Libcompuser

My Dad has had a surround sound setup for 12 years, but lately I've been looking into whether or not he's getting what he paid for.

On the receiver, it states 6 channel discreet.

On the back, there is an area labeled "DVD/DSS" and there are 6 jacks to the side of it for surround left, right, and front left/right, and video and subwoofer. Only the 2 for DVD/DSS have cables running to them, and they come from the digital cable box. Since there are only those 2, can he get real surround sound? I figure those other empty jacks need to be plugged into a corresponding jack in another device to make them work right, but there don't seem to be any digital cable boxes with 5 or 6 channel audio output.

But there is some background sound coming from the surround speakers, but it just doesn't seem as "distinct" as what we hear from the demo units at Best Buy. It makes me feel like we're missing out on something here.

Can someone give me some advice on what to do?

yustr

A little more information would help. What is the make and model of the receiver?

Some receivers have inputs for analog signals from externally decoded sources (typically DVD players) such as DVD-Audio or SACD. They'll be labled which channel each is: L/R/C/Surround R/Surround L/Sub.

Does the cable box have a "digital audio out" plug? It will be either optical or RCA style (maybe both). That should go to a "digital in" on the receiver.

One or the other of these is necessary to get true surround sound.

All receivers can fabricate surround from a stereo source - that is most probably what your set up is.

Note: some receivers have outputs for using an external amplifier. The group of these are usually labled "Pre-out" and each jack will state which channel it is: L/R/C/Surround R/Surround L/Sub.

Hope this helps.

Libcompuser

I'm not at my Dad's house right now, so I don't know the model of the receiver, but I do know he bought it about 12 years ago. It has input jacks for surround left/right, front left/right, center and subwoofer. I guess that makes it a 5.1 surround input. There is no digital inputs in the receiver, but the cable box has what appears to be an RCA type jack for digital audio out.

Since the only other outputs the cable box has for audio is simply audio left out and audio right out, is there a way that it can be hooked up to the receiver for "true" surround sound in 5.1? Or does the cable box need to have 5.1 outputs for that to happen?

yustr

It sounds like your Dad's receiver does not have decoding capability. Therefore the 6 inputs can be amplified but they have to be decoded by another piece.

There is no way to turn 2 channels into true 5.1. Simulated surround is the best you're going to get. That's what you have now. Play with the audio settings to find the one that sounds best (it may be called Mode or DSP or ??? and may have descriptions like Hall, Stadium, Club, etc...)

Libcompuser

Yes, it does have the descriptions you mention: Hall, Stadium, Club, etc. So I guess we really don't have true 5.1 like you say. During some scenes in a movie though, such as when it's raining, you can hear the rain in the 2 surround speakers, while the dialog comes out of the front center. Is that an indication that surround sound is working? Or is that a form of simulated surround?

Also, he has a Playstation 2 which is able to play movie DVDs. It also has just 3 output jacks: Video, Audio L and Audio R. I presume that this also does not give true surround sound. I guess he'd have to get a DVD player with 5.1 outputs, correct?

yustr

Yes a DVD player that internally decodes dolby digital and has 5.1 analog outputs.

But those are few and far between anymore. Look for one that says "Universal Player, SACD, DVD-Audio. These have a better chance of having what you need. Or... retire that receiver and use the digital out of the cable box.

Libcompuser

What would the digital out of the cable box get connected to with what he has right now? Or are you referring to connecting it to a new DVD player with a digital input? We currently don't have anything with a digital input.

yustr

You're correct - you have no digital processing capability. I was referring to playing DVD's using a player that does the decoding. If that's not of interest -I appologize. For the cable signal, you'll need a new receiver.

Libcompuser

Thanks, Yustr. I guess we're at the limits of what we have now. It looks like a new DVD player with a decoder is the way to go otherwise. That is, unless we could find a cable box that was capable. So far, I'm not getting any help in finding out if my cable company has one like that. They keep acting like they don't know what I'm talking about (and that's the technical dept.).

ebackhus

I work for a cable company down here in SA and all of our boxes include digital audio output for 5.1 programs.

yustr

Yes but his dad's receiver does not have a digital input so he's SOL.

ebackhus

True true. Must be rather old to lack that feature. Luckily, a good receiver with that capability can be had cheap these days. :)