Hi folks, just got my 950 and 770 set up last night. Did my set up, calibration, SPL adjusting, hooked my dvd, and dss reciever.

DVD and CD sound is incredible.

I have a few questions on the dish hook up.

The satellite reciever has s-video and optical output. My 950 is hook up to my TV with monitor out RGB cables. Will the 950 up convert the s-video to the signal going to the TV or will I have to hook directly to the TV.

Also I can only get 7 choices of suround. Dolby pl,pl11m,pl11c,neo6c,neo6r,stereo, and stereo 5, and none of them sound even close with the exception of stereo 5. Any idea why I can't select the other options?

I am running 5.1

950
770
Denon DVD-2200
Axiom M80
Axiom V150
Axiom QS8's
Sv Sub 20-39

[This message has been edited by reels (edited January 31, 2004).]

The optical out from your satellite receiver is ONLY for the digital audio. I suggest you connect it that way to your 950 in order to receive Dolby Digital broadcasts.

The 950 will not transcode svideo to the component outs. You need to run a separate svideo cable to your TV.

You can only select DD or DTS when you have one of those signals going to your 950. You will sometimes get DD from the satellite but only if you have the digital audio from the satellite received connected to the 950. No satellite service transmits DTS.

Also be sure you have the digital audio from your DVD player connected to the 950, not just the analog audio.

[This message has been edited by boblinds (edited January 31, 2004).]

Thanks, seems like I have it hooked up right. I do have the optical going from the DVD to the 950 on one dron the sat to OP2.

Somewhat dissapointed from the sound from the dish. Maybe some more tweaking here and there. Any ideas welcome.

Thanks

I can't say that I am all that impressed either with the sound from the dish. Maybe if I had not hear DVD and CD sound I might think the dish was okay, but am not all that satisfied with the dish quality.

For what its worth, I find my digital cable (Cablevision IO) audio to be lacking as well.

Typically, the audio on most satellite dish programming wasn't engineered very well to begin with so don't expect miracles. It isn't an issue with the 950. It's an issue with the program material.

However, catch an HBO showing in Dolby Digital (they'll identify a DD audiocast at the beginning of the show) and I think you'll be very pleased with the sound quality. And your 950 should auto-select DD when the movie starts.

DPL2-C can also do some wonderful things when the program material is good quality stereo/surround. Watched Seabiscuit on pay-per-view tonight (which, surprisingly, WASN'T played in DD) and the sound was quite good.

[This message has been edited by boblinds (edited February 01, 2004).]

I think Bob's hit the nail on the head here. If satellite programming is anything like cable, there seems to be a lot of source material at fault -- material that was never intended for more than mono or (at best) stereo reproduction. As a result, even Pro Logic II produces something with very sparse surround activity. Stereo 5 will certainly put a lot more material in the surrounds, but it's basically just a duplication of the mains.

On the other hand, I've occasionally been pleasantly surprised by broadcasts with some good sound design that give PL2 something to work with (I believe it was an episode of Crossing Jordan shortly after I got my 950, with some background music that really opened up nicely, that first caught my attention). It's sadly a bit rare, but it does happen.

------------------
gonk -- Saloon Links | Pre/Pro Comparison Chart | 950 Review

Also be aware that trying to process monaural audio (a HUGE amount of cable and satellite content) with DPL2 or DTS:Neo 6 often will make the sound WORSE, sometimes MUCH worse! At the very least, it will collapse into your center channel speaker.

When I have a mono audio track, I find that going to plain ol' stereo audio (two channel) is the best solution. If you MUST have audio coming from all over the room, try the Stereo 5 or Stereo 7 modes.