I have a 950 from the middle of Sept. with no dot. I am using a Panasonic CP72 DVD player as the source and have all the interconnects for both analog stereo and 6 channel bypass for DVD-Audio.

I have the DVD player in the audio menu setup for 2-channel, not multi-channel.

950 bass management is set to Small for all speakers with mains at 60 and the others at 80 with sub turned on. I do have the 80 cutoff in use on the 950 for 6 channel bypass, which I leave on all the time.

Now, when playing a regular CD, I notice a much fuller sound, wider soundstage with more volume, and more extension when I use the 6 channel bypass over the 2 channel bypass on the 950 with the above mentioned settings. This applies also to DD/DTS when playing a movie, too. Also, I can adjust the tone settings if needed in the 6 channel bypass.

I do notice a different subwoofer effect too. I had heard it is out of phase on the 6 channel bypass, compared to all the other digital and 2 channel bypass options. Is that true?

On the 2 channel bypass, adjusting the tone controls has no effect. They move but sound doesnt change. However, now there is a Balance adjustment that is in with the Tone adjustments and that does change the sound the way it is supposed to. It is the only place I have seen a Balance adjustment on the 950. Any reasons for that?

Has anyone else noticed these things?

The 2 channel bypass sounds better than the digital, but there is another big sound jump when I go to the 6 channel bypass. Go figure.

http://ubb.outlawaudio.com/ubb/Forum15/HTML/000701.html

Yup.

Also, if you use 6 channel bypass with the 80 Hz analog crossover engaged, no double bass. If you do 2 channel bypass with small speakers, you get double bass. If you do 2 channel bypass with large speakers, no double bass. You might be hearing that too.

Thanks Kevin,

I remember reading that thread. So, no double bass on large speaker settings then? But then the sub wont be used at all and all bass will go to the Mains? Correct? Hmm, I will have to go experiment.

Are the double-bass and Sub phase issues addressable by the Outlaws through future firmware or is it a hardware issue?

Do you or anyone else have any personal experience to the overall sound being substantially better or different for typical 2 channel CDs in 6 channel bypass over 2 channel bypass?

Just FYI, even though you are using 6 channel mode, the sound only comes out of the mains and sub on 2 channel sources, of course depending on your bass management setup. Just wanted to clarify that.

Thanks again.

Right, no double bass with the large speaker setting. I presume that you'd want to turn the sub off (in the 950), although I don't know if that matters.



That I don't know. Never asked directly. I use the 80 Hz analog x-over, and digital connections for DD/DTS/CD so I never get double bass. As far as the phase, I just change the knob on my sub. I'd *bet* at least one of those will be taken care of in the 950 Mk II, if one ever appears...

I only use the 6 channel bypass for DVD-A and SACD. The DACs in the 950 are "good enough" for me for everything else.

And yes, if you have a stereo source, and you use 6 channel bypass, you only get output through the 2 speakers. (Or the mains and the sub, if crossed over.) For me, it's even simpler. I have a 2 channel amp plus a 5 channel amp to get 7.1. For the vast majority of my listening, I only ever need the 2 channel amp powered on.

I have two HK 5 channel amps powering my setup. 4 speakers in the back/sides. My mains are MA Silver 5i, so I prefer to use my Sub with 2 channel music. Thats a Velodyne 10 inch.

Give the 6 channel bypass a shot for your stereo music listening and let me know what you find. It really is quite an improvement to my ears, so far.

I was just thinking, that the reason why I *don't* do that, is that then I'd be switching the phase on my sub all the time back and forth. But, ... if I listen to 6 ch bypass all the time, then don't have to (except maybe to use DD/DTS decoding in the 950). Might be worth a listen...

Okay, a few more finds between 2 channel analog bypass and 6 channel analog bypass. On 2 ch. bypass, there is no adjusting of the main speaker trim levels individually, only a balance adjustment in the Tone controls. However, the Speaker level trim visual will change as will the tone controls visual, but the only real adjustment available is the balance, and of course the volume. All of this, I already realized.

However, on 6 ch. bypass, all the adjustments are available and also usable, except now the balance control disappears. Of course, it's really not needed now because you can adjust each speaker individually with the trim controls.

My question is this. Is the 6 channel bypass a TRUE bypass? Because, it seems quite differently handled by the 950 and the sound is much different from the 2 channel bypass. Much wider soundstage to me.

Lets hear some thoughts on this please.

Forgot to mention, I changed the sub phase and it sounded much cleaner on the low end with the 6 channel bypass. I can only change mine 180 degrees at a time.

[This message has been edited by Sdwinder (edited January 23, 2003).]

Ummm....If you could do anymore than that, I would be very impressed.

I am under the impression that the 6 ch bypass is *almost* a true bypass (except for double bass w/o the 80 Hz analog crossover).

In other words, if I set levels within the 950, presumably only for digital and analog inputs that are A-to-D'ed and back again, that has no effect on the 5.1 analog inputs. I can guess that this is so, because when I adjust levels within my DVD player for its 5.1 analog outputs to the 950, the levels set in the DVD player are quite close, but not exactly the same as within the 950. In other words, if the 950's settings also applied to the 5.1 analog inputs, I wouldn't have to adjust anything at all with the DVD player. Easy enough to test, but I just assumed it was this way based of the levels adjustments I got within the 950 and within my DVD player...

I can adjust my sub phase anywhere from 0 to 360 degrees. Thought that was possible on many subs, maybe not.

[This message has been edited by Keta (edited January 23, 2003).]