Yamaha RX-V581 set DSP per input?

stoofa · 12 Aug 2018 at 12:16

If I'm using my PS4 Pro or Blu-Ray player I leave the DSP on my Yamaha RX-V581 to "Straight". I'm lead to believe this means the receiver is really not messing around with things.
This works well, I get 5.1, I get Dolby, etc
However, when using my SkyHD box (yer, not moved to Q yet) I notice on some programs I'm outputting to 2, 2.1. 3 speakers etc.
I've been through menu's, but cannot see if there is a way to do the following:

Set HDMI 1 input to be Straight
Set HDMI 2 input to be Straight
Set HDMI 3 input to be Standard or Surround for example.

This would allow my PS4 Pro and Blu-Ray player to give me the sound as "director intended" and allow the Sky HD box to give me a 5.1 sound whatever is being watched.

Quite possible I just need to get used to manually changing, but then thought surely we're in a technological world where things can happen "automatically"

lucid · 12 Aug 2018 at 14:11

Your amp will auto detect the presence of a bitstream signal (DD, DTS, Dolby True HD, DTS-Master Audio) and switch to that by default.

Folk often assume that all bitstream signals are in 5.1 surround or better, but that's not always the case. Bitstream can be anything all the way down to 1.0 (mono), so you have to watch out for bitstream 2.0 for example.

For Sky, I have my Yamaha set to "Surround Decoder" in the Sound Program menu. Drilling down one menu level, the decoder type is set to DPL II Movie. When set this way, anything that isn't 5.1 DD from Sky will then be decoded to DPLII 5.1 This includes bitstream 2.0 content.

When it comes to Sky, the audio content varies by channel. You also need to ensure that the Sky box audio out is set correctly. (HDMI Audio Out - Dolby D). The SD channels are (IIRC) pretty much all stereo or Stereo with Dolby Surround, so you'd use DPLII. Some of the HD channels are bistream (DD) 2.0, others are bitstream 5.1

stoofa · 12 Aug 2018 at 14:20

Great, thanks for that input.
So just need to confirm the settings on the Sky box and I should then be able to use a different setting on each of the HDMI inputs.
Cheers.

stoofa · 12 Aug 2018 at 14:33

lucid said:
Your amp will auto detect the presence of a bitstream signal (DD, DTS, Dolby True HD, DTS-Master Audio) and switch to that by default.

Folk often assume that all bitstream signals are in 5.1 surround or better, but that's not always the case. Bitstream can be anything all the way down to 1.0 (mono), so you have to watch out for bitstream 2.0 for example.

For Sky, I have my Yamaha set to "Surround Decoder" in the Sound Program menu. Drilling down one menu level, the decoder type is set to DPL II Movie. When set this way, anything that isn't 5.1 DD from Sky will then be decoded to DPLII 5.1 This includes bitstream 2.0 content.

When it comes to Sky, the audio content varies by channel. You also need to ensure that the Sky box audio out is set correctly. (HDMI Audio Out - Dolby D). The SD channels are (IIRC) pretty much all stereo or Stereo with Dolby Surround, so you'd use DPLII. Some of the HD channels are bistream (DD) 2.0, others are bitstream 5.1

How I misunderstood setting individual settings per input I don't know!
Anyway, confirmed Sky HD box was setup correctly.
I've changed the DSP to "Surround Decoder".
The sub options I have on that are:
Dolby Surround
Neural: X
Neo 6: Cinema
Neo 6: Music
So I've set that for Dolby Surround - I cannot see any sub settings via my remote that allows me to set DPL II Movie.
Possibly my Yamaha doesn't offer this decoder type?

Adaptive DRC & Enhancer have defaulted to "Off"

lucid · 12 Aug 2018 at 15:19

Yours is a Dolby Atmos-capable amp. A quick look through the manual suggests that the Dolby Surround setting incorporates Dolby Surround (as decoded in DPLII) and Dolby Atmos.

My guess then is that Yamaha have taken the decision that leaving out the options of DPL, DPL II Movie, DPL II Music, DPL II Game, DPL IIx Movie, DPL IIx Music, DPL IIx Game and simply decoding everything to all the available speakers is a simpler option than dealing with complaints along the lines of "My rear/ceiling speakers don't work." Although frustrating from a technical point of view, I can see some logic if indeed that has been their decision. I've lost count of the number of customers whose eyes glaze over when getting in to the explanation of the sound modes. Those conversations normally end with "Leave it on this mode (DPL II Movie) for watching telly and it'll all be good." lol

For my own part, I rarely use DPL II Music or DPL II Game. For TV it's always DPL II Movie, and for music it's either Pure Direct, Stereo (with sub), or Multichannel/7ch surround for the times when music is on as a background accompaniment.

For your 581 then, set to Surround with the Dolby DD symbol.

stoofa · 12 Aug 2018 at 16:51

lucid said:
Yours is a Dolby Atmos-capable amp. A quick look through the manual suggests that the Dolby Surround setting incorporates Dolby Surround (as decoded in DPLII) and Dolby Atmos.

My guess then is that Yamaha have taken the decision that leaving out the options of DPL, DPL II Movie, DPL II Music, DPL II Game, DPL IIx Movie, DPL IIx Music, DPL IIx Game and simply decoding everything to all the available speakers is a simpler option than dealing with complaints along the lines of "My rear/ceiling speakers don't work." Although frustrating from a technical point of view, I can see some logic if indeed that has been their decision. I've lost count of the number of customers whose eyes glaze over when getting in to the explanation of the sound modes. Those conversations normally end with "Leave it on this mode (DPL II Movie) for watching telly and it'll all be good." lol

For my own part, I rarely use DPL II Music or DPL II Game. For TV it's always DPL II Movie, and for music it's either Pure Direct, Stereo (with sub), or Multichannel/7ch surround for the times when music is on as a background accompaniment.

For your 581 then, set to Surround with the Dolby DD symbol.

Thank you - appreciate your time.