S/PDIF Output to receiver is low

[tealcomp]

Hi Stanger, this is a question for you (since I see your responses on this subject in previous posts); anybody's input is welcome too of course, but in general, is it normal to have significantly lower volume output when you are going straight AC-3 through toslink to a receiver? I have to really jack the volume up with both Power DVD and SAGE when it comes to DVD playback...any thoughts?

-Dan

[korben_dallas]

Alot of DVD's have a very wide volume band, so you have to crank it in order to get the quiet levels at normal hearing volume. Check and see if your receiver supports dynamic compression changes.

Also, check to see how your DVD audio decoder is set. If SPDIF is an option, use it. Also, what sound card do you have? Sometimes you have to set the digital output to straight passthru.

[stanger89]

Also if it's true AC3 passthrough, then volume control should have no effect. kroben is right on the money about the dynamic range, most (many/some) DVDs have a much greater dynamic range than most other media.

[tealcomp]

Originally Posted by stanger89

Also if it's true AC3 passthrough, then volume control should have no effect. kroben is right on the money about the dynamic range, most (many/some) DVDs have a much greater dynamic range than most other media.

Stanger:

I am just using the toslink out on the motherboard, which is NVIDIA based...I have no issues with SAGE itself and shows, but as you know that is not REAL AC-3; the output for the DVD seems to be, based on the receiver's readout. I will check the other items mentioned..

-Dan

[stanger89]

Is it a Soundstorm board or not?

[tealcomp]

Originally Posted by stanger89

Is it a Soundstorm board or not?

Realtek AL-850, not Soundstorm...

[stanger89]

Yeah, I wanted to make sure you weren't decoding and then having the Soundstorm re-encode it.

Do you have any sort of Dynamic Range Compression enabled on your reciever?

[tealcomp]

Originally Posted by stanger89

Yeah, I wanted to make sure you weren't decoding and then having the Soundstorm re-encode it.

Do you have any sort of Dynamic Range Compression enabled on your reciever?

I will have to pull the manual and find out; but I have the same issue with my Denon stand-alone player so that leads me to conclude that the receiver is the source of the problem. Never had these issues with my Yamaha, and I must admit I have to do due diligence and fine tune the audio settings for this newest receiver..

-Dan

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by tealcomp

Never had these issues with my Yamaha, and I must admit I have to do due diligence and fine tune the audio settings for this newest receiver..

-Dan

You always do