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I am trying to hook up Motorola digital cable box DCT2500 to my Marantz SR8300 receiver. I connected digital out of the DCT2500 (did not have optical out) to the digital in of the Marantz and it plays fine. THe only problem is that even when the program is listed on the TV as Dolby Digital, the receiver still shows getting just a PCM stream. Is there a setting in the digital cable box to enable digital output? I cannot find a manual for this thing on the web and the cable guy did not have it either.
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You may have to go in to the set up options of the STB and activate DD as it might be set to default stereo PCM etc. Another issue could be that just because "X" channel say's it's broadcasting in DD doesn't mean that your SP is passing that signal along. Far too many SP's simply downsample to stereo and only pass that signal on even though DD is available :evil:
JasonJason -
It has digital out, so I assumed it should be able to output DD. Has anyone had similar issue?Comment
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Well PCM is a digital signal for one and your box will send a 5.1 Dolby Digital (DD) signal as long as you properly set up the unit to send DD instead of PCM as most likely PCM is it's default setting. (DD can be 2.1, 5.1 etc anyways... DD does not mean specifically 5.1) Also as I mentioned your service provider actually has to pass along the DD signal. If they don't, you won't get it no matter what your cable box is set to. If you look, those programs say something along the lines of "DD 5.1 sound where avaialble" If your cable company isn't transmitting it, it won't be available no matter what you do.
JasonJasonComment
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Thanks for the suggestion. I will look into it. It should be at least some form of DD, because that's what the description of the program on the T V screen indicated, so I am pretty sure it should be the setting of the box. If not, I'll call Comcast and make sure they actually transmit DD.Comment
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Comcast does provide Dolby Digital to most markets, if the content provider actaully provides it. But as suggested, your cable box may be set up only to output stereo PCM. Press the menu button, go to Set-up, and then to Cable Box, and then to Sound (or some such) to change the option so you can use Dolby Digital.
You should be aware that some local network stations only broadcast stereo even if the network provides the program with Dolby Digital. In such cases, Comcast can only pass along what the local station provides it.Steve GoffComment
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Thanks a lot for the replies. I'll try this out in the evening!Comment
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Well, I spoke with Comcast about it and here is a little lesson in Comcast attitude towards its customers. I hope I understood them correctly, since neither of two techs I spoke with seemed to be willing to really tell me what is happening. They do send DD signal and the cable box I have says DD on it, but they "do not support it". What that means, is that this function is disabled during setup (that's what I understood from their less then willing desctription) and they would not enable it. YOU CANNOT ACCESS SETUP ON CABLE BOX!!!! To get DD, you'll need HD cable box, which costs much more, so I gues that's the real answer, the only caveat you cannot hook up HD box to regular TV (at least according to the techs). So, bye bye DD content, thanks Comcast.Comment
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Sorry to hear that
You "could" hook up a HD box to a "regular" TV but why you'd want to spend all that money on an HD box you're not using.... Just use DPL II for now 
JasonJasonComment
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