Phantom Centre Speaker - Great on DTS from Blu Ray but Rubbish on DVD DD 5.1

bookle

Prominent Member
Joined
Nov 11, 2007
Messages
1,524
Reaction score
65
Points
356
Location
West Lothian, Scotland
Looking for some advice on why the sound quality on my phantom centre channel is massively different when using DTS from BD as opposed to Dolby 5.1 tracks from standard DVD's.

BluRay soundtracks via DTS sound fabulous - no need for centre speaker. In fact its better than when I had a centre speaker - but thats another discussion !
But standard DVD on Dolby 5.1 over optical digital is pretty rubbish at imaging the phantom centre.

Is it my Arcam AVR350 ? (which doesn't do HD audio) and how it handles DTS v Dolby5.1 ?

If so maybe I need a BDP that converts/re-encodes to DD5.1 to DTS ?

Any other thoughts ?

I have a Pioneer BDP-F51 player and buying a centre speaker is not an option.
 
Has the Arcam got 5/7 channel Analogue in?

If so, how about using those connections? I believe you can tell the 51FD that there is no Centre Channel and it will therefore send the Centre info to the two Fronts.

It may do the job better than the Arcam? Worth a try.

R.T.
 
Hi Roger,

Thanks for the suggestion.
I have tried the Pioneer analogues for full 5.1 with centre speaker but all 5 channels are vastly inferior to the digital to analogue conversion from the Arcam. (no surprise there I guess).

In line with your suggestion, I wonder if telling the Pioneer there is no centre may still help with DD 5.1 over digital ? Will give it a try !

My instinct is that the AVR350 deals with DD5.1 differently v DTS.

In fact on one movie I had to change the original DD5.1 to DD stereo on the Arcam as I was getting no sound at all from what the centre channel should have been despite the Arcam being set to no centre speaker.

Any other thoughts from the gallery ?

cheers, alan

Has the Arcam got 5/7 channel Analogue in?

If so, how about using those connections? I believe you can tell the 51FD that there is no Centre Channel and it will therefore send the Centre info to the two Fronts.

It may do the job better than the Arcam? Worth a try.

R.T.
 
............I have tried the Pioneer analogues for full 5.1 with centre speaker but all 5 channels are vastly inferior to the digital to analogue conversion from the Arcam. (no surprise there I guess).................

I am really surprised by that. The 51FD uses the same PCB as the LX71 and LX08 (just not Gold plated RCA's) and all three players use the same DACS as thier flagship LX91 and this DAC is used by most of thier current range of AV Recievers including the Susano (and i suspect your Arcam looking at the Spec Sheet).

The Wolfsom WM8740SEDS ( WM8740SEDS datasheet pdf datenblatt - Wolfson Microelectronics plc - 24-bit, High Performance 192kHz Stereo DAC ::: ALLDATASHEET ::: ) is a very highly regarded D/A converter but if you don't like the sound, you don't like it, the analogue stage must be prefferable to you, fair enough.

I can't offer any other suggestions as to why the sound is different on DD and DTS though i'm afraid. Two different systems, it may be just as simple as that?

R.T.
 
Last edited:
I am really surprised by that. The 51FD uses the same PCB as the LX71 and LX08 (just not Gold plated RCA's) and all three players use the same DACS as thier flagship LX91 and this DAC is used by most of thier current range of AV Recievers including the Susano (and i suspect your Arcam looking at the Spec Sheet)
I can't offer any other suggestions as to why the sound is different on DD and DTS though i'm afraid. Two different systems, it may be just as simple as that?

R.T.

Thanks Roger,

I guess given the Arcam is a £1300 receiver / amp and the pioneer is a £300 BDP so I would expect a sound quality difference and in practice it certainly pans out that way and not in a subtle way - its really, really obvious the difference in quality.

I actually started a thread on the subject a few months ago...

http://www.avforums.com/forums/blu-...nalogue-audio-outputs-used-price-300-max.html

any thoughts on the dts v dd5.1 issue from anyone else ?

cheers, alan
 
What are DD True HD soundtracks like on Blu-Ray? Are these good/not good/worse than DTS HD?

R.T.
 
What are DD True HD soundtracks like on Blu-Ray? Are these good/not good/worse than DTS HD?

R.T.

Need to get hold of some more DD True HD blu-rays to check this out. I only have a couple and usually rent from Lovefilm.com.
Blurays I have rented have all been fine but I couldn't say for sure if I've had a DD True HD disc.

I still have loads of standard DVD's and most are DD5.1, thats where my main frustration lies.

To your point on the Pioneer analogue outputs, one thing I should have mentioned is that the lack of bass management on the Pioneer could be a negative factor also.
I depend a lot on my AVR350 for this.

cheers, alan
 
sorry to ressurect an ancient thread (I thought some of the replies here helps with the background and don't need to be repeated)
I was watching a standard DVD last nite and the dialogue over DD 5.1 was around 10db quieter than the front pair.
Same problemo as before.
So I either have great dialogue and sore ears when the explosions or music kicks in
or
I have normal levels and am straining to hear the dialogue !

Can I boost the dialogue somehow for DD5.1 ? (without adding a centre !)

Help !
 

The latest video from AVForums

TV Buying Guide - Which TV Is Best For You?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom