Not really computers - but anyway.
Discussion
About 2/3 years ago we bought a Panasonic home cinema which has been excellent and in fact still is.
Problem is the enhanced sound system it uses is DSP and I don't think anyone uses it at all, also it doesn't play CD-R/RW and all that stuff.
So yesterday I bit the bullet and got a secondary one which plays all sorts of stuff and I intend to use the main unit as an amplifier for it.
My question is, if I play a DTS DVD from my new unit, through the old one (using it as an amp) is the DTS lost as the other is DSP?
Problem is the enhanced sound system it uses is DSP and I don't think anyone uses it at all, also it doesn't play CD-R/RW and all that stuff.
So yesterday I bit the bullet and got a secondary one which plays all sorts of stuff and I intend to use the main unit as an amplifier for it.
My question is, if I play a DTS DVD from my new unit, through the old one (using it as an amp) is the DTS lost as the other is DSP?
DSP stands for Digital Sound Processing and encompasses Dolby Surround, Dolby Surround 2, Dolby Digital and DTS. Chances are your old amp is just Dolby surround and not a digital one. Look for the DD or DTS logo on it. Put simply, an amp that doesn't have a DTS logo on it will not play a DTS sound track (there are ways round this if your dvd and amp allow you to do the processing on the dvd player and pass the six channels in in analogue form but I wouldn't recommend that solution).
.Mark said:
Well the Amp (Home cinema) is a 5.1 surround sound system with Dolby Pro-Logic so I guess the quality is there.
The DTS bit will be done on the new secondary player. Any clearer?
Mark you old amp will be 4.1 surround not 5.1 as Pro Logic uses Mono rear speakers. hence to say that the sound coming out of the rear 2 is identical.
What Panasonic Amp have you got and whats you new bit of kit.
I install Multi room hifi and Cinema setuips for a living so may be able to suggest the best way you can use your kit
Steve
If the old system you have doesn't have DTS decoding capability, you won't get DTS multichannel sound. The fact that your new DVD player has a DTS logo on it only tells you that it's capable of getting the DTS soundtrack off the disc, not that it can do anything with it, aside from pass it straight to the amp via a digital link (either optical or RF - a single phono connector). (A few standalone DVD players have a decoder in them with six or so sets of phono outputs on the back that you then have to hook up to an amp capable of accepting multichannel input in this way.)
You'll need to dig out the manual for your old system to find out exactly what it will do: at a guess, it might to Dolby Digital given its age, but there again, it might only be Pro Logic. Counting speakers won't help you here: both Pro Logic and DD systems could have 2xFront 2xRear 1xCentre and 1xSubwoofer hooked up.
And the whole "DSP" thing is a red herring in some ways: it's just a generic term that a number of manufacturers use to say that their box will mash the sound in various ways that have nothing to do with Pro Logic, Dolby Digital or DTS. As well as doing the previous three things, my amp has a DSP capability as well. All it means is that it can widen the soundfield of a surround sound signal, or that it can take a stereo signal and make you sound like you're in a church or something silly like that. Waste of space IMHO. I'd like surround sound as the film director intended, stereo as the engineer or producer intended. I'd rather my hi-fi didn't then go screwing around with it...
You'll need to dig out the manual for your old system to find out exactly what it will do: at a guess, it might to Dolby Digital given its age, but there again, it might only be Pro Logic. Counting speakers won't help you here: both Pro Logic and DD systems could have 2xFront 2xRear 1xCentre and 1xSubwoofer hooked up.
And the whole "DSP" thing is a red herring in some ways: it's just a generic term that a number of manufacturers use to say that their box will mash the sound in various ways that have nothing to do with Pro Logic, Dolby Digital or DTS. As well as doing the previous three things, my amp has a DSP capability as well. All it means is that it can widen the soundfield of a surround sound signal, or that it can take a stereo signal and make you sound like you're in a church or something silly like that. Waste of space IMHO. I'd like surround sound as the film director intended, stereo as the engineer or producer intended. I'd rather my hi-fi didn't then go screwing around with it...
Thanks guys,
The 'old' system is a Panasonic it's an SA-HT80 and it definately has 6 different channels each speaker can work independantly of the other - even the rears have a seperate output, I have a systems test DVD and each speaker does indeed work independantly to the others. It has Dolby Pro-Logic and the normal Dolby but I'm not sure which level.
The new system is again Panasonic, an NV-VP30EB-S, not the most expensive bit of kit, it is a combined Video/DVD player. I realise combo's are at best a compromise but it fits the bill for now, my video machine packed up and I needed another one, this new machine enables me to play CD-R/RW's and all sorts, which my old system did not allow.
Currently it is connected directly to the TV via scart but each medium on the new system has it's own audio/video out so the sound can be channeled directly to the old unit, one using the 'Video' input the other using 'Aux'.
Does that help any? What other info would be useful?
The 'old' system is a Panasonic it's an SA-HT80 and it definately has 6 different channels each speaker can work independantly of the other - even the rears have a seperate output, I have a systems test DVD and each speaker does indeed work independantly to the others. It has Dolby Pro-Logic and the normal Dolby but I'm not sure which level.
The new system is again Panasonic, an NV-VP30EB-S, not the most expensive bit of kit, it is a combined Video/DVD player. I realise combo's are at best a compromise but it fits the bill for now, my video machine packed up and I needed another one, this new machine enables me to play CD-R/RW's and all sorts, which my old system did not allow.
Currently it is connected directly to the TV via scart but each medium on the new system has it's own audio/video out so the sound can be channeled directly to the old unit, one using the 'Video' input the other using 'Aux'.
Does that help any? What other info would be useful?
If each speaker can do its own thing then you have, at the very least, Dolby Digital on the old combo system amplifier. (Forget Pro Logic - it's not much cop compared to Dolby Digital, DTS, or the more modern variants thereof.)
If *that* (the SA-HT80) doesn't itself support DTS decoding, them I'm afriad you're hosed with regard to playing DTS soundtracks.
It looks like you need a DTS amp, I'm afraid.
>> Edited by Marshy on Saturday 6th December 20:54
If *that* (the SA-HT80) doesn't itself support DTS decoding, them I'm afriad you're hosed with regard to playing DTS soundtracks.
It looks like you need a DTS amp, I'm afraid.
>> Edited by Marshy on Saturday 6th December 20:54
You will notice the difference with a DTS amp/dvd and the speakers correctly setup. Don't get me wrong I'm not a hifi buff and my ears are useless at telling one speaker from the other. However what you do get is sound fired at you from different (Hopefully correct) angles managed very well by good encoding. IMHO DTS soundtrack on movies are much better than the DD5.1 encoding which in it's own right is excellent.
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