Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions Newbie to Analog....have some questions

Hi all,

Over this past weekend I got a sweet deal on a Denon 756 DVD Player. Anyway, I was under the impression that only sources coded a certain way could utilize the 5.1 analog outputs. Specifically SACD. I currently don't own any SACD's but that will be changing very soon.

I do however own some DVD Audio discs. This is where my confusion comes in......I can hear audio out of both the Analog inputs and the Coaxial Digital cable. In fact, any DVD I use I can select either the Digital input or the Analog and sound comes out. I went into the Denon's menu and adjusted the speaker levels and distance etc. for the Analog output. I also adjusted the levels in my Harman Kardon 435. Still I get sound from either source. The difference is night and day however....the coaxial digital sound is much better than the analog...on the analog I have to crank up the volume to hear it and it doesn't sound that good even at high SPLs.

Should I always select digital inputs for regular DVDs and DVD audio discs?

If so, then the analog should only be used for SACDs...?

Also, I have a selection for PCM...when/what is this for?

Please help a newb enjoy the fruits of this fine Denon player!

and yes, I have the analog inputs hooked up correctly with RCA connects......


Thanks for the help!!

Ok, well I guess nobody has an SACD/DVD Audio player here. I went over to the Outlaw Saloon and got some answers and the rest I figured out on my own. Basically I had to change some settings on both my receiver and the DVD player so they each could talk to one another and agree on which signal they wanted to play.

Let me tell you.....DVD Audio is awesome! Even my wife commented how much better it sounded. I'm excited to hear what SACD has to offer.

My advice to anyone buying a multi-format player is to read the manual for both your pre/pro (receiver) and the player. I know it is obvious but some of these finer details are buried in the manuals, not easily and logically presented.

I hope my experience has helped someone who reads this.....

Enjoy the music!!...and the movies!

Sorry I couldn't help you. I am in the market for a new player so I don't know too much about SACD at this time.

I would be curious to hear back from you about the differences between DVD-A and SACD. Enjoy.

Sorry I couldn't help with the technical stuff, as far as SACD and DVDA is concerned I've always thought SACD sounded better so you may be suprised once you listen to some SACD's. A couple of my favorites in SACD are Pink Floyd's DSOTM and Dire Straits Brothers In Arms, both are stellar.

Many users have problems with weak bass when playing multi-channel SACD and DVD-A discs. Speaker level & balance (inc'l SWFR) should be calibrated separately for both digital sources such as Dolby 5.1 PLUS analog sources such as multi-ch SACD and DVD-A. You can't rely on the pink noise generator in amplifiers or even the player, as the signal path is different between that and playing actual material. Unfortunately there's not a widely available SACD/DVD-A calibration disc.

However since DVD-A has a Dolby 5.1 compatibility track, you can set the Denon player to "DVD video", play the DVD-A disc, and listen to the relative main vs SWFR output levels when playing music in DD 5.1 mode. Then set the player back to "DVD audio", and the DVD-A disc will play in high-resolution format. The SWFR level in that format should be at least as loud (relative to the main channels) as when playing the DD 5.1 version of the same music. If bass is weak, turn up the SWFR gain on your amp, player or both.

Unfortunately the DVD-757 player has attenuate-only output trims (not boost). You can gain more SWFR boost by setting the 5 main channels in the player to (say) -6db, leaving the SWFR trim at 0db, and turning up the amp master volume a bit.

As already stated two of the best surround albums are Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon, and Dire Strait's Brothers in Arms (which won a Grammy for best surround album).

Other very high quality surround albums are:

Fleetwood Mac - Rumours (DVD-A)
The Eagles - Hotel California (DVD-A)
Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (SACD)
Roxy Music - Avalon (SACD)

Unfortunately it now appears surround music will only be a marginal format, and may even end up like quadrophonic (the failed 4-channel surround system from the 1970s). The industry screwed up by having a format war (SACD vs DVD-A) in a technology that was difficult enough to bootstrap, anyway. The problem was worsened by poor standardization, documentation, and support.

Good post. I wasn't aware of these details. And thanks for the music references.

I 2nd the Eagles. Not a huge fan but that's a good disc. Norah Jones is good too, if you can find it.