MPEG-2 Multi Channel Audio

[Arnold van Oostrum]

One of my findings was that the RSX-1065 (this is also true for the RSX-1055/RSP-1066) does not decode MPEG-2 multi channel audio. In the early days of DVD this MPEG-2 was supposed to be the standard for Europe. But lucky for us, the standard became Dolby Digital. Unfortunately some DVD's in region 2 have MPEG-2 audio, mostly on the extra's. Recently in The Netherlands Warner issued the DVD called Minoes (a Dutch story)and for the deleted scenes they used MPEG-2 audio. The problem is that the RSX-1065 does not decode MPEG-2 and in that case chooses MP3 and gives no sound.
I brought this issues to the attention of Rotel, but their response was that MPEG-2 audio is not supported.

But I'm a little puzzled here. The DSP chip used is the CS49326. From the Cirrus Logic website I learn that this DSP chip does support MPEG-2 audio. These are their specs:

CS4932X: AVR sub-family
Dolby Digital, Dolby Pro-Logic II
DTS & DTS-ES decoding with integrated DTS tables
Cirrus Original Surround 5.1 PCM Enhancement
MPEG-2, Advanced Audio Coding Algorithm (AAC)
MPEG Multi-channel
MP3 (MPEG-1, Layer 3)

As you can see, MPEG-2 is also one of the specs. So why doesn't the RSX-1065 (and the RSP-1066/RSX-1055) decode the MPEG-2 audiostream properly?

[Andrew Pratt]

couldn't you force the rotel to use an analog feed from your DVD player and then apply pro logic II as a work around? I'm not sure why they didn't include it but it coud have simply been due to the lack of demand...or is Mpeg II more popular then I think?

[Arnold van Oostrum]

I know a workaround is the analog signal. In that case I have to go into the setup of my DVD player and change the output from digital bitstream to analog. But to do that I have to stop my disc, else the setup won't work. So that's not handy.

I have several disc with MPEG-2 sound. Lucky for me it's only the menusound or the extra's that have MPEG-2 sound.
I think a quality receiver/pre-amp like Rotel (they aren't cheap) could have this option included to make it really an allround unit. Especially as the DSP already has this function incorporated.

To me this is a flaw because the Rotel does recognize the MPEG-2, only it chooses MP3 as DSP mode, not MPEG-2. And I think it can be fixed with the firmware. Just my €0.02

[Andrew Pratt]

why not connect the analog inputs to a different input so you'd only have to select that input vs changing the output on the DVP?