No voices with dvd's? Center channel isn't making any sound. I dont think the surrounds are either. Stereo 5 with cd's works...so not the amp or connections. Its having trouble going into Dolby Direct as well. Can anyone help? dvd player is a Toshiba and is set to Stream/PCM and 48khz. I use the DVD player for CD listening too, maybe part of the problem?

Is it set to PCM, or is it set to bitstream?

If it is set to PCM, the player is decoding the bitstream and downmixing to PCM stereo, which would explain why only the left and right channels are working. Also, what processing mode does the 950 report when this is happening?

When i put a DVD in it doesn't want to act like it use to. It use to always sound great and go to DOLBY D. NOw it randomly goes to other settings. Usually it goes to PLII-C, I have to try and try and try to get it to show DOLBY D, but then the center and surrounds are not coming on. The TV offers:
Dolby digital/PCM
Stream/PCM
PCM

Then

48 or 96kHZ.

What model of player do you have? I need to read the manual, because these settings by themselves aren't clear and I'm afraid you have gotten the player set to the wrong thing.

I have a Toshiba SD 2705. Its old but what I have until I'm rich again. This is awesome, your taking the time to look at its manuel... I really appreciate it! Part of the problem (I think)is I use teh Toshiba for CD's and DVD'S. It sounds better than my anolog cd player to me.

Gotta give Toshiba some credit - they had the 2705 manual available online with minimal hunting. It's not always that easy. Page 38 covers what we are interested in. The options certainly are odd, but I think that's partly the result of the player not having an onboard DTS decoder (in 2001 that was still something that entry level players didn't have the processing power to handle). Basically, either "Stream/PCM" or "Dolby Digital/PCM" would work for your needs, although "Stream/PCM" is preferred.

It's been a few years since I used a Model 950, so I'm going on fuzzy memories (and the pain pill I took a couple hours ago likely isn't doing anything especially good to help sharpen those memories), but I would suggest two things. First, watch the 950's front panel when you start watching a DVD - when you transition from the menu to the movie itself. The 950 will show what the incoming signal format is briefly: DTS 3/2.1, DD 3/2.1, DD 2/0.0, etc. Make sure that you are getting DD 3/2.1 or DTS 3/2.1, as this indicates a 5.1 source. If you have DD 2/0.0 or PCM, then something is wrong upstream of the 950 and the 950 is simply doing its job.

If you have a "3/2.1" input, then we need to scroll through the surround modes until you see something like "Dolby D" or (if you have a 6.1 or 7.1 speaker setup) "DD CR-C". It appears that you have a 5.1 speaker setup. In that case, you should just see "Dolby D" when listening to a Dolby Digital 5.1 disc. If that's not what you are seeing, I'd suggest using the remote to try cycling through Dolby modes to get to just "Dolby D" to be sure there's no downmixing going on in the 950.

You have gone above and beyond, I really appreciate it. I have already done exactly as you suggested before ever coming to the saloon though. It doesn't want to give you Dolby D. Movies I have watched before that always went straight to Dolby D no longer show it in the prompt. I scroll through but it wont offer Dolby D. After messing with it for a while, it finaly shows Dolby D, But no sound comes out of the center channel or the two surrounds.

As stated previously, teh 5.1 works with CD in stereo 5. It just wont do it for a movie???

I do wonder if its the player because I seem to remember noticing Its only showing 2/0.0 I will check today at lunch time.

Ok checked, once the movie starts it shows Dolby D 3/2.1 But no sound still from the center or surrounds. the background music is all that is heard. I tried two more movies and tried switching a CD in between...no luck. tried shutting it down and even unplugging for a few minutes then trying again....no luck.

So you are getting Dolby 5.1 from the player, which is good. When you have it playing, can you switch to Dolby Digital decoding with the remote? If it is defaulting to some stereo mode, you will need to change it while a Dolby 5.1 source is active.

Same issue.


OK
OK... It's working now....But I don't likethe fix. I kept turning it off and turning it all back on. I did it like 6 times in a row and suddenly it worked. I don't believe its a conection. teh wires are all less than 3 months old, all good quality. It worked for every day several hours for three months then stops one day?? I checked all the connections more than once. Could it be a bumb Optical? Or is this a decoder issue?

What were you turning off and on? The Model 950?

Do you have any other source that can feed Dolby Digital 5.1 into the Model 950? An HD cable box or HDTV with over-the-air tuner would work, or another DVD player.

I was turning everything off from the power source. As to a additional player, I don't yet, but I will most likely purchase a new blue ray player in the next two weeks. I don't know if something finaly reset or if I have a phantom problem in a cable or something. I am going to replace the optical just cause I can. Its working for now and sounds great. I'm annoyed cause I dont want it to happen again..but time will tell.

Ok happened again. I replaced the optical and the problem is fixed. I put the old optical back in and nothing worked. So i guess it was the optical.

My issue is similar to HarleyShovel but with the 6channel bypass setting. I want the audio that is in bluray, not just stereo or the older Dolby. I had no center channel in the first DVD I tried (Shrek I) The Blu-ray disk of The da Vinci Code performs the same way. Sometimes it works, sometimes not. Every inserted DVD is an adventure; will it work or not. The frustration is that I cannot depend on it working. My wife is tired of my screaming at the screen. But; SACD disks do have the center channel thru 6channel bypass. The player is the OPPO BD-83.

I would be grateful If anyone could suggest a fix.

I still curse the Outlaws for not having a 6channel toggle on the front panel. I was without it when my original remote died. This reminds me that my 950 that is adjacent to my LCD Sony has had remote reception issues as mentioned in other posts and I, too, thought the 950 I/R was dying. It would be tough to move rather unit to gain separation.

Sounds like we need to do some troubleshooting for you, Bridge Guy. That's not cool.

So when you are playing a disc on the BDP-83 through the multichannel analog connection to the 990, you sometimes don't get any center channel audio? Do you also end up with no surrounds? On the discs that don't have a center channel, do you have dialog at all?
I haven't tried it in a while, but I thought you could use the front panel input button and the up/down buttons to scroll through all the inputs, including 7.1 Direct. Am I remembering that incorrectly?

Gonk-

For instance, at the beginning of Shrek 3 in the dinner theater scene, all of the dialog is in the center and I hear nothing. Switching 950 to the coaxial 1 brings up the disk’s Dolby 3/2. I realize that is all the DVD has but it seems to me it should also be available from the 6 bypass analogs.

There is a chance that by starting the DVD as coax and switching to the 6 bypass may be a work around. It did on one occasion.

This is but week 3 of my OPPO Blu-ray life and this other layer of set up steps is frustrating.

“I haven't tried it in a while, but I thought you could use the front panel input button and the up/down buttons to scroll through all the inputs, including 7.1 Direct. Am I remembering that incorrectly?”

I’ll have to fiddle with that; the inputs scroll through all but the 6. There is a bypass button I use with my phono preamp but it doesn’t report the 6, just stereo.

The surrounds follow the center channel, or at least the LR does. One channel of my 755 amp died a while back and dang thing is so massive I haven’t been able to get it out of the house for someone to look at is.

Thanks for your interest.

System
BDP-83
Outlaw 950, Outlaw 755, Magnepan MG1.6QR left and right speakers
Magnepan MMG C center channel
Outlaw LFM-1 subwoofer
Ancient Dynaco rear channel speakers
Sony KDL-52XBR6 LCD television

When you are using the 6CH input on the Model 950, the Model 950 isn't doing any processing. I recall that there is a quirk on the Model 950's 6CH input: if I remember this correctly, it acts as a stereo source if the 950 had been in a purely stereo mode previously. If you have it on an input that is in a surround mode (any mode will do - Dolby 5.1, Pro Logic II, Cirrus Extra Surround, or 5 Stereo) and then change to the 6CH input, it will work fine. It's been a few years since I had a 950 around, but I'm pretty sure that's correct.
I thought we were talking about the Model 990. The bypass button on the front of the Modle 950 is "stereo bypass" - no use for the 6CH input. The 6CH input is a toggle of sorts on the 950, as reading the manual has reminded me, and it doesn't appear to be anywhere on the front panel...

GONK-
I think your remark about the 950 quirk is correct having empirically tested this notion by accidentally switching back and forth with the original source in different conditions, stereo and surround. This confirms my getting stronger-every=day notion of a software glitch existing from day one.

What had led me astray was not having any difficulty with the Sony NS999ES CD/DVD player the OPPO replaces.

Yes, the bypass is stereo input only; this is how I input my Rega P5/Ortofon/Grado phono preamp (most of my music is via my 3500 LPs rather than the much fewer CDs on hand).

I do thank you for your thoughts, maybe I can move up to the 997 when it’s available.

gonk: Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

I just bought a new blu-ray player & I was trying to use the direct inputs. All I got was 2 channels. I wasted a week beating my head against the wall until I found your post here. Everything works fine now.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!