mis-understandind of Denon 1906?

oisky

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ust sey-up my new denon 1906 reciever and it's great - However, I have a couple of questions that maybe someone can answer?

Firstly - night mode. Mine only works on Dolby Digital and NOT on DTS. erm, why? and also what is the difference between night mode and digital compressor (the one with the settings off/low/med/high) are they connected or are they two completely different ways of limiting the signal volume?

secondly - why can I only change the panorama/dimension/centre width on PLII music (not on the cinema setting) seems weird?

Small points I know, but irratating none the less.

Cheers
 
Night Mode and the DRC control (Off, Low etc) only work on Dolby Digital tracks. Very rarely will they work with a DTS track (only discs I've found that do are the R1 Rambo Trilogy Special Editions). They both do the same thing and limit the Dynamic Range of the soundtrack i.e the range between quiet and loud parts of the soundtrack. Night Mode is a fixed amount of compression whereas DRC gives you some degree of manual control over the amount of compression you want to apply.

PLII Cinema has fixed settings like Dolby Digital, this is the same for most Amps. You'll only be able adjust the PLII Music settings and even some Amps won't allow you to do this either.
 
I was just logging on to ask some similar questions. Think I'll just tag along and wait for the answers here (and add some of my own).

Would this be the correct listening output for a speaker setup of 2 front, a centre and 2 rear surrounds, no subwoofer or side surround speakers?
CD - I use Direct or Stereo
DVD MOVIES - I use DolbyPL
STB - I use DolbyPL

As I understand (been told), PLIIx is for 7.1 channel and to not use it with my speaker setup. Any comments?

When would you use NEO 6 and what is NEO 6?

I've read the instructions book but didn't really understand some of the terms. I hope any replies here can be in laymen's terms (as much as possible)!!
 
Neo 6 is the DTS version of Dolby Pro Logic II and, in my opinion, cleaner sounding and with a wider soundstage. Essentially you apply it to any standard two channel material in the same way as you would Pro Logic. Best thing to do is to experiment and see which takes your fancy - your ears will settle on one eventually :)

I can't see why you cannot use Pro Logic IIx even if you only have a 5.0 set up (which you have), as opposed to the recommended 7.1 - the surround back channel can probably be redirected to surround left and right. Not being familiar with Denon, is there not a setting to advise the amp what your speaker set up is ?
 
PLIIx is for 6.1/7.1 speaker setups so as you have a 5 speaker setup just use the standard PLII. I doubt you'll even be able to select any of the PLIIx modes once you've told the Amp you only have 5 speakers.

Bear in mind that although you have no side surrounds your surround speakers must plugged into the Surround Left and Surround Right speaker terminals and not the Surround Back Left and Right terminals. You'd only use these if you had one or two extra speakers for 6.1/7.1 surround.
 
Jase said:
PLIIx is for 6.1/7.1 speaker setups so as you have a 5 speaker setup just use the standard PLII. I doubt you'll even be able to select any of the PLIIx modes once you've told the Amp you only have 5 speakers.

Bear in mind that although you have no side surrounds your surround speakers must plugged into the Surround Left and Surround Right speaker terminals and not the Surround Back Left and Right terminals. You'd only use these if you had one or two extra speakers for 6.1/7.1 surround.

Cool, thanks for the replies. If I understand correctly - even if the amp is on the PLIIx mode (say watching a DVD) with my '5.0' setup, it wouldn't be able to distribute the sounds correctly as the speaker is only 5.0. Therefore, using the DolbyPL is more suited (to 5.0) because audio will be distibuted correctly. Does that sound right or am I completely off the point.

Jase, I sat looking at the back of the amp for ages trying to figure out which terminal, back surround or just surround. But finally settle on using the surround (not 'back') when going through the settings with the the on-screen display.
 
bennos said:
Cool, thanks for the replies. If I understand correctly - even if the amp is on the PLIIx mode (say watching a DVD) with my '5.0' setup, it wouldn't be able to distribute the sounds correctly as the speaker is only 5.0. Therefore, using the DolbyPL is more suited (to 5.0) because audio will be distibuted correctly. Does that sound right or am I completely off the point.

As I mentioned, I doubt the Amp will even let you select PLIIx if you only have a 5.0 speaker setup. To select PLIIx Modes you need to switch on the Surround Back speakers and then select the decoding you want. If you don't have them connected and selected in the speaker setup menu you won't have this option available to you. With a 5.0 speaker setup it will default to the standard Dolby Digital mode. Dolby PL or PLII would only used if the track is Stereo or Dolby Surround.

Jase, I sat looking at the back of the amp for ages trying to figure out which terminal, back surround or just surround. But finally settle on using the surround (not 'back') when going through the settings with the the on-screen display.

Sounds like you've connected to the correct ones. :)
 
bennos said:
DVD MOVIES - I use DolbyPL

Use a digital input from DVD player into the 1906 (optical or coaxial), then use the actual 5.1/7.1 decoding rather than something which takes a stereo source and tries to make it sound like surround which Pro Logic does etc.

Ensure you have a digital cable connected between DVD and 1906 and use Dolby Digital or DTS etc. It's a world of difference as souns will appear where they are supposed to rather than the reciever deciding what frequencies etc go where.

Hope this helps.

Dan.
 
Dankeech said:
Use a digital input from DVD player into the 1906 (optical or coaxial), then use the actual 5.1/7.1 decoding rather than something which takes a stereo source and tries to make it sound like surround which Pro Logic does etc.
Don't know if you've got the avr-1906 model... There is a button on the amp '5.1/7.1', is that what you're refering to? If so, I've only got 5.0 channels (subw coming soon). Will the amp compensate for that?

Dankeech said:
Ensure you have a digital cable connected between DVD and 1906 and use Dolby Digital or DTS etc. It's a world of difference as souns will appear where they are supposed to rather than the reciever deciding what frequencies etc go where.
Let me get this right. I should connect via an optical cable, then select DolbyPL mode, then select the '5.1/7.1' button?
 
bennos said:
Don't know if you've got the avr-1906 model... There is a button on the amp '5.1/7.1', is that what you're refering to? If so, I've only got 5.0 channels (subw coming soon). Will the amp compensate for that?


Let me get this right. I should connect via an optical cable, then select DolbyPL mode, then select the '5.1/7.1' button?


Unfortunately I don't know your amp. But I can tell you you will not get proper surround sound from a DVD or games console unless you have either an optical cable or a digital coaxial cable from your dvd player and one from any games console you're using.

DolbyPL I assume stands for Dolby Pro Logic which takes a 2-channel steroe source (left & right) and makes up which speakers to send sounds to, rather tthan Dolby Digital and DTS which run through the digital coaxial or optical cable.

The digital data stream that runs through this type of cable will contain the information as to which sounds really should come from which channels (Assuming that your DVD player / Games console supports DTS or Dolby Digital - Almost certainly it will. Never seen a player that doesn't output at least dolby digital myself).

Check your manual about DVD connections and Dolby Digital and DTS modes. If you're using Pro Logic, you're getting faked surround sound and the difference is huge compared to DTS/DD.

Dan.

Dan.
 
Just connected optical cables on the amp to the DVD & STB. AWESOME!! What a huge difference in sound quality and channel distribution. The DVD automatically selected Dolby Digital, but the STB doesn't automatically select anything. I have it on Dolby PL, bacuse the only other option is NEO 6 and PLxII.
 
bennos said:
Just connected optical cables on the amp to the DVD & STB. AWESOME!! What a huge difference in sound quality and channel distribution. The DVD automatically selected Dolby Digital, but the STB doesn't automatically select anything. I have it on Dolby PL, bacuse the only other option is NEO 6 and PLxII.

Hi Benos, glad you're happy with DVD result. What do you mean by 'STB' though?

Dan.
 
bennos said:
Set (or is it Sat, as in Satalite?) Top Box - STB

Most satellite boxes only output stereo, even though it may have an optical port. Sky HD outputs 5.1 etc via optical I believe, but only on programs/channels that have this feed.

Hope this helps.

Dan.
 

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