Yamaha HTR-6250 audio question

[Bibowski]

I recently picked up a Yamaha HTR-6250 and have been rather happy with it, since it's managed to detect my TV and PVR with no problem, and delivers pretty good sound and a picture as good as if the devices were directly hooked to the TV itself.

However, I have a question regarding the DTS-HD and DD-ES audio decoding.

On my old Sony receiver, whenever a special audio signal was being decoded, the unit lit up a blue light, signifying it was doing something. This unit has nothing... am I crazy, or am I missing something huge?

I've looked through the manual 100 times, and can't find anything. The remote lists :

• Enhancer (which seems to be just 'fake effects')
• Sur. Decode (this still doesn't show anything on the receiver itself)
• Straight (no idea)
• Direct (I THINK this takes whatever source the device is kicking out, but whenever i use this, the receiver makes a scary clicking noise that CANNOT be good )

Any tips would be amazing

[eljay]

I've looked through the manual 100 times, and can't find anything.
. . .
* Enhancer (which seems to be just 'fake effects')
* Sur. Decode (this still doesn't show anything on the receiver itself)
* Straight (no idea)
* Direct (I THINK this takes whatever source the device is kicking out, but whenever i use this, the receiver makes a scary clicking noise that CANNOT be good )

I just pulled up the manual and quickly scanned through it.
- Pg. 26: The "COMPRESSED MUSIC ENHANCER" appears to compensate for compression artifacts. The "Straight" mode doesn't change anything, but the "7ch" mode should output audio to all seven channels.
- Also on pg. 26: The "SURROUND DECODE MODE" should expand two-channel sources to multi-channel playback.
- Pg. 27: "STRAIGHT" sends stereo or multi-channel signals to the appropriate speakers without any processing.
- Pg. 22: "PURE DIRECT" disables sound field programs, tone controls and display and operation of the option menu and set-up menu. (In other words, it sends the "purest" signal through to your speakers.)

Pg. 6 points out the "Speaker indicators", which indicate "speaker terminals from which signals are currently output". They're not a "blue light", but they just might be informative...

[57]

Yamahas typically do have information on their display which indicates a lot more than a blue light does, as indicated by eljay. I believe there's also often an "info" or "display" option (user menu or button on the remote) which allows you to see the information regarding the incoming signal on the OSD. (on screen display) and perhaps on the front panel.

Depending on the incoming signal, you may or may not wish to do further processing with the various DSPs which are usually described in the operating manual.

For example, with a DD2.0 signal, you may wish to invoke Dolby Pro Logic. With DD5.1, no further processing is really required - send the appropriate signals to the appropriate speakers. With two-channel audio, you may wish to listen in "stereo" or you may wish to invoke something like 5-Ch stereo, or one of the various DSPs mimicking various venues.

[Bibowski]

Thanks for the advice, but I did have a look through the manual already. It still seems 'Direct' is the best choice if I want to have the receiver choose the best possible audio. However, does this require the device outputting the audio to the receiver to process the DTS or DD signal itself?

I've never been one to use any DSP's, I prefer just to use whatever the source has determined to be optimial, be it 2 channel stereo, 5.1 DTS, etc.

I thought the reason the audio signal wasn't displaying properly on the front of the receiver was because my 3 devices are currently sending everything through HDMI (xbox 360, ps3, PVR).

I watched Transformers 2 on my PS3 on bluray, and the sound was DEFINITELY being separated properly, but only through the use of 'DIRECT'. If I used the 7channel stereo cinema DSP, it came out at the same level from every speaker.

I have setup all of the devices to send the best quality audio signal out though, so I will have another look tonight and try to figure it out.

[57]

1. The PS3 cannot send HD audio bitstreamed to the AVR, therefore the PS3 must do the decoding and send multichannel PCM to the AVR for HD audio.

2. If you had a BD player, you could bistream HD audio to the AVR and the AVR could then do the decoding.

3. If you use the 7CH Stero DSP, it did exactly what it's supposed to do and is not intended for movies - it's intended to send sound from audio (music) to all the speakers. What the various DSPs do (or are intended for) is usually described in the operating manual.

See the following FAQ on AVR features - HD/HDMI audio is discussed near the end of the FAQ.

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=76082

See also the following post, useful for those new to HD, AVRs, etc - FAQs, Search Tips, Optimization, etc.:

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=57741