SACD 4.0 titles - how do I listen to these correctly?

[dbmay75]

Hi everyone,

My setup consists of an OPPO 980 and an Onkyo HT-R510 6.1 receiver/speakers. I select "multichannel" on my receiver anytime I listen to an SACD or DVD-A and I never have a problem other than adjusting the volume of the rears and the fronts now and then for certain discs.

I've been listening to Herbie Hancock's Head Hunters on CD for years; through speakers, car stereos, my iPod with headphones, and I've even jammed the song a dozen times on guitar with various bands, so I know the song (mix) very well. Yet, for some reason, whenever I play the SACD, it just sounds ... well, wrong!

Specifically, I'm talking about Herbie's first synth solo on "Chameleon" over the A# funk pattern - it sounds like there's a channel 'missing' because the solo is heavily buried in the mix, and all I hear is the bleed over. it's not a solo that should be buried in the mix! It's loud and obnoxious and that's what I expect to hear!

Ironically, the next 3 SACD titles on my wanted list are 70's quad mixes - Blow By Blow, 3 + 3 and Mysterious Traveler

Can anyone tell me what I might be doing wrong? Any and all suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks,
Dan

 

[DennisMabry]

dbmay75

This may sound like a stupid reply, but I am just trying to figure out your set up. Are you using all six RCA cables from the analog outs of your Oppo 980 to the six channel input of the Onkyo HT-R510? If not; this is the first step. If so; you need to choose the six channel analog input setting on your receiver (whatever that may be). Speaker settings are best done with a sound level meter to have the same volume level setting from each speaker at the listening position, but you can do this by ear also. There should be a speaker distance setting on the Onkyo as well. Other than that it should all play just fine with no adjustments other than volume. You will however, need to set the Down-mix setting to 5.1 in the Oppo set up.

I hope this is helpful.

Dennis

 

[JonUrban]

If you're using analog cables, it should be straight forward. They're 1 to 1, and if there is no signal coming to the LFE and Center Channel inputs of the receiver, then nothing will come out of those speakers (unless your reciever does something to create them).

I haven't played that SACD in a while, but I recall that it's a heralded quad mix, as are most of Herbie Hancocks quad titles. Do you have a test or demo SACD that can prove out the channel placement through the entire audio path when playing an SACD? Maybe there is a setting in the receiver that you missed that is futzing with the 4.0 signal and attempting to create a 5.1 signal out of it - which could mess up the soundfield in some cases.

 

[dbmay75]

Maybe there is a setting in the receiver that you missed that is futzing with the 4.0 signal and attempting to create a 5.1 signal out of it - which could mess up the soundfield in some cases.

Jon - the above quote from you raised my eyebrows. I wouldn't expect the Onkyo manual to mention anything about 4.0, but perhaps some further investigation at the AVS Forum and such may provide a clue in the near future.

I posted this topic at the Steve Hoffman Forum yesterday and at least one member replied that he hears "Chameleon" the same way I do. Therefore, I don't think it's my wiring or settings, but simply the way the SACD was created from the quad mix. In other words, you either like it or you don't. I think this SACD may become a 2.0 favorite from me as it's just too awkward to listen to in multichannel, let alone enjoy.

Dennis - no, not a stupid reply at all. It is set up exactly as you describe. All other 5.1 media I own plays correctly and blows me away, or at the very least, it sounds like what I expect it to sound like.

Thanks everyone for your feedback. Please feel free to add anything further if you wish to.

Dan

 

[EMB]

First of all, this is not a 4.0 title, but a 5.1, AFAIK. It may have been taken from the quad master tape (hence the reference to 'tape vault research' in the liners) but if so, it's a 'treated' 5.1 version with a center speaker created from the quad source. That said, it sure sounds a lot like the old Q8 I have, except with much less hiss (heh) and a little bit in the center.

I also have to ask, Dan, if you're familiar with the old quad mix, or were more used to the stereo mix before hearing this SACD version. If so, that might partly explain things, though I don't hear anything Herbie's doing being buried. But spreading out the others in the quad field would certainly level everyone's volume, so someone (or something) mixed louder in stereo might sound a bit buried or even with other things less obvious in the stereo mix but brought out with the widening to 4-channel.

Regardless, if your system is wired correctly, you should hear what's on the master--including, here, the center speaker.


ED