NAD T778 and Pansonic DP-UB820 | Connections and Settings

[bluelsw1974]

Hi - hoping someone may be able to help me with this one.

I've finally upgraded from a NAD T751 to a NAD T778 - and am thoroughly confused by the listening settings and can't get Dolby Surround, etc to work.

 

The T778 has Panasonic DP-UB820 connected to it via a HDMI cable, and is running Bose Acoustimas 15 (circa 2004) 5 channel speaker system, and connected to a Sony 65 A80K. All connected properly and the speakers are working.

 

The issue I am having is I can't for the life of me get surround sound working when watching UHD movies on the Panasonic - either it is in stereo, or in surround (but there is no centre channel, so no dialogue). Last night I seemed to get it working, watching a movie and the sound on the T778 said it was in Dolby Surround, but around 10 minutes in something changed (though no gap for a change in sound input), and when I checked it had revered to stereo and wouldn't even give Dolby Surround as a sound option.  It later came back, but without the centre channel.

 

(It does something similar watching TV and listening to sound through the ARC connection - it'll subtly drop the centre channnel.)

 

I assume I've done something wrong in the settings, but can't find any help on the internet. So if anyone has any suggestions, they'd be gratefully received. Otherwise I fear I've massively overreached on the amp and either need to get something simpler (which would be a shame, as when it works, and it works for music, it sounds very, very good), or pay someone to sort it out for me.

 

Thanks

 

 

[Snoopy8]

What HDMI cables are you using?  Suggest getting HDMI 2 certified cables.

[SGS]

4 hours ago, Snoopy8 said:

What HDMI cables are you using?  Suggest getting HDMI 2 certified cables.

Snoopy has the right thoughts, use good cable. 4k plus lossless audio is a lot if data to be transferred. I had issues until I upgraded to 48gbps cables.

[bluelsw1974]

Thanks for the replies.

 

The cables from the UHD Player to the T778, and from the T778 to the TV, are brand new. The UHD player cable is a Monster 4K 2.1 cable, and the T778 cable to/from the TV is a Concord 8K 2.1 cable. Worth giving other cables a go do you think? 

[Snoopy8]

33 minutes ago, bluelsw1974 said:

Worth giving other cables a go do you think? 

Those cables should be ok, but it you can borrow some cheap certified 2.0 cables, that would eliminate the cables as an issue.

 

Next thing is to check that the UB820 is set to output bitstream. Also, check the same for TV.

Edited September 18, 2023 by Snoopy8
Typo

[bluelsw1974]

Thanks Snoopy8 - will try both of those and report back. May take a few days.

Who'd have thought home theatre systems would have become so complicated in the last 20 years....

 

 

[Snoopy8]

48 minutes ago, bluelsw1974 said:

Who'd have thought home theatre systems would have become so complicated in the last 20 years....

Unfortunately, the AVR is the most complicated component.

 

While you are it, please check that all speakers have been wired properly and you can get a test tone out of each speaker.

 

After that, run Dirac Live. Sorry, more complications but well worth the effort to get better SQ.

[Neo]

Have you read or consulted the manuals for either of the components?

Neo

[bluelsw1974]

13 hours ago, Neo said:

Have you read or consulted the manuals for either of the components?

Neo

Ha - yes. But will admit to some of the terminology being beyond me (based on current knowledge levels). Plan this weekend is to try new cables, reconnect speakers, reset the amp and player to factory settings, and try again. Possibly with a glass of wine. Maybe a bottle...

 

Thanks for all the suggestions so far.

[bluelsw1974]

On 19/09/2023 at 8:45 AM, Snoopy8 said:

Unfortunately, the AVR is the most complicated component.

 

While you are it, please check that all speakers have been wired properly and you can get a test tone out of each speaker.

 

After that, run Dirac Live. Sorry, more complications but well worth the effort to get better SQ.

Once I have it running to normal specs will definitely be running the Dirac Live programme. I've read good things about it. And hopefully will help with the challenging, architectural follies, of my viewing room design. 

[bluelsw1974]

For those interested:

I spent the weekend reverting to factory settings, and disconnecting, reconnecting, changing connections etc on my system and I am pretty sure the issue with losing the centre channel is with the T778. Because I can get it working, but only for a short time. So I started watched a 4K movie on Disney+ and starts in Dolby Surround with a centre channel, and there are numerous sound options like Neural:X, etc, but about 10 minutes in the sound switches to stereo, and then some of the sound options disappear, and if you change the sound to something like Dolby Surround or Direct, there is no centre channel at all.

 

The strange thing is that the switch doesn't result in the usual one second gap that you'd get if you manually changed it over, it does it simultaneously. It's also not consistent with doing it in terms of timing - it can be 10 minutes, or 17 minutes, or something else. But once it happens you can't get the centre channel back.

 

So unless anyone has a suggestion (like I've got a setting on that I shouldn't have), I am going to contact NAD and see what it can suggest. 

Thanks for all the advice so far.

[Snoopy8]

5 hours ago, bluelsw1974 said:

So unless anyone has a suggestion (like I've got a setting on that I shouldn't have), I am going to contact NAD and see what it can suggest. 

Since you can re-produce the problem from 2 sources, and checked all cabling etc.. contact your retailer first.

[bluelsw1974]

Thanks for all the replies and assistance to date - by way of update, NAD Customer Support (excellent service, by the way. Very prompt) couldn't resolve the issue, so have referred me back to the distributor (Amber Tech - again, excellent communication), who have asked me to bring it in for a warranty check.