I have a dumb ques.

If you have your 950 set up to play dolby digital and you put a dvd in and go to options. Does it make a diff. if you choose the dts or dolby format from the dvd options. If it makes a diff., what is it?

Basically, I have the dolby format chosen for my 950 and the dolby format on the actual dvd is not chosen. What happens? Does it still play on dolby digital format even when I don't choose it on the dvd?

Part 2 to my question is as follows:

I am using my bass management on my preamp, therefore I am not using it on my Denon 2900. On the setup menu, under audio setup, do I choose 2 channel or multichannel. I believe you choose multichannel if you want to use the bass management on the 2900. I have a 5.1 setup. Is this correct? I have been using 2 channel for a couple of months. So ultimately, which do I choose, multichannel or 2 channel? If you enable multichannel it gives you a submenu on setting your speakers to large or small and db calibration. I have already done all this with my preamp. I am concerned if you choose multichannel it will cross out the preamp settings. Please help me with your feedback.

thanks



[This message has been edited by marcpam (edited July 24, 2004).]

Not a dumb question at all.

The selection of Dolby Digital on your 950 means that you have selected that as the default audio format for that source.

Since the 950 also can automatically identify and switch to the incoming digital audio format it will change to whatever format it senses. You can see which audio format the 950 is receiving by looking at the front panel display. (This is assuming that your source is connected to the 950 with a coaxial or optical audio cable, NOT the analog L/F stereo -- or multichannel -- cables.)

If you choose Options or Audio Setup within the menu on your DVD (not the menu for your DVD player, but the Play Movie/Special Features/Setup menu that appears when you play a DVD), you can sometimes select alternate audio formats -- usually DD5.1 or DTS.

When you choose one of those, your player should output that audio format and your 950 will automatically switch to that format. Once the movie starts playing, look at your 950 front panel to verify that it is sensing the format you chose.

Part 2:

I would assume that the bass management on your DVD player is only operative through the audio-out connections from the player, so if you're using a digital audio cable to connect the player to the 950, the settings on the DVD player shouldn't matter.

If you DON'T have your 950 connected to your DVD player with a digital audio cable, go get one NOW! It's the way to get the optimum performance from the 950 AND the player.

[This message has been edited by boblinds (edited July 24, 2004).]

Bob's got option 1 covered. If you want to see the 950's format detection at work, watch the front display when the disc menu first loads. The audio on the menu is typically Dolby 2.0 - when the 950 detects a new signal, it mutes briefly to determine what format the signal is and then displays that format on the right side of the display for a couple of seconds. The top right will say what the signal type is (DOLBY D, or DTS, or PCM) and the bottom right will offer so additional information. For Dolby Digital and DTS, it displays how many channels are included. On a menu with Dolby 2.0 audio, the second line would show "2/0.0". For Dolby or DTS 5.1, it show "3/2.1" (three front channels, two surround channels, and LFE channel).

I will assume that you got the Denon 2900 for DVD-Audio and SACD. As Bob recommends, use the digital output for regular DVD's, but for DVD-A and SACD you will use the six-channel analog output. You will need to select multichannel to get full use for these two formats. In order to let the 950's analog bass management work, you will want to go into the 2900's speaker setup menu and set all five speakers to "large" and the sub to "on." This will cause the 2900 to not apply any bass management.

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