Sony HT-CT550W?? - Page 6

Originally Posted by daz655321

I did pick up a couple more high speed hdmi cables along with the soundbar. I liked the amazon option better than ebay because of the 1 day shipping option with amazon prime. I am sure the customer service will be better in case I need to return it or have issues. Hope the set up goes smoothly with my revue as well.

Originally Posted by LBJ2

Sounds like you are all set. BTW, I didn't have any problems as a first time Revue user quickly connecting the Revue through the STB and 550W. Since you are already familiar with the Revue, should be a snap for you too. (Now if they would just release the 3.1 Honeycomb update...)

Originally Posted by LBJ2

In line with the topic of this forum.....I'm still testing out the Revue with the HTCT550W Receiver. It certainly works with the 550W and was easy enough to connect--now I am just trying to determine if there is any affect on how the 550W processes audio formats like Dolby Digital coming from my DirecTV DVR/Receiver through the Revue to the 550W.

Apologies in advance to my fellow 550W avsforum contributors for going off topic for a brief comment or two....the Revue certainly provides a robust web browser for TV web browsing. I am posting this msg via the Revue web browser on my big screen TV. The web browser that comes with my TV is so painfully slow it's essentially worthless--so the Revue is a major value -add in this area for me. There are many other positives to this device too--I can't wait for the 3.1 Honeycomb update to come out. Thanks for the recommendation

Back on topic of this forum...and a question to you or any others that have connected the Revue to the 550W through a cable/satellite box--do you see the audio format like Dolby Digital or DTS displayed on the front panel of your 550W when viewing content from your cable or satellite service? Or do you see LPCM displayed?

Originally Posted by daz655321

The only problem I have with the Revue is that I seem to never use it. I tend to use my xbox 360 for netflix and my desktop or laptop for web browsing. I kinda jumped the gun because I was excited at the price drop. I seem to buy things on impulse and never use them a lot. Hope the Honeycomb update improves the browser speed.

Originally Posted by daz655321

do i need to use the digital optical cord that comes with this? connecting from the receiver of the ct550w to my tv?

Originally Posted by LBJ2

Oui. That's what I used. Connected the optical and HDMI cable from my Revue to the Sat/Cable input to the 550W. If you have a STB then Revue-STB-550W

Originally Posted by daz655321

OK just to make sure I have this right, I have this set up so far as:

XBOX360 HDMI --> CT550W
BLURAY HDMI --> CT550W
REVUE HDMI -> CT550W
Cable Box HDMI --> REVUE

CT550W HDMI -->TV

Now forgive me for being stupid but, from which two boxes am I hooking up the optical cable to? I seem to be misunderstanding what you mean.

Originally Posted by daz655321

do i need to use the digital optical cord that comes with this? connecting from the receiver of the ct550w to my tv?

Originally Posted by daz655321

OK just to make sure I have this right, I have this set up so far as:

XBOX360 HDMI --> CT550W
BLURAY HDMI --> CT550W
REVUE HDMI -> CT550W
Cable Box HDMI --> REVUE

CT550W HDMI -->TV

Now forgive me for being stupid but, from which two boxes am I hooking up the optical cable to? I seem to be misunderstanding what you mean.

Originally Posted by bigcat

My guess is that most setups don't need this. I think the only scenario for this is that your setup (TV, hdmi) does not support ARC, and you use your TV as the source of the audio sometimes (like using the built-in TV tuner for something, like local channels, etc)

Originally Posted by pretender17

Hi daz... (or anyone).

Can you confirm whether you get full surround sound effect (Dolby Digital or DTS amps lit up?).. when you are playing game through XBOX 360 with 550W..

or you need to connect an optical audio cable from XBOX 360 to the 550W as well?

AFAIK XBOX 360 doesnt support bitstream...

I'm interested in purchasing but need to make sure on above..

Thanks...

Originally Posted by daz655321

I will have to check tonight to see if the xbox plays DD or DTS. If not, I will connect the optical cable from the 360 to the 550W. I played a few games yesterday and they sounded fine but I never checked to see what sound was being used.

I am pretty new to any sort of surround sound, so what is good for me might not be all that good for those on this site who have much higher expectations when it comes to sound. I will say that sampling X-Men first class on bluray with the volume at only 13, the sound was very clear and bass was great. This probably annoyed my downstairs neighbor so going higher than 13-15 at night is definitely not going to happen.

Originally Posted by LBJ2

Hello.

You should be able to connect the 550W to most TVs ( that support HDMI and/or Optical cable connections). The new Sony TVs provide a separate "Home Theater app" so you can view and manage a sound system menu on the TV display itself. If your TV doesn't provide such an app, no worries then you would just use the menu display on the 550W receiver itself.

Originally Posted by Fletchrrr

My Sony TV has an optical cable output instead of HDMI and am wondering if the quality suffers much. Am trying to decide if its worth purchasing the 550W. Would it still be helpful to upgrade my HDMI cable to 1.4 from sat RX to TV? I wear hearing aids to help with the higher frequencies. Thanks for your responses.

Jim

Originally Posted by Possumgirl

If you get the 550W, you'd connect your sat box to the 550W via HDMI, and then connect the 550W to your TV via HDMI. You wouldn't need to use optical unless you have things connected to your TV instead of to the 550W.

Originally Posted by snipa

Does the onscreen menu only work on Sony ProductS? And only through HDMI?

Originally Posted by LBJ2

Hello: Yes IMO you have to spend a little more time adjusting this system and using the right cables then the previous Sony Sound Bars.

Couple of things to check:

• Use only marked "High Speed" HDMI cables ( that means 1.3 a, b, c or 1.4) for all your connections.
• Try turning off Aduio DRC.
• Try turning on/off your night mode.
• Do adjust the Bass, Treble tone levels ( separate from the SW or CNT settings).
• Make sure your TV speakers are turned off completely and your TV is set to output sound to the Audio System ( 550W)
• Do output audio from Bluray/PS3 in Bitstream not PCM( You can check this on the receiver display--you should see DTS/Dolby displayed not LPCM ). I noticed a significant difference in clarity and detail when sending DTS HD via Bitstream from my bluray player to the 550W.
• Change the position of the sound bar--sometimes the cabinet itself can cause distortion e.g., surround wood, glass, metal etc.
• Change the position of the S/W
• Test this system with a Bluray disk DTS or Dolby. (Some broadcast programming from radio, OTA, cable or satellite just sound terrible no matter what.)

The above seem to make the biggest difference from those I have chatted with on the various forums as well as the product comments on Amazon.com. Hopefully some of these will help you too. Let me know.

Originally Posted by avnewbe

Hi again LBJ2,

I've followed most of your suggestions and they do help.

I had my audiophile friend come over for his input, the first issue he brought up was the lack of left/right speaker controls. Maybe because of this, or just because it's a soundbar with L/R speakers so close together, there isn't much of a stereo effect.

He was sufficiently impressed with the audio from Underworld and the Matrix (DVD, not BR) lobby and helicopter scenes, but slightly put off by the audio in the DVD menu until we switched soundfield from Movie (where menu audio loop was terribly hollow-sounding) to stereo or standard. Obviously one normally wouldn't stay too long in the menu system, but he noted his own system automatically switches sound fields if the channels aren't available.

He also confirmed what others said about soundbars in general: they sound much better higher up. It normally site slightly elevated off my TV table (0.5m above floor), but when I held it up against the wall above the TV about 1.3m (4'4") high, he said it made a huge difference.

A non-audio issue: I have the S/W under a small table by the couch, but there is faint ozone or other chemical smell whenever it's on, and especially noticeable during/after heavy bass. If I'm watching TV more than an hour, I start to get a headache. I thought it would disappear after using it awhile, like new car smell, but it hasn't happened yet. I had put the S/W there because it didn't add clutter to the room, and it was nice to have the bass effect next to me, but is there a better/proper place to put the S/W?

And for that matter, is there an "sweet spot" distance between the soundbar and your ears?

Thanks

Originally Posted by macbookq

Basic but silly question - How can we watch TV using the TV speakers vs. the surround sound once connected?

Originally Posted by LBJ2

Good to hear some of my suggestions helped. Thanks for letting me know that. I am going to try your suggestion as well and try placing my sound bar up higher to see if I notice a difference. (Sweet spot for my ears so far for the best surround sound effect is about 8' away as close to the center position of the sound bar as I can.)

Too bad about that odd chemical smell you are getting from the SW--that doesn't sound good. IMO something else might be going on there that may need to be checked out like the SW power supply or wiring ( just to be safe).

Originally Posted by avnewbe

Did you have a chance to try placing the soundbar higher? How did you find it?

I thought about mounting it directly on the wall but the back wall has a vent duct that juts out 20cm, that might deflect the sound from the right channel, so I might add a wall shelf and just put the soundbar on the leading edge of that instead.

I couldn't stand the smell anymore and moved it out into the open, beside the TV table. It actually sounds/feels a lot better, and I notice no smell now.