Dolby Digital for beginners. .....ME!

[fattyboombatty]

hello.
my new DVD player is apparantly capable of out putting DD. it has a digital coaxil output at the rear.

sooooooooo, what can i do with this? if i buy a amp/reciever that accepts DD can i have 5.1 sound? does it depend on the disc what form of DD i get? if a disc doesnt support DD what do i get instead? :confused:

thanks.:)

[Greenstead]

You should get an amplifier that supports at least DD5.1 and DTS sound. All DVDs output DD5.1, many also DTS which is technically superior in principle but opinions differ on the listening quality. Any DD5.1 amp will have a coax input for the DVD player to connect to.

You'll need some speakers too. And get an active sub.
;)

More expenditure.
:eek:

[big sinky]

if u have six sound outputs on the back of the dvd player then you only need an amp with 6 inputs on it to listen to dd5.1. to listen to dts you will need a dts amp.

while the vast majority of dvds are dd5.1 or dts, not all are. some might still be dd 2.0 or pro-logic. full band DTS is much more dynamic than dd5.1. you only have to listen to the omaha beach scene on saving ryans privates. similarly in the bone collector the scene when angelina jolie stops the amtrak train. superb in DD5.1 but in DTS it sounded like the amtrak has stopped in my living room.

greenstead is right on the speakers and active sub. dont skimp in the speakers or the cabling. one analogy that i was given was... you spend all that money on a nice dts amp and a good set of speakers and rig it up with bell wire....is like serving a vintage wine in a styrofoam cup. if the front speakers are large enuf then you might get enuf bass to leave the sub until you get some more money together for a half decent one (B+W ASW 1000) for instance.

Hope this helps you.

[Urban Tiger]

Welcome to the bottomless cash pit ;)

[RobDickinson]

Originally posted by fattyboombatty
hello.
my new DVD player is apparantly capable of out putting DD. it has a digital coaxil output at the rear.

sooooooooo, what can i do with this? if i buy a amp/reciever that accepts DD can i have 5.1 sound? does it depend on the disc what form of DD i get? if a disc doesnt support DD what do i get instead? :confused:

thanks.:)

If you get a DD amp and connect a digital coax between them then you get DD.

All disks have to have a DD or PCM (same sort of thing CD's use) track on them, PCM isnt used ( can actualy go to 7.1 uncompressed).

The DD track doesnt have to be 5.1 - any or all of the speakers may be used ( you could have just the rears...)

Typicaly you either get :

Mono (1) : center channel only for old mono films
or
Stereo (2) : left n right mains - sometimes used for stereo mono
This may be Pro-logic encoded.
Stereo with sub (2.1) think I've seen this once...
Full DD5.1 : all speakers.
DD ex(es?) - (6.1) matrixed extra rear channel - need decent kit for this though.


main thing is - you always get something even if its pro-logic stereo.

[kcxdev]

Originally posted by RobDickinson


DD ex(es?) - (6.1) matrixed extra rear channel - need decent kit for this though.


DD EX and
DTS ES (not to mention plain old regular DTS :D)

you'll need space for the centre rear speaker behind the seating position as well (most will have the seat against a rear wall :()

[The Boogerman]

Hello.
my new DVD player is apparantly capable of out putting DD. it has a digital coaxil output at the rear. Sooooooooo, what can i do with this?

Dolby digital is a form of digital audio compression and encoding. But it has been designed to be quite flexible, in that it is capable of downgrading the surround sound aspect of its encoding. As RobDickinson has already mentioned there are different levels of sound output mono, stereo.....->5.1. If you play a Dolby Digital 5.1 mix it will play on whatever sound system you have from a £30,000 `dream system', to a single speaker on a B&W portable. What you can do is to take steps to gradually improve the amount of the mix you can hear.
1. buy an amp/reciever capable of decoding DD5.1 (and if your budget can stretch to it also DTS - it will give you more options later should be able to pick up a DD/DTS amp from £200 +)
2. Upgrade your speakers. You may already have some hifi speakers you can use as fronts, but you will need to get some rears and a centre speaker. Its worth spending a little more on the centre as most films are dialogue driven and this will be the one doing most of the work. You could look at buying a matched (one brand) speaker system. Richer Sounds have a 5 speaker sets from £150 (possibly less?) +.
3. Buy a digital coaxial cable to link your DVD player to your amp. This probably should be done at the same time as buying your amp, but until you have a surround sound speaker setup you probably won't appreciate the difference this will make. Spend £20+ on a 1m lead.
4. Buy an active subwoofer. This is one with a built in amplifier rather than one driven by your AV amp (a passive subwoofer). Its worthwhile noting that to be effective, bass frequencies should be driven by an amp capable of twice the output of your AV amp (i.e. for a 50W AV amp look at a 100W Sub). All of this should preferably be demoed in your home, so you can get to grips with it. Don't cheapskate it and run a cheaper sub at full volume, as you will soon run the risk of it failing.

if i buy a amp/reciever that accepts DD can i have 5.1 sound? does it depend on the disc what form of DD i get? if a disc doesnt support DD what do i get instead?

If you buy a DD5.1 amp, have 5 surround speakers and a subwoofer, have a digital coxial connection between DVD and Amp, AND play a DD5.1 encoded disc then yes you will get 5.1 DD sound. This sound is totally dependant on the disc. I believe that DD 1.0 (mono) is the minimum standard for DVD audio encoding. So if a disc is only 1.0 (mono), even a £100,000 system won't improve on the sound. If a disc doesn't support DD you might get PCM in which case you are most probably watching a stereo mix of a music DVD.

[The Boogerman]

Also would recommend checking Dolby's Home Theater site for recommendations for speaker placement etc, here's the link. (http://www.dolby.com/ht/)

[fattyboombatty]

thanks alot, chaps. i'll be bargin hunting in the new year:nuts: