Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater WHAT AM i DOIwhat am i doing wrong??? (help)

I just hooked up everything in a new location. The first time I have gone with 7.1 I used to have 5.1, I know there are not really 7.1 recordings, but I get NOTHING from my rears. The QS-8s are now side surrounds and the m-22s are my rears. I have the Yam rx-v-1500. When I run it in multi-channel 6.1 discreete, no sound from rears. When I go out of multi-channel, and into the various soundfields THX, cinema, etc. No rears. In 7 channel stereo everything plays fine. When I put in a SACD (in multi-channel) I get 5.1 like it should, but with the sides again, no sound from the rears. In a 7.1 set-up don't I get sound from the rears and the side surrounds???? I have defined the receiver as a 7 speaker set-up in the SET-UP mode, need help. Thanks

I'm probably no help at all, but try running your test tones and see what happens.
Thats where I'd start.

I think you need to force the receiver into one of the 7 channel matrix modes -- Dolby Digital EX or DTS ES. Haven't played with a Yamaha 1500 but I imagine if you just keep pushing surround buttons you'll eventually get sound out the back speakers. Here's a brief blurb from one of Alan's articles :

"Recently, Dolby Labs added an extra channel to its Dolby Digital 5.1 channel scheme and called it Dolby Digital EX. Not to be outdone, DTS came up with its own version, DTS-ES. If your receiver has these modes, it will decode the small but growing number of movie soundtracks encoded with a back surround channel reproduced by one or two speakers behind the listener. If one, it’s called a "6.1"-channel system; if two, a "7.1"-channel setup. The idea of this extra channel(s) is to provide a more immersive listening experience and greater realism with more convincing surround effects. While the extra channel is not a truly discrete digital channel, it nonetheless will deliver a more seamless surround effect and better coverage, especially in larger rooms. If your receiver is equipped with Dolby Digital EX and DTS ES decoding, and you’ve added the extra one or two speakers at the back, when you play a DVD movie that’s been mixed for EX or ES, the receiver will automatically decode the extra information. You don’t have to do anything (this is good). And even if you play a standard 5.1-channel movie, your receiver will automatically extrapolate information for the extra one or two rear speakers. There is a further wrinkle with DTS, an ES mode called "ES Discrete". Some newer discs so-encoded deliver six entirely discrete channels plus a subwoofer channel. (With Dolby Digital EX, the extra channel is "matrixed"; DTS also has an ES-Matrix mode.)"

http://www.axiomaudio.com/archives/surroundsound.html

Apologies if you have already tried these modes, wasn't sure from your post. Good luck !!

There is a setting on my Denon that allows you to change all 5.1 sources into matrix 6.1 mixes. However, you have to activate it. Otherwise it presents all 5.1 movies as just that, 5.1.

SACD and DVD-Audio are only 5.1. Since the DVD player does the processing and not the reciever, it only has 6 (5.1) outputs. What a lot of people do, however, is put the surround channels from the DVD-A and SACD player into the back surround inputs on the reciever. This is because the M22's are closer to the spec listed (direct radiating speakers) for the two music formats.

This may not apply to your receiver, but on my H/K, the 6 and 7th channel amps (and speaker connections) can be used as Zone 2 outs. You have to change this in the on screen menu so you get channel 6 and 7 (6.1 or 7.1).

thanks, test tones fire on all speakers, also allowing for individual DB + or - I guess I always thought that running fronts, ceneter, sides, and rears (and subs) would all blend together using different decoding options on the receiver, Am I wrong. Is this why 7.1 is not a real viable option - YET!

Hold on... just downloading the manual for the Yammie 1500. I'm guessing the receiver isn't quite smart enough to think "hmmm... 5 channels coming in, 7 speakers, guess I need one of those fancy decoding modes"

I'm assuming the reciever knows you have 7 speakers, ie the back speakers are set to "small" or "large", not "none" ? Sometimes receivers will happily send test tones to speakers they don't know about...

>>When I put in a SACD (in multi-channel) I get 5.1 like it should, but with the sides again, no sound from the rears.

There is an "extended surround" button on the remote to enable the back channels :

- set Amp / Source / TV to "Amp"

- press "Extd.Sur" on the remote to switch between 5.1 and 6.1/7.1 channel playback

- to select a decoder press left/right arrows repeatedly...

Does this make any sense ?

Hope this helps...

JB

Jon,it isn't clear what all you've tried, but one point on SACD which Andy(snippy)mentioned is that it has no more than 5.1 at most. The processing to create 7.1 sound out of 5.1 or less input has to be done digitally. Since SACD/DVD-A comes in on the 6-channel analog inputs, it can't be processed to 7.1. Have you carefully followed the procedure for 6.1/7.1 described on p.36 of the manual? If so, are you sure that absolutely no sound is coming from the back speakers, since the back surround effects can be relatively subtle.

I second what JohnK said that sound from the back speakers CAN be subtle. They are obviously working if you can hear test tones through them; however, you still may need to calibrate if you haven't done that yet so that the rear speakers are outputting at the same level as the others. Also, since most EX and ES encoded DVD's aren't flagged correctly, your receiver won't switch to EX or ES mode automatically with them; so, you will have to do it manually by pressing the 5.1/6.1 button on the remote. Give an action DVD you know to be in EX or ES a shot. Hope that helps.

BTW, HERE is a link to all the current titles encoded with EX and ES surround.

Put in a Lord of the Rings movie, tons of back surround noise, almost constant.

I really think you just need to tell your receiver to decode to 6.1.