Panasonic DMP-55K and 35k tech question

[k2208]

OK I picked up a BD55 for $340 at Circuit City! It was an open box but it looks brand new and it comes with the same warranty as a new one. I am setting it up via the analog connections. In the players setup menu do I want to choose Bitstream or PCM? Correct me if I am wrong but I thought I read somewhere to turn the BD-Video secondary audio off also. There are so many different settings and the manual is pretty weak with explaining everything.

I was switching between Dolby 5.1 HD sound and Dolby Digital on Invincible and I noticed a big difference in the fullness of the sound. Would Dolby Digital through an optical cable vs analog sound worse yet?

Also I am able to change my channel levels in my receiver even with the multi-channel inputs used, is it better to do it there or through the BD55?

I watched Hellboy 2 and it was awesome! Pic quality is amazing, sounded great too but I am still trying to get the audio to the correct settings.

Thanks,
Kirk

[MrBoylan]

OK I picked up a BD55 for $340 at Circuit City! It was an open box but it looks brand new and it comes with the same warranty as a new one. I am setting it up via the analog connections. In the players setup menu do I want to choose Bitstream or PCM? Correct me if I am wrong but I thought I read somewhere to turn the BD-Video secondary audio off also. There are so many different settings and the manual is pretty weak with explaining everything.

I was switching between Dolby 5.1 HD sound and Dolby Digital on Invincible and I noticed a big difference in the fullness of the sound. Would Dolby Digital through an optical cable vs analog sound worse yet?

Also I am able to change my channel levels in my receiver even with the multi-channel inputs used, is it better to do it there or through the BD55?

I watched Hellboy 2 and it was awesome! Pic quality is amazing, sounded great too but I am still trying to get the audio to the correct settings.

Thanks,
Kirk

The digital audio outputs settings like pcm/bitstream should have no effect on the analog audio outputs so don't worry about those.

If the receiver does bass management, delay and level settings for the multi-channel analog inputs then you could do it there instead of the player. The player's bass management is pretty limited. If you set the front speakers to "small" by clicking on the graphic of the speaker, then the crossover is set to 100 Hz. If your speakers are small, this is probably fine, if large then you might want a lower crossover and the receiver may offer different crossover options for that.

Just make sure you don't do the bass management in BOTH. IF you're going to use the receiver, then set all the speakers to large in the BD55 and keep all the elvels at 0.

For best results you will want to get an SPL meter. It can be more accurate than setting the levels by ear. And remember to set the boost to +5 or +10 in the receiver for the analog LFE channel.

Good luck!

-Chris

[k2208]

My receiver will only adjust channel levels in the multi-channel settings, not speaker size or bass settings. I will just do it through the BD55. I boosted the LFE to +10 on my receiver, sounds great.

I think I am all square for now. You have been a tremendous help! I will probably be back on here with more questions eventually though. I am going to track down a SPL meter although I have never used one.

I watched Nightmare Before Christmas with my kids and it is incredible!

Thanks again,
Kirk

[MrBoylan]

My receiver will only adjust channel levels in the multi-channel settings, not speaker size or bass settings. I will just do it through the BD55. I boosted the LFE to +10 on my receiver, sounds great.

I think I am all square for now. You have been a tremendous help! I will probably be back on here with more questions eventually though. I am going to track down a SPL meter although I have never used one.

I watched Nightmare Before Christmas with my kids and it is incredible!

Thanks again,
Kirk

Cool. SPL meters at Radio Shack are around $40 I believe. And if you want to support the site, simply use any of the links on our "Shop with us" page for your online holiday shopping and the site gets a small commission on the sale (on anything, not just electronics).

We also post deal alerts from time to time and these work the same way.

Regards,

-Chris

[n9949y]

Anticipating my purchase a Panasonic DMP-BD55 from Amazon (am waiting for a further price decline) I’ve been lurking on a number of forums reading about the player. On AVS I was introduced to your most informative web site. I have a unique, (peculiar?) question, given my HT set up.

Central is my vintage 2000 (so soon a vintage?) Rotel RSX 965- a very fine audio instrument that has 2 audio tape loops and even a phono input which is used as my wife collected in the ’60’s about 200 albums. The Rotel, which I assume was designed for SACD, has a 5.1 audio input through a DB-25 female 25 pin input. I was fortunate to find a 6 RCA jack (nicely labeled) to DB-25 cable which I assume will allow me to plug the Panasonic BD analog audio outputs to my Rotel. The Rotel front panel has a 5.1 channel button the manual indicates “overrides all other analog and digital inputs and directly connects an ‘an external digital adaptor’ to the Rotel’s master volume control and outputs. Inboard Dolby processing is bypassed.”

At age 70 I’ve collected in my travels a fair amount of audio stuff incorporated into, to use up-to-date jargon, my HT. One component is a 1990 vintage Yamaha Digital Field Sound processor DSP E300 (nice plaything) connected to the Rotel by way of an audio tape loop. My two powered Yamaha YST WS-205’s Sub Woofers are Y-connected to the system through the E300 processor LF output that allows me to control sub-woofer volume with a remote.

Now I understand the DB 55 which does all the Lossless decoding will pass the encoded information to my Rotel which then passes audio (depending on Rotel volume setting) to my 5 main and surround speakers. My question is that since I’ve heretofore enjoyed, and controlled the subwoofer sound and volume through the Yamaha processor working off one of the Rotel’s audio tape record /replay audio tape loops, will the processor’s LF output not be controlled/affected by the Panasonic DB’s 5.1 audio output?

1. Receiver- Rotel RSX 965
2. TV Monitor, DLP, LG RU-44SZ63D
3. Laser Disc Player- Pioneer CLD 1080
4. Field Sound Processor- Yamaha DSP E300
5. Comcast Cable- Motorola DCT6200
6. Tape Deck- Kenwood Double KX-W5040
7. DVD Player, Hi Def-Progressive - Onkyo DV-CP702
8. Graphic Equalizer- Pioneer GR-555
9. CD Player- Fisher DAC 195
10. VCR, Hi-Fi - Panasonic PV-4021
11. VCR, Hi-Fi- JVC SQPB
12. Turntable/Changer- Garrard Zero 100
13. Sub Woofers, 2 –Yamaha, powered YST WS-205's
14. Speakers, 4, Paradigm Titan (2 for Rotel main fronts, 2 for Yamaha DSP front effects)
15. Speakers, 2 Dynaco A25 (Rotel rear effects)
16. Speakers, 2 Acoustic Research 18S, (Yamaha rear effects)
17. Speakers, 2 Realistic Minimus 7W ( Yamaha DSP Center, Rotel Center)
18. AC Voltage Activated Outlet Switch, Niles AC-3
19. Head phones, Sennheiser HD280 Pro

[MrBoylan]

Anticipating my purchase a Panasonic DMP-BD55 from Amazon (am waiting for a further price decline)

The Amazon $100 off deal on the BD55 was pretty sweet but it did require purchase of 4 Warner Blu-ray Discs. Still, even with the discs, the total price was just around $300 for the BD55. That deal has expired but it's likely there will be someone somwhere selling the BD55 for a great price between now and Christmas. Check our "Black Friday HDTV and Blu-ray Deals" article for frequent updates on the latest deals this holiday season for BD and HDTV.

I’ve been lurking on a number of forums reading about the player. On AVS I was introduced to your most informative web site. I have a unique, (peculiar?) question, given my HT set up.

Central is my vintage 2000 (so soon a vintage?) Rotel RSX 965- a very fine audio instrument that has 2 audio tape loops and even a phono input which is used as my wife collected in the ’60’s about 200 albums. The Rotel, which I assume was designed for SACD, has a 5.1 audio input through a DB-25 female 25 pin input. I was fortunate to find a 6 RCA jack (nicely labeled) to DB-25 cable which I assume will allow me to plug the Panasonic BD analog audio outputs to my Rotel. The Rotel front panel has a 5.1 channel button the manual indicates “overrides all other analog and digital inputs and directly connects an ‘an external digital adaptor’ to the Rotel’s master volume control and outputs. Inboard Dolby processing is bypassed.”

At age 70 I’ve collected in my travels a fair amount of audio stuff incorporated into, to use up-to-date jargon, my HT. One component is a 1990 vintage Yamaha Digital Field Sound processor DSP E300 (nice plaything) connected to the Rotel by way of an audio tape loop. My two powered Yamaha YST WS-205’s Sub Woofers are Y-connected to the system through the E300 processor LF output that allows me to control sub-woofer volume with a remote.

Now I understand the DB 55 which does all the Lossless decoding will pass the encoded information to my Rotel which then passes audio (depending on Rotel volume setting) to my 5 main and surround speakers. My question is that since I’ve heretofore enjoyed, and controlled the subwoofer sound and volume through the Yamaha processor working off one of the Rotel’s audio tape record /replay audio tape loops, will the processor’s LF output not be controlled/affected by the Panasonic DB’s 5.1 audio output?

1. Receiver- Rotel RSX 965
2. TV Monitor, DLP, LG RU-44SZ63D
3. Laser Disc Player- Pioneer CLD 1080
4. Field Sound Processor- Yamaha DSP E300
5. Comcast Cable- Motorola DCT6200
6. Tape Deck- Kenwood Double KX-W5040
7. DVD Player, Hi Def-Progressive - Onkyo DV-CP702
8. Graphic Equalizer- Pioneer GR-555
9. CD Player- Fisher DAC 195
10. VCR, Hi-Fi - Panasonic PV-4021
11. VCR, Hi-Fi- JVC SQPB
12. Turntable/Changer- Garrard Zero 100
13. Sub Woofers, 2 –Yamaha, powered YST WS-205's
14. Speakers, 4, Paradigm Titan (2 for Rotel main fronts, 2 for Yamaha DSP front effects)
15. Speakers, 2 Dynaco A25 (Rotel rear effects)
16. Speakers, 2 Acoustic Research 18S, (Yamaha rear effects)
17. Speakers, 2 Realistic Minimus 7W ( Yamaha DSP Center, Rotel Center)
18. AC Voltage Activated Outlet Switch, Niles AC-3
19. Head phones, Sennheiser HD280 Pro

The answer to your question is... "it depends." It depends on how you hook everything up. Yes, if you simply use the DB-25 multi-channel analog input from the BD55's analog outputs, and leave all of your other connections the same, then the subwoofers will get no signal from anything played on the BD55 player in your current tape-looped bass arrangement because the signal from the BD55 player will not be going to the tape loop outputs.

But it sounds like you've probably configured all speakers as "large" already in order to do bass management in the Yamaha processor, in which case you are probably not using the line level subwoofer output on the Rotel at all right now.

There are two ways I can think of that you could probably still get sound (including LFE) to your Yamaha processor: 1.) use the BD55's 2-ch+5.1-ch output mode - the 5.1-ch output goes to the Rotel's 5.1-ch DB25 input. The 2-ch output goes to some other line input on the Rotel. As long as the tape loop is still active when the 5.1-ch input is selected, then you may still get sound from the Panasonic player to your Yamaha. But the problem with this approach is that the volume control for the Yamaha will be completely independent from the volume control for the BD55 (which is controlled via the Rotel).

You could also wire these two main L/R outputs of the BD55 into the Yamaha processor directly and then feed the Yamaha processor's output back into the Rotel via the DB25/RCA adapter cable you have. But the same problem is going to exist. Volume for the other three channels is going to be independent of volume to the channels that go through the Yamaha processor.

What may work would be to configure the BD55 as having no subwoofer (click it OFF in the BD55 multi-channel speaker set-up menu). This will mix in the LFE track to the main channels. Plug the BD55 into the Rotel via the multi-channel inputs, but then plug the Rotel's Left/Right PREAMP OUTS into an available input on the Yamaha processor. This way the volume control for the Rotel receiver will affect the levels that are going to your main speakers *AND* what's going to the Yahama processor, for all sources (you actually might not need the Yamaha processor hooked up to the tape loop at all with this configuration). Then you can set the Yamaha at some fixed volume and do your main level adjustments with the Rotel volume control. This still gives you remote control access to subwoofer levels and allows you to keep the Yamaha processor in the loop for effects when you like.

Anyway... I hope that helps. I had a Yamaha DSP1 back in the day (late 80s) and it was fun playing around with the various DSP settings.

When you buy the BD55, don't forget to use our product and store links either in one of our deal pages, the online shopping page or in the BD55 review itself. Income from those affiliate links is how Big Picture Big Sound stays in business.

Regards,

-Chris

[n9949y]

Thanks, Chris,for your input (pun intended) and advice. Remains to see if the Rotel, set on audio 5.1 input, provides a standard signal to the 2 channel audio tape output which would feed the Yamaha DSP.

Haven't been able to contact Rotel folk in MA and Rotel dealers I've contacted aren't any longer familiar with the 1999 RSX-965 operating parameters- and I'm posing a too esoteric subject.

If others are interested I'll be happy to let them know when I obtain and hook up the BD-55 w/the RSX965.

[MrBoylan]

Thanks, Chris,for your input (pun intended) and advice. Remains to see if the Rotel, set on audio 5.1 input, provides a standard signal to the 2 channel audio tape output which would feed the Yamaha DSP.

Haven't been able to contact Rotel folk in MA and Rotel dealers I've contacted aren't any longer familiar with the 1999 RSX-965 operating parameters- and I'm posing a too esoteric subject.

If others are interested I'll be happy to let them know when I obtain and hook up the BD-55 w/the RSX965.

Never hurts to post a follow-up. So many people just take the advice and hit the road. No news is good news, I guess!

But in your situation, even if the 2 front channels of the Rotel's multi-channel input are sent to the tape loop output, they will be missing the low bass LFE information because that's carried separately on the ".1" channel.

If you want the front left/right channels to include all of the low bass information, then you can configure the Panasonic BD player to send the LFE info to the main channels. To do so, you will need to set the front speakers as large and turn OFF the subwoofer (so then you'll only be connecting 5 channels instead of 6.

If you don't do it this way (if you leave the subwoofer "ON" in the Panasonic speaker set-up screen), then you're really going to need to hook up at least one of those Yamaha powered subwoofers to the Rotel's subwoofer output (RCA jack). If you don't then the LFE track will be absent and bass output will suffer.

-CB

[n9949y]

But in your situation, even if the 2 front channels of the Rotel's multi-channel input are sent to the tape loop output, they will be missing the low bass LFE information because that's carried separately on the ".1" channel.

If you want the front left/right channels to include all of the low bass information, then you can configure the Panasonic BD player to send the LFE info to the main channels. To do so, you will need to set the front speakers as large and turn OFF the subwoofer (so then you'll only be connecting 5 channels instead of 6.
-CB

This is getting more interesting!

Chris, would doing as you kindly advise, configuring the BD to send LFE to the main channels, still maintain the player outputting of the lossless audio codecs, i.e. TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio, etc., which is why I would be buying the BD-55.

Thanks

[MrBoylan]

This is getting more interesting!

Chris, would doing as you kindly advise, configuring the BD to send LFE to the main channels, still maintain the player outputting of the lossless audio codecs, i.e. TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio, etc., which is why I would be buying the BD-55.

Thanks

Yes. Keep in mind that the decoding of the lossless codecs is done in the player with the BD55. By the time it is output, it is a pure analog signal with no memory of that fact that it was once Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD Master Audio. By turning off the subwoofer channel in the BD55 configuration menu, you will route all LFE information to the main left and right channels. You can then use the Yamaha surround processor to split out the bass and route it to the subwoofers.

-CB