SkyHd and Sony820 question

[adamfernadam]

Hi all,

Have my system routed through the Sony str-dg820 reciever. Blu ray working perfectly with TrueHD audio working fine, and the Wii hooked up fine.

However my question is how to get the best sound from SkyHD with this amp?

Iv read endless posts but am still confused I have the sky box connected by Cat2 HDMI and and optical lead both into the amp. Sky box is set to dolby. I know sky broadcasts in 2 channel. If i have the A.F.D mode set to auto it just runs the front left and right and sub, if i add a surround effect or change it to multi channel i get an even sound from the rears and fronts and dialogue from the centre. The input on the amp is set to auto for sky which maybe keeps using the hdmi (and therefore 2channel? But its scrolls onscreen saying linear pcm), but if i change it to optical it does say dolby digital but only 2.0 rather than 5.1?

Any help with the best way to sort the best sound?

If this would be better in the recievers section please feel free to move mods thanks

 

[grahamlthompson]

Hi all,

Have my system routed through the Sony str-dg820 reciever. Blu ray working perfectly with TrueHD audio working fine, and the Wii hooked up fine.

However my question is how to get the best sound from SkyHD with this amp?

Iv read endless posts but am still confused I have the sky box connected by Cat2 HDMI and and optical lead both into the amp. Sky box is set to dolby. I know sky broadcasts in 2 channel. If i have the A.F.D mode set to auto it just runs the front left and right and sub, if i add a surround effect or change it to multi channel i get an even sound from the rears and fronts and dialogue from the centre. The input on the amp is set to auto for sky which maybe keeps using the hdmi (and therefore 2channel? But its scrolls onscreen saying linear pcm), but if i change it to optical it does say dolby digital but only 2.0 rather than 5.1?

Any help with the best way to sort the best sound?

If this would be better in the recievers section please feel free to move mods thanks

Dolby Digital on a Sky box is only available on the optical spdif not on hdmi. Some BBC HD transmissions are DD5.1 or DD2.0. The BBC HD preview loop is DD5.1 and has a 6 channel output test

 

[Cloverleaf]

You need to set the input on the amp to optical. If you are getting 2 channel Dolby ok, then you will get 5.1 but only on programmes that are broadcast in it !

All Sky HD movies are broadcast in 5.1 for instance.

 

[adamfernadam]

Cheers graham and cloverleaf,

So if i set the amp to assign optical for audio when its on sky mode then LPCM is lit up, and do i just use this with say the dolby prologic II setting to create more surround on standard def channels? Should it change to 5.1 when watching BBC HD or some of the HD movies if ijust leave it set to optical input?

When watching standard def channels with the A.D.F set to auto and with no prologic turned on the it is just running the front left and rights which sounds pretty flat without the rears or centre

 

[Beddie]

Cheers graham and cloverleaf,

So if i set the amp to assign optical for audio when its on sky mode then LPCM is lit up, and do i just use this with say the dolby prologic II setting to create more surround on standard def channels? Should it change to 5.1 when watching BBC HD or some of the HD movies if ijust leave it set to optical input?

When watching standard def channels with the A.D.F set to auto and with no prologic turned on the it is just running the front left and rights which sounds pretty flat without the rears or centre

If you want pro-logic II then leave the setting as esurround. This will turn 2 channels into multichannel using PLII. If it receives a DD5.1 signal it then ignores PLII and gives you the proper 5.1 sound i.e it always give the best decoding available.

 

[adamfernadam]

Thanks beddie,

yeah iv just tried it and when on BBc HD or an HD movie it changes to 3/2.1 (5.1) so it works that way now iv set it to optical input.

When only on 2 channel it is on the esurround option that uses pro logic II giving multichannel as i think it fills the room better..

as my setup is 5.1 and not 7.1 do you think this option is best or should i try another?