Very Low Sound with new Blu Ray Player.

[ACIDTECHNO]

Got a cheap F&H Blu Ray player the other day. I'm pleased with all it's features, and the picture quality from DVD's (haven't tried Blu Ray disc yet), but the sound is too quiet. I've got the TV turned up as far as it will go, and still can barely hear it.
I thought this may be a HDMI cable issue, as I've heard some don't handle sound, but even using the supplied cables (RGB? They are the standard phono type plugs, yellow, red and white) the sound won't go loud enough.
I've tried the audio button on the remote, thinking maybe stereo might be louder than 5.1 or whatever.
Previous DVD player was fine, so whats going on?
Something obvious?

 

[ChrisFrost]

I presume this is the BD2101 model from Ebuyer at £57? If so, the connections look pretty straightforward. The only analogue audio connections are the stereo L & R, so that rules out hooking up analogue 5.1 wrongly. Besides, you're saying that all the sound is quiet not just the dialogue.

If you are using the same input to the TV as you did with the old DVD player then we can assume you have the cables connected correctly, but....

1) why use yellow red & white with the old DVD player. That's just about the worst picture connection. RGB via SCART would have been much much better.

2) you have bought a Blu-ray player, presumably to get the benefit of better picture quality as well as the extra features and file support... so why throw away all of the picture benefits by connecting on a really low quality connector? I suppose if your TV doesn't have a HDMI input.. but then again the £30 F&H DVD player would have done you just as well and it has an RGB SCART.

Those questions aside, I'd start by double checking your input on the TV. Are the audio plugs (R&W) connected to an audio input on the TV; and is the audio input the correct one that goes with the video input on the yellow socket.

Next, I'd check the player set up menus. Make sure that any options to down mix to stereo are set to On.

After those checks I think you need to have a chat with the retailer.

 

[mikeyd]

As I understand it you originally connected it with an HDMI cable.

I think the sound is sent down an HDMI cable along the same wires as the picture, so if the picture is good then the sound should be too. I'm not 100% sure of that but could you borrow another DVD or Blu-ray with an HDMA output to rule out the cable and the TV HDMI input being the cause of the problem?

Then, as the above reply already says, have you gone through all the Blu-ray player menu's, and also made sure it doesn't have it's own volume control which turns the sound down before it gets to the TV? (Sorry if that's a bit obvious but I only found out my PVR could be turned down independently of the TV after my 1 year old learned to press buttons)

 

[ACIDTECHNO]

I presume this is the BD2101 model from Ebuyer at £57?

Yup, thats the one.

If you are using the same input to the TV as you did with the old DVD player then we can assume you have the cables connected correctly, but....

1) why use yellow red & white with the old DVD player. That's just about the worst picture connection. RGB via SCART would have been much much better.

2) you have bought a Blu-ray player, presumably to get the benefit of better picture quality as well as the extra features and file support... so why throw away all of the picture benefits by connecting on a really low quality connector? I suppose if your TV doesn't have a HDMI input.. but then again the £30 F&H DVD player would have done you just as well and it has an RGB SCART.
.

The old DVD player was connected by scart. I thought to get the best picture (and audio?) with a Blu-ray player was to use an HDMI cable, so I bought one and used that. Excellent picture, very low SPL. I only used the RGB cables, supplied with the player, to see if I could get a louder sound.

I've looked at player settings, and changed from PCM 7.1 to PCM stereo with no change. There is an apparent means of controlling the volume in the settings, I think it was -5 to +5. I've moved that up to +5, again no change.

I'm off to see if I can find an RGB to scart connector to try, but obviously I want to best picture, as well as loud (good quality) sound. I know I can mess around with amplifiers and speakers etc, but I my previous DVD player was fine, I just can't see why a Blu-Ray player should be quieter.

 

[ACIDTECHNO]

As I understand it you originally connected it with an HDMI cable.

I think the sound is sent down an HDMI cable along the same wires as the picture, so if the picture is good then the sound should be too. I'm not 100% sure of that but could you borrow another DVD or Blu-ray with an HDMA output to rule out the cable and the TV HDMI input being the cause of the problem?

Then, as the above reply already says, have you gone through all the Blu-ray player menu's, and also made sure it doesn't have it's own volume control which turns the sound down before it gets to the TV? (Sorry if that's a bit obvious but I only found out my PVR could be turned down independently of the TV after my 1 year old learned to press buttons)

TV has two HDMI inputs, and have tried both. I suppose that doesn't rule out TV HDMI input problems. I'll try to borrow alternative HDMI device.

 

[27neth]

try looking here http://www.avforums.com/forums/blu-ray-players/1115852-foehn-hirsch-blu-ray-player.html

john

 

[ACIDTECHNO]

try looking here http://www.avforums.com/forums/blu-ray-players/1115852-foehn-hirsch-blu-ray-player.html

john

Thats one hell of a read! Took most of the afternoon lol.

Thanks for the replies. I'm going to invest in an amp, and maybe a hearing aid.

 

[ChrisFrost]

Comet has a really good deal on an Onkyo package at the moment - the 380 kit: AV receiver with all the HD audio bells & whistles plus a 5.1 sub/sat system. Separately you'd be looking at £450. The Comet deal is £300. For performance, flexibility and future-proofing it pees all over any of the home-cinema-in-a-box kits, and you'd have to spend a fair chunk of more cash to get anything substantially better in a separates kit IMO. It's a bit of a bargain if you can afford it.

 

[ACIDTECHNO]

Sounds good, and affordable. However, I may need to integrate hi fi into it. My stereo amp is beyond repair, as are speakers. I'll probably have to spend more to get the most out of my CD player. I don't want 8 speakers and two amps in living room.
On the other hand, the main Tv isn't a priority (it's hers, I rarely watch it, preferring to put my headphones on in my room, and watch films in peace). So.. I could get a cheap sound bar for her, and a decent speaker/amp setup for CD's... and a headphone amp for TV in my room.

 

[ACIDTECHNO]

Then, as the above reply already says, have you gone through all the Blu-ray player menu's, and also made sure it doesn't have it's own volume control which turns the sound down before it gets to the TV? (Sorry if that's a bit obvious but I only found out my PVR could be turned down independently of the TV after my 1 year old learned to press buttons)

I've spent ages going through menu's, trying different settings etc. I've come to the conclusion that it's a combination of blu ray audio and poor TV speakers/amplification. Still.. previous DVD was fine. Weird

 

[ChrisFrost]

Sounds good, and affordable. However, I may need to integrate hi fi into it. My stereo amp is beyond repair, as are speakers. I'll probably have to spend more to get the most out of my CD player. I don't want 8 speakers and two amps in living room.
On the other hand, the main Tv isn't a priority (it's hers, I rarely watch it, preferring to put my headphones on in my room, and watch films in peace). So.. I could get a cheap sound bar for her, and a decent speaker/amp setup for CD's... and a headphone amp for TV in my room.

As long as the soundbar does DD and DTS processing then you should get surround from a Blu-ray. Most discs have core DD or DTS for backward compatibility.

I ran a demo for a customer recently... His old Musical Fidelity pre/pwr + some Mission floor standers from circa 1995 vs a £700 Onkyo receiver & Focal Chorus 700 kit (tower fronts, dipole surrounds). We played 2 ch through both systems for an A/B comparison. I was a bit shocked by how good the Onkyo/Focal combo was. It beat the MF/Mission combo quite convincingly. Don't get me wrong... A £700 Creek 2ch amp on the same Focal speakers would have been better, but not night and day better for the average listener. Of all the Japanese AV brands I think Onkyo does the best job with music.

 

[ACIDTECHNO]

Funny enough it's Missions I need to replace. I spent 2k on an Arcam CD and amp, and Mission 753's, and now just have a working CD player.

Money is much tighter now, but I'm hoping to come close to the quality and power, in stereo. As I said, I'm not too fussed with the TV sound. Maybe I could just use two speakers for the TV..

 

[ChrisFrost]

There's a lot of good hi-f gear floating round on the secondhand market. It's a great way to get much better performance than buying new. The catch is you need to know the sort of sound you are looking for when you start to track down gear as you obviously can't demo it as you would with a shop purchase.

I kind of associate Arcam amps with a sound that's easy and smooth; Mission speakers a little aggressive. Having said that about the speakers, it's only based on my experiences based on perhaps cheaper Missions driven with maybe less powerful amps.

If I were buying personally I'd be looking for something that does emotion and timing as priorities. Focal speakers would be my first choice. They are good across the range at digging out the detail and expression of music. I've compared them to equivalents from B&W and Monitor Audio. It's no contest IMO. If money were really tight then perhaps Rega's little Alya floor standers which I have owned before and enjoyed. They are bass light but incredibly fast and entertaining.

Amps - Creek for an entry level. Sugden (A21a) up to £700, it's only 25W class A so needs really efficient speakers but the reward is a sublime sound. If money weren't an issue then maybe a 400 series Accuphase.

I'm gonna have to stop now as this thread is giving me the upgrade itch