Need help with Enhanced Viewing Audio...

[slohand08]

I've had my Samsung BDP-1600 for about 2 months and love it! I was using an older receiver and recently upgraded to a Sony STR-DH500. I also bought a new Subwoofer to go with the receiver because I needed an active sub ( my old one was part of a system and unfortunately was passive).

I have had no problem with either Receiver so far but... When I try to view BD with Enhanced Viewing features turned on (Ghostbusters, TrueBlood, Firefly, etc.), I can see the Enhanced Viewing window at the bottom right of the screen but I can't hear the Audio that should be accompanying the track. I've tried turning the volume up on the actual discs that allow for it but no luck. Do I need 7.1 Surround (I am currently running 5.1)? Am I missing something in my settings that would explain this problem? I feel like it is a player/disc issue and not one that involves the receivers.

Can anyone that has had similar problems or just knows how to fix this issue give me an answer. I feel like I am missing out on some of the best things about Blu-ray. Any help is greatly appreciated.

[SlmShdy1]

5.1 is just fine. You don't need 7.1 just to hear the extras. The only thing I can think of is that it's the player. Try running a firmware update.

[slohand08]

Unfortunately, I don't think there are any available yet for this particular player. It is a recent model and every time I've checked, there haven't been any updates. Thank you though.

[SlmShdy1]

Did those features have sound when you had your old receiver?

Also, how do you have it hooked up? Are you using HDMI cables for audio? If so, that won't work.

[slohand08]

I did not have audio for those features on the old receiver. And I'm actually using a digital audio cable (optical). I get sound for all main audio features (languages, commentaries, etc.), just not for the enhanced viewing option.

I've tried different things and the owner's manual for the player does not offer troubleshooting on this particular issue.

[BIslander]

I've never heard of Enhanced Audio. Is that another name for secondary audio? Secondary audio is used with PIP commentaries. It's not part of the main movie soundtrack, but a second audio track that gets played and mixed with the movie on the fly. You need to enable secondary in the player to hear it. Perhaps that's your problem. With Samsung players, I think you need to use Bitstream Re-Encode for secondary audio. (Or, PCM, although that's no good with optical because you'd be limited to stereo.)

[DDCAddict]

I am experiencing the same problem as slohand08. With the enhanced viewing feature on the TrueBlood discs I see the secondary video, but I can't hear the secondary audio.

I have a Pioneer BDP-51FD Blu-ray player (with the latest firmware update, 1.32) connected to an Onkyo TX-SR605 receiver with an HDMI cable.

When I check the player, both the secondary video and audio show as being selected, so I suspect it is a problem with my receiver.

Any suggestions?

[slohand08]

I figured my problem out and it's probably not the receiver. Just change the settings on your player (Not disc menu) so that the audio stream is decoded by the receiver and not the player. I'm at work right now so I can't look at my player to give you the exact audio info but it's a relatively easy fix.

[BIslander]

Originally Posted by slohand08

I figured my problem out and it's probably not the receiver. Just change the settings on your player (Not disc menu) so that the audio stream is decoded by the receiver and not the player. I'm at work right now so I can't look at my player to give you the exact audio info but it's a relatively easy fix.

If Enhanced Audio is part of the movie soundtrack (unlikely), then it doesn't matter where the decoding takes place. If it's actually Secondary Audio (a separate track that is mixed with the main feature), then the decoding must take place in the player. That's the only way mixing can be done.

When using optical from a Samsung player, you want to select Bitstream Re-encode. The player will decode the track, mix in the secondary audio, and re-encode the mixture for output as DTS. If you use Bitstream Audiophile, the player will only send the movie soundtrack to the receiver for decoding. The secondary audio will be left behind in the player.

[DDCAddict]

Thanks. For my player (Pioneer BDP-51FD) I changed the HDMI audio out setting from Auto to PCM. (Of course, the PCM setting says ". . . the secondary audio and interactive audio are mixed.")

Anyhow, it works now. (And so does the Dolby True HD Japanese track on the Akira disc. Before it was only playing in stereo and not in 5.1.)

[BIslander]

Glad you got it figured out. Each player handles secondary audio little differently.

One thing you'll need to check is whether your player uses lossless when set to mix secondary audio. Many players substitute a lossy track when set to mix, even if there's no secondary audio present.