Help with a weird DVD player and audio set up problem
05-07-00, 04:07 AM
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I was just wondering if anyone else has ever encountered this problem.
First of all, I have a RCA Proscan DVD player (the older one with DIVX) hooked up to a Harmon Kardan receiver (no DD or DTS) using just Dobly Surround. I have had this set up for over a year now with no problems.
But two or three days ago while watching The Hunt For Red October, the sound suddenly got messed up and all sounds would only play from the left channel (only the left speaker would have any sound). All sounds had been redirected to the left speaker. Thinking it a problem with the disc, I ignored it.
While watching Being John Malkovich tonight, the same exact thing happenned. This time I figured a little bit of it out. All sound went to the speaker right when the little 'pop' sound occurred indicating a layer change on the DVD. I managed to get the surround sound back then by turning off and then on the stereo equipment. I was able to reproduce this problem anytime the layer changed in the movie. This also happens in the Menu when navigating around.
Needless to say, this is a very annoying problem and I was wondering if anyone had any ideas how to fix it. It only started occurring recently and I have done nothing to my little theater set up. Has anyone else ever had this problem?
If you need the details of my setup I will have to check the model number on the receiver and TV, but that is no problem.
Thanks in advance.
First of all, I have a RCA Proscan DVD player (the older one with DIVX) hooked up to a Harmon Kardan receiver (no DD or DTS) using just Dobly Surround. I have had this set up for over a year now with no problems.
But two or three days ago while watching The Hunt For Red October, the sound suddenly got messed up and all sounds would only play from the left channel (only the left speaker would have any sound). All sounds had been redirected to the left speaker. Thinking it a problem with the disc, I ignored it.
While watching Being John Malkovich tonight, the same exact thing happenned. This time I figured a little bit of it out. All sound went to the speaker right when the little 'pop' sound occurred indicating a layer change on the DVD. I managed to get the surround sound back then by turning off and then on the stereo equipment. I was able to reproduce this problem anytime the layer changed in the movie. This also happens in the Menu when navigating around.
Needless to say, this is a very annoying problem and I was wondering if anyone had any ideas how to fix it. It only started occurring recently and I have done nothing to my little theater set up. Has anyone else ever had this problem?
If you need the details of my setup I will have to check the model number on the receiver and TV, but that is no problem.
Thanks in advance.
05-08-00, 01:17 PM
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I suspect the problem is not with the Proscan DVD player, but with your receiver. I use the Proscan DIVX player for testing and have never had any problems with it. It is actually a very good DVD player.
What I think is happening is that your receiver is losing sync on the Dolby Digital AC-3 signal during the layer change. Once it loses sync it cant figure out what type of audio mode is on it's input (2.0, 5.1, etc) so it assumes it is mono (1.0) and thus you only get audio out of one speaker. Shutting the receiver off forces it to resync to the audio and it starts working again.
The same problem can occur when you switch between the main program and menus, especially if the menus have a different type of audio than the main program.
I think the best long term solution to this is for you to upgrade your receiver to one that is Dolby Digital and/or DTS capable. Thay should solve the problem.
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Ralph LaBarge
AlphaDVD
[email protected]
What I think is happening is that your receiver is losing sync on the Dolby Digital AC-3 signal during the layer change. Once it loses sync it cant figure out what type of audio mode is on it's input (2.0, 5.1, etc) so it assumes it is mono (1.0) and thus you only get audio out of one speaker. Shutting the receiver off forces it to resync to the audio and it starts working again.
The same problem can occur when you switch between the main program and menus, especially if the menus have a different type of audio than the main program.
I think the best long term solution to this is for you to upgrade your receiver to one that is Dolby Digital and/or DTS capable. Thay should solve the problem.
------------------
Ralph LaBarge
AlphaDVD
[email protected]
05-08-00, 04:12 PM
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Thanks for the suggestion. While I would love to upgrade my receiver, I just can't afford to right now.
I wonder why this would suddenly start happening now when it had been fine for at least a full year. Maybe I should stick to 2 channel Dolby and stop forcing it to do 5.1.
Had you ever heard of something like this happening before?
Thanks for the help though.
I wonder why this would suddenly start happening now when it had been fine for at least a full year. Maybe I should stick to 2 channel Dolby and stop forcing it to do 5.1.
Had you ever heard of something like this happening before?
Thanks for the help though.
05-09-00, 06:07 PM
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Sure, there are lots of first generation Dolby Digital and DTS receivers that take a long time to sync up to the signal. If the title switches between 2.0 audio and 5.1 audio streams it is easy to confuse the receiver and then it will do some strange things.
You would probably be better off playing the stereo audio track until you can upgrade your receiver.
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Ralph LaBarge
AlphaDVD
[email protected]
You would probably be better off playing the stereo audio track until you can upgrade your receiver.
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Ralph LaBarge
AlphaDVD
[email protected]
05-09-00, 07:51 PM
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As rlabarge said, it's reading a mono 1.0 signal. Now, what exactly is causing this could be a number of things.
Does it only do it on DVD? What about when you are watching VCR? If it does it on multiple sources, it's something inside the receiver. If it only does it on DVD, then it could be one of three problems:
1) The RCA cables you are using to connect the DVD to the reveiver are faulty. Let's hope this is it as it is the easiest and cheapest to fix. You can test this buy changing the cables and seeing if it still does it.
2) The right RCA connection on the DVD player is bad. To test this, just switch the right and left RCA cables on the DVD. If the signal goes all to the right now, you know it's the cable or the DVD player.
3) The right RCA connection into your receiver is bad. To test this and to overcome this, you can just change the DVD into another input. (i.e., from Video 1 to Video 2). You won't have to replace your receiver right away which is good.
It could be a few other things also, but not likely. I honestly doubt it is the RCA DVD player, as that is a great DVD player.
Hope this helps.
Jeff
Does it only do it on DVD? What about when you are watching VCR? If it does it on multiple sources, it's something inside the receiver. If it only does it on DVD, then it could be one of three problems:
1) The RCA cables you are using to connect the DVD to the reveiver are faulty. Let's hope this is it as it is the easiest and cheapest to fix. You can test this buy changing the cables and seeing if it still does it.
2) The right RCA connection on the DVD player is bad. To test this, just switch the right and left RCA cables on the DVD. If the signal goes all to the right now, you know it's the cable or the DVD player.
3) The right RCA connection into your receiver is bad. To test this and to overcome this, you can just change the DVD into another input. (i.e., from Video 1 to Video 2). You won't have to replace your receiver right away which is good.
It could be a few other things also, but not likely. I honestly doubt it is the RCA DVD player, as that is a great DVD player.
Hope this helps.
Jeff
05-11-00, 05:29 AM
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Thanks for the help/suggestions. I have to go play with my setup when everybody stops watching movies around here. I'll post my findings. Hopefully it won't be too disasterous.
As for why I was forcing 5.1...it was mostly for curiosity trying to see if there was a difference. It must be physchological, but 5.1 seems to sound a little better even though I know I am not really using it. I guess I'm just weird.
As for why I was forcing 5.1...it was mostly for curiosity trying to see if there was a difference. It must be physchological, but 5.1 seems to sound a little better even though I know I am not really using it. I guess I'm just weird.
