Starter 5.1 setup with Projector

Surfer · 29 Aug 2017 at 16:09

I thought I would finally upgrade from the inbuilt sound on the w1070 to a proper sound solution.

In the past I've just had home cinema all in ones but I'm told by sensible folk that the audio experience of an average + speaker separates is a far far greater experience

Looking at the

Yamaha rxv381

And

Pioneer sh100

£320 all in...can't afford much more

Decent enough u reckon? And would I get 5.1 sound with these connected to a w1070?

Thanks
Muchly xD

Surfer · 29 Aug 2017 at 22:06

no i am using the inbuilt speaker

But looking to get an AV receiver and speakers. I was going to get them last month but bought the graphics card instead

How would the Yamaha rxv381 connect to the projector?

Surfer · 30 Aug 2017 at 01:01

Not after anything spectacular just anything better than an all in one budget home cinema sound system. Do you know of anything better in the same price bracket?

Surfer · 1 Sep 2017 at 10:38

darreny said:
What sources do you use with the projector? Is this the only viewing source or is there a TV too?

pc, bluray player and tv box. No actual tv. Also the room is not that big so a beast of a 5.1 setup would be wasted.

Scottland said:
I'd look at something like this for a little more:
http://www.superfi.co.uk/p-19540-wharfedale-dx1-hcp-51-home-cinema-speaker-system-b-grade.aspx

That looks quite good. I will have a look at other reviews for it. Only 20£ off for B grade though.

Surfer · 1 Sep 2017 at 10:40

hornetstinger said:
On your budget, just buy a AVR and stereo speakers for now, and get the rest later. HTIB like that Pioneer are a waste of time and money.

The Pioneer seems to get a lot of good reviews though? (shs100)

Is the consensus the AVR is ok just need different speakers? I will also give Richersounds a ring at the weekend and see what they advise.

Surfer · 4 Sep 2017 at 16:42

Yeah the 2.1 wharfdale diamond looks nice but probably too big for my living room. (its not that big)

Is it worthwhile going second hand to save a fortune?

i can get KEF 2005.2 with 5 satelittes and subwoofer for £130 ?
Also can get the z5500 for £50 ?

To add i guess if i want 5.1 surround sound i need to have a 5.1 dedicated sound card..i dont think my mobo has it (asus z79-k)

Surfer · 4 Sep 2017 at 17:00

Is £220 for the WHARFEDALE DX1SE GL BK 5.1 a good deal? Would i still need an amp or av receiver to use them?

Surfer · 4 Sep 2017 at 17:47

Vargas said:
I have a Yamaha amp and those speakers. The subwoofer is nice with plenty of bass.

I also have the 1070. I have my devices into the amp and hdmi out to the PJ.

the wharfdale speakers? Do you get 5.1 sound no problem? The amount of choice and complexity is horrendous.... Do you notice any lag with the hdmi going via the amp and then to the projector? (if you use the pj for gaming)

Surfer · 7 Sep 2017 at 19:46

looks like i will be getting the yamaha yht1810 for £240 (£10 vip discount). RS dont have anything in clearance at the moment and are waiting for the next few pallets to come in. I could wait a few weeks and see what appears or get this now. Unfortunately i missed the VIP deal on these at the start of the year (£199 with VIP RS)

edit: oh wait i will give edinburgh RS a phone tomorrow and see what they got in clearance...shame their website is not operational for this atm.

Main plus point is i can swap in other speakers etc. It has the limitation of no HDCP2.2 but cant have everything especially at the budget end of the spectrum.

Had a look on gumtree and avforums but couldnt see anything equivalent or better for comparable price. Didnt go for the wharfdale 5.1s because feel they are too big (saw them at RS).

Now i just need to get a projector screen.....another area mired with complexity...differences between £15 - £80 - £500 screens jeez... have thought about the Duronic MPS100 and EPS119 and they are pretty cheap

Surfer · 8 Sep 2017 at 22:21

Ok hopefully this will be ok

Hdmi from receiver to projector
Blu-ray player going to receiver hdmi
= Watch Blu-ray's no worries in 5.1 ?

I need to cut this speaker cable now...

Hopefully be watching Interstellar in 20 mins

Surfer · 8 Sep 2017 at 23:34

Some sites say striped wire negative and the clear wire (white in my case) is positive so I wire all the speakers up but when it comes to attach to receiver the grey stripe one seems to be in positive slot ? According to image

Does it matter as long as I am consistent?

Surfer · 9 Sep 2017 at 14:42

Vargas said:
My Sapphire screen is excellent so can recommend that brand.

I'd need to donate a kidney for one of them

Got it up and running...not sure if I am getting proper dd5.1 or virtual. The OCD doesn't tell me.. I have only connected the hdmi to it from the projector..so maybe it's only pcm stereo.

OCD says... Cinema DSP.... Prologic 1 + 2 straight....standard...sci-fi...drama.. adventure... Hdmi out (in red) etc hrmmmmm....

However straight seems to be just stereo because the OCD of the speakers changes to 3 instead of 6

Surfer · 9 Sep 2017 at 21:44

Surfer said:
I'd need to donate a kidney for one of them

Got it up and running...not sure if I am getting proper dd5.1 or virtual. The OCD doesn't tell me.. I have only connected the hdmi to it from the projector..so maybe it's only pcm stereo.

OCD says... Cinema DSP.... Prologic 1 + 2 straight....standard...sci-fi...drama.. adventure... Hdmi out (in red) etc hrmmmmm....

However straight seems to be just stereo because the OCD of the speakers changes to 3 instead of 6

*bump* anyone know ?

should i be getting 5.1 DTS via hdmi between the receiver and projector or will i need to go down the coaxial cable route? I dont think the w1070 has optical out connection so cant go that route.

If i force DTS via the bluray settings (bitstream dts) then DTS will appear on the receiver but it will only be in stereo. why not 5.1 ???? Its very confusing....

atm to get sound from all 5 speakers i have dts plus dolby prologic 2 movie setting is that dts hd ???? Why does it only say DTS and not DTS hd ??? (interstellar bluray)

Surfer · 9 Sep 2017 at 22:20

hornetstinger said:
HDMI passes 5.1 DTS & DD. No need to use coaxial /optical unless you have legacy sources (CD player, DAT etc)

use bitstream setting

thanks.

Curiously if i set it to PCM in the Bluray player menu then i will only get stereo in straight mode.

If i set it to bistream unprocessed i get zip nada no sound at all

If i set it to DTS then i think i get 5.1 because all the speakers show
if i set it to Dolby Digital then i think i get 5.1 because all the speakers show.

What is adaptive drc btw ?

Is dolby digital better than DTS?

Unfortunately there is another problem.... im watching Interstellar bluray ok.... and some scenes it is in clear 16:9 format (black bars top and bottom) and other scenes it is full screen no black bars top and bottom.

Surfer · 9 Sep 2017 at 22:29

Ahh solved the aspect ratio change thing...its bucking chris nolan being fancy with his style of shooting

Surfer · 10 Sep 2017 at 01:32

hrmm wonder if i should return this. The sound is pretty good but the best i will get is dolby digital and DTS. Not DTS-HD or TrueHD and most newish receivers have this as standard....

on RS site even the cheapest av receiver has both DTS-HD / TrueHD and 4k passthrough HDCP2.2
whereas mine does not....hrmm...

Surfer · 10 Sep 2017 at 13:03

jeezz i long for the day when sound quality conformity is a standard as display.

Netflix wouldnt play in 5.1 on IE11 or an netflix app but thank $$$$ i got it to work on an app on my bluray player. Proper 5.1 dd+ as well none of this 5 channel stereo bs

Coz yeah BBC iplayer in HD does HD picture but does it do bucking 5.1 DD ? ...... does it hell... tested some of their flagship music programs (last night of proms etc) and could only get stereo (this is iplayer app through the bluray player as well) It was odd because i changed it to bitsream bts but it still only showed PCM on the display. (it would show DTS up until i put on iplayer)

Also im not even sure Interstellar was in 5.1 when i watched it yesterday...should all the voices and sound effects (doors opening etc) always come from the damn centre speaker????

But its strange because in scenes where there is music or big sound effects i can clearly hear them from the 2 rear speakers....but how do i know its proper 5.1 ? and not just flannelling me with 5.1 stereo?

btw PCM is only ever 2 channel yeah?

Surfer · 10 Sep 2017 at 14:06

hrmm interesting

played these 2 blurays via pc bluray player and powerdvd

I have changed settings in pc and powerdvd so the receiver decodes etc. If i dont i just get LPCM stereo. Also receiver is set to straight settings.

Interstellar

Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 2838kbps
Output: Compressed data

Blade Runner

Audio: AC3 5.1 640kbps
Output: Compressed data

Now from the above you would think Interstellar would have the best audio but what the actual...nope Blade Runner smashes it out of the park with its positional sound audio. Interstellar has good audio but HARDLY any which utilizes full 5.1 effects imho. The first opening scene in Bladerunner...you can tell within seconds that it is superior. Did they just **** it up on sound production on Interstellar or what???

I was almost crying the Blade Runner audio was that good....effects whizzing all around me.

edit: Above makes it sound like i dont like Interstellar's ost and music...quite the contrary...its fantabulous i just have an issue with the overrall positional audio...only a few scenes where positional audio is utilized fully (dust storms, water planet) Its kinda weird the sound balance in this film.