Blu-ray Help!!!

[jbinny]

Audio/video gurus, I need your help!

I have a Sony bdp-s550 blu ray player and the picture is awesome for both when playing either a dvd or bd. The sound is great with a dvd, but when I pop in a bd, I have to crank up the volume to get the same sound level. Anyone else have similar problems?
Everything is connected with good hdmi cables, so that's not it. Also, I've tried just connecting my player straight to the tv instead of my receiver and I've double checked my sound settings, but I get the same thing... weaker sound when I play a blu ray.


I've done plenty of searching on the ol' interweb, but I still can't find an answer...

 

[nash]

I noticed that as well on some movies. especially TDK. I think it may have something to do with catering to digital surround sound sets?

 

[jbinny]

I'm assuming that means we have to live with it until we upgrade to a sound system that supports dolby digital?

 

[El Roranous]

Get a better sound system- I did and I can't stop watching movies in surround. Oh I am in love.

The Hulk in high quality audio is simply stunning- my whole living room was shaking.

 

[Voorhees27]

Get a better sound system- I did and I can't stop watching movies in surround. Oh I am in love.

The Hulk in high quality audio is simply stunning- my whole living room was shaking.

Yes Hulk was an AMAZING sound experience!

 

[El Roranous]

Yes Hulk was an AMAZING sound experience!

For real man! I was blown away... that and Transformers was very intense as well. I love hearing audio coming at me from all sides. I underestimated the effect of having good quality audio for a long time but now I am a believer.

 

[Voorhees27]

For real man! I was blown away... that and Transformers was very intense as well. I love hearing audio coming at me from all sides. I underestimated the effect of having good quality audio for a long time but now I am a believer.

Yes that and an amazing sub capable of loosening your fillings Do you have Edward Scissorhands on BR? UNREAL sound too! TDK and IM were also just sick in surround.

 

[Bannister]

Get a better sound system- I did and I can't stop watching movies in surround. Oh I am in love.

The Hulk in high quality audio is simply stunning- my whole living room was shaking.

What was the system you bought again?

 

[quadcent]

yes, need to hook up a sound system, i've had the same experience with some of my BR movies, really have to turn up the tv volume to hear anything.

i've had a bose system in the box for 6 months now, just haven't got around to hooking it up.

 

[jbinny]

just to make sure, the lower sound level is because my sound system doesn't have a digital decoder?

 

[Slingblade]

i've had a bose system in the box for 6 months now, just haven't got around to hooking it up.

I have a Bose Acoustimass set hooked up to a Yamaha HTR-8080 receiver and it sounds tremendous. I guarantee the neighbors can hear it when I watch movies
Get them things out of the box and set up!!! you wont regret it.

 

[Natrix]

just to make sure, the lower sound level is because my sound system doesn't have a digital decoder?

Might help if we knew what kind/model number of receiver it is...

 

[jbinny]

Might help if we knew what kind/model number of receiver it is...

It's the HTCT100 soundbar system and after checking, I found out that it does indeed have a digital decoder. Funny thing is that the blu-ray player does the same thing with the volume whether it's connected straight to the tv or the receiver. Firmware is updated as well, so I don't know what's going on... faulty player?

 

[Natrix]

Found these little blurbs about the S550 player settings...

I got it from a local Sonystyle store. Easy set up and very easy to navigate menu. This is my first blu-ray player so I'm unable to compare it against other players or PS3. It has the need to change BD Audio setting from 'mix' (default setting) to 'direct' in order to enjoy lossless audio format. I too want to see professional review on this against the Panny BD55.

The BD Audio has to be set to "direct" in order to get the TrueHD and DTS-HD MA tracks. You can check if you are getting them via the "display" button on the remote. It should tell you what track you are on in the upper right hand corner. Also some movies default to the core DD 5.1 Track so always check at the beginning of the movie.
I had to mess around quite awhile in order to get the DTS-HD and the TrueHD to show up. It's definitely the BD Audio setting. If you switch it to mix you lose the DTS-HD and TrueHD tracks. Their description is vague IMO.

Now I am not familiar with the player or the sound bar but I think this will help

It looks like the soundbar will do Dolby Digital and DTS (which are on regular DVD's) but it won't decode the advanced audio codecs from the Blu Ray disks which may be causing the issue since it will only get the core of those codecs.

 

[Natrix]

I did a little more searching and after looking at the Owners Manual on line check these audio settings on the S550.

Audio Output Priority: HDMI
Audio (HDMI): Auto
BD Audio Settings: Direct
Audio DRC: Wide

It looks like if the settings are messed up, it could be sending only a downmixed 2 channel audio to the soundbar for Blu Ray instead of the full range of channels like you are getting from the DVD's.

 

[Silent December]

I'd like to also ask a BR technical problem question if that's OK. I have a Sony BDP S300 blu ray player hooked up to an LCD tv via an HDMI cable. My problem is with playback. When I play BR movies I get alot of pixelation and distortion on solid colors on the screen. is it the player? the tv? the cables? any advice?

 

[quadcent]

I'd like to also ask a BR technical problem question if that's OK. I have a Sony BDP S300 blu ray player hooked up to an LCD tv via an HDMI cable. My problem is with playback. When I play BR movies I get alot of pixelation and distortion on solid colors on the screen. is it the player? the tv? the cables? any advice?

yeah, go back to VHS.

 

[Silent December]

lol it's not as bad as it sounds, my wife doesn't notice it but I do.

 

[Natrix]

I'd like to also ask a BR technical problem question if that's OK. I have a Sony BDP S300 blu ray player hooked up to an LCD tv via an HDMI cable. My problem is with playback. When I play BR movies I get alot of pixelation and distortion on solid colors on the screen. is it the player? the tv? the cables? any advice?

It sounds like it could be a bad cable. If you don't notice it on other inputs or while watching TV, try another HDMI input and see if it has the same problem.