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Topic:
Turning on disk audio
This thread has 17 replies. Displaying posts 1 through 15.
Post 1 made on Thursday February 23, 2006 at 21:42
RemoteStupid
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Maybe I didn't look thru the posts/threads far enough, but I didn't find what I am looking for. I have an APEX DVD player w/ APEX RM-1200 remote. I now have 2 disks on which the sound/audio has been turned off, on one by byself and the other disk, by someone else!
On the one where I turned off the audio myself, the audio was originally working fine, but somehow I think I hit the wrong combination of 'setup', 'slow', 'KODAK T.E.' or some other buttons on the remote, and now all I get is music, as though there is a Background MUZAK Channel on the disk! I can't get any sound no matter what I hit! Of course, this one disk only! My other disks work fine with full audio!
The second disk is a rental disk that I received. I can't say that this is the exact same disk, but I have rented this same Title previously from the same Rental Company and the audio worked fine. But the disk that I have now received from them, has audio only at the start of the disk. When individual segments/scenes of this disk run, there is no audio/sound at all, not even the Background MUZAK that I have on my other disk.
There must be some unspecified combination of buttons on the Remote that turns off the audio tracks on the disk that is playing. Apparently, whoever rented this disk previously made the same mistake as I did with their Remote, and turned off the sound and didn't know how to correct the situation before returning it to the DVD Rental Company, who also probably missed the fact that the audio had been turned off!
What is the trick to turning the audio back on?
Stupid
Post 2 made on Friday February 24, 2006 at 11:10
Spiky
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You cannot change the DVD itself. You must have changed something in your player, perhaps it has a setting to automatically go to the 2nd audio track. Try going into the Language or Setup section of the DVD's menu. You should be able to pick the correct audio track there.
OP | Post 3 made on Friday February 24, 2006 at 13:16
RemoteStupid
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I sincerely think it is these two disks, that have their exclusive and individual problems when I play either one of them, as any other DVD that I put into the player works just fine, sound as well as picture! Somehow my remote has turned off the sound and turned on some kind of background muzak-like music-only channel (with picture okay!) Actually, the sound is there, but it is music instead of the actual audio from the DVD!
And apparently it is on the disk, as the problem with the other disk (which is different from the first disk, as noted, i.e., sound, but music instead of DVD audio), seems to have likewise been caused by some other user/renter having done the same thing I did on the first disk, which was to hit some wrong combination of buttons, completely turning off the sound entirely! As I say, I have rented this very title previously, and the disk that I rented had sound! Of course, it is not guaranteed that this specific rental disk is the exact same one that I had rented previously! But the problem is now the same as with my first disk (my own, not a rental!) The rental disk that I received this time has no sound/audio whatsoever, so some previous user has apparently done the same thing that I inadvertedly had done on my disk... hit the wrong buttons on the remote, turning off completely the sound/audio!
Stupid
Post 4 made on Friday February 24, 2006 at 16:26
Larry Fine
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Stupid, to ask questions like this is not stupid at all, but when Spikey tells you that there is nothing a player can "change" or "turn off" on a DVD, it is stupid to say that he is wrong. He is not.

Want proof? Play these two DVD's in another player, and then report back here and let us know what you discovered. Also, let us know what make and model this player is. Read the manual.

Why? Most players have a "condition memory" feature that remembers certain player settings whenever the same disc is reinserted into the player. That's what it seems has happened here.
OP | Post 5 made on Saturday February 25, 2006 at 15:49
RemoteStupid
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Okay, Gentlemen, RemoteStupid has taken your advice, regarding the two different problems with 2 of my disks! I have now played these 2 disks in the following three (3) DVD players:
My own player, an APEX AD-1200 with remote
A neighbor's player, an older Sony (don't know the model)
A brand-new, fresh-out-of-the-box, never been used before player, a Memorex MVD2042 Suffix C (installed cables and 2 'AA' batteries to Remote)
As a 'reference', I provided a third DVD (MGM's movie "Red Corner"), to establish a comparison. This third DVD disk played equally well, picture and sound, on all three players.
Then we tried my first disk, which, when the movie and/or any selected scene, is played on my DVD player, all I can get is normal sound level, but of music only, a MUZAK-like music 'track'. Watching the picture, the characters are moving their lips, but all I can hear is music! (This is on my own player, which has been thoroughly 'set-up', according to the Manual's Instructions!)
I gave this disk and the second disk to my neighbor to play in his DVD player. He reported that this FIRST DISK would play the pictures fine, but the soundtrack WAS ONLY MUSIC!
I then tried this first disc in the brand-new Memorex. Exactly the same results! Fine picture, but only music for a soundtrack!
The SECOND DISK is a different problem. Picture is fine, and when the disk starts, preview trailers and 'commercials' on the disk are fine, video and audio. But when the movie starts, all the scenes can be seen talking, but no soundtrack. However, when the movie starts, I can hear a definite noise on the soundtrack (with the Remote volumn at maximum). Usually, for normal audio, I only need to have the TV Remote sound level set at 5 to no more than 20, for normal sound. At this setting, with this second disk, is where I only can hear noise. However, using the TV Remote volumn control, if I turn the TV audio up to maximum (+63), I can just barely hear the actors in the movie talking, with their lips moving, but the sounds they are making are still not loud enough to be able to understand what they are saying! Again, this is with the TV Remote audio at maximum, as well as Remote audio at maximum.
Okay, this SECOND DISK was now tried in the other two(2) DVD players. Exactly the same results occurred in those players.
Note: As I have remarked before, I have personally heard excellent sound level audio on both of these two disks, BEFORE I pressed the unknown buttons on the Remote Control (it was dark in the room and I couldn't see what I was actually pressing, but I thought it was the correct buttons!)
Anyway, now I have two disks with no audio, one with music instead of normal voice!
Stupid
Post 6 made on Saturday February 25, 2006 at 22:34
OTAHD
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Have you tried the "audio" button on the DVD player remote? Most DVD's come with more than one audio track and the "audio" button will toggle between them. Also, as Spiky said, they are generally able to be selected in the DVD's main menu. The DVD seems to be defaulting to a different audio track than you want, for reasons I do not know. However, what you do not seem to understand, is that DVD's CANNOT store information entered by the user through the DVD player. What that means is that ANYTHING you do to the disc on your player is NOT stored on the disc at all. Changing the settings of a disc on one player may continue to affect the playback of the disc in that same player, as many players have an internal memory that remembers the settings on certain discs, but when you play that disc in another player this disc will NOT have any changed settings, rather, it will play exactly as default. The disc cannot store ANY changes in it. So try selecting your audio in the DVD's main menu or use the audio button.
LET'S GO BUFFALO!!!
Post 7 made on Sunday February 26, 2006 at 00:16
Larry Fine
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Okay, to be fair, he said that the discs do the same thing on every player he's tried, so something is weird about the discs. There's only one thing that I can even remotely fathom here, and that is that these discs are re-writable, and they were altered by a DVD recorder.

So, Stupid, I must ask: is your original player a recorder, and/or the discs re-writable recordables?

Mr. HD is correct in saying that there is nothing we can comprehend that anyone can do to alter a factory-recorded movie disc, unless again, they were burned. Please don't be upset by our incredulity.
OP | Post 8 made on Sunday February 26, 2006 at 13:48
RemoteStupid
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Okay, Guys, I thank you very much for your comments. Here's an update:
As to the Model of my own DVD player, I mentioned it in my previous post, an APEX AD-1200, which is just an ordinary non-writable player that I got on-sale in Walgreens.
As to the 'audio' button on my Remote, it is there and my instruction manual says that it can be used during playback to select 1 of 3 'channels', which can be 'cycled' forward or backwards by depressing the 'audio' button' Here's from the Manual:
"Recording Systems:
This DVD player uses the Dolby Digital, MPEG 2, PCM and DTS recording systems. It cannot playback DVD disks recorded in any other format."
But then the next two statements become confusing!
"The player returns to the initial default settings, when you turn on the DVD video player or replace a disk.
The DVD video player plays the prior sound programmed on the disk, when you select a format which is not included on the disk."
"... prior sound programmed on the disk..."???
Okay, I will admit that the 'audio' button is located right next to the other buttons that I was attempting to press in the dark.
As to the actual audio 'Set-Up', the Manual says to go to 'Set-Up' on the screen, then down to 'Audio Output', and select "SPDIF/RAW" from the three selections, the other two selections being "SPDIF OFF" and "SPDIF PCM". However, I have 'cycled' through all three of these selections while the disk is on playback and it made no difference, (i.e., the Music-instead-of-Voice track continued!)
Now, however, getting back to the 'audio' button on the Remote, when I try to do as the Manual says, i.e., cycle through the supposed three-track 'selection'... NOTHING HAPPENS! The 'audio' button is DEAD! No response at all!
Now, let me ask one further question here. I've used electronic controls where a 'combination' of buttons were required, such as 'Ctrl' + 'C' on your keyboard. I am wondering whether, when I was pushing all the wrong buttons in the dark, whether I might have hit the 'audio' button, switching audio tracks, and then hit another button, say the right next door button(s), 'slow', 'step', or 'setup', which then completed the 'combination' required to 'turn-off' the 'audio' button, or... Fantasy of Fantasies! Enable a 'Bill Gates-like Underground Manufacturer/Factory-Only Menu, Not for Public-Use", that I didn't notice, but which 'accessed' factory-only features on the disk!
Anyway, the 'audio' button is dead!
One more thing! On my Rental DVD disk (the other disk!), where there is noise instead of normal audio, but the audio can almost be heard when I turn it up to maximum... Guess what? That disk has 12 'scenes', and Lo and Behold, when I finally clicked on the 12th and final 'scene', that last 'scene' HAS FULL AND PERFECT AUDIO! But all the other 11 'scenes' are dead!
I guess that means the rental DVD is 'defective'! But I'd still like to switch my own disk from 'muzak' track to audio track, and I guess the key to that is to somehow get the 'audio' button to work!
Any ideas, Guys?
Stupid
Post 9 made on Sunday February 26, 2006 at 19:40
Larry Fine
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Okay, back at ya'. Here are a few tidbits of info, in no particular order:

The default audio things mean that, when you insert a disc, it reverts to the previous default setting, which normally is DD. If the disc has DTS, you can cycle to that option, but not all DVD's do. This may be the "dead audio button" cause: no alternate audio.

In 'setup', you should select "raw", and not "PCM". The latter is only 2-channel stereo, and could possibly be music only. One more thing: many players have additional setup menus that are only available when there is no DVD in the player. Check that out.

The only other thing I can think of is that you're only getting surround-channel audio somehow. Other than that, we're baffled. We will continue to insist that there is no way to accidentally alter a non-recordable DVD. Let us know what you learn.
OP | Post 10 made on Monday February 27, 2006 at 01:50
RemoteStupid
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YIP, YIP, HOORAY! Got my sound problems fixed on both disks!

First of all, your last Post here probably was the correct answer about my 'audio' button on my Remote, as after my sound problems were resolved, I then spent a few minutes trying different combinations of buttons along with the 'audio' button, but nothing could get that 'audio' button to work. You're probably right, that if there is no alternate audio channels, or tracks, on the DVD, then the 'audio' button won't work. Every time I press it, all I get is a quick, few second, international NO symbol (circle with diagonal line thru the circle!) in the top left corner of the screen.

Also, as to the 'Set-Up' Audio Setting, like I said before, I've switched between SPDIF settings, "OFF", "RAW" and "PCM", and it doesn't make any difference, because I think those output settings are for the single multi-pinned cable output on the back of the player that I am not using. I'm using separate cables for video and each audio channel!

OKAY, now as to how I now have sound okay! I mentioned that I bought the DVD player on sale at Walgreens, which, incidentally, is the same way that I bought the TV set, also an APEX brand 27" color set. But, here's the deal. When I later bought the DVD player and then went to hook up the DVD player cables (video, L audio and R audio), I then discovered that the TV set only had ONE external audio input, along with the video, to the TV set! (Actually, the external 'Inputs' are duplicated: one set on the rear, and a duplicate set on the side bottom of the TV set. But both audio duplicate jacks are still for only one channel of audio, no stereo input on the TV set at all!)
So I finally realized that I only had one channel of sound connected, which may have been the L audio only. So, while I played the two disks that didn't have sound, I reached around the back of the DVD player and switched that single audio cable from the L jack to the R jack, and I immediately had sound! Apparently, on the Rental disk, all 11 'scenes' had R channel only (with only noise and very low level audio on the L channel!), although I have no idea as to why the 12th 'scene', on this particular disk, had sound on both L & R channels!

As to my own disk, apparently it was made with only background music on the L channel and the voices of the actors only on the R channel! I guess the reason that I had actually heard normal sound audio some time back, was probably that I had since then maybe unplugged the cables for some reason and then reconnected the audio cable to the L channel instead of the R channel!

Sorry, you Guys, who probably got surround-sound, DOLBY and all the extras, but I just didn't think about it, until it 'came to me' just earlier today, about the cables, so I tried it, and that was the problem!

Many Thanks for your Concerns, Guys, and Best To Ya All!
Stupid
Post 11 made on Monday February 27, 2006 at 09:26
Larry Fine
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Glad we could help. I suggest, when you have but a single audio input jack, that you use the center-channel output. knowing earlier that these are the outputs you are using could have saved a bit of time and aggravation.

This stresses the importance of asking questions well in order to get an informative answer. By the way, the Raw/PCM selection only affects the coaxial and/or optical output, not the multi-channel analog audio outputs.
OP | Post 12 made on Monday February 27, 2006 at 16:37
RemoteStupid
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Thanks Larry, but I don't have a center channel, as far as I can see. But, this incident also causes me to wonder about all the possible variations of discs that may be out there, most probably recorded in stereo, but also possibly some odd-balls, with music on L channel and voice on R channel.
I also wonder about that one rental DVD disc that I have. 'Scene 12' has full stereo, but all the other 'scenes' just have noise and very low level sounds that are unintelligible. What could possibly have happened to this disc to cause loss of audio on the first 11 'scenes' but not on the 12th? When I send it back, I'll mark it defective.
Stupid
Post 13 made on Monday February 27, 2006 at 18:32
OTAHD
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You may want to consider getting an RCA (analog, line, A/V, whatever you call 'em) splitter that has 2 male to 1 female connections. Then you could plug this into the L & R audio outputs and plug the audio cable into this. Although you still will not get stereo sound from your TV, you will be hearing what is coming from both audio channels, so that you are always hearing all of the sounds. Therefore, you won't get a problem like ths again, as both sound channels would be connected.

[Link: radioshack.com]
LET'S GO BUFFALO!!!
OP | Post 14 made on Monday February 27, 2006 at 20:39
RemoteStupid
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Thanks! I'll check it out!
Stupid
Post 15 made on Tuesday February 28, 2006 at 10:20
Spiky
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On February 27, 2006 at 16:37, RemoteStupid said...
'Scene 12' has full stereo, but all the
other 'scenes' just have noise and very low level
sounds that are unintelligible. What could possibly
have happened to this disc to cause loss of audio
on the first 11 'scenes' but not on the 12th?
When I send it back, I'll mark it defective.

There is no way user damage could cause this on a stamped disc, and not really on a burned disc, either. The audio and video are stored together in one stream, any physical damage to the disc or overwriting on a rewriteable disc would affect the whole stream, not just one side of a stereo track.

What is this? Karoake? Adult video? It probably is simply a poorly made disc in the first place.
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