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DVD Player Setup.

When a DVD player's audio is set up on the player itself,is it necessary to select the audio mode from the disc's menu?
Will the DVD play in the pre selected audio format?
roryfan
reubent
7,066 posts
 
RF,

If you set up the audio output in the DVD player, it is not necessary to set it up again each time you play a different disk. Once it is set up in the players menu, it should stay the same.

I've done this several times when I had a DVD player in a 2-channel system. I set the DVD players output to PCM and connected the DVD player to my DAC. I never had to go into the movie's menu to select PCM.

Enjoy,

TIC
john_z
178 posts
 
Hi Roryfan,

I respectfully disagree with Reubent on this one. As far as movie discs are concerned, it's always a good idea to check the disc's audio menu before starting the movie to be sure it is set to the "best" soundtrack (ie: highest number of channels) for that particular title. Sometimes the software on the disc will default to a lower soundtrack like Dolby 2.0 if that was how the disc was authored. Your player may not override this by itself.

One exeption that I know of is Sony. Most if not all of their models have a feature called "Audio Priority" which will seek out the soundtrack on a disc with the highest # of channels. This feature works well but is optional and must be enabled in the player's setup menu. I am not aware of other brands that offer this feature but check your owner's manual. Good luck! jz

kenn39
75 posts
 
TIC,
If you set the digital output to PCM format, it is always stereo PCM from the digital output, regardless of the original format. Analog output may be different.

jz,
I agree with you mostly. For some reason, Dolby 5.1 sounds better than Dolby 2.0 even after downmixing to stereo. However, if there is a PCM track available, I would use the 2 channel PCM track instead of 5.1 DTS or DD for stereo playback.
john_z
178 posts
 
Hi Kenn39,

I agree with you regarding PCM.. my comments above were regarding the typical Dolby Digital choices on movie DVD's and was just quoting my Sony owner's manual where "best" choice = most discreet channels... I agree the PCM track can sound great and as a bonus is often provided in high-res 96/24 and can sound awesome in stereo. I prefer the 96/24 stereo PCM track on the Eagles' "Hell Freezes Over" concert DVD to the DTS 5.1 version for sonics.

Check your player's specs, however, most DVD players can decode 96/24 but many (esp. older) DVD players will downconvert 96/24 to a lower 48khz spec to output via their digital output. 96/24 tracks may sound better through your players's analog outs on these players.. jz
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