Receiving a lot of conflicting information about receiver settings

[rando2233]

I have these:

Yamaha NS51 Series 5.1 Channel Speaker Package

Yamaha RXV385B 5.1-Channel RX-V385 AV Receiver

Although I usually watch Blu-Rays with lossless audio, I sometimes struggle to understand the dialogue. I know some movies simply have bad sound, but I want to be sure there's nothing I can do to make it as good as possible.

Someone else set it up, here are the settings:

Some people say the fronts should be set to small, some say it should be large. Some people say it should be small if I have a subwoofer, which I do, unless they're full range speakers. Are mine full range? And some people say extra bass should be off, would that help? Remember, all I really care about it being able to understand the dialogue. The person who installed it did that thing where he used a microphone to calibrate the speakers, would changing those settings affect that?

Although there is another issue I don't care about that much, but might as well ask. The sound volume is often inconsistent. I have to turn the volume up for dialogue and then down again for action scenes. Would it help to make the volume of all speakers equal? I assume that would affect the settings that were calibrated, right? I heard DRC would make the volume consistent, but would also reduce the sound quality, is that right?

Also, just confirming, the setting on my Blu-Ray player should be bitstream instead of PCM, right?

 

[stehno]

I have these:

Yamaha NS51 Series 5.1 Channel Speaker Package

Yamaha RXV385B 5.1-Channel RX-V385 AV Receiver

Although I usually watch Blu-Rays with lossless audio, I sometimes struggle to understand the dialogue. I know some movies simply have bad sound, but I want to be sure there's nothing I can do to make it as good as possible.

I only have one Blu-Ray cd and it's Supertramp which I listen to maybe once every 3 years or so.

I've only 25 -30 dvds total and I rarely play them. But of that small bunch I don't recall thinking even one was inferior sound quality. Rarely do they seem stellar but definitely on the good-enough side of sound quality.

Someone else set it up, here are the settings:

Doesn't matter who they were or what they did. if they knew what they were doing It still couldn't be much more than a good starting point. If you hired a consultant with the hope that they're gonna knock one outta' the park within a few hours / days of consultation services, well.... unless your planets are in perfect alignment, it's probably best to assume that's not gonna' happen. If one's intent to hire a consultant to genuinely knock one outta' the park, they should probably plan on the consultant moving in for the next year or two.

Too many settings and you were pushing buttons a bit too fast for me but I watched the short video.

There's a general rule-of-thumb that some of us follow. Set everything you possibly can to either zero or neutral. The reason is whether it's video or audio you want to induce as little electrical interference as possible. Because supposedly altering a setting to anything other than zero or neutral, you're perverting (corrupting) the fidelity of the input signal. Sure the new settings may introduce a phenomena of sound that tickles the ear a bit but even if we're unsure we hear any audible distortions (we also might hear it but just not recognize / interpret it yet) it's safest to assume the added distortions are there and will continue to worsen whenever we interfere.

Even if per chance I'm off base a bit with the above strategy, it's still a very good fundamental practice to follow. The whole concept with high-end audio comes down to purify the AC and input signal current flow - not muddy the input signal even more than it already is.

Some people say the fronts should be set to small, some say it should be large. Some people say it should be small if I have a subwoofer, which I do, unless they're full range speakers. Are mine full range?

I didn't see any specs on yours but from the picture I'd guess full-range enough.

And some people say extra bass should be off, would that help? Remember, all I really care about it being able to understand the dialogue.

Obviously can't tell from here. But again, if possible you wan't every last setting to be zero or neutral across the entire board. You've got what, maybe 30 - 40 different settings you whipped through via the remote control? Every setting you decide to tinker with will compromise the fidelity of the input signal and no matter how minute the impact it's still yet one more negative indicating you're heading in the wrong direction from a musicality perspective.

If per chance the bass is lacking, this is where you need to move the speakers and/or subwoofer here or there and try playing with the subwoofer's settings a bit. But it does take time and it's a whole nuther subject matter. But always remember that the music you hope to hear is embedded in the recording - not in your system.

The person who installed it did that thing where he used a microphone to calibrate the speakers, would changing those settings affect that?

LOL. Doesn't matter much because if they they were worth their weight (???) they've got you off on the right foot. If you wish to preserve those settings or positions, just write 'em down or mark the positions with masking tape and then try whatever you wanna' try.

Although there is another issue I don't care about that much, but might as well ask. The sound volume is often inconsistent. I have to turn the volume up for dialogue and then down again for action scenes. Would it help to make the volume of all speakers equal? I assume that would affect the settings that were calibrated, right? I heard DRC would make the volume consistent, but would also reduce the sound quality, is that right?

I notice the same when watching some movies on TV. On the other hand, dynamic swings are a very natural sound. Again, set to zero or neutral everywhere you can and let the signal flow with the least interruption on your part. It is your absolute best chance of striving toward higher levels of sound quality. First, introduce no harm, right? Then seek to stop any hemorrhaging throughout the rest of the system. Anyway, sometimes it seems some of the movies were engineered as you describe.

Also, just confirming, the setting on my Blu-Ray player should be bitstream instead of PCM, right?

Dunno. Miy first guess is bitstream might be a bit closer toward a neutral setting. But you can always A/B the settings to see which sounds more musical or the same.

Hope this helps a bit.

 

[rando2233]

I only have one Blu-Ray cd and it's Supertramp which I listen to maybe once every 3 years or so.

I've only 25 -30 dvds total and I rarely play them. But of that small bunch I don't recall thinking even one was inferior sound quality. Rarely do they seem stellar but definitely on the good-enough side of sound quality.


Doesn't matter who they were or what they did. if they knew what they were doing It still couldn't be much more than a good starting point. If you hired a consultant with the hope that they're gonna knock one outta' the park within a few hours / days of consultation services, well.... unless your planets are in perfect alignment, it's probably best to assume that's not gonna' happen. If one's intent to hire a consultant to genuinely knock one outta' the park, they should probably plan on the consultant moving in for the next year or two.


Too many settings and you were pushing buttons a bit too fast for me but I watched the short video.

There's a general rule-of-thumb that some of us follow. Set everything you possibly can to either zero or neutral. The reason is whether it's video or audio you want to induce as little electrical interference as possible. Because supposedly most anything set to anything other than zero or neutral, you're perverting (corrupting) the input signal. Sure the new settings may introduce a phenomena of sound that tickles the ear a bit but even if we're unsure we hear any audible distortions (we also might hear it but just not recognize / interpret it yet) it's safest to assume the added distortions are there and will continue to worsen whenever we interfere.

Even if per chance I'm off base a bit with the above strategy, it's still a very good fundamental practice to follow. The whole concept with high-end audio comes down to purify the AC and input signal current flow - not muddy things even more.


I didn't see any specs on yours but from the picture I'd guess full-range enough.


Obviously can't tell from here. But again, if possible you wan't every last setting to be zero or neutral across the entire board. You've got what, maybe 30 - 40 different settings you whipped through via the remote control? Every setting you decide to tinker with will compromise the fidelity of the input signal and no matter how minute the impact it's still yet one more negative indicating you're heading in the wrong direction from a musicality perspective.


LOL. Doesn't matter much because if they they were worth their weight (???) they've got you off on the right foot. If you wish to preserve those settings or positions, just write 'em down or mark the positions with masking tape and then try whatever you wanna' try.


I notice the same when watching some movies on TV. On the other hand, dynamic swings are a very natural sound. Again, set to zero or neutral everywhere you can and let the signal flow with the least interruption on your part. It is your absolute best chance of striving toward higher levels of sound quality. First, introduce no harm, right? Then seek to stop any hemorrhaging throughout the rest of the system. Anyway, sometimes it seems some of the movies were engineered as you describe.


Dunno. Miy first guess is bitstream might be a bit closer toward a neutral setting. But you can always A/B the settings to see which sounds more musical or the same.

Hope this helps a bit.

That does help, thank you very much.