Is my AVR set wrong or does the 2.0 track always sound better on concert BDs?

[RyanMatthew]

I was watching Heaven and Hell: Live from Radio City and was surprised at how puny the bass was on DTS-HD 5.1 track, so I tried the 2.0 and wow - what a difference. This is how music is supposed to sound. I considered that this one may have been given a bad mix so I tried a few different discs and they all gave the same result. Not all of them have the weak bass in 5.1, but they all sounded better in 2.0.

As far as I know, I've done everything correctly. I great, house-rumbling sound from film, but concerts are a different story. It seems strange to me that 2.0 would always sound so much better than the DTS-HD 5.1 options. I keep the sound mode on auto, but also tried the 'music' option and there was no difference.

[ZoetMB]

Originally Posted by RyanMatthew

I was watching Heaven and Hell: Live from Radio City and was surprised at how puny the bass was on DTS-HD 5.1 track, so I tried the 2.0 and wow - what a difference. This is how music is supposed to sound. I considered that this one may have been given a bad mix so I tried a few different discs and they all gave the same result. Not all of them have the weak bass in 5.1, but they all sounded better in 2.0.

As far as I know, I've done everything correctly. I great, house-rumbling sound from film, but concerts are a different story. It seems strange to me that 2.0 would always sound so much better than the DTS-HD 5.1 options. I keep the sound mode on auto, but also tried the 'music' option and there was no difference.

Do you have a subwoofer in the 5.1 setup? Because what's probably happening is that in the 5.1 setup, the system is limiting the frequency response to the main speakers and sending the bass to the .1 bass channel. In 2.0, it's sending a full range signal to the main speakers. If you're not using a subwoofer, change the configuration settings so that all your speakers are set to "full". If you are using a subwoofer, then I suspect you want to turn up the level. I assume your receiver has a calibration mode. Do you calibrate it?

[antennahead]

I have about 200 concert DVDs/Blu rays. The 2.0 versus 5.1 is all over the road. Many of my library sound better in 5.1, and many sound better in 2.0. On some the 5.1 is far too bass heavy/rich, and on others it's the 2.0 that suffers. Unlike movies which sound pretty consistent on a modern mix, these concerts are all over the road. I usually try a new purchase in both surround and stereo and choose the best mix. If it happens to be 2.0 stereo, I'll listen with DTS Neo:X ........ center set to zero/none, and surrounds added in slightly to add in a little ambiance. YMMV