Kman1011

help I just got a new player and discs and i want to watch them. My main problem is what kind of cable to i run for the audio to get AC3 the player has an ac3 rf modulator out spot, so i assumed it would just be a digital cable but I ran one from that and no audio. Help please as i want to watch star wars!!

RandyC

I have some not good news. You probably can't do it.

Your player has an AC-3 audio out. This is an RF signal. Analog. Unless your receiver has an analog/RF AC-3 input, you can't just connect it. Some higher end receivers did, but it's getting rarer to find them.

What to do? You need a demodulator. There is a little black box that takes the AC-3 RF output and converts it to Digital. Some of the boxes output Optical, some Coaxial. One did both and some switching also.

The bad news? These demod units are getting very hard to find. Pioneer, Yamaha, and Sony were major manufacturers. I bought a new one from Sony a year ago, and I have heard some people having luck doing that. You have to use Sony's electronic on-line store. Price was $99, but I think it went up to $119.

The used demods on eBay are very expensive, but that is another alternative.

Your other options are to watch DTS discs, or watch your discs without the Dolby Digital sound format.

Kman1011

Maybe time to put it all up for sale i guess, oh well, it has regular audio outs i can use but no 5.1.

Kman1011

So ac3/rf out equals crap sound right? But it will put out a dts signal?

[Edited by Kman1011 on 03-18-01 at 09:03 PM]

RandyC

AC-3 RF out is not crap sound, but I am not sure what you mean. AC-3 is Dolby Digital, and it can as good or better than a DVD...IF you have a demodulator.

Most later model LD players output digital sound also. You can listen to the disc using the digital output. This same output can handle DTS encoded laserdiscs.

Your choice is to watch your laserdiscs in DTS and PCM and don't listen to the AC-3 soundtracks, or get a demod and enjoy LD dolby digital...or sell it all.

Which Star Wars laserdiscs do you have?

Kman1011

It is the trilogy collection, so the dts signal will pass through regular rca's? So would my pro logic sound from a ld be better than vhs pro logic? Video quality is better I am guessing. I am thinking might be worth a demodulator to hear 5.1 star wars. Anyway-

RandyC

There are a number of trilogy collections. I think the very latest Japanese import is 5.1, and the Special Edition Box set is 5.1 sound. All the rest are PCM.

The DTS signal comes out the digital output (coaxial or optical). What model player is this?

Kman1011

Its a pioneer cld-504. The star wars is a black box special edition set in brand new condition, watched once.

RandyC

A 504 will outout both DTS and AC-3 Dolby Digital. You just need the RF demod to hook the AC-3 to your receiver.

You can try this:
http://www.sel.sony.com/SEL/consumer.../mod-rf1.shtml

If they have it in stock, it's a bargain. You can always ebay them for more than that.

Otherwise, look at ebay using searches like:
RF AC-3

There are a good number of them there now. Including a nice Yamaha for $180 using buy-it-now.

There were two black box sets of Star Wars. One is called the Special Edition and has the revised footage that Lucas added. It is indeed AC-3 Dolby Digital. The other one was called The Definitive Collection and is the trilogy before it was revised. Unfortunately, it is in CAV mode so it takes 9 discs, and it is not 5.1 sound. It includes a hardback book and it heavy. We called it the Monolith.

If you can find the RF Demod unit, I highly recommend it. Sound from an LD player is thought by many to be better than a DVD. Maybe...maybe not....but it is good in any case.

DVD_O_Rama

randyc has been on the money with everything he has said, so there is no need for me to echo his words, other then to say...yep .
I'll just chime in on the subject of LD audio vs. DVD audio.
Even on some of the newer DVDs that feature dts (or DD for that matter) mixes, the mixes might be different on their LD predecessors. Jurassic Park for example stomps all over both the Dd and dts DVD, and I'm curious to put the new Criterion version of The Rock against the fine dts LD.
Yet another reason to keep your player and the LDs you have. I'll never part with mine.

Kman1011

It is the black special edition version. I am trying to decide if I should just dump everything since ir ecently got it or go the distance and enjoy it. That model player said it has the auto flip mode for the disc. Do I still have to hit flip on the remote or player or is just going to go from side 1 to side 2 on its own?

[Edited by Kman1011 on 03-19-01 at 09:37 PM]

RandyC

It will automatically flip the laser head to swap sides. You don't have to do anything. The higher end players flipped very fast. Some players captured and show you a screen shot to keep you entertained while it flipped (My 703/704 does this).

That is not a bad player...and that is a good laserdisc set. The decision of the worth of spending over $100 more to get AC-3 sound, that is your call.

Now if I can interest you in an Under Siege II laserdisc...

(inside joke for old LD people from Alt.Video.Laserdisc)

Kman1011

Now one i get this modulator it will automatically send a digital signal if the LD has one or is it like a dvd where you have to select digital sometimes? Also do you know where I can pick up an owners manual for the player. I ended up picking the player and 40 movies up for 250.00 which doesn't seem bad. Any value in certain LD's out there like disney and mainstream others?

gcribbs

I think you have to switch the audio. I guess it is time to turn on my cld-59 and watch jurassic park again to make sure. i did find the sound better on the LD . If you can find an older good quality receiver it may have a built in demodulator like my Denon 3200 .

for the price you paid why not keep it and enjoy star wars until 2004 or 5 when it arrives on Dvd

Kman1011

I was kind of thinking the same, plus i got alot of the disneys we won't see on dvd for a while. How is the sound on the star wars ld? Worth picking up a demodulator for?

RandyC

The AC-3 comes out of the LD player and into the Demod. A digital signal comes out of the demod to the receiver.

ANOTHER digital signal connects directly from the LD player to your receiver. Pioneer made a Demod that would automatically switch the incoming signal from AC-3 or Digital. Most newer receivers have some additional digital inputs.

The sound of the LDs are very good. The sound of The Phantom Menace was awesome (even if the movie was not). But even PCM sound on your Star Wars LDs is good. Have you listened to them on your system yet? Why not check out the PCM sound?

Some discs are valuable, and some are not. I bought out some collections (I had over 2000 laserdiscs) and sold some for a lot. Some of the Disneys are worth a lot also, such as Song of the South.

I picked up Beatles "Let it Be" for under $10 and sold it under $500 for example.

Worth getting a demod for 3 movies? I wouldn't, but it's a judgement call. I would get the demod for all the dolby digital discs you can get, or just enjoy your discs in PCM.