DTS drop in sound detail on Denon receiver

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Hey guys, I have a big problem with my current home cinema setup ! First the hardware detail before I go into the problem : A Sony DVP-S525D dvd player A Denon 2802 receiver 6.1 speaker setup with Celestion speakers at the front and B&W in wall speakers at the back What's the problem, well, I have a huge drop in sound detail when I play DTS dvd's !! Each time there is an action packed scene with lots of music effects, the sound level ( and detail ) seem to drop ! Just like the receiver can't cope with the total amount of info. It just sounds dull !! I don't have this behavour with Dolby Digital sound... An example, movie Batman - begins, the first time he goes into the bat cave the bats begin to fly around Bruce Wayne, well it doesn't have any impact !!! And I'm guessing it should though. Any thoughts, suggestions ? Greets Glenn

 

[Anonymous]

Ok, I have a Pioneer DV565D DVD player from 2001 and a Denon AVC A10SE also from 2001. I recently upgraded the digital link from player to amp to a Coaxial QED HDT608 and the detail is vastly improved from the optical cable it replaced.

I have always found that on disks with both DD and DTS soundtracks, the DTS is much quieter and sounds quite different. On some disks the DTS sounds good but mostly it's nothing like the DD soundtrack. DD is sharper, brighter and DTS can sound like someone has thrown a rug over the hifi. Wierd. But, on a good disk with a good DTS soundtrack like U2 Live in Chicago, the DTS soundtrack is very interesting to listen to, quieter so you have to turn the amp up a bit, but more refined and subtle.

I'd love to hear other people's views. When I upgrade the DVD player to one far far more capable I'll let you know if it was the DVD player all along struggling with DTS as I may well go for a combination of multichannel analogue outs with the digital connection as well and see what effect this has! The Denon AVC A10SE was a fab amp in it's day so should still be good, but we'll see!

 

[Anonymous]

Hey Will ! That remark with the rug thrown over the hifi, is just the right metaphor !!

But I always thought the DTS sound should sound better then the DD counterpart... at least have more detail ?

 

[Anonymous]

It carries sound at a higher bit rate so it should do.

Does anyone out there know the technical ins and outs of the format and be willing to explain?

 

[Anonymous]

I got this from someone else :

**
D.COMP. (Dynamic Range Compression):
Motion picture soundtracks have tremendous dynamic range (the contrast between very soft and very loud sounds). For
listening late at night, or whenever the maximum sound level is lower than usual, the Dynamic Range Compression allows you to hear all of the sounds in the soundtrack (but with reduced dynamic range). (This only works when playing program
sources recorded in Dolby Digital or DTS.) Select one of the four parameters ("OFF", "LOW", "MID" (middle) or "HI" (high)). Set to OFF for normal listening.
This parameter is displayed only when playing compatible sources in DTS mode.
**

I'm going to check this setting while playing DTS ! To see if this has any effect !

 

[Anonymous]

Interesting, will check this out when I'm back at home!

 

[Anonymous]

Bad news... the noice compression was turned off, maining the 'best' sound should come through...
I'm lost a bit now 🙁

On the other hand, I haven't played with any of the other settings either, maybe there is a way to set my receiver better ?
Any suggestions on those tone levels ??

I would love to have a Denon expert at my home to check the problem 😉