Need Help with DD 5.1 hookup

[DVDKrayzie]

Okay My DVD Player has Digital Coax Out and I set it to bitstream. On my receiver all the speakers work in Dolby Surround, when I hit the Dolby Digital button, sound only comes out of the Front left and right speakers. Any ideas? Is there a difference between coaxial digital cables and coaxial cables? I have the audio output connected through a cheap $4 coaxial cable that had RCA connections and I'm wondering if that's the problem. thanks

[Blade]

I don't think the cable itself would be the problem. You should be getting sound drop outs or no sound if the cable was bad, not sound from only the fronts.

Can you list your DVD player and receiver make and model?

-David

[DVDKrayzie]

actually i get sound w/o the cable at all. Its confusing because when i press DD5.1 it says "analog", but when Im in Dolby surround there's a signal selection for analog or digital (no digital option with the DD button)

My player is the Toshiba 2109 and the receiver is a Pioneer VSX-D498 Ive had them for over a year now and never really bothered to mess with DD, but now im curious.

[Orlando]

Sounds like maybe you have not set all the options on your receiver. You have to set it up to know about the other speakers. Pretty sure you should be able to send test tones. Try that and if you getting the pink noise then the speakers are OK and set-up. After that try looking at the receiver setting on the which input it's using Coax or Fibre and then make sure it is selected to detect the siginal. Hope this helps and give us an update.

[Blade]

I see that your player has 6 inputs for an external Dolby Digital Connection. It's also listed as a Dolby Pro Logic receiver. (<a href="http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/home/vsx-d498.htm">VSX D498</a>) Perhaps your player is Dolby Digital Ready, and doesn't have a Digital Decoder built into it?

Still, it does say you have 3 digital ins, so that doesn't sound entirely correct either.

I'll have to second Orlando's suggestion about the receiver settings (your DVD player settings sound correct, though you may want to disconnect the analog cables while trying to get this to work). Does your manual say anything about having to change anything besides hitting the Dolby Digital button?

-David

[DigIt]

First, it's obvious that you've also connected the analog R/L audio as well as the digital coax. Get rid of the R/L connection. Most likely, when you hit the "digital" input, it is only switching to the R/L inputs on the 5.1-input section.

Next, make sure that the movie is playing 5.1 audio.

Then, the receiver should automatically select the 5.1 track. I see that you set the output to bitstream. Not sure, but you should check that you're getting a Dobly Digital bitstream and not a PCM (stereo) bitstream -- this would explain why you're only decoding Pro-Logic thruogh the digital connection. What are the other choices in the DVD menu?

I hope one of these suggestions helps.