6.1 Surround Setup Help

[rIKmAN]

I have just connected up my 6.1 amp and speakers, and run the Auto Calibration from the amp - you place the supplied mic in the sitting position and it does a load of tests and adjust all the speaker settings for optimum performance.

All that went perfectly, and all speakers worked fine in the tests (it doesn`t do the sub) - however, I have tried my 360 via optical and my DVD player via optical and the amp just reports "Dolby Digital 3/2.1" and I get no sound from the rear L/C/R speakers.

Would mixing up the polarity of one or more of the speakers cause this to happen, or would they still work but be out of phase and so distorted?

I have been through the manual and checked everything I can think of, I`ve tried GoW and CoD3 on 360, and tested LOTR1 and LOTR2 on both, and still get the "Dolby Digital 3/2.1" on the amp - like its not recieving a 5.1 signal.

The thing thats baffling me is that they all work in the Auto Calibration (goes through them one by one testing each speaker).....I don`t have to do anything other than connect the optical cable do I?
I have checked the 360 and 5.1 is enabled, optical connected via the offical VGA lead.

Any help or ideas anyone could give would be greatly appreciated.

The amp is a Sony STR-DG500 (6.1) and i`m using the speakers from a Creative Inspire 5700 set (with extra satellite to make it to 6.1)

Cheers!

[flipper321]

Is the amp set to auto-detect the input (A.F.D Auto button)?

[mij]

Also check the digital output settings on the DVD player is not set to stereo.

[chris71]

As far as im aware Dolby 3/2.1 is Dolby 5.1 it just breaks it down to 3 front x 2 back and 1 centre.

If it was only receiving DD 2ch then it would display 'Dolby 2/0' (2xfront, 0x rear) DD 6.1 = Dolby 3/3.1 etc

As to why you can't hear the rears im not to sure about, is there any way to manually set the levels with the test tone, just to make sure that they are set ok?

[cyprus]

As far as im aware Dolby 3/2.1 is Dolby 5.1 it just breaks it down to 3 front x 2 back and 1 centre.

If it was only receiving DD 2ch then it would display 'Dolby 2/0' (2xfront, 0x rear) DD 6.1 = Dolby 3/3.1 etc

As to why you can't hear the rears im not to sure about, is there any way to manually set the levels with the test tone, just to make sure that they are set ok?

EDIT: I'm sober now

[rIKmAN]

Is the amp set to auto-detect the input (A.F.D Auto button

Yes mate it is, I`ve cycled through all the inputs too, but no difference, and it is set on AFDD as per the manual.

Also check the digital output settings on the DVD player is not set to stereo.

Yep it is, and the 360 has "Dolby 5.1" enabled in the sound options in dash.

As far as im aware Dolby 3/2.1 is Dolby 5.1 it just breaks it down to 3 front x 2 back and 1 centre.

Ah Ok, didn`t know that, I was expecting "Dolby 5.1" as the manual doesn`t mention what it should display.

If it was only receiving DD 2ch then it would display 'Dolby 2/0' (2xfront, 0x rear) DD 6.1 = Dolby 3/3.1 etc

Yeah I`ve I`ve had it display "Dolby 2/0" as I cycled through the modes, it must have been the 2 channel stereo mode come to think of it.

As to why you can't hear the rears im not to sure about, is there any way to manually set the levels with the test tone, just to make sure that they are set ok?

Yeah there is, and they all work during this apart from the subwoofer.

Ignore everything he just said.

Erm....could you elaborate please

Now...The speakers are Creative Inspire 5700 - does it matter if the sub is active or passive for it to work - I don`t know too much about speakers etc although I think active/passive is whether it is self powered or powered from the amp?

Can anyone recommend anything to use to test the setup?
I tried LOTR 1/2 last night but I didn`t really get any "surround" type effects even during the battle scenes....
I have read about "Surround Test DVDs" but can`t find them in the usual places - does anyone know anything about these?

Cheers guys!

[chris71]

Heres and NZB for Avia Guide to Home Cinema, Hope it helps.

[rIKmAN]

I searched for this earlier, but was searching for "avia" and "surround" etc on NewzBin....much appreciated chris, grabbing now.
Karma+ mate - I`ll post back with any update.

One thing I have tried is connecting optical from the front of my Live Drive II (connected to Audigy) to the amp, and I do get sound, but the 5.1 test files I have tried don`t work properly.
I`m in the process of trying to get all the Creative drivers / software together so I can have a play.

Thanks again for any help / tips / ideas!

[Little John]

Ive got an older sony 5.1 amp so I will try help as much as I can.

The AFD mode automatically picks up the type on input it is receiveing from the source especially when using an optical connection. If the source is coded with 2/0 then the display will flash up 2/0 a prologic dvd will flash up 2/1 stereo front and joint rear. when it is receiving a digital signal my amp has a blue light to indicate it.

no matter what your xbox is set to if the game/movie is only encoded in 2.0 then your only gonna get a stereo output. you can change the amp to set it to prologic to give some surround effects.

as for your sub im not sure I have an active sub nd just connected it up, and it worked addjust the levels and it was perfect.

Another thing about wireing up your speakers make sure you dont cross wire them red to red black to balck. unfortunatly you dont know which is which as the speakers are moulded just wire them all the same way and hope for the best. I also have a creative inspire 5700 set up in the bedroom for my 360

[rIKmAN]

Hey John,

Yeah I have traced all the speakers the same way and connected them so that as the speaker front is facing me, the left wire (as coming from the back of the speaker) goes to the + and the right goes to the -.

They speakers work fine in the Amp Auto-Calibration, all channels output and it completes with no errors - this doesn`t include the sub though, which I cannot get any sound out of at all.
I have set the Test-Tone on the amp also, and this works great with all speakers apart from the sub again which *should* output, but doesn`t.

To connect the spaker I chopped the ends off and screwed them into the binding posts on the amp, the sub is a phono (RCA) on one end which goes to the amp (sub out) and the other end is bare wires which go into the amp via those spring clips - I have tried both ways round - it seems like there is no power to it (I`ve tried 2 subs from different sets, both the same)

My amp also has the blue light which lights up, and it displays on the amp as "Dolby Digital 3/2.1" with all the speakers shown on the display and the blue light on.

The dvds I have tried are definately Dolby 5.1 EX as it says so on the disks/case and they are originals (LOTR1/2), does yours display "DD 3/2.1" when you have fully working 5.1 sound?

Cheers!

[rIKmAN]

Ok I`ve used the Avia disk to test my sound setup, all the speakers are in phase (wahey!) and the tests all work fine apart from the subwoofer, which just plain doesn`t work - utter silence, like it`s not even powered.
I have now set my amp to "No subwoofer" so it will compensate and put it through the other channels but the bass levels are still really bad.
This is both through the 360 and a DVD player.

Is this because the speakers are designed to run on a PC through the Creative decoder thing (does this power them?).
Am I looking at spending another £100 on a set of proper AV speakers to cure this problem, or have I wired the sub up wrong?

I have it connected to "subwoofer out" on the back of the amp as per the manual, and the bare wires go to the unit, there are no other things on the sub to play with, no power, no nothing apart from the spring clip connections.
I had 2 sets of these speakers from DirtyGirl, so don`t think I could have 2 faulty subs - I think it may be a power issue, and searching the net I can`t find out if the sub is active or passive - or even if this makes a difference.

@LittleJohn: Do you have the 5700`s (inc sub) all working right through an amp? if so ANY help would be appreciated, I`ve spent all weekend fiddling and am ready to chuck them out the window!

I was lookign at the SSP88 from RicherSounds - would these be compatible, or does anyone have any suggestions on what my next move should be?

Cheers again!

[chris71]

the sub is a phono (RCA) on one end which goes to the amp (sub out) and the other end is bare wires which go into the amp via those spring clips - I have tried both ways round - it seems like there is no power to it (I`ve tried 2 subs from different sets, both the same)

rIKmAN,

Not 100% sure on the creative sub, but by the way you have it wired it sounds like its a passive sub 'spring clips' (no mains power or amp built in).

The sony amp only sends out a pre-amp signal to the sub via the phono, so the sub will have to be an active sub (amplified, mains supply).

This is normally a phono - phono connection.

Can you confirm if the sub is active or passive.

[rIKmAN]

I can`t see any info on the net confirming if it`s active/passive, but I¬m guessing having now power means it`s passive?

I guess the creative decoder usually powers the unit via the phono connector, but my amop doesn`t.

Would it be best to get a powered amp and link it with the speakers I have from the 5700, or would it be best to get a whole new set of 6.1 speakers - and if so, any recommendations?

Ta!

[chris71]

Yeah it sounds like the sub is passive, if it hasn't got a seperate mains supply for an internal amp.

I cant comment on how good the creative speakers are as I never heard a set before, But you can easily add any active subwoofer available from richer sounds or ebay.


http://www.richersounds.co.uk/produc...oup=SUBWOOFERS

Just make sure its an active

[rIKmAN]

I was looking at the SSP88`s from RicherSounds the other day.

Would there be any sound difference if I bought just a sub and put it with the 5700 speakers, or is it usually best to buy a "set" as it were so they all match and work best together?

Thansk for your help chris

[chris71]

The SSP88's will work, but I wouldn't have a clue how the Sony SSP88's satelites are compared with the creative 5700's.

Best thing to do is whack your system up and see how they perform up loud, then pop to richer sounds and see if you can demo a set of ssp88's and ask if they can disconnect the sub for a fair comparison.