I’m an old guy who needs the Dolby center channel to hear voices on TV and for movies. I have a standard play Panasonic DVD-S29 player and a new Sony DG710 receiver. The Panasonic player has an audio coax output plug and the receiver has a DVD audio coax input port. I have set the player in accordance with the instructions which only tell you to set the audio menu to “PCM” and use 48kHz or 96Khz. I have tried both but still no sound through the receiver. The cable box is connected to the receiver via HDMI and the receiver is connected to the TV via HDMI. The DVD player is connected directly to the TV via component cables. The TV gets Dolby just fine. The video from the DVD player is just fine. The sound from the DVD player works if you hook it up to the TV with stereo cables. Panasonic Email support said to contact the TV manufacturer. Go figure. Sony Email support said to be sure that the DVD button was pushed on the remote and confirmed that the DVD video did not have to be connected through the receiver via component cables; i.e. direct connection to the TV was OK. I guess I could buy an upconvert DVD player and use the HDMI connection on the receiver but I’m over budget already. Can anyone help this old fella? Thanks
To get DD and DTS, you need to set the dvd player's audio output to "Bitstream", not PCM. Your receiver also needs to be set to "Auto" or "Digital Auto", so it will automatically detect DD. If there's a DTS soundtrack, you'll need to manually choose that, in the movie's menus. Also, is the digital coax input, on back of receiver, assigned to the dvd?
BINGO! Worked right away on a 5.1 DVD. Why the hell did the Panasonic book say to use PCM? Just about as screwed up as their Email response to contact the TV Manufacturer. The Digital Audio Coax port is dedicated to DVD. It says so on the back. I don't see a setting mentioned in the Sony receiver book but it recognized the Dolby Digital 5.1 Audio on the CD by itself. As to DTS, I haven't been concentrating on that although I know it is an alternate format. Pick it from the movie menu you say? Can you think of a recent movie which has it as a choice? I'll rent it and give it a try. Many, many thanks for your prompt and very helpful advice. Retirement is great; no pressure, no hassles, etc. but also no place to go talk to people when you have a technical or computer question.
Ghost Rider, with Nicholas Cage, has a DTS soundtrack on it. DTS soundtracks are usually in the menus under "Language" or "Audio Setup". A lot of people, me included, prefers the DTS track, over the DD track. The extended editions of the Lord Of The Rings trilogy are 6.1 DTS, but play very well even on a 5.1 system. Flyboys is another good movie with DTS. You said it did it by itself, so you're good to go. Who knows? Of course, most people don't have surround sound systems, so stereo is all they need. You can come here........... )
