Panny d80 connection problems

[james67]

Posted this yesterday on another forum

"having a few audio connection problems , i'll be breif as i've been trying to sort this for the last two hours!
Connected player to lcd tv with hdmi.
Connected player to yamaha dsp e800 via anolouge output main spaekers , rears and center is with one run of cable (not using a sub)
test tone is ok but when i select the 5.1 or hd option on a blu ray menu rears are loud and no centre signal.
I can only increase the volume with the marantz amp and nothing can be adjusted with the yamaha either volume or speaker setting/volume etc.
Can anyone guide me throiugh this as i'm totaly frustrated now!"

 

[james67]

Anyone got any ideas , wondering if i',ve missed something in the settings somewhere?

 

[professorhat]

Okay, have you switched the Yamaha to external decoder mode (page 9 of the Yamaha manual)?

Have you switched the Dolby and DTS settings to PCM and the BD-Video Secondary Audio setting to Off on the BD80 (page 30 of the BD80 manual)? Have you checked the Analog Audio Output setting on the BD80 is 2Ch (Downmix) + 5.1 ch (page 31 of the BD80 manual)?

Have you gone through the Changing the speaker setting to suit your speakers section in the BD80 manual (page 33)? This is where all the speaker distance and levels should be set, not on the Yamaha.

 

[james67]

Just going to check all that now.

 

[james67]

I've set the initial settings as you suggested.

On the soound option is as follows

pcm down conversion: on

down mix:surround encoded

high clarity sound: disable.

Only issue i have now is setting the speaker setting i can set the rears to a certain level , same with the front but if i come out of that menu then go back in they (centre/rears) have reverted to -12db., can you only set them in a certain way I.E when using the test tone and then ok-ing and return.

I seem to be slowly getting somewhere , didn't have the yam set to external for a start!

 

[professorhat]

Unfortunately I don't actually own the BD80, but looking through the manual, that's what it suggests you should do i.e. using test tone, set the level and then click OK. Are you selecting Complete and pressing OK as it says at the very bottom of page 33?

 

[james67]

I'll try the complete bit , might actually help if i do it correctly!

 

[james67]

Well you seem to have sorted most of it for me rears are ok now , just need a bit of fine tuning .

Only issue is the centre , doesn't seem to be giving me anything when playing a disc.

Been trying to sort out the setup for two days and you sorted most of it for me in an hours , so a big thanks for that.

Seems a bit strange to use just one part of the phono lead for the centre though.

 

[professorhat]

Good stuff!

Yup, if you're not using the subwoofer then it will only need one of leads for the centre speaker. Does the centre make a noise okay with the test signal? Worth making sure it's wired correctly in phase i.e. red and black terminals on the actual speaker are connected correctly to red and black terminals on the amp.

 

[james67]

It should be wired up ok as i've been using the set for dvd for a good few years now.

And it gives a clear audible signal when using the test tone facility.

 

[professorhat]

Hmmm, is it definitely only the centre which isn't working when playing a movie (i.e. are the rears definitely working)? Going through the BD80 manual again, the only setting I can see which I've missed from this thread is under the HDMI Connection settings, HDMI Audio Output needs to be set to Off otherwise you may only get stereo output.

If it's not this, I'm at a bit of a loss. Just to be sure - the movie does have a 5.1 soundtrack...?

 

[james67]

Just set that to off , funny thing is it only occurs in hd sound format on one bit of the disc theres some earlier footage which is DTS and everything works ok with that.

Rears are ok with hd , just the centre.

Its the queen live montreal disc with a bit of live aid which is the dts that outputs ok.

 

[professorhat]

So setting the HDMI output to Off didn't help? Is it only that disc with the issue or all HD audio formats?

 

[james67]

Its the only disc(blu ray) that i own at the minute should have band of brothers by tonorrow though.

If that has the same issue then will probably give richer sounds a call , but you seem to have covered all the issues to be honest.

 

[professorhat]

Okay, my gut feeling is that the soundtrack just doesn't have any info on the centre channel, but let us know!

 

[james67]

"Okay, my gut feeling is that the soundtrack just doesn't have any info on the centre channel, but let us know!"

Strange if it hasn't as its from 1981 totaly cleaned up sound and picture.

If band of brothers arrives tomorrow then i'll see how that shapes up.

Thanks for your help as well much appreciated.

 

[Anonymous]

Sorry if this is obvious.

You are using the 6 channel input setting on the Yamaha to run this and letting the BD80 do all the decoding?

If you think it's a lack of info on the disc, swap one of the output/input leads around (Take one of the sides and put it to the centre feed) and if it works then it's lack of info, if it doesn't, you've got a fault.

 

[james67]

As in say the lead for one of the rears on the input on the yamaha.

Makes sense didn't think of that.

I'll give that a go in a bit just having break from it at the minute.

 

[professorhat]

My reasoning for that was it's a music disc - I would guess that it would therefore be best if there was no output on the centre channel for music to keep the stereo separation intact. Just a guess though, I could well be wrong.

As Duffy says though, easiest way to tell instantly would be to swap one of the leads around - good thinking!

 

[james67]

Unplugged the centre from the player and the yamaha put the left front into the centre on the yamaha , got a signal from the centre speaker and the right main speaker so looks like the centre input does actually recieve a signal.

 

[professorhat]

Hang on, I'm confused. You unplugged the left front and put it into the centre and got sound from the centre speaker so this proves that the centre speaker is working. However, did you then plug the centre channel into the left front input? If so, did you get sound from the left front speaker? If not, this shows nothing is being sent from the Panasonic over the centre channel.

 

[james67]

Didn't do that configuration !

I'll do that now.

 

[james67]

just done centre to left front and vice versa just a signal from the front two nothing from the centre.

 

[professorhat]

Erm, so whichever way round you have it, you're not getting sound from the centre speaker? In that case, this indicates a fault with the centre. However, didn't you say above that the centre worked when you plugged the left front into it.

I'm getting very confused by this - maybe it's just better to wait for Band of Brothers - a soundtrack we know for sure uses the centre channel!

 

[james67]

I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow as you say at least i'll know one way or the other then.

I'm gonna sign off as i've got work in a bit.

Thanks for the advice as well.