Analogue Vs. Digital Inputs - relative volume question

[juboy]

One of the nice features of the Pioneer 2011 amp is that when it runs through it's auto set-up routine, or when you make subsequent changes to the set-up manually, it automatically takes itself to '0' on the volume level in order to set things up to reference level at the '0' point.



I know the amp is properly calibrated against itself so why is it that when I watch Sky TV through analogue interconnects at decent volumes, the loudest I need to set the amp to on the volume control is between -30 and -25, whereas when I watch a DVD through the digital coax cable I need to turn the volume to between -12 and -10 to get to similar levels of loudness?

[deckard]

Julian



I don't think it's the analogue vs digital input per se. I suspect it's more likely that the analogue output from your digibox is relatively low.



There's one sure fire way to find out I guess and that's to connect your DVD via both analogue and digital inputs and flick between the two.



I've done this myself in a idle moment before to see whether my amp's DAC was better than my DVD players in respect of CD replay (although I use a dedicated CD player), I found no significant level difference between the analogue and digital signals from the same source.



Cheers

[juboy]

Deckard... it's the other way round... the Sky box (analogue) only needs to be at minus30db to be a nice, listenable loudness whilst the DVD player (digital) needs to be at minus 10.



Although you're right, I should try hooking up the DVD player via it's analogue outputs and see how that compares to the digital outs.

[deckard]

Ooops! :censored:



Still the basic point holds true I think!! ;)~;-)~:wink:

[Squirrelecto]

But 5.1+ surround soundtracks always sound lower on average don't they because of the dynamic range that enables the big boom for exciting action scenes; whereas stereo soundtracks have a more consistent volume level on average. Nothing to worry about if you ask me, in fact - as expected.

[deckard]

I'd probably dispute that SG, just because a source is in stereo doesn't necessarily mean it's been compressed.



If you compare a sample of normal conversation on DVD and off-air broadcasting then there's no reason why one should be quieter than the other unless the source is being delivered at a lower level.



IMHO dynamic range is not the issue here.

[Jase]

I think you've got a mixture of both. Lower (or higher!) input levels and dynamic range also has to be taken into consideration when it's a dvd.

[deckard]

Juboy



Any luck comparing analogue vs digital inputs on your DVD player yet?

[juboy]

Not yet mate, too busy down the pub unfortunately. Problem is, it's now Bank Holiday weekend which means 4 days drinking rather than film watching or music listening ;)~;-)~:wink: