MovieEnthusiast

I have a Denon 1600 DVD player, and have always had this problem with this player and other DVD players in the past.

When I use the TV or VCR, I have the TV volume set at 18 and can hear everything just fine, but with the DVD Player, I turn the volume all the way up to 60 and can barely hear the dialogue.

I do not have an amplifier, and only use the TV speakers.

The Red & White jacks are plugged into the 2 - channel receptacles on the TV & the DVD Player, and I have Component Cables for the video.

This does this no matter what kind of TV I use... (currently a 37" Sharp LCD TV)

I have spent many hours Google-ing this problem.... there are many other people out there with different makes of DVD Players who have this same problem, but no one knows the solution.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thank you,

Jim

Brian Shannon

Purchase a receiver/amplifier. The tv cannot do anything with the audio signal that the dvd player is sending. In addition you must be aware that you would only be getting only the most basic of sound, ie., no dd or surround sound of any kind.

MovieEnthusiast

I have thought about getting an amplifier... I just think it is odd that any VCR has no trouble in sending a sufficient audio signal to the TV, but DVD Players are unable to do so.

I am not an audiophile, and was trying to avoid going the, "amplifier/additional speakers" route. The simple 2 channel TV speakers are good enough for me.

BTW, you have got a great looking movie set-up in your home

Jim

SoSpacey

are you sure your audio is set to 2 channel stereo?

your dvd player may be sending out 5 channels of audio and your TV can not handle that.

some movies have a 2 channel stereo option. find one fo those dvds, make sure in the audio options it is set to 2 channel and see if you still have that problem.

in your player options, without a movie in the system, see what the default setting for audio is. make sure this is 2 channel stereo.

MovieEnthusiast

I checked and re-checked and in my DVD Player set-up screen, my audio is set to 2 channel, and the jacks are plugged into the 2-channel receptacles.

I checked a Star Wars DVD and it does have the 2 channel as well as the 5.1 channel option... I had it on 2 channel and the volume will blast a person out of the room with the TV volume at less than halfway.

I guess it must be the fault of the DVD's themselves... I checked the set-up screen of the particular movie that my wife and I were watching the other night and there are no sound options on that DVD.

The movie was, "Roots"... a TV Mini-series that was originally shown in 1977, and has just been released on DVD.

It just strikes me as odd that the dialogue is barely audible on it and other DVD's that I have, with the TV volume up to full blast.

Thanks,

Jim

Spiky

DVD players MUST downconvert audio (Dolby, not DTS) automatically for compatibility with a TV, so stereo settings shouldn't be the problem. My player with DD/DTS converters has both a 5.1 analog output and a 2 channel analog output. The 2 channel is for a setup with just a TV, the 5.1 for surround.

Look for some setting in either DVDp or TV like: DNR, noise reduction, night mode, dialog assist, volume adjust. Maybe some variation of this.

The settings don't have to match or anything, but check both machines. Maybe they are both set on the wrong way, doubly reducing your volume.

MovieEnthusiast

I checked the settings as you suggested...

On the TV, (a Sharp LC-37D62U... 37" LCD) there are settings for...

Digital Noise Reduction.... the choices are... Low, High, & Off. It is currently on Low.
Surround... either On or Off.... it is on ON
Digital Audio Setup... either PCM or Dolby Digital... it is on PCM


On the DVD player settings (Denon 1600), there are settings for Audio as follows...

Speaker Setting... either Multi channel or 2 channel... I have it on 2 channel...(I am only using the TV speakers)
PCM Down Conversion... either Yes or No.... I have it on No
Dolby Digital....either PCM or Bitsteam... I have it on PCM
DTS Digital Surround... either PCM or Bitstream... I have it on PCM
Dynamic Range Compression... either Off or On... I have it on OFF

Do you see any conflicting values?

Thanks,

Jim

GHackmann

Turn that on, and it'll probably solve your problem.

Pistol Pete

I would also turn off the Surround setting for 2 channel only audio.

Spiky

Yep to both.

And for specifics:
The Surround on the TV attempts to create surround out of 2 channels. It steals sound, recreates it, moves it from one side to the other. All sorts of audio oddities. If you aren't sitting in the sweet spot (would be no wider than your TV, probably 6-8' away with a small TV), you'll get weirdness and/or loss of volume. And even in the sweet spot you'll probably have lower volume.

Digital Noise Compression is for video, don't worry about that for volume.

Dynamic Range Compression is supposed to make sound effects quieter and dialog more easily heard. So you do want it On, most likely.

All the Dolby/DTS/PCM settings refer to digital connections. No effect for your setup.

MovieEnthusiast

Thank you Spiky, GHackman, and Pistol Pete for the advice.... I am going to try the settings that you recommended on some DVD's and see how that works out.

Jim