I don't quite get it, as my Dolby 5.1 sounds fine. My subwoofer isn't here, so maybe that's why the DTS doesn't work, but I wanted to ask just to be sure. I am using a Marantz SR-8000 receiver (DTS-capable) and an old Pioneer 414 DVD player. I am using optical out to the receiver's digital input. Anytime I try a DTS disc, the receiver says "NO DATA" and no sound is outputted at all. Yet, any 2ch or 5.1 DVD work just fine. Is it just because of the sub not being there? My subwoofer is on order, and it'll be here in a week or two. Thanks for the help!

This is just a guess, but it happened to me, so maybe it applies to you too. On my JVC DVD player, if I want DTS enabled, I have to go the player's menu settings under AUDIO and choose "Stream/PCM". The default setting is "DD", I believe. But I noticed that DTS wouldn't work until I changed that setting. And both DD and DTS work fine when "Stream/PCM" is chosen. So...maybe it's the setting on your DVD player itself that needs to be changed. I've never owned a Pioneer DVD player, but it wouldn't surprise me if that had something to do with it. I don't see how not having a subwoofer could have anything to with DTS completely not working.

Pioneer does have a similar setting and my 535 came with DTS defaulted as off. You need to check the DVD setup menu...

wow, thanks for the quick response guys. DTS works fine now, even without subwoofer!!!It was weird, I guess the menu to change DTS output only shows up on DTS discs, cuz I tried the same stuff yesterday to no avail. I knew I could count on you guys!

Well the reason PCM worked and not the other modes is because the way the receiver and the DVD interact with the dd51/dts streams

See, some receivers can decode dd51/dts when the dvd players sends the stream to the receiver directly (without the decoding...the decoding is done on the receiver) . This mode is called PCM. Thats why it worked for the marantz.

Other receivers can't decode the DD/DTS signal, the DVD player must do the decoding and send the signals out to the receiver. That was the mode the pioneer was in the first place. thats why you couldn't get a dts signal

FYI

(I wanted to dredge up this old thread because something similar happened to me.)

I just hooked up a new Outlaw Audio 1050 and couldn't get the dts tracks to be recognized by the receiver. Outlaw's tech support came up with the answer: the problem was the DVD player settings. Like Xytraguptorh says about the Pioneer, my Panasonic A-120 DVD player (yes, an older model that I have had for quite awhile) needs to have the dts audio turned on via menus. Once selected it seems to stay enabled for good.

But there is more to it. If, while playing a disc, I switch to DD I can't get back to the disc menu to select dts. The only way to do that is to stop the disc, open the drawer and close it again. The first menu that comes up is is the dts/DD selection.

I can't be the only one who has come across this problem so I thought I'd mention it. I was quite pleased that Outlaw's tech support was able to point me in the right direction. They said they get this question a lot.

I have a JVC and a Proscan player, the set-up of their menus have nothing in common, but they both have a simple way to enable dts. Dolby will probably always be the default.