I was wondering if anyone has any experience with this issue. It's very confusing to me and I'm not sure how the 990 will handle the XA2 problem. Any thoughts?

Here's a link to the AVS thread:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=823837&page=1&pp=30

Thanks,
Brian

So the XA2's subwoofer output is excessively low? Yeah, that's a pain. From the way it's described, I can see one possible solution. There may be some flaw in my reasoning, but I think it'll work.

First, plan to use the multichannel analog output only for HD-DVD's with Dolby Digital Plus or Dolby TrueHD. Use the digital output for regular DVD's (which is what I'd recommend doing anyway) and for HD-DVD's with DTS-HD (which is also not going to actually hurt any since all the player can do either way is use the legacy DTS track because there's no DTS-HD decoder). Next, figure out how many dB low the XA2's sub output is (it sounds significant - maybe 10dB?). Increase the subwoofer trim in the XA2's setup menu by that 10dB. If you can't go that high, go as high as possible and then lower the other speaker channels' trims in the XA2's setup menu by whatever is left. This will result in a 10dB boost on the XA2's analog output, but will have no effect on the digital output.

There are two issues that may trip this scheme up. First, Josh Zyber suggests that the LFE output may be 30dB too low - in that case, there's no fixing it short of getting Toshiba to come out with a firmware update. Second, the problem may not occur if you disable the XA2's bass management - something which can be done with the 990 since the 990 can apply its own bass management. Gary Murrell has reported absolutely no problem when running all speakers "large" and his distance settings at 1.0ft on his XA2. If he's right, you should be able to set all speakers to "large" in the XA2's setup menu, set the sub to "on", and set all speaker distances to 1.0ft (0.0ft would be my initial recommendation, but it's unclear if that setting will trigger the LFE output bug).

I knew it was going to be a tricky one. Oh well, if it doesn't work properly, I'll just use the digital output until Toshiba comes out with a Firmware fix. Of course that's assuming they do come out with a fix, but given the problems people are having I would hope so.

Thanks Gonk!! I'll post back when I have some results. I don't have the XA2 yet, but it should be here by Thursday at the latest.

Hey Gonk,

I found this over at the XA2 main thread.

"When using the XA2's analog outputs and playing the HD audio formats (TrueHD/DD+) on HD DVDs, the XA2 will not properly look at the speaker size settings in the setup. If you set your speakers to small, low bass is still being directed to them when it should be sent just to the subwoofer. If your receiver can re-digitize the analog inputs to compensate then you're ok, otherwise you run a risk of overloading the speakers when playing those audio formats at very loud levels. "


So as you stated, I should set the speakers to large in the XA2, then the 990 will do it's thing and set everything the way I want it...correct?? So, for example, if I set the 990 to small, with sub, at different x-overs, the 990 will do that with the incoming analog signal from the XA2...In theory...hopefully, and not to the fault of the 990 if it doesn't work out correctly.

Luckily, the 990 can cover for the XA2's error in this case. Leave the speakers set to "large" in the XA2 and the 990 will take care of the bass management.

It sounds like Toshiba's having some problems with the XA2's firmware. Hopefully they'll handle it like they did with the A1 and XA1 and get good firmware updates out.

They've released two updates (at least) so far, and I'm sure everyone is hoping that the next one includes something for this BM issue.

I have to make up some new cables before I can give what we discussed a whirl, i should have it done by tonight. I'm guessing though, that I am going to have to jack up the sub trim in the 990. I did watch the beginning of Happy Feet last night using Toslink, and there seems to be a noticeable difference with DD+ as compared to DD...so if TrueHD is all it's cracked up to be, then this is going to get VERY COOL!!

Crap, now that I think about it, I don't know if cranking up the sub trim is a good idea. Isn't it a universal setting? So if I crank it up, it will apply to all input sources, which means I will have to turn it back down after I watch a movie, or the LFE on TV shows is going to be ridiculous.

I agree that cranking the 990's sub trim is not going to be helpful - that'll leave you with a very hot sub output for everything else. You can use the XA2's sub trim, though, in which case it only affects the sub level when using the XA2's multichannel analog output. I leaned that way back in my first post, but wasn't sure if there was enough boost available to compensate for the bug. If there is, that'd be a good approach.

Finally got to test it:

7.1 in TrueHD - everything works, plenty of LFE (my FBD is showing plenty of signal and my IB is definitely rocking). Interesting notes - DD+ via Toslink and 5.1 analog is much louder at a given volume, so when going TruHD, I have to turn up the master volume. Overall it's fine, just an interesting note. I wonder if maybe there's something going on with the XA2 and it's anility to decode TrueHD??

I have an inexpensive, Panasonic S29 DVD player, connected to the 990 via coaxle cable and my sat box, via Toslink; both are about the same volume, but way below the volume of my 990's FM tuner. Originally, I thought this was because both the toslink and coaxle cables are long, 20', but, if I understand what you're saying, my experience is similar to what you're describing.

John

Cable length will not affect volume level. I don't know just how Toshiba is handling TrueHD decoding or how TrueHD encoding is being done, but it's worth remembering that DVD's are intentionally mastered a lower volume level than CD and VHS (to name two examples) because it allows for more dynamic range. It's also worth noting that DTS is usually mastered at a level about 4dB higher than Dolby Digital.

I'm unsure about all of Toshiba's HD DVD players, but the HD-A1 and HD-XA1 have two 21266 and two 21262 Analog Devices SHARC DSPs built in that handle all audio processing. They can be "adapted" to handle present and new codecs. On the DAC end they use Burr-Brown PCM1755s with JRC 4580 dual op-amps.

They losslessly convert TrueHD to LPCM.

SHARC DSPs:



Analog section:

Any experience with typical levels used when mastering TrueHD tracks? I'd suspect that it would be similar to what has been done with Dolby Digital or DVD-Audio MLP tracks (since it is an MLP-based compression), but I don't know if the levels are comparable to Dolby Digital or if they are running a bit hotter (like DTS tracks typically are).

Well, based on what I've listened to Dolby TrueHD tracks tend to be a bit low, you'll find yourself always cranking the volume up a little more to match what is generally considered "normal". They aren't usually "louder" like DTS tracks are.

It's also interesting to note most TrueHD tracks have been 16bit/48khz. Universal's HD DVDs all feature Dolby Plus at 24-bit/48khz/1.5 MB per second as their "standard."

Here's my HD DVD (& DVD) collection , if anyone cares. :p

Won't the higher 24-bit sampling resolution of Dolby Plus generally yield better sound quality than Universal's 16-bit resolution?

Maybe, but DD Plus is still a lossy compression format while TrueHD is lossless, which could negate some or all of the advantages of the higher sampling resolution.

This is exactly what I have found as well.