I have just bought a Pioneer VSA-E07 receiver off eBay to go with my DVL-909. The receiver did not come with the touchscreen remote, but I have a Logitech Harmony which handles the day to day operations.

One problem I have noticed is that I cannot seem to get the receiver to handle AC3-RF. The LD player is hooked up to the DVD/LD input using s-video, RCA for analog audio, RCA for digital audio and RCA for the RF. The receiver happily switches between the analog and the digital outputs, but it is only showing Dolby Prologic on the FL display. The LD player is displaying Dolby Digital.

The DVL is at factory settings, so according to the manual it should be outputting AC3-RF by default. I did look at the receiver manual, and I can see there is a setup process where you can assign the digital inputs- obviously I cant do this, lacking the remote. I did test switching through the other inputs to see if AC3 would light up, in case it was assigned elsewhere- but none did.

Is there anything that I am missing or that I can try to get AC3 output, or am I out of luck unless I can get hold of a remote?

My question: Are you using an LD that is marked AC-3?
There should be the Dolby Surround stamp with "AC-3 D I G I T A L" underneath it on the back of the cardboard LD holder.. The percentage of AC-3 LD's is low so you must be certain that you are using a true AC-3 disc.

I was testing with 2977 AS (The Lion King), which has Dolby Digital on the sleeve and the lddb entry has it down as an AC3 title.

Edit: I just got back and checked the sleeve, it does actually say AC3, not specifically Dolby Digital.

You need to connect AC3 out from the LD player to RF or AC3 IN of the AVR.

Sorry, I can't have been clear when In typed it. I have the LD player hooked up to the receiver on the following inputs:

S-video 1 on LD to LD/DVD s-video in on receiver. This works, I can see the image.
Audio L/R 1 on LD to LD/DVD audio in on receiver. This works, the receiver shows Analog and I can hear it.
Digital audio 1 on LD to digital audio in 1 on receiver. This works, the receiver shows Digital, and I can hear it.
AC3-RF out on LD to AC3-RF in on receiver. Can't get the receiver to display that it is outputting Dolby Digital/AC3 RF. It just shows Dolby Pro Logic, the same as when using Digital.

I was going to ask the same thing about making sure you have a correct disc.
Only other issues could be with the remote or selecting the AC-3 on the receiver and also make sure your audio track is on that AC-3
Its been a while since I've had AC3.
Other than that your receiver may be broken.

I'm not familiar with this AVR. Check if you can assign an audio input to the video in. IF so, assign the AC3 in to the video input you connected the S-Video to.

Thanks guys. I know from downloading the manual that assigning inputs is possible with the original touchscreen remote. It looks like you set the configuration on the screen, then it sends a signal with the config to the AVR. Unfortunately, this doesn't look like it is possible with a Harmony.

I'll do some more checks in the morning in case I missed it being assigned to a different input. I'll also see if I can find a way to reset the config to default, as that logically should set it to the same input as the LD (though I could be wrong, and it leaves it set to nothing)

Oh yes, that's right. You can manually assign the inputs or selectors etc.
There is a way to set everything to default but i can't remember how to do that.
You can also call Pioneer as it is an Elite unit, they will help even if out of date, or they did 5 years ago.

Hello!

On Pioneer VSA/VSX usually the AC3RF is the Coax Input #1 only.

With that you then have to choose an input that is compatible (usually LD/DVD) with the "Source" knob and set signal to either "AUTO" or "AC3RF", looping from Analog -> Digital -> AC3RF -> Auto with the front panel "Signal Select".

Julien

Thanks, I'll give that a go. The manual I read suggested otherwise, and there was a dedicated AC3RF input, but it's worth a shot. I am away from home for a few days, but I will try when i get back.

May not translate to Pioneer, but I have a Denon where the digital inputs are assignable but the AC3-RF input is tied to one input only.

Ok, I am back and I have some progress.

Firstly, I can get Dolby Digital output when playing DVDs on the DVL-909 and the receiver treats it correctly. This was just for peace of mind that the Dolby Digital capability of the receiver was not totally broken.

The main test was I tried hooking the AC3-RF out from the laserdisc player to an unused input on the receiver and started playing an AC3 laserdisc- working on the principle that I should hear some sort of noise over the channel that I plugged it into. I could only hear silence, though the FL on the player was displaying Dolby Digital. This would suggest to me that either something is not configured to output on the player or that the output is broken?

Edit: As suggested, I also tried hooking the cable connected to the LD AC3-RF out to the other digital in sockets, no luck.

I managed to resolve the issue. My DVL-909 broke, with the flashing blue light / not ejecting issue, so I obtained a CLD-D925. This player also seemingly did not work for AC3-RF, so I figured it had to be a receiver seeing issue.

After checking the manual more, I noticed that if you set it in DTS Test mode, the only way out reverts some settings. So I followed the process (holding Direct while coming out of standby) and that seemed to do the trick, I can now get Dolby Digital out of my discs.

Thanks everyone, for the suggestions!