Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners dd 5.1 processing responsibility

Hi.

i have the M22s, VP150, and QS8s connected to the LPA-1. digital coax from HD-A1 to the LMC-1.

My questions:

how do I let the LMC-1 do the processing of DD 5.1? what settings in tha HD-A1 and what settings in LMC-1?

how do I let the HD-A1 do the processing of DD 5.1? what settings in tha HD-A1 and what settings in LMC-1?

Thank you,
Rodney

The A1 speaker settings are for the six channel analogue outputs only. Just make sure you have either auto or bitstream selected for SPIDF output on the A1 and let your audio processor deal with the data stream. You should also run analogue cables to your processor from the A1 and give that a try. You will get pure uncompressed PCM sound via analogue and it’s considerably better than SPIDF. If you want to try that, post back and I’ll tell help you set it up.

mdrew,

Thanks. Yes, I want to try it. That's why I posted I wanted to be able to compare. Please instruct me.

I just wasn't very impressed with the QS8s last night, and thought maybe I am setting something wrong, which happens all the time.

I played the beginning of the "Cars" movie, and the surround was blah, whereas on a friend's system with cheaper htib speakers the same scenes sounded good.

The way I tried it last night was with "Bitstream" set on the HD-A1 and "PLx2 movie" set on the LMC-1 processor. The display on the LMC-1 also said "Dolby Digital 3/2+LFE." I also did a test from the THX optimizer in the movie menu and all the channels were coming in correctly.

I had the QS8s about 2.5' above my ears and about 2 feet behind my ears. 2 feet between the QS8s and the back wall.

Thanks for the help again,
Rodney

I don't think you want it set to PL2. If there's a setting for just dolby digital, that's the one you should use.

Yes, I would have thought so, too. I cycled through all the DD options in the LMC-1. The Dolby Modes are:
3-ch
PL2x Music
PL2x Movie
PL2x Matrix

and maybe another one, I can't remember.

Thanks,
Rodney

PLIIx will recognize any DD stream and apply whatever processes required, whether it be 5.1, 5.1 + EX or if you have a 7.1 system and it needs to matrix the back channels. DD PLIIx is my default for all my digital sources.

The Toshiba’s 5.1 outputs are always live and you don’t need to turn anything on to get them to work.

For the analogue channel set up, you need some cables (obviously). In the A1’s set up menu, set all the speakers to “small” with an 80 X-over. Next, set all the distances (add about 6 feet to the sub) and then set the channel DB levels to 0.

Next you will want to find the Outlaw’s 7.1 direct channel adjustment menu. I don’t know this receiver, but darn near every receiver on the market now has the ability to adjust your 7.1 direct channels to some degree. I’d be very surprised if Outlaw doesn’t. Some will only allow you to change all speakers but the mains, while others let you change everything. If you can’t change the mains, you adjust all others to match them.

When / if you find this menu, put in the Avia disk and get your Radio Shack meter. Go through the test tones and bump the speaker setting up / down as needed.

That is how I got the best results with my Toshiba X1 anyway. I tried setting the mains to large and had horrible results. I tried all the different x-over points in the player and 80 seamed to work the best, but you might want to mess with them some.

Don’t worry about the LFE bouncing around. That’s normal. Make sure your meter is set to C and a “slow” response. I like to get it about 2-3 higher than the rest of the speakers as it cycles back and forth between the sub and the speaker. If you find that the speaker is considerably higher that the LFE, change the crossover setting. They should all be pretty close. That’s what this test is for.

When you get the analogue outputs set up right, you should have no trouble whatsoever noticing a HUGE difference.

Yes, add about 6’. That’s a good rule of thumb to compensate for the sub’s amp/electronic interface delay.

Make sure that we are talking about the same thing with setting up your channels. The multi channel direct is usually set up in a different menu than the regular speaker set up. The reason being is that with the direct inputs, the receiver’s internal processor and DAC’s are bypassed. The receiver is dealing with analogue signals (which is what you get from the A1’s outputs). The ‘regular’ speaker set up menu is for the digital audio inputs which get routed through the receiver’s DAC’s and base management. In order to apply surround processing, base management and delays, the signal needs to be digital. Adjusting the channel output level can be done to either digital or analogue. That’s why you need to find out what your receiver will do with the analogue inputs. Some receivers will actually convert them back to digital, then process them, then convert them back to analogue.

Clear as mud?

Rodney,

Keep us updated on this please. I am not too happy with my QS8s either but I think it's because I had direct radiators for my surrounds before and now I can't get used to the diffuse sound. And perhaps with my room being very live, this makes things worse too. I know that they are definitely working and DVD-As in 5.1 surround sound great but I don't get that surround effect with movies that I did with my previous speakers.

LOL! I know exactly what you mean, Mojo. My first surround system utilized diffusing surround speakers. I later had occasion to switch to direct radiating speakers as surrounds, and I really didn't like it. I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with diffusing surrounds or direct radiating surrounds. It often comes down to simply being accustomed to what you first heard.

Rodney, I'm not familiar with the Emotiva stuff and haven't had a chance to study it for your question, but playing a DVD with DD audio doesn't use DPLII(or x)for a 5.1 speaker setup. The DPLII expands two channel CDs to 5 speakers, and DPLIIx further expands either two or five channel material to seven speakers(if present). So, for your 5.1 speaker setup no form of DPLII is used with DVDs for DD, just straight DD.

This is a known (and irritating) flaw with the LMC-1. If it is receiving a Dolby Digital (AC-3) stream, you have to manually select the processing from the menu. The 'DOLBY' button will not allow you to specify 'DOLBY DIGITAL' processing.

Try changing to 'DOLBY DIGITAL' from the main menu, it should work then. The DOLBY button is useless when you're playing a digital source. Also, whenever you move from a digital PCM source, to DD2.0 or 5.1, the LMC-1 *may* decide to change processing modes, seemingly on its own, and sometimes it will not allow you to select modes that it should support.

I'm 'demoing' a LMC-1 at home right now. I can appreciate the sound quality, but it's quirks are maddening.

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Yes, I would have thought so, too. I cycled through all the DD options in the LMC-1. The Dolby Modes are:
3-ch
PL2x Music
PL2x Movie
PL2x Matrix

and maybe another one, I can't remember.

Thanks,
Rodney

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