Sony BDP-S570 and 1080i TV through STR-DA2400ES

[Diet]

Hi guys,

I'm the happy, recent owner of a Sony STR-DA2400ES AVR and have it working well with my old Denon DVD-1920 through component + digital co-ax. I have just taken delivery today of a Sony BDP-S570, and I'm trying to get a heads-up on any potential problems I may have, given that the TV I'm using is a many-years-old Pioneer 50" that supports 720p/1080i only. Will I be able to somehow limit my new Blu-Ray player to 1080i output through the HDMI into the receiver? I understand that the STR-DA2400ES doesn't up- or downscale anything it receives by HDMI so I don't think I can control it from that end.

All advice greatly appreciated. I'm hoping it will all work seamlessly, but to save hassles tonight, I would be very grateful if anyone can offer me some wisdom/insights to make it easier to plug-in and set-up tonight

Thanks in advance,

Martin

 

[StevieBuck]

You can normally set the maximum video output resolution for your TV within the player's menu. I don't imagine you'll have any problems with that.

If you want to bitstream HD audio to your receiver from the Blu-ray player, make sure "BD Audio MIX Setting" is off.

 

[Diet]

You can normally set the maximum video output resolution for your TV within the player's menu. I don't imagine you'll have any problems with that.

If you want to bitstream HD audio to your receiver from the Blu-ray player, make sure "BD Audio MIX Setting" is off.

Thanks for that. Sure enough, plugged it all in and I have a 1080i output option! Happy

Only problem is, I can't seem to get the DTS-HD sent out to the receiver. Whether I have the audio mix set to on or off on the S570, it still just lists it as Linear PCM 48 on the DA2400ES. I flicked between the two and then chose the Blu-Ray from the menu again and re-started it, and still no change. Is there anything else I should do? It sounds like it's probably surround, and I think the LPCM 48 means that it is, but I'd like to off-load the decoding to the receiver.

One other quick question, if anyone can help ... my sub is REALLY boomy with the only Blu-Ray I own through this setup. I was watching Iron Man 2 at -10db with a Wharfedale Diamond 9.1 HCP, which means 9.1 bookshelfs front and rear, a 9.cc center and a SW150 sub. It set up fine with the auto-calibration of the receiver with supplied mic, but the big climax to the film had me turning the volume down to -20db and putting night-mode on, and still finding it boomy. Please excuse my ignorance here; if I'm doing something silly, please do tell me! Is it just that my sub can't cope, or is there something I can do to fix it?

 

[StevieBuck]

Is the "Audio (HDMI)" option set to Auto? If it's set to PCM, then obviously you will only get PCM audio from the HDMI connection. That's the only other setting I can think of that could be causing this. I take it you're currently getting mutli channel PCM audio, and not just stereo PCM?

Check that all the speakers are all set to 'small' on the receiver, and that the crossover setting for each is set correctly (should be set no lower than the lowest frequency they can handle). After doing that, set the output control on the subwoofer itself to about halfway, then enable the test tone on the receiver. Each speaker and the subwoofer should emit the tone at the same volume. If any speaker is louder or quieter than the others adjust the levels accordingly from the receiver. If you do this, your subwoofer should be set up correctly. If the subwoofer still sounds boomy though, turning down the level on it or even placing it elsewhere in the room may help.

 

[Diet]

HDMI audio definitely set to auto. I don't know if I'm getting multi-channel. I think so, but don't know conclusively. I wasn't sure that simply hearing a sound out of the rear speakers meant it was definitely not stereo?

I auto-calibrated my receiver, but when I did so initially (with the sub volume set to half-way) it pumped the sub up to the max of +10db compensation, and a distance of 10m (?) - compared to the real 3m - as it wasn't loud enough. When I turned it up to about 80% volume it stopped being +10 and put it back to 0 (?) and also correctly calculated the distance. I did set the speakers to small after doing this, and adjusted the crossovers down from the auto-calibrated 110/120 for the front+surround/centre to 80/100. I did this based upon what little understanding I have of how it works, and based upon the information below (taken from the PDF).

The crossover on the amp, when doing all this, was set to one notch below maximum which is either 75 or 80 ... couldn't see clearly enough to tell.

Please advise on whether I'm doing this right.

I'll try again with the Blu-Ray output options, to see if a fresh day makes things work better!

 

[StevieBuck]

The receiver will have several sound processing modes (such as Pro Logic II) which can up-mix stereo sources to 5.1. So it could be the case that you’re just be getting stereo audio and the receiver is up-mixing it to 5.1 for you.

If you put the receiver into the ‘AFD Auto’ listening mode, it won’t up-mix any surround sound signals. So if you get sound out of the rear speakers while in this mode then it probably is a multi-channel signal you are getting. The speaker indicator lights on the receiver will also tell you if it’s a stereo signal as only the front left/right speaker indicators will be on in this mode.


I’d probably ditch the auto-calibration settings altogether on the receiver, and just set up the distances/crossovers/levels yourself.

According to the screenshots you posted, the centre speaker can handle frequencies down to 80Hz - so the crossover value for it on the receiver should never be below 80Hz. The fronts/rears can handle down to 50 Hz, and so again you shouldn’t set the crossover for them on the receiver to anything lower than that. You could set independent crossovers for the centre/surround speakers (i.e 50 for the surrounds, 80 for the centre), but to start with I’d set them all to 80Hz to begin with. 80Hz is a good starting value for just about any set up.

Once you have the crossover values set, and the correct distances programmed in, run through what I said in my last post regarding using the test tone to set the speaker levels. Keep the volume control on the sub to about halfway as I said before, but something I forgot to mention earlier is that the crossover setting on the subwoofer itself should be set to the highest value possible. It’s only there if you are using the subwoofer with an amplifier that doesn’t have built-in crossover settings.

 

[Diet]

Definitely no surround sound. Blue light works with V+ box with optical out (after a little work) do I know the amp can cope with it, but no blue light, only two speakers showing, and no sound from surrounds despite my best efforts. I think my Blu-Ray player may be broken??

 

[StevieBuck]

In the HDMI Settings Menu on the receiver, is the Audio Out setting set to "AMP" or "TV+AMP"? If it's set to "TV+AMP", it can prevent you from getting multi-channel audio from HDMI sources.

That's the only other thing I can think of that can be causing this.

 

[Diet]

In the HDMI Settings Menu on the receiver, is the Audio Out setting set to "AMP" or "TV+AMP"? If it's set to "TV+AMP", it can prevent you from getting multi-channel audio from HDMI sources.

That's the only other thing I can think of that can be causing this.

Definitely set to AMP only (I optimistically changed it back from AMP+TV, but it made no difference).

Am at the end of my tether here. The problem is, I don't know what to send back. I don't have a spare HD amp or Blu-Ray player to swap in/out to test with!!

 

[StevieBuck]

I don't have a V+ box, but I'm fairly sure you can output 5.1 audio from that via it's HDMI connection (think you need to set this in the menu).

That would let you check if the HDMI (receiver end) is working.

 

[Diet]

V+ is working via optical. Not a problem there!!

 

[StevieBuck]

I said to try the V+ box via HDMI though, not optical. If it gives you 5.1 with HDMI then you can narrow the problem down to the Blu-ray player.

 

[Diet]

I didn't think it actually carried surround over the HDMI (newish Samsung version), but I'll certainly try it

 

[Diet]

Discussing this further with a work colleague, we realised the potential significance of the fact that the display shows "Linear PCM 48" regardless of whether the BD Audio Mix is set to on or off in the player, and neither gives surround sound. Is this relevant?

 

[Diet]

Some success, at least in terms of diagnosing the fault. I borrowed my girlfriend's brother-in-law's PS3 this evening and plumbed it in via HDMI. I set it up to bitstream HD audio and sure enough I get the blue light and the surround sound DTS-HD from my Iron Man 2 Blu-Ray. I can only assume therefore, given that I've done a factory reset and then made sure I have all the right settings ticked, that I have something wrong with my Blu-Ray player. I even used the same HDMI cable to connect to the PS3 as I was using with my BDP-S570.

Does my assumption seem correct? Should I just send it back to Amazon, or is it worth contacting someone at either Sony or Amazon first? Your opinion would be appreciated

 

[jhonne]

Hi,

I came across your post while googling the same problem, once I found it I felt I had to save you from optical only misery!

The solution is under the audio menu - decode priority. I set priority to Auto and hey presto - DTS-HD Master is mine!

Good luck,

jhonne

 

[Diet]

Thank you! Actually a little late, as I've now purchased a PS3 instead, which I am secretly quite pleased with, but it's good to know that it is possible to do it!