LG recorder only has mono in?

[moxiecat]

I've been using my LG DR1F9H to transfer VHS tapes to DVD for awhile now, and I've found it to be a very easy-to-use recorder. However, today I noticed something wrong with it, and I'm hoping another LG owner knows what I might be doing wrong.

When the cords and connections between the two machines are all set, the incoming video is playing, and I'm ready to press record on the LG to record, the on-screen display at the top right of the TV screen says "Mono", as in Mono sound. (You see this display onscreen when you set your recording mode.) I cannot figure out why the LG is only getting a mono signal when I have both left and right stereo plugs attached on both ends!

I have done everything I can think of to get "Stereo" to pop up: checked my connections, changed wires, changed source tapes, tried the back panel composite plugs instead (I usually use the front for the S-video input). I even plugged in my stereo Hi8 videocamera to make sure the mono signal wasn't coming out of the VHS. Nothing works.

Have any of you LG owners out there had the same problem? I should have noticed this long before now, admittedly. Why does the on-screen display only show a Mono incoming signal when the recorder is clearly getting stereo sound?

Any help is welcome on this--I'm at my wits' end! Thanks.

[MJPollard]

I've noticed the same thing on mine, and am hoping someone else has an explanation (and a cure, if there is one).

(Just wanted to go on record as saying that other than this one annoyance, I've found the DR1F9H to be the cat's meow, much better than the now-gathering-dust Lite-ON DVD/VCR combo recorder that I now regret buying... )

[moxiecat]

MJ--thanks for your reply--it's good to know I'm not crazy!

I have a suspicion that while the LG says "mono", it actually DOES record in stereo, but I'm not sure how to prove this.

[Sean Nelson]

I have a suspicion that while the LG says "mono", it actually DOES record in stereo, but I'm not sure how to prove this.

While it's recording, briefly disconnect and then reconnect the left audio input, then do the same for the right. Then play the recording back and listen to see the the appropriate speakers cut out.

[moxiecat]

Hi Sean, thanks for your help. I did as you suggested.

I found when I remove the white/left plug (only the red/right plug is connected), the sound is much fainter. However, when I remove the red/right plug, leaving the white/left (mono) plug connected, I notice no difference. The sound with the white plug in sounds the same as it does with both plugs attached. I only notice fainter sound when only the red/right plug is connected by itself.

What does this mean? Is the stereo working? Sorry if this is a no-brainer type of questions. Thanks again.

[jman98]

Some DVD recorders ONLY record in mono. LiteOn makes some models that do this. Your LG model may be the same. Sorry. Perhaps a Google search can confirm this or maybe you can find an LG forum where other owners might be able to confirm it. Your owners manual should also tell if this is the case, although you'll probably have to dig for the technical specs in the back of it to find out.

[moxiecat]

Hi JMan--thanks for your post.

I haven't had too much luck searching for any information online about this. All I know is, there are red and white connection plugs on both input panels. In the manual, it tells you to connect both plugs when recording from an external component.

In the explanation of the onscreen display, it says that the display will either say stereo or mono, depending on the audio signal being received. As mentioned, I can't get that "stereo" marker to pop up for any external device--when the recorder is definitely receiving a stereo signal.

I looked on the specs page of the manual, and it says nothing about only recording in mono sound. Under "audio recording format", it just says "sampling frequency: 48kHz" and "compression format: Dolby Digital." I'll keep looking in the manual, though.

Even more infuriating, on the "troubleshooting" page, one of the problems listed is: "stereo audio record is not present." The cause given though is only "broadcast program is not in stereo format"--which obviously does not apply to sound coming from an external input.

Ah, this is very frustrating. I would not have purchased this machine, though, if I knew it only recorded in mono. Why have both red and white plugs for inputs if the machine can only record in mono? I've had old VHS machines that were mono, but they only had one white plug, so you knew it ahead of time.

Well, I'm off to find an LG forum. If anyone had any more advice, it's certainly appreciated. Thanks.

[Sean Nelson]

I found when I remove the white/left plug (only the red/right plug is connected), the sound is much fainter. However, when I remove the red/right plug, leaving the white/left (mono) plug connected, I notice no difference.

When you remove the plugs, which speaker does the sound come out of? If the sound is coming equally out of both speakers, your machine is recording in mono.

[moxiecat]

With both plugs attached, the sound comes equally out of both speakers. With only the white/left plug attached, it also seems to come equally out of both speakers. I only notice a difference when only the red/right plug is attached by itself. Then, the left speaker completely cuts out and only the right speaker carries the sound.

I'm really baffled by this. I cannot find any mention of this problem online, or any mention of DVD recorders that only record in mono when there are stereo inputs. I've found discussion of DVD recorders with mono tuners; but even those apparently record in stereo when using stereo cables with an external component. Aside from MJPollard, I've only found one other post, on the AVS forum, by a user who has this exact same problem--unfortunately, no one acknowledged him so there's no answer there.

I have also been through the owner's manual and cannot find any mention of mono recording. In fact, under their "TV recording" section, LG even talks about how to press the "audio" button on the remote to record either mono or stereo from a TV show--so the recorder clearly can do stereo! (Unfortunately, the audio button does nothing when you're working with an input source.)

I don't know if my next step is to reset the recorder...? I can't believe, with all the people who discuss this machine and other LG recorders, that more haven't had this problem. So maybe it's just a glitch in a few machines.

Thanks for your help.

[Richard_G]

It may not be the recorder at all but the TV. Depending on what connection you are using between recorder and TV, the TV may be looking for a transmitted stereo signal (Whatever the US equivalent is to NICAM on a PAL transmission). This will definitely be the case if you are using RF (Coax) to connect the recorder to the TV.

[MJPollard]

It may not be the recorder at all but the TV. Depending on what connection you are using between recorder and TV, the TV may be looking for a transmitted stereo signal (Whatever the US equivalent is to NICAM on a PAL transmission). This will definitely be the case if you are using RF (Coax) to connect the recorder to the TV.

It's the recorder. I've taken discs I've recorded from an aux input source (i.e. VCR) over to my PC and played them there (both as-is and after ripping), and the sound is recorded mono.

[moxiecat]

MJ--what program are you using to see this? I'd like to try it myself with one of my discs.

If it is true that this recorder only records in mono, even from stereo external sources, then, wow, what a load of crap is LG?? I got this recorder because it had the LSI chip. It has DV in, stereo/S-video ports in, component out--not a bargain basement machine, I thought. And yet it doesn't record sound in stereo, and they don't see fit to mention that anywhere? Unbelievable. Very disappointing.

Sorry for the rant. I'm just annoyed. I thought if a DVD recorder had stereo inputs, it would record stereo from stereo sources. I mean, why wouldn't that be the case?

Thanks for all the help.

[MJPollard]

I've used both Windows Media Player and Media Player Classic to play the DVD directly, and VirtualDub-MPEG2 to play the VOB files (after copying them to my hard drive; unlike commercial DVDs, as you know, recorded DVDs don't need to be ripped with DVDFabDecrypter or a similar ripper). I plugged in a set of headphones to make sure I could distinguish the stereo separation; there was none, and I know that the source was stereo and that the VCR was outputting in stereo.

And yes, I agree that this is a pretty lame move on LG's part. Maybe holding onto that Lite-ON combo recorder wasn't such a bad idea after all; I can at least use it to dub VHS tapes. 8)

EDIT: I should mention that discs recorded via the built-in tuner are in stereo (provided the station being recorded is transmitting a stereo signal, of course ). Thus, the DR1F9H will record in stereo, but not, apparently, from the auxiliary inputs.

[Seeker47]

t may not be the recorder at all but the TV. Depending on what connection you are using between recorder and TV, the TV may be looking for a transmitted stereo signal (Whatever the US equivalent is to NICAM on a PAL transmission). This will definitely be the case if you are using RF (Coax) to connect the recorder to the TV.

I found when I remove the white/left plug (only the red/right plug is connected), the sound is much fainter. However, when I remove the red/right plug, leaving the white/left (mono) plug connected, I notice no difference.

When you remove the plugs, which speaker does the sound come out of? If the sound is coming equally out of both speakers, your machine is recording in mono.

Hmmm, now you've got me wondering. Last night I was watching a recent mega-budget flick on one of the premium services. It was a long movie, so I had to record a couple brief pieces on my Pioneer 520 during breaks. During the record and during the playback, the recorder said "Mono." It is inconceivable to me that this movie was not in stereo, or that CineMax or the cable provider would not show it in stereo. Is the latter possible ? I have a direct connection out of the digital cable box: S-Video + L/R audio, into the L3 inputs of the Pioneer. (The tv is supposed to be stereo also, but has built-in speakers, and is not a particularly good test of stereo.) The Pioneer-to-TV connection is all high quality cable too, not coax. I don't think it matters a whole lot, so long as I still use this tv, but I may need to go over that cabling again.

[moxiecat]

Yes, I get the same "audio test" as you do.

However, I can't believe that I can't find any other complaints on the web about this recorder. I have a hard time believing that a recorder with stereo inputs and whose manual mentions stereo recording can't record in stereo from external stereo sources. It just doesn't make sense. But I don't know what we could be doing wrong (if anything).

There is an long thread regarding the DR1F9H over at the AVS forum, so there must be a few people on there who have one. I think I'll join and post about this problem, see if anyone has noticed the same thing. If anything turns up, I'll come back and post here. Thanks.