I have a Pioneer 47ai DVD player hooked to my 950. I use the 6ch analog connection for SACD and DVD-A and a coax for DD 5.1 and DTS. I have the analog tape out of the 950 connected to the tv for use when I don't have the surround amps turned on. For all regular stereo sources I can use the tv audio without the amps on. The problem is that when I want to hear a DVD on just the tv without the surround amps, I get only the L/R of the DVD through the analog connection from the DVD, which means the Centre dialog can't be heard. I could change the menu setting on the 47ai to make the analog output stereo instead of 5.1, but that's way deep in the 47ai setup menu and I don't want to keep switching it everytime. I was wondering if there was a simple way to have the 950 downmix the 5.1 coming in the coax into stereo for use on the tape out to tv connection.
Thanks,
Ian.

Hi,
A simple way would be to turn off the center speaker in the speaker setup section. That will send the center speaker audio to the L+R speakers. You still won't get surround audio, but I take it you're not worried about that.

HTH,
Peter

The only simple way I can think of to do this would be to connect the stereo analog output of the 47ai to an input on the 950 and use that input when listening through the TV's speakers. That should result in the 47ai downmixing for you. If you are using the 950's video switching as well, you would need to connect the stereo analog output from the 47ai to an audio input (tape or one of the aux's) and switch first to the DVD input before switching to the audio input - the 950's video switching "holds" the last video input used when an audio input is selected.

Correct me if I'm wrong or maybe I'm missing something obvious but don't most/all DVDs also have a Stereo soundtrack on them? In fact I thought this was a requirement on DVDs.

That was true in the early days of the format, but these days a significant number of discs only have a 5.1 soundtrack. They can safely do that because the DVD format requires that players include the ability to downmix 5.1 to stereo for the analog outputs. Early on, there were concerns that this downmix (which at the time was the output that would most often be used, since Dolby Digital receivers were still a significant premium) was not as effective as a studio-mixed two-channel track. As a result, a Dolby 2.0 track was regularly used for the first few years of the format and was very often the default track.

Ah thanks Gonk, knew I was missing something when I posted that. Goes to show how much I listen to 2 channel with DVDs. That and I think I may have had Laser Disc on the brain too. Time for another cup of coffee.

Thanks for the ideas, I was hoping there would be something that didn't involve changing a setup menu every time. Gonk's suggestion of using the stereo o/p of the 47ai doesn't work as the stereo o/p isn't really stereo, it just duplicates the L/R of the 5.1 and doesn't do a downmix unless the 47ai initial setup is set for 2ch output all the time.
Turning off the center channel on the 950 seems like it would work, but as the intention is to let the kids watch DVDs on the TV without the surround amps on, it's not as simple to setup as I would like. I was hoping there was a way to force a stereo downmix by setting the surround sound mode for a coax input.
Now I'm wondering if I could program a macro button to switch between the two modes...
Thanks,
Ian.