Sony STR-DA1200ES volume question

[DirectPlay16]

Hi guys

I am completely new to the wonderful world of AV receivers, so please go gentle on me!! I bought a second hand Sony STR-DA1200ES with Tannoy speakers. I have a Samsung TV, PS3, a YouView box.

Here is my setup: 5 speakers and a sub connected to the receiver. The PS3 and YouView box connected to the TV using HDMI and digital optical cable connecting the TV and the receiver. I set the audio output on YouView to "Surround". I didn't make any changes to the PS3 Audio settings.

Couple of questions:

1. The volume on the speakers when I am watching YouView or PS3 (basically output from TV) has to be set to quite high -25 to -30, but if I switch to Tuner, the sound is quite loud for -25 to -35. I have to set it to about -40 for Tuner. So any reason why the sound played from TV at -25 to -30 is a lot quieter than the sound played from Tuner?

2. The 4 speakers are all the same make and model (excluding the centre), but when I connect 2 of the speakers as surround, they don't work. They work when I connect them as Front speakers. So now I have all 4 speakers connected as Front speakers. My question is do I need to buy specific surround speakers or these speakers should work? If they should work, then what am I doing wrong?

 

[BIGBERNARDBRESSLAW]

I used to have a 2400ES, but it was several years ago, and I've forgotten how it all worked.

I can answer one question, you don't need specific speakers for surrounds, the ones you have will work, though do remember that surrounds, unlike your fronts, aren't always outputting any sound.

Your problem will be somewhere either in the receiver's settings.

Here is a link to the operating instructions and installation guide.

What make and model is the youview box?

 

[DirectPlay16]

The YouView box is http://www.johnlewis.com/bt-youview-smart-500gb-freeview-hd-digital-tv-recorder/p1339313

If I set the A.F.D. mode to Multi Stereo when watching YouView, the volume seems to be better.. but I still think I am missing something.

 

[The_Lhc]

I'm concerned that you're attaching the ps3 and youview boxes to the TV first. You should be connecting them to the av amp by hdmi cable and then running an hdmi cable out from the amp to the TV.

That probably explains why your surround speakers aren't doing anything as most TVs even now won't pass a surround signal out of their optical output, so you're only passing stereo to the receiver, hence no rear speaker signal.

The volume difference is just one of those things my car stereo is much louder listening to the tuner compared to the CD player, which is louder again than the auxiliary input. It's not an issue, just adjust the volume to taste.

 

[BIGBERNARDBRESSLAW]

I'm concerned that you're attaching the ps3 and youview boxes to the TV first. You should be connecting them to the av amp by hdmi cable and then running an hdmi cable out from the amp to the TV.

That probably explains why your surround speakers aren't doing anything as most TVs even now won't pass a surround signal out of their optical output, so you're only passing stereo to the receiver, hence no rear speaker signal.

I didn't read that bit properly, you're right, that'll be where the problem lies.

 

[DirectPlay16]

I'm concerned that you're attaching the ps3 and youview boxes to the TV first. You should be connecting them to the av amp by hdmi cable and then running an hdmi cable out from the amp to the TV.

That probably explains why your surround speakers aren't doing anything as most TVs even now won't pass a surround signal out of their optical output, so you're only passing stereo to the receiver, hence no rear speaker signal.

The volume difference is just one of those things my car stereo is much louder listening to the tuner compared to the CD player, which is louder again than the auxiliary input. It's not an issue, just adjust the volume to taste.

Does that mean I need to have one HDMI cable coming from the PS3 into the receiver, one HDMI cable coming from YouView into the receiver and one output HDMI cable from the receiver into the TV?

Also, do I need 2 optical audio cables - one from PS3 and one from YouView going into the receiver. As far as I know, I don't think my receiver can carry audio on the HDMI. It is for video only.

The sub woofer is Tannoy TS12. The bass is too much, sometimes it overpowers the speech. It has a lot of controls on the back of the sub. Any recommended settings?

 

[BIGBERNARDBRESSLAW]

I would suggest reading through the installation guide and operation instructions I posted links to before you go any further.

Yes, you will need to connect each individual component into the receiver by hdmi, and if your receiver doesn't accept audio via hdmi, by an optical cable to, and then you have one hdmi running from the receiver to the tv.

Once you have all your connections done, you need to run the auto calibration, this will set all the levels for you.

It can be very confusing setting up a receiver for the first time, so you need to walk before you run, and read through all the instructions and guides (including the subwoofer one), and work methodically through the connections.

 

[DirectPlay16]

I would suggest reading through the installation guide and operation instructions I posted links to before you go any further.

Yes, you will need to connect each individual component into the receiver by hdmi, and if your receiver doesn't accept audio via hdmi, by an optical cable to, and then you have one hdmi running from the receiver to the tv.

Once you have all your connections done, you need to run the auto calibration, this will set all the levels for you.

It can be very confusing setting up a receiver for the first time, so you need to walk before you run, and read through all the instructions and guides (including the subwoofer one), and work methodically through the connections.

The issue is, as I mentioned in my initial post, because I bought the amp second hand, I didn't get the auto calibration :-(

So I am sort of running blind, but I will try running the setup as you and @The_Lhc and feedback.

 

[BIGBERNARDBRESSLAW]

The issue is, as I mentioned in my initial post, because I bought the amp second hand, I didn't get the auto calibration :-(

So I am sort of running blind, but I will try running the setup as you and @The_Lhc and feedback.

You can do it all manually, measuring distances and volume levels, but it's going to be a bit of a pain, so I would probably recommend buying a replacement calibration mic on ebay for £12.99.

There might be some kind of app that you could download onto your phone/tablet, which might do the trick?

 

[The_Lhc]

I'm concerned that you're attaching the ps3 and youview boxes to the TV first. You should be connecting them to the av amp by hdmi cable and then running an hdmi cable out from the amp to the TV.

That probably explains why your surround speakers aren't doing anything as most TVs even now won't pass a surround signal out of their optical output, so you're only passing stereo to the receiver, hence no rear speaker signal.

The volume difference is just one of those things my car stereo is much louder listening to the tuner compared to the CD player, which is louder again than the auxiliary input. It's not an issue, just adjust the volume to taste.

Does that mean I need to have one HDMI cable coming from the PS3 into the receiver, one HDMI cable coming from YouView into the receiver and one output HDMI cable from the receiver into the TV?

Also, do I need 2 optical audio cables - one from PS3 and one from YouView going into the receiver. As far as I know, I don't think my receiver can carry audio on the HDMI. It is for video only.

The sub woofer is Tannoy TS12. The bass is too much, sometimes it overpowers the speech. It has a lot of controls on the back of the sub. Any recommended settings?

 

Buggrit, you're right, that amp doesn't support audio over hdmi. That's annoying, I knew one of those old Sony's didn't support it but I didn't realize it was that one.

So yes, you're right, you'll need the additional digital connections as well unfortunately.

 

[DirectPlay16]

@The_LHC I am going to change the setup as you and @BIGBERNARDBRESSLAW suggested.

But do you think it would still make a difference if I was to change to setup since audio is not supported over HDMI?

 

[Leeps]

Just to chip in to clarify: make sure all your audio connections go directly from your source to the amp. What may have been happening is that your source may support multi-channel but your TV doesn't, so it's not been passing a multi-channel mix through to your AV receiver.

When you have an multi-channel set-up it's always helpful to stop and think precisely what your source will be playing, and in the case of a set-top box especially, this can vary from programme to programme. Also check the audio settings on your sources to make sure they're set to 'bitstream' or multi-channel rather than stereo.

So supporting the others' comments so far, you'll need digital optical or coaxial cables running from your sources to the amp for audio.

 

[DirectPlay16]

Hi guys

Just changed the connections and now there is optical audio cable from YouView going to the receiver. I have also changed the setting on the YouView for SPDIF to "Surround". There are only 2 settings on the SPDIF output on the YouView box - Sterero and Surround.

Now the receiver shows Dolby Digital [2/0]. Before when the optical audio was connected to the TV, it used to show Linear PCM. I don't know which one is correct. Thoughts?