2.0 dvd should display D Digital?

So basically what I am saying is that 5.1 DD or DTS dvd's work fine but DD 2.0 play in DPII or other DSP's. I appreciate that some people may prefer to listen in DPII but I wanted to make my own decision on what is better and to make sure the amp is functioning properly. I guess it may be like this because the previous owner set this up as a preference.

Any 3802 or denon owners got any thoughts?
 
You could always reinitialise the microprocessor - instructions in the booklet that you should've got with it. (If you didn't get it you can download it from the US Denon website.) This will reset all setting to the default factory settings and purge all previous user preferences.
 
I had thought about resetting the processor, but i'm not sure I want to put myself through the setup again. Also I was kind of hoping someone could confirm if I indeed should be seeing DPII? If its not broke I won't try and fix it!

Cheers anyway
 
You should be seeing DPL2.

The receiver is receiving a Dolby Digital stereo signal and running it through the DPL2 DSP before outputting the sound to your speakers.

You can set it up to play back in just stereo or any of the surround formats by cycling through the "Surround mode" options.
 
As eviljohn2 has said, it's working properly. It will show the decoding mode that is currently being used. :)
 
Thanks guys. I was pretty sure there wasn't anything wrong with the amp.

Out of interest what format is considered the best for listening to DD 2.0 dvd's? Would most people choose PLII?
 
Originally posted by sarll

Out of interest what format is considered the best for listening to DD 2.0 dvd's? Would most people choose PLII?

Yes. PLII Cinema. :)
 
I would use
* DPL2 in cinema mode for stereo encoded DVDs.
* Stereo playback for mono encoded DVDs.
* Discrete playback if more than 2 channels are available (eg 4.1, 5.1, 6.1 if I had capable hardware).

It's really a matter of personal taste, some would shudder at the idea of using any internal processing. DPL2 is a particularly interesting example as it has both a music and a cinema mode (plus an x mode these days) both of which are very tweakable to suit your own tastes.
 
Ok cheers, thanks for your advice - appreciated
 
Originally posted by eviljohn2
I would use
* DPL2 in cinema mode for stereo encoded DVDs.
* Stereo playback for mono encoded DVDs.
* Discrete playback if more than 2 channels are available (eg 4.1, 5.1, 6.1 if I had capable hardware).

It's really a matter of personal taste, some would shudder at the idea of using any internal processing. DPL2 is a particularly interesting example as it has both a music and a cinema mode (plus an x mode these days) both of which are very tweakable to suit your own tastes.

What mode is best for listening to Freeview TV? I've got a digital optical connection to my Denon AVR-2803 from the Sony VTX-D800U, and when listening to Freeview using DPL2 the sound from the rear surrounds sounds a bit watery, kinda 'wishy-washy' if you know what I mean! Am new to home cinema and find all these different modes a tad confusing.

Thanks.
 
I generally use DPL2 cinema for sky use (switching to stereo for music channels).

Although DPL2 is fairly robust, it does require a reasonable quality stereo source to work from. What you describe sounds like you're watching a badly transmitted/recorded programme.

I'd suggest watching something like a film or the Simpsons and see what results you get from that. Stereo would be fine also but you'd lose the surround effect if that bothers you. I'm not that fussed as I consider the main benefit is using hifi speakers which are leagues ahead of those built into TVs.
 
sorry I have hopefully a quick and easy problem to fix now!

Whilst mucking about with settings last night I accidently managed to get MULTI displayed on the amp screen. I don't have the ability to have multi room setup so its not causing any problems its just I can't get the bloody thing off the screen. The multi/rec button seems to just alternate between the 2 settings but it won't go away. The instructions don't seem to help either!

Any ideas?
 
Set the Multi to SOURCE and it should go away. Press the MULTI button and then twiddle the selector knob to cycle through the different inputs etc. Hopefully that should do it for the 3802 (my Denon is slightly different).
 
cheers jase, i'll give it a go later when I get home..

I think it said that in the manual, perhaps i'm not doing it right. I remember pressing the MULTI button and then moed the selector knob through the various inputs. I'm pretty certain that there wasn't one called SOURCE (if thats what you meant) - i'll try again later though.

thanks
 

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