Forum - View topicSurround sound glitch.
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Tony K.
 SubscriberModerator  Posts: 11434 Location: Frisco, TX |
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A weird glitch has recently occurred in my Sony HT-DDW750 Home Theater System. This is the second time it's happened since I've had had it (2003) and I was wondering if anyone else has expereinced anything similar.
Last week I borrowed my friend's Wolf's Rain Vol.2 DVD and the first thing I did was look through the extras (since I've already seen the series on Adult Swim). And as I watched the interview with the cast and crew, my System did it's usual Auto Decoding for whatever sound mix that was currently being recieved. I don't remember if the actual interviews were in 5.1 Dolby Digital, but I remember seeing the graphic on the System itself saying that there was one (a 5.1 field) present. However, after finishing the interviews and wanting to hear the 2.0 DD mix for the Japanese track, I went to the set up menu, changed it, turned on the subs and yadda, yadda, but when I started watching the show, my System was now Auto Decoding the sound field as a 5.1, but at the same time.. not. I know this sounds weird, but what my system does is show a little light display on the little control screen of the box telling me when and what kind of sound fields it's detecting. There are five lights total (unless you include the sub woofer) and each light corresponds with respective speakers in use. On top of that, with other sound settings available on the System (for music, cinematic movie tracks, and so on) it sometimes has the letter for each speaker as well (L=left, R=right, etc.), and each speaker is positioned on the graphic as you would see them in my room. Now, the glitch I'm talking about is present in that although I had Wolf's Rain playing a 2.0 mix, the System was reading it as a "3/5" 5.1 field. I say "3/5," though, because the letters don't turn on for the rear speakers and are only present in the left, middle, and right front speakers (and of course the sub woofer). Funny thing is I put in other DVDs to see if it was just the System messing up or if the actual discs made a difference. And to my surprise it appears only Bandai DVDs are affected while every other disc plays totally normal. The first time this happend was when I watched .hack//SIGN. I originally was listening to the Japanese 2.0, but when I switched to the Isolated Score track (which I think is 5.1), it did that whole glitch thing and misdistibuted the sound for the entire length of the series (because .hack//SIGN is not 5.1 formatted). However, after a couple of months the System just suddenly went back to normal and hasn't had the same problem since then (until last week). While it's not totally annoying, I find this somewhat frustrating now because I just started watching the whole Seikai series on DVD and would've preferred the stronger sounding 2.0 mix rather than the watered down "3/5" 5.1 mix it's giving me now (Excellent series by the way, I'm on Banner of the Stars now, and I don't know how anyone can like the dub given that it's Blue Water  ).
So anyway, sorry for this seemingly long rant about glitchy surround sound. I just want any comments or opinions to see if I'm not the only one with this problem. Thanks! 
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Randall Miyashiro
 Posts: 2451 Location: A block away from Golden Gate Park |
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Although I'm not sure if I completely comprehend your situation, most receivers have an built in artificial decoding system. I might be a bit off since I've not used it in years, but I believe this was first created when Dolby labs invented Pro-Logic which would help pull apart the separate matrix surround signal into a stronger signal. A few years back Dolby introduced a Pro-Logic II which is vastly superior to DPL. I've used it whenever I've had a 3 channel source, like the WHR Dvds or the Sekai trilogy where the PLII chip does a great job with a real time 5.1 decoding. PLII did a great job translating the space combat scenes from Banner I into full surround. There is also DTS' Neo-6 format which also does a nice job pulling a 3.0 source into a 6.1 format, although the difference between Neo-6 and PL-II with SR on is hardly noticable. When I'm watching something with a 2.0 source, like Last Exile or Paranoia Agent I switch to either 7 Channel Stereo or PLII Music mode. Unfortunately 2 channels are to limited (IMO) to decipher into 5.1+ channels and to much empasis gets placed in the center channel. PL-II music mode allows you to select what percentage of the audio is directed to the center channel as well as how much emphasis gets placed in the front or rear. If all else fails, my Pioneer has a 7-Channel Stereo mode (I believe most receivers have something equivalent) which splits all the sound into stereo with equal emphasis from front to back. I believe this would over-ride any other DD encoding, and even disalble your sub-woofer.
If you have something that can toggle Pro-Logic on or off it might solve your problem. Although I do highly recommend PL-II, but nor old pro-logic for Sekai which I think is encoded 3 channel surround. Also, as a last resort, I believe that Sony factory pre-set can be obtained by holding the power button down for a number of seconds. |
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Tony K.
Subscriber Moderator Posts: 11434 Location: Frisco, TX |
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Wow. I never knew there were that many specifications involved.
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In any case, I've figured that it's doing the channel split for the front three speakers. I fiddled with every button on the remote to try and toggle the PLII that's on here and even held the power button, which had no effect. However, I also tried your suggestions of using different sound fields, and I'm happy to say that the PLII Movie and Music fields each convert the entire thing into a 5.1 field, which does wonders for the sound effects and really excellent music (I'm on Banner II now, by the way and am looking forward to III when it eventually comes out  , this is such a great series).
Anyway, I suppose I could just watch all my Bandai titles with these sound fields and adjust the surround and sub woofer levels accordingly until the System decides to go back to normal again . Thank you very much for your suggestions!
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