Help me select a sound option on my receiver

[Tweak155]

So I finally took the time to set up the speakers in my living room. Of course I have a pc hooked up to it, along with a bunch of other stuff.

So my question is - I have a LOT of sound options on my receiver. All I want is "simulated" surround sound. It doesn't have to be perfect, just has to be good enough to fool me if I'm not paying close attention.

It is a standard 5.1 setup - left, right, center, rear left & right + subwoofer.

So, what is the one setting I can just leave it on and let it do the work, regardless of what device I'm using?? Ideally I'd like simulated surround from both video games and movies... if I need a specific setting for each, that's fine. But I don't really want to be swapping sound options all the time if avoidable.

My pre-set movie sound options:

Dolby PLIIx Movie
Dolby EX
DTS Neo: 6
Dolby PLIIx Movie (TV Logic)
All Ch Stereo
Full Mono (pretty sure this is just same sound from all speakers?)
Theater-Dimensional
Direct
Mono
Multichannel


Pre-set game audio selections:

Multichannel
Dolby EX
DTS Neo:6
Dolby PLIIx Music (Game-RPG)
Dolby PLIIx Movie (Game-Action)
Dolby PLIIx Music (Game-Rock)
Dolby PLIIx Movie (Game-Sports)
All Ch Stereo
Full Mono
Theater-Dimensional
Direct


Am I safe to just pick the ones where it says Movie or the game type? I don't know if they are worth worrying about.

 

[Aikouka]

You should be direct streaming the 5.1 audio from the movies (e.g. DD 5.1, DTS). You can also tell your PC that you have a 5.1 setup, and it should switch to Multi-Channel. Although, I can't get my PCs to actually stay in that.

 

[Tweak155]

You should be direct streaming the 5.1 audio from the movies (e.g. DD 5.1, DTS). You can also tell your PC that you have a 5.1 setup, and it should switch to Multi-Channel. Although, I can't get my PCs to actually stay in that.

I have it hooked up through HDMI... but when I do direct stream, I do not get any sound from the rear speakers.

 

[DesiPower]

Why done you play your favorite clip in a loop and try it out? My fav is the river scene from Hobbit part 2, it has lot of moving sound, I play it over and over again when I do setup/changes.

What type of AVR do you have? if you have an older one that takes multi channel input like mine, then you can use the computer's sound card and let the player decide that to do. That's how I do it, I dont have to make any changes.

 

[poofyhairguy]

I do not get any sound from the rear speakers.

Might not be if the track is stereo (aka an old TV show).

 

[Tweak155]

Why done you play your favorite clip in a loop and try it out? My fav is the river scene from Hobbit part 2, it has lot of moving sound, I play it over and over again when I do setup/changes.

What type of AVR do you have? if you have an older one that takes multi channel input like mine, then you can use the computer's sound card and let the player decide that to do. That's how I do it, I dont have to make any changes.

It's an Onkyo I bought this year... it's not super fancy but it has 6 HDMI inputs and Bluetooth audio which is what I was looking to get.

Might not be if the track is stereo (aka an old TV show).

It was a 2007 or 2008 bluray playing from a Sony BD player.

 

[Automaticman]

It was a 2007 or 2008 bluray playing from a Sony BD player.

Make sure the Bluray player is set to "bitstream" digital audio and not "downmix" or something like that. It will be in the bluray players main settings menu, usually under audio -> digital audio. A lot of bluray and dvd players do not set bitstream by default.

Depending on the Bluray disc you are playing, you should either see DTS Master or Dolby TrueHD light up on your Onkyo. On some older movies with discrete LPCM audio tracks you will see "multi-chanel" turn on instead. I'd try to avoid these until you are sure you got everything set up right.

All of those audio options you mentioned in the first post are geared for movies and music that were not encoded into surround sound in the first place. What a waste it would be to get a nice receiver and bluray player and then not turn on HD audio.

What model Bluray player and receiver did you get?

 

[Tweak155]

Make sure the Bluray player is set to "bitstream" digital audio and not "downmix" or something like that. It will be in the bluray players main settings menu, usually under audio -> digital audio. A lot of bluray and dvd players do not set bitstream by default.

Depending on the Bluray disc you are playing, you should either see DTS Master or Dolby TrueHD light up on your Onkyo. On some older movies with discrete LPCM audio tracks you will see "multi-chanel" turn on instead. I'd try to avoid these until you are sure you got everything set up right.

All of those audio options you mentioned in the first post are geared for movies and music that were not encoded into surround sound in the first place. What a waste it would be to get a nice receiver and bluray player and then not turn on HD audio.

What model Bluray player and receiver did you get?

The receiver is Onkyo TX-NR626. The BD player is BDP-S360.

 

[Automaticman]

OK so here are some settings to check on the BR player under Audio Settings:

Audio Output Priority: HDMI
Audio (HDMI): Auto
DTS: DTS (make sure it's not set to Downmix PCM)
Dolby Digital: Dolby Digital (make sure it's not set to Downmix PCM)
Downmix: Dolby Surround