Handling 2-channel digital using RSP-1068

[hired goon]

G'day,

I've got a RSP-1068 pre-processor, and I'm sending it a stereo signal via digital. When I hit the "2-channel" button, the analog audio goes to L, R and the sub. Is there any way I can get a stereo digital signal to go to the L and R speakers only, without any sub crossover?

Another way of asking this question: how close can I get the output of a digital stereo signal to the output of an analog stereo signal in "analog bypass mode"?

--Geoff

[DrBoom]

It's perfectly possible, you have to go to the Speakers menu and select Advanced.
Then select the front speakers, and set PCM/2ch to Large. (leaving the rest set to Master or whatever it is set to)
This way, when your 1068 receives a PCM signal, it will allways run the frontspeakers as Large and not use a sub.
You could also set Subwoofer to No for PCM, but it isn't necessary since it won't get a signal anyway with the fronts set to large.

[soundhound]

On a side note, I use my Denon dvd for both audio and video. I run the digital in for dvd and anaolg in for cd. I have popped in a cd and selected both sources one at a time to see the difference. The digital seems brighter, where the analog smooths out a tad. The soundstage doesn't change, it just changes tonally. I prefer the analog for music as that way I get what was recorded, nothing added, nothing taken away.

[hired goon]

G'day,

It's perfectly possible...

Thanks for the tip. I didn't have my manual handy, and I'd forgotten about this.

The digital seems brighter, where the analog smooths out a tad. The soundstage doesn't change, it just changes tonally. I prefer the analog for music as that way I get what was recorded, nothing added, nothing taken away.

You are using the DAC in the DVD player for analog stereo output, but the DAC in the receiver for digital stereo output, correct? Does that explain the difference in sonic quality? Or is it something else?

I'm trying to build a HTPC and pass both PCM and AC3/DTS through the one digital cable, and I was hoping that using the 1068 to decode the PCM data would be sonically equivalent to using analog bypass mode.

--Geoff

[soundhound]

I hadn't thought that far into it but that must be correct.

[hired goon]

G'day,

So now I've got my digital input set-up so that "2ch" is the default, and outputs go to left and right speakers only, and it's beaut. Dunno if I can really pick the difference between the DAC of the RSP-1068 (when playing CDs in my DVD player), and the DAC used in my RCD-1072 CD player. Will have to do some more tests.

One thing that interests me, though -- I've got the digital input set to "2ch" by default. That's okay for a DVD player, as the movies will send AC3 or DTS signals, which overrides the default of "2ch", which is used for CDs. But eventually I want to use a digital input for a HTPC, which will be used for DVDs, CDs, .wav and .mp3 on HDD, and surround sound TV broadcasts. I'd like DD ProLogic IIx by default on this input (for TV broadcasts), with automatic switching to 2ch if a PCM stream is recognized. Is there any way of configuring the 1068 to do this?

--Geoff

[Raphie]

G'day,
I'd like DD ProLogic IIx by default on this input (for TV broadcasts), with automatic switching to 2ch if a PCM stream is recognized. Is there any way of configuring the 1068 to do this?

--Geoff

Don't think so DPL IIx is an after effect applied on (guess what?) 2ch PCM

[hired goon]

Don't think so DPL IIx is an after effect applied on (guess what?) 2ch PCM

D'oh! So using DPLIIx for TV and PCM stereo for music over the one digital input, without having to manually select the correct decoding, is impossible. I was hoping that my HTPC project would eliminate the need for fiddling with the pre-processor, but I guess not.

--Geoff

[PewterTA]

Why don't you use the HTPC on say Optical #1.

Make CD set to optical one with PCM 2ch as the default. Then set Video 1 to optical one with it set to DPLIIx Cinema. Then all you have to do is switch between inputs. So it's only a press of the button, not having to change the settings of each.

[Aussie Geoff]

Hired Goon,

I have the RSP-1098 which has an almost identical feature set to the RSP1068. On the RSP-1098 you can do what you want to do.

• Go to the INPUT SETPUP MENU
• Select the Input Device you want using the + and - keys.
• Select a Default Mode of (say) PCM 2 Channel - this will play pure stereo unless it gets a DD or DTS signal - in which case it will switch to the last remembered mode for that (e.g. DD IIx Cinema).

I use this all the time... Basically the default mode is what you want to happen with a analogue stereo input or a PCM stereo input... For DD and DTS it remembers a different setting (automatically)

Geoff

[Raphie]

Might be mistaken, but the question was around DPLIIx and not DD or DTS?

so basically automatic switching between no effect (2-CH PCM) and user effect (DPLIIx) i think this can't be done without manual intervention, since DPIIx can't be extracted from a flag n the datastream (as opposed to DD & DTS)

[hired goon]

G'day,

Then all you have to do is switch between inputs. So it's only a press of the button, not having to change the settings of each.

As this is for HTPC, I'd rather not have to switch between inputs whenever I select a different application (DVD player/TV tuner/Winamp). That's why I want automatic signal detection over the one digital input (higher WAF, and I've droppped my idea about using an external DAC for 2-channel because of this).

Might be mistaken, but the question was around DPLIIx and not DD or DTS?

Yep -- I was hoping for automatic switching from DPLIIx (sent whenever the HTPC is playing a TV signal), to PCM/2ch (sent whenever the HTPC is playing a CD/.wav), but that doesn't seem possible. Automatic switching to DD/DTS is already handled by the 1068.

I can live with manually adjusting the decoding (PCM/2ch, or PCM/DPLIIx) whenever I feel the need.

--Geoff