Denon AVR 2805 Optical Connect

[Paul D.]

I just purchased the 2805 and am using it with a Samsung 841 DVD player and a Sony 50" rear projection LCD. My speakers are an assortment (Celestion, Martin Logan, B&W).

I can only lay claim to average intelligence, but the manual for the 2805 appears to have been written for beings from another planet. Surely, the average consumer buying this product must be as baffled as I am. Who is Denon writing this stuff for? Perhaps their employees who designed and built the receiver?

In any event, I am having difficulty getting the 2805 to produce sound with the optical audio connection. In short, there is simply no sound through that connection. It isn't the cable, as I have switched it with another cable. The receiver produces decent sound through composite connections so I know the receiver works. I have tried to follow the manual and the Samsung manual in setting the input functions correctly, but I must be screwing something up.

I am running a DVI cable between the DVD and the television.

If anyone out there can walk me through the propoer set up so that I can utilize the optical audio function, I'd be much obliged.

Paul D.

[willbrosk]

Could be the dvd player. For some reason the default settings are to have dolby digital off(dont ask me why). Try going into the dvd menu with no disc in and check the audio settings. While your in there check the aspect ratio settings, the default is set for a 4:3 tv(screwed this up recenlty myself).
only other thing I can think of is make sure you have the optical in the dvd in and the denon source selected to dvd input

[Paul D.]

Paul D.

Thanks for that. I will give it a try this evening and see how it goes. I will also call the retailer where I bought it to see if he knows the secret. Again thanks.

Paul D.

[David Meek]

Hi Paul, welcome to The Guide. :welcome:

the manual for the 2805 appears to have been written for beings from another planet

You aren't the only person to comment on Denon's "interesting" manual writing. Reviewers from various magazines have pointed out this flaw before. I got on Denon's website and read the applicable parts of the manual for this. I agree, it's not very helpful at all. :scratchhead:

1) As William already pointed out, it could be that the digital bitstream is disabled on the DVD player and you are currently getting only the PCM signal.

2) Do you have more than one type of connection on the DVD inputs at the same time - ie, the optical cable and L/R RCA jacks? If so, you may be confusing the receiver and causing it to default to the RCA inputs.

3) Set the Input Mode to auto.

If these don't work, we'll keep at it. . . .

P.S. I love the troubleshooting matrix and its comment on this:

Cause:
Digital signals not input Digital input selected
Measures:
Input digital signals or select input jacks to which digital signals are being input

That's verbatim. :B

[Paul D.]

I appreciate that David.

I checked the PCM/Bitstream issue and ensured that PCM was "Off" and Bitstream was "ON". No difference.

I also made sure that the composite connections were disconnected on both the receiver and the DVD player. No difference.

I did, however, come across a possible reason for the problem, but since I did not have a coaxial cable handy I could not explore this possible solution further. I will be getting a coaxial cable today. Here's what happened: I noticed that the default settings on the digital inputs could not, apparently, be switched off. When setting up the digital input assignments I can manually tell the receiver that the DVD player is assigned to the optical 1 connection, which is where I in fact had it plugged in. I can assign the DVD to any one of four optical inputs and one of two coaxial inputs on the 2805. Since I am running no other digital inputs at the present time (other than the DVD) I programmed each input to the "OFF" position, other than the optical 1, which I ensured was "ON" in terms of the DVD player. However, and as the manual states, if you don't turn off the default settings, the receiver will default the input assignments to the defaulted settings no matter what. The default settings are programmed such that the DVD input is defaulted to one of the two coaxial connections, not one of the four optical inputs. No problem, right? Just program the receiver to "NO" in the default settings mode. Unfortunately, and no matter what cursor I selected, or combination of cursors, I could not get the default settings to say anything other than "YES". In short, I could not program the receiver to say "NO" to the default settings.

If you can't beat it, join it, right? Since, as I understand it, optical is comparable to coaxial, I will be buying a coaxial cable today and will be connecting the DVD to the defaulted coaxial input.

Not that it matters a whole lot, but I would be interested in seeing whether anyone else has this problem with the digital default settings on the 2805. Why have the ability to assign components to any of the digital inputs if you cannot override the default settings? It doesn't make any sense. I have read the relevant portions of the manual over and over and there does not appear to be an obvious answer to this issue.

Paul D.

[David Meek]

Paul, you might see if there is a firmware upgrade available from Denon for your unit.

[Paul D.]

Much obliged David.

The problem has now been corrected, although I am not sure how. I had the retailer's installer on the telephone and we walked through the set-up in front of our respective receivers last night. It seemed to me that I pushed all the same remote buttons I had the night before, but for whatever reason this time it worked. I believe the difference may have been that this time the input mode was set to auto, which was one of the suggestions you correctly made.

In any event, the sound is great and the home theater universe in my house is finally unfolding as it should.

Again thanks.

Paul D.

[David Meek]

Excellent! :yesnod: