Really basic question re:Sony STR-2400ES

uptown47

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Hi all,

I'm a complete newbie with home theatres (in fact, this is my first). I have the following set up:
Home PC networked over ethernet to a Linkstation Pro.
A WD-TV Live box connected to the linkstation pro.
A Sony STR-2400ES connected to the WD-TV live box (via HDMI).
5.1 Jamo speakers and a Samsung 50" plasma TV connected to the Sony amp.

When I set it all up I was initially impressed with the sound quality (having never experienced 'surround sound' before) but over time it didn't quite seem right. I had set up the Sony by putting that little dongle thing at my sitting position and then playing the 'test sound' but when I played movies and tv programs (via the PC - which is the way we mostly view our media) then we both found it difficult to hear the dialogue. If we turned up the sound to hear the dialogue then the explosions etc were far too loud.

I eventually went into the settings on the amp and manually altered all the db levels of all the speakers to try and route the most volume through the front speakers and less out of the back.

This seemed to help with the dialogue but the 'surround' effect wasn't very good.

I have lived with it like this for about 3 months now but (due to a problem with the WD-TV box locking up sometimes whilst 'paused') I was messing with the settings last night and found a setting on the WD-TV box under audio that was either: Stereo / Digital pass through / Digital pass through with optical.

It was set to 'stereo'. Am I right in thinking that all the things I've been playing up to now have just been stereo sound then and not split into the proper 5.1 channels ??

Assuming that is the case, is it better sound with Digital pass through with or without using an optical lead ?

Also assuming that it needs to be digital pass through, what exactly do I set my Sony to to get the best out of a movie? I press the 'movie' button on the remote and it cycles between settings 'A', 'B' and 'C'. B is the setting that I set up with that little listening device when I first got the amp. But is there a better setting. I've read the instructions a couple of times but (and I really hate to admit this) I'm a bit lost :confused:

Different things appear on the front display of the amp when I press the 'movie' button such as "V. MULTI DIM", "C.STEX A", "C.STEX B", "C.STEX C" (I presume these A,B,C are my pre-programmed setups but what's v.multi dim?)

Also, the A.F.D button brings up AFD AUTO, E.SURROUND, MULTI ST.

I'm not sure what that should be set to either??

I'm really sorry for what are undoubtedly ridiculous questions but I would really like someone to help me understand this amp so I can get the best out of my set up.

Many thanks for any help you can give me

Cheers

John :smashin:
 
Re-run the auto setup and just turn up the centre channel only. You can also set this more accurately with an spl meter.

Also look for a dynamic range setting on your amp this will help.
 
Mentm, a big thank you for your info.

I'm thinking that if I just turn my 'adjustments' back down to 0db it should be back to its original settings. I will re-run the setup however just to sure but I'll have to do it at weekend when I can get up to the loft and get all the gubbins out.... ;-)

So, is the WD-TV live box meant to be set to "digital pass through" then?

And also, are you familiar enough with the Sony DTR-2400ES amp to know what the other settings mentioned in my post are and what it should be set to.

Thanks again for all your help

Cheers

John :)
 
Don't have a wd-tv but i think digital passthrough refers to multichannel audio over hdmi? is this what you are using?

Also don't have a sony amp but, the only surround sound modes you should need is a straight or direct mode for anything in 5.1 and better. Different manufacturers call this different things but you should be getting the 5.1 with no additional processing by the amp, and for stereo sources use either one of the prologic modes or dts neo6.

Edit
according to the manual it is 'AFD auto' you want for anything in 5.1 and above. Prologic modes relate to 'e surround' and the last is multi channel stereo.
When you use the movie button this is some sony specific surround sound modes, personally I wouldn't use them.
 
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Brilliant stuff. I tried my Lord of the Rings DVD through it earlier and it sounded much better!

Will check it's on AFD Auto too.

Thanks again for all your excellent advice. ;-)
 

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