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DVD line level question?

I am a 2 channel guy. No 5.1 or 7.1 here. When I play a dvd through my preamp for the sound, I must turn the volume to almost twice that of any other audio source to level the dvd. Is there anyway around this "problem" for us 2 channel people? Does this problem go away if I were to "upgrade" to 5.1 or 7.1?

--Thanks Doug
doug_kraz
avguygeorge
2,300 posts
 
Are you going through a 2ch dac?---That would mean set the dvd player's menu to pcm/44.1.If the volume is low it means the output voltage of the player an dac is low,say 2v. and your stuck with that; without a voltage mod.
reubent
6,956 posts
 
Doug, does your DVD player have RCA outputs for all 5.1 channels? Are you connected to the RCAs for the front L&R channel only?

If you answered yes to both questions, you may need to go into the DVD players menu and change the audio output to PCM instead of DD 5.1

If you answered yes and you have not set the output to PCM, you may only be hearing the information that is supposed to go to the L&R front speakers in a 5.1 speaker setup. If this is the case it might sound very low since the center channel has most of the sound information.

Check it out......

Enjoy,

TIC
thom_y
195 posts
 
I had the exact same problem when I connected my Denon DVD player to my emmlabs DCC2 preamp using analog RCA interconnects. I was turning the preamp volume to double the number for music (via the emmlabs transport). You will find differences from one DVD player to another, but not extreme. I have been able to partially solve this problem by connecting my Denon DVD player to the DAC of the emmlabs DCC2 via a digital coax cable. Using the digital input into the DCC2, I can now reduce the preamp volume significantly although still not the same as my CD player. Moreover, the sound quality has improved by using the DAC of the emmlabs DCC2, rather than the Denon's own DAC. To do this, you have to go into the DVD player menu and set the digital output to PCM.
s7horton
1,077 posts
 
Some hard core enthusiasts actually recommend running the volume on the pre amp up as far as possible, as it allows you to hear the true sonics of the pre amp. So.. if you had gains on the amp, they would recommend turning the volume on the pre amp to 100%, and adjusting down the volume with the gains on the amplifier.

My point being, it should be just fine to run the volume up as loud as you need to be comfortable. Remember, just because the volume pot is cranked, doesn't necessarily mean the amp/pre amp is working very hard.
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