Sony bluray setup

Originally Posted by colin488

You probably need to connect the digital audio out from the Blu-Ray to the HT-IS100 system. It is very unlikely that it will extract audio from the HDMi connection.

Since the TV doesn't do surround sound and hasn't got digital audio anyway the best you will get is stereo so may as well use whatever analogue audio outputs the TV has to hook up to the HT-IS100. You could use Dolby ProLogic to simulate a surround signal if you wish,

As for Sky. Not every channel on Sky broadcasts surround sound. in fact the majority of channels are stereo. So again no surprise really that you only get surround on the HD channels.

I believe the OP has std Sky+ so they won't be able to access the HD channels.

If they have movies/sports subscription then they will have access to DD5.1 when available, the only other channel to output DD5.1 is the Disney channel - everything else is either stereo/Dolby surround.

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O.K. Thanks alot for the info, I thought HDMI was plug and play for everything but maybe not.

Re: connections.

I looks like the sound system allows audio over HDMI, albeit only multichannel PCM - if you connect via HDMI you should be able to configure the player to enable you to listen to HD audio on Bluray. Select LPCM instead of bitstream.

Optical connection for Sky+, just make sure you enable Dolby Digital in the sound menu on the Sky box.

titcaptain · 15-12-2009, 20:50

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You have everything connected correctly.
Freeview from your TV (or any other source) does not output surround sound...stereo only.

Virtually all channels are setup for surround sound as any amp will give you a PL1 or PL2 soundtrack from the stereo broadcasts.

Most channels dont offer a Dolby Digital soundtrack but surround sound was available a very long time before DD was on the scene

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As for Sky. Not every channel on Sky broadcasts surround sound. in fact the majority of channels are stereo. So again no surprise really that you only get surround on the HD channels.

As above - all channels offer surround - just not full 5.1 via a DD bitstream

John Currie · 15-12-2009, 21:09

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Virtually all channels are setup for surround sound as any amp will give you a PL1 or PL2 soundtrack from the stereo broadcasts

Quite, but as stated the OPs IDTV only outputs Stereo sound, not 5.1 which is what the OP was expecting.

titcaptain · 15-12-2009, 21:57

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Quite, but as stated the OPs IDTV only outputs Stereo sound, not 5.1 which is what the OP was expecting.

But you said "Freeview from your tv or any other source"
which sounds to me like you are saying all Freeview sources like my Freeview recorder box won't output surround sound - when it obviously will.

If he connects the stereo output of his tv to a suitable PL2 amp he will get excellent surround sound that is on the way to being as good as 5.1 - albeit not genuine 5.1

Surround sound is not just 5.1

chrisjr · 15-12-2009, 22:19

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But you said "Freeview from your tv or any other source"
which sounds to me like you are saying all Freeview sources like my Freeview recorder box won't output surround sound - when it obviously will.

If he connects the stereo output of his tv to a suitable PL2 amp he will get excellent surround sound that is on the way to being as good as 5.1 - albeit not genuine 5.1

Surround sound is not just 5.1

But the source is NOT surround sound. It is plain stereo.

Dolby ProLogic synthesises a surround sound effect from that stereo source. But the source is by no means surround. All Dolby ProLogic does is use clever manipulation of the source to manufacture sounds to feed to the rear speakers. But those sounds were not intentionally placed there.

That is the difference. A true surround system such as Dolby Digital 5.1 deliberately places sounds into the various positions represented by the speakers. ProLogic does this purely by accident.

Though it is possible to use a ProLogic Encoder at the start of the transmission chain to mix in extra information that enhances the ProLogic decode process. That more closely meets the criteria of true surround since there is much more of a chance that sounds emerging from the rear speakers were actually meant to be there.

But processing a pure stereo signal, especially one itself manufactured by panning a load of single channel sources between left and right channels, does not produce anything more than "accidental" surround. A recording made using crossed pair microphone technique could produce a more convincing effect because it does capture something of a 3D sound field.

John Currie · 15-12-2009, 22:40

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But the source is NOT surround sound. It is plain stereo

My point entirely Chris.

MrGiles2 · 15-12-2009, 23:23

I have two Sony Blu-Rays machines, both connected to my Yamaha Amplifier via optical leads whilst the HDMI leads are connected directly to the TV.

If I am watching Virginmedia V+ though, I can switch my amplifier to 7 Channel Stereo which drives the stereo much wider.

Using optical leads from the blu-rays it will automatically pick up the stereo soundtrack or the dolby digital soundtrack especially on Blu-Ray discs.

Sounds great as well!!

My Freeview which is built into the TV is only stereo sound, although it does sound well, it lacks the depth and bass of the other system.

titcaptain · 15-12-2009, 23:41

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My point entirely Chris.

Telling someone that they won't get surround sound from Freeview is misleading and completely incorrect.

Ok - they wont get DD from Freeview but neither will they from most non movie channels on Sky.

You're splitting hairs.

Most enthusiasts were enjoying surround sound many years before DD arrived

titcaptain · 15-12-2009, 23:45

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But the source is NOT surround sound. It is plain stereo.

Dolby ProLogic synthesises a surround sound effect from that stereo source. But the source is by no means surround. All Dolby ProLogic does is use clever manipulation of the source to manufacture sounds to feed to the rear speakers. But those sounds were not intentionally placed there.

That is the difference. A true surround system such as Dolby Digital 5.1 deliberately places sounds into the various positions represented by the speakers. ProLogic does this purely by accident.

Though it is possible to use a ProLogic Encoder at the start of the transmission chain to mix in extra information that enhances the ProLogic decode process. That more closely meets the criteria of true surround since there is much more of a chance that sounds emerging from the rear speakers were actually meant to be there.

But processing a pure stereo signal, especially one itself manufactured by panning a load of single channel sources between left and right channels, does not produce anything more than "accidental" surround. A recording made using crossed pair microphone technique could produce a more convincing effect because it does capture something of a 3D sound field.

If you want to believe that anything that is not DD 5.1 is not surround sound then go ahead but don't forget to let those who made The Simpsons and many other shows including shows from ITV that carried the Dolby Surround logo on them know they were wrong all the time- and these shows were made before DD was even a concept

Apart from movies most dvd's are still only in 2 channel sound but I doubt anyone would say there was no surround sound.

DD 5.1 places the sounds more accurately that PL2 but who the hell cares?

I wonder what you make of BBC HD and Sky's movie channels that broadcast 24 hours a day in DD but very often with only 2 channels of sound- do they still not have surround sound.

John Currie · 15-12-2009, 23:49

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You're splitting hairs

No, my friend you're the one whose guilty of that.
My answer to the OPs question is factually correct.

chrisjr · 15-12-2009, 23:57

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If you want to believe that anything that is not DD 5.1 is not surround sound then go ahead but don't forget to let those who made The Simpsons and many other shows including shows from ITV that carried the Dolby Surround logo on them know they were wrong all the time

Apart from movies most dvd's are still only in 2 channel sound but I doubt anyone would say there was no surround sound.

DD 5.1 places the sounds more accurately that PL2 but who the hell cares?

Show me where I said that anything that is not Dolby Digital 5.1 is NOT surround sound.

If you actually read what I posted you will clearly see that I make a distinction between plain stereo and a stereo sound track encoded with Dolby ProLogic. Which to the best of my knowledge is the only system that encodes down to a simple stereo (or more corectly two channel) format

A sound track encoded with Dolby ProLogic will have extra information in the mix that enhances the decode process to produce something that is much closer to what would be considered Surround Sound.

But any stereo source that IS NOT so encoded is not nor has it ever been surround sound. Surround sound by any reasonable definition of the term requires discrete channels carrying front and rear information deliberately placed into those positions. Yes those discrete channels can be encoded into fewer channels for recording or transmission then decoded back out to the original discrete channels at the receiver.

Plain stereo does not meet that definition because any information derived from it that is sent to anything other than front left and right was never intentionally placed there. It did not have the discrete surround sound information deliberately encoded into it at source.

I struggle to see why you find that concept so difficult to understand.

chrisjr · 16-12-2009, 00:04

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No, my friend you're the one whose guilty of that.
My answer to the OPs question is factually correct.

Reminds me of the people who were totally convinced back in the late 60's early 70's that stereo meant bass from the left speaker and treble from the right.

They were wrong too....

Deacon1972 · 16-12-2009, 10:44

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If you want to believe that anything that is not DD 5.1 is not surround sound then go ahead but don't forget to let those who made The Simpsons and many other shows including shows from ITV that carried the Dolby Surround logo on them know they were wrong all the time- and these shows were made before DD was even a concept

You have to distinguish between what it true surround and what is just simply matrixed from two channel.

If the stereo soundtrack has surround encoded within then this will give surround, if it hasn't then the amps decoder will just matrix info from the left/right channels and send it to the rears, sometimes it can work, but generally it sounds pretty weak.

A CD will generally have a 2channel soundtrack and can be played back using DPL, doesn't mean it's surround, in this case it's nothing more than a DSP mode, it's fake.

I think the confusion that has come about here is whether you are referring to the source which carries surround sound, or are you just listening to surround sound which has been forced from what is basically a std stereo soundtrack.

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DD 5.1 places the sounds more accurately that PL2 but who the hell cares?

DD5.1 does a lot more that place sounds more accurately - DD5.1 has a dedicated LFE channel for a start, all 6 channels are dedicated, none are matrixed, and all have full bandwidth capabilities. DPLII can sound good on certain content, but it's not DD5.1.

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Originally Posted by Deacon1972

I wonder what you make of BBC HD and Sky's movie channels that broadcast 24 hours a day in DD but very often with only 2 channels of sound- do they still not have surround sound.

Very rarely do I see a movie on Sky that is only stereo, it's a mixture of DD5.1/Dolby Surround, the majority being DD5.1.

If a movie comes up as only stereo on my amp, I'll listen to it in stereo as I want to listen to the original soundtrack, not let the amp make one up, only when it comes up as surround will I let it engage surround mode, DPLIIx in my case.

The BBC HD channel, well they seem to have had problems from day one, I've never know a channel to have so many problems with their soundtracks.

gomezz · 16-12-2009, 11:11

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A CD will generally have a 2channel soundtrack and can be played back using DPL, doesn't mean it's surround, in this case it's nothing more than a DSP mode, it's fake.

I use 5 channel stereo mode when playing a CD on my AV amp: LB = LF = L; RB = RF = R; C = L + R ...

... but of course it sounds heaps better when played on my dedicated hi-fi stereo amp through a pair of full range speakers.

But more seriously I find a lot of music DVDs (Led Zep's The Song Remains the Same is a prime example) sound better in 5 channel stereo than they do in surround sound mode (perhaps Jimmy Page should have got a professional sound engineer in to help him with the remix?).

Deacon1972 · 16-12-2009, 11:31

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Originally Posted by gomezz

I use 5 channel stereo mode when playing a CD on my AV amp: LB = LF = L; RB = RF = R; C = L + R ...

... but of course it sounds heaps better when played on my dedicated hi-fi stereo amp through a pair of full range speakers.

But more seriously I find a lot of music DVDs (Led Zep's The Song Remains the Same is a prime example) sound better in 5 channel stereo than they do in surround sound mode.

I've had a look/listen at all the different sound modes on various amps I've owned, some of them do some very strange things - personally nothing sounds as good as listening to the original recording.

I listen to CD's/radio via pure direct - the only time multichannel comes in is when it's a music DVD or a DTS CD that have been recorded in that way.

So long as you enjoy what you are listening to that's all that matters I suppose.

gomezz · 16-12-2009, 11:38

Agreed. Especially if you can wind up an audiophile or videophile nut who comes to visit.

titcaptain · 16-12-2009, 21:16

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Originally Posted by Deacon1972

Show me where I said that anything that is not Dolby Digital 5.1 is NOT surround sound.

.

It was actually John who said that no Freeview sources would supply surround sound which is complete rubbish.

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You have to distinguish between what it true surround and what is just simply matrixed from two channel.

DD5.1 does a lot more that place sounds more accurately -
Very rarely do I see a movie on Sky that is only stereo, it's a mixture of DD5.1/Dolby Surround, the majority being DD5.1.

I never said Sky broadcast in stereo.
The 2 channel soundtrack is precisely the same as DD 2.0 found on dvd's which equates to Dolby Surround.

So you're basically saying that Dolby Surround and PL1 and PL2 are not true surround

So we never had surround sound until dvd came along - not true really

Deacon1972 · 16-12-2009, 21:59

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I never said Sky broadcast in stereo.
The 2 channel soundtrack is precisely the same as DD 2.0 found on dvd's which equates to Dolby Surround.

So you're basically saying that Dolby Surround and PL1 and PL2 are not true surround

So we never had surround sound until dvd came along - not true really

The surround soundtrack has to be embedded onto the soundtrack for the amp to playback true Dolby Surround - if there's not a surround track embedded on say a stereo soundtrack, the amp will of course playback in DPL, but it will not be true surround, it will send info to the rears to what it thinks should be there, it will be force/fake.

Not saying Dolby surround/DPLII are not true surround, of course they are, I'm saying a stereo soundtrack that hasn't got a surround track embedded within will not be true surround when DPL is applied.

Surround was present on VHS, so of course we had surround before DVD.

chrisjr · 17-12-2009, 09:30

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It was actually John who said that no Freeview sources would supply surround sound which is complete rubbish.

I never said Sky broadcast in stereo.
The 2 channel soundtrack is precisely the same as DD 2.0 found on dvd's which equates to Dolby Surround.

So you're basically saying that Dolby Surround and PL1 and PL2 are not true surround

So we never had surround sound until dvd came along - not true really

You really don't get it do you.

2 channel audio tracks, commonly but sometimes erroneously called stereo, can be a number of things. It all depends on the intention of the person making the original recording.

If the original sound track was mixed down directly to two channels then it is NOT surround sound in the commonly accepted sense of this phrase. There is no way on this planet that you can claim otherwise. There is NO surround information encoded into the mix. It simply does not exist.

Passing it through Dolby ProLogic on replay may create noises from the rear speaker but they are entirely faked. They were not present in the original recording. the ProLogic circuits have invented them.

However If the original sound track was mixed to four channels, two of which being the front left and right and two being rear left and right. or even three channels with just a single rear then that is true surround sound. The sound engineer has deliberately placed sound sources in the rear channels. Passing those three or four channels through a Dolby ProLogic encoder will produce a two channel signal that is compatible with stereo but when passed through a ProLogic decoder will recreate the rear channel information that was put there in the mixing process.

Obviously things like Dolby Digital and DTS take this one stage further and encode up to 8 discrete channels depending on format.

But it is a complete fallacy to say that ALL two channel sources are surround sound. Very many are not. That includes the majority of the Freeview channels and satellite (any provider).

If a channel displays the Dolby Surround logo (as I believe they are required to do by Dolby) then chances are it was originally mixed to three or four channels and encoded down to two channels. That is a surround sound signal.

And the two channel sound track accompanying the pictures on broadcast television (however it is received) is not the same as Dolby Digital 2.0. It may be very similar, but it is not the same.

I strongly suggest you read the Dolby Labs website. You may then get a better understanding of the technology.

Deacon1972 · 17-12-2009, 12:07

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