HDMI audio sounding "tinny" in Oppo DVD player?

[amckinney]

I bought a used Oppo DV-981 for use on a secondary TV. I've connected it with the HDMI cable and noticed that the audio sounds very "tinny", like it's "in a bucket" or something. I tested it with a known-good-sounding DVD (in other players), so it's bound to be something to do with the player, or its settings.

Anybody got any clues about this? Was HDMI audio poor with this old a player (I suspect not)? Is there some sort of setting that needs to be changed? I've tried many different variations (including a factory reset).

Does this sound like a mechanical fault that perhaps the seller has been trying to hide from me? I'm trying to figure out whether I need to open a case against this guy, or if it's something that should be easily fixed at my end.

Anybody got experience with the older Oppo DVD players and using the single HDMI-out for both the audio and video?

One other thing I noticed that seemed 'weird' to me: the Optical Audio output on the back of the player had a bright light (red, I think) inside the port. I've never seen this port illuminated on any other devices I've got (including my Oppo blu-ray players).

[flashandpan007]

https://www.oppodigital.com/support/dv981hd/download/dv981hd_manual.pdf

-> "Set up Audio Options"

What speakers do you use? Built in speakers of TV?

[amckinney]

Yes, the built-in speakers of the TV, which are fine across all TV's other HDMI inputs. It's only this DVD player that's sounding 'off'.

[flashandpan007]

Use settings of picture on page 37, subwoofer off, front speaker large. Does that help?

[amckinney]

Use settings of picture on page 37, subwoofer off, front speaker large. Does that help?

I tried various combinations of the subwoofer on/off and front speaker large/small, but it made very little difference (the sound was still "in a bucket"-like).

[october262]

Use settings of picture on page 37, subwoofer off, front speaker large. Does that help?

I tried various combinations of the subwoofer on/off and front speaker large/small, but it made very little difference (the sound was still "in a bucket"-like).

have you reset the settings on the secondary tv ??

[orsetto]

If your TV sounds normal with any other HDMI input, chances are theres a mismatch somewhere in how its settings need to coordinate with the Oppo's settings, or the Oppo is not functioning 100%. Either way, these two are probably not a good combo. You didn't mention if you tested this Oppo with a different HDMI cord, and especially on a different TV: if the issue persists on a different TV brand, the problem must be localized to a setting or defect in the Oppo.

If you can't get it to work correctly no matter what, message the seller directly to arrange a return. Don't jump the gun and "open a case" unless the seller is a fool who thinks he/she can stonewall (they can't: per eBay rules, the buyer is always right and the seller can go scratch if they don't like it). "Opening a case" means the seller gets totally screwed by eBay even if they have every intention of honoring your request: if the seller is easily cooperative about a personal return request, skipping an official case is reciprocal courtesy. Mistakes happen, sellers don't always have the ability or knowledge to test every arcane feature/gear combination: your specific TV may simply be incompatible with whatever the Oppo is putting out, or the unit is defective and the seller missed it in a casual test (they got a picture and sound out of it for 30 seconds, so to them it seemed fine).

[Constant Gardener]

I have an earlier Oppo 971H that has DVI output, not HDMI, but it has the same glowing red optical out connector. If you've got something with an optical input, try is and see if the sound is better. Audio quality should be excellent.

There are a whole bunch of audio settings beyond the subwoofer/front speaker combinations. They're under "audio settings". I assume you've found the manual at https://oppodigital.com/support/dv981hd/download/dv981hd_manual.pdf

[Cornucopia]

Many times when people refer to "tinny sound", what they are describing is the effect of destructive interference. This happens either with out-of-phase stereo being mixed to mono, or when a signal is mixed with a closely-delayed version of itself.

Check to make sure neither of these are happening. The 2nd could occur if you have sound going out 2 outputs - one which has delay due to further processing in the path.

Scott

[Luke M]

Many times when people refer to "tinny sound", what they are describing is the effect of destructive interference. This happens either with out-of-phase stereo being mixed to mono, or when a signal is mixed with a closely-delayed version of itself.

Also when listening to Dolby Surround in stereo. That's why DVD players and such give you a choice between "stereo" and "surround" output (though some devices stupidly always send "surround").

So that's one thing to check.