7.1 surround sound problem

[nugget2014]

Hi

when i first bought my cambridge audio minx min11's i could quite easily tell apart effects that were to the left and right of me but now a few months later i have stopped really noticing. it kind of sounds like a 3.1 setup. my left and right are boosted by about 3db each so i can actually hear them as i have the bass eqed +10db

the surround back left and right are different altogether. i havent heard them being used effectively yet in a 7.1 film since i've had them. which is weird because i can close my eyes during the av receiver test tones and hear them all properly in different locations. and the surround backs are boosted +10db (and still cant really pick out effects from them in films)

i use the sony str-dn1040 av receiver and use a.f.d auto when watching films.

any help would be appreciated.

 

[The_Lhc]

What's the AV amp displaying when playing films and what have you got your blu-ray player set to output, bitstream or pcm?

 

[BIGBERNARDBRESSLAW]

A.F.D Auto presents the sound as it was recorded/encoded, so the obvious question to ask is, has the disc you are playing got a 7.1 soundtrack, and have you selected it on the disc?

http://www.manualslib.com/manual/475989/Sony-Str-Dn1040.html?page=55

http://www.manualslib.com/manual/475989/Sony-Str-Dn1040.html?page=56#manual

 

[nugget2014]

yes. for example all 3 hobbit films are the most recent 7.1 films i have watched. and the blu ray player im not sure. i think its pcm? i know i had the right setting as i checked before. its not like theres nothing playing through the speakers. as i can hear them playing music/effecs upon moving close to them. although at the seating position its a bit different. i dont know what the problem is. do you think boosted bass will drown out the surround effects making it hard to hear?

i was thinking of turning the bass down 10db but turning sound optimizer on (which also boosts bass too) the effect says it plays effects that are more apparent at higher volumes (even at lower volumes) or is this setting a bad idea? i've tried it on and off before. i can post a photo of the room showing all 4 surround speakers if this will help. maybe i need to move them to get optimal results.

 

[bigboss]

Surrounds will never be as loud as the fronts and centre. Their purpose is to create an effect of surround sound.

 

[The_Lhc]

yes. for example all 3 hobbit films are the most recent 7.1 films i have watched. and the blu ray player im not sure. i think its pcm?

Arguably it should be set to bitstream.

 

[nugget2014]

Well the surround effect is pointless if I can't hear it. I'll try and tweak some settings see if helps.

 

[Series1boy]

Now I may be wrong here, but when I had my pioneer lx 70 receiver on my 7.1 speaker system, the display on the reciver showed Dolby trueHD etc, and I t wouldn't go through all 7.1. I had to set the reciever to also show pro logic 11z at the end of Dolby HD but It's a few years now since I had this reciever and I only have a 5.1.2 atmos on a ne Denon x4100 beacuse we moved house and I couldn't get the extra 2 rear surrounds in due to the setup of the room.

also, when I did the test tone setup, it would go through all 7.1 fine but wouldn't when I played a 7.1 BD... So I had to mess around as above and also you need it setting to bitstream.

i hope this helps in some way...

 

[nugget2014]

theres no setting on my blu ray player to choose from PCM or bitstream. i double checked through all settings. here are the audio settings:

digital audio output (it's on auto, other option is PCM)

BD Audio Mix Setting (set whether to mix interactive audio and output) it's set to on.

Dolby D compatible output (set wether to convert DTS audio to dolby digital for output) it's off, this is the one im most confused about. what should it be set to? and what does it really do?

Audio DRC (set the sound effect when playing BD or dvd) it's set to auto

Downmix (set whether to apply dolby surround to the output signal) it's set to surround, other option is stereo.

 

[The_Lhc]

theres no setting on my blu ray player to choose from PCM or bitstream. i double checked through all settings. here are the audio settings:

digital audio output (it's on auto, other option is PCM)

BD Audio Mix Setting (set whether to mix interactive audio and output) it's set to on.

Turn that off.

Dolby D compatible output (set wether to convert DTS audio to dolby digital for output) it's off, this is the one im most confused about. what should it be set to? and what does it really do?

leave that off. It does exactly what it says, converts dts to Dolby digital for devices that can't deal with dts, such as the Sonos Playbar.

 

[nugget2014]

so i turn off the dolby d compatible output and bd audio mixing, and leave digital audio output on auto? i switched it to PCM to see if its any different. and it was quiter when i tested with tv speakers. i guess auto is best for that one.

 

[bigboss]

Yes, leave it on Auto.

 

[naughty573]

as stated above AFD auto is to leave the audio settings exactly as thye were encoded without any change and PCM makes the source do the decoding and the AVR just plays that ..... but if you have it set to bitstream then the audio passes through to the AVR and the DAC in the AVR does the decoding and you can set the AVR to Dolby Pro-Logic 11x (movie) which will allow the rear surrounds to matrix from the rear speaker output

You may have a very low amount of output from those rear surround speakers so you should run the autosetup to make sure that the levels and distances are corrected and go on from there .... I also have a STR-DN1040 but i have dipole rears and rear surrounds so i get a crazy rear soundstage - in fact in the sweet spot it sounds way better than most actual cinema's (note i say better not louder or more powerful) and my surround effects are not only noiceable buut they are also extremly enjoyable.

Most people who have listened to my setup actually say that the soundstage makes the room sound as if it is a way larger space than it really is especially in native 7.1 movies - and even when using matrix effects to make a 5.1 movie play in 7.1 mode it still sounds pretty great with the dipoles making everything really diffuse .... so i suppose it also depends on the type of speakers as well as positioning of those speakers that makes the system sound effective