Sony Media Player - Problem with Sound. Help!

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We've had a recurring problem with our Sony Media Player, Model DSX-S310BTX. When watching a DVD, the sound comes in great - except for the voices! The minute a person talks, the talking voice is very low and tinny, you can barely hear it. When the sound is turned up to hear the voices, the rest of the sound is too loud.

We've taken it in to the dealer a couple of times, and each time he says it works fine. And it does. He can never find a problem with it. But inevitably the problem occurs again.

So today, it was working great. We thought the problem was licked. Then I changed the Fader & Balance setting (to turn off the bedroom speakers), and the problem is happening again.

So now we know what seems to CAUSE the problem. But we should be able to change the Fader & Balance setting, unless by doing so something else is happening.

Is there another setting we might look at? We hate to take it back to the dealer again, only to be told nothing is wrong with it. It's so frustrating!

Any ideas on this?

Thanks for your help.

[KJRitchie]

How does the audio from the DVD player get to the head unit? I've downloaded the user manual and there doesn't seem a way of inputting an external audio source unless its Bluetooth.

Kelvin

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KJRitchie

Here is a PDF document from Airstream with instructions, I think this will answer your question.

Also, there's some great videos on the Airstream website, which go into great detail on how to use the audio system:
Part 1: Introductory Guide to using the A/V system
Part 2: How to use the Advance Audio Features
Airstream Customer Support | Airstream

Scroll down to see the videos.

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Kelvin,
I just noticed you have a 2008 Airstream.
You probably need to view the video on the Airstream website called "How to use your Airstream AV system from 2007 to 2009".

Yolanda (time2play)

[KJRitchie]

Your first post shows DSX-S310BTX but your subsequent post's PDF shows DSX-S300BTX. The installation doc for the 310 doesn't show any audio inputs but the 300 shows Bus Audio but that requires a Bus compatible device like the external Sony 10 disc player.

I'm guessing here. However the audio from the DVD comes into the radio (probably directly from the DVD player via RCA inputs L/R) maybe the issue is not the radio but the DVD player? Usually voice tracks from Dolby 5.1 DVDs comes into a center channel or most of it does so it sounds like not all the voice information is being sent to the radio. Is there a setting in the DVD player that manipulates the sound. Maybe you can tell us the model of DVD player.

When I looked at the manual for the 300 and 310 I couldn't find any description of changing the source to CD2. My Sony has CD2 and gets its audio from the TV through L/R RCA jacks and from the DVD directly since it has a built in DVD.

Kelvin

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Thanks Kelvin,
I'm not sure of the model of the DVD player - it came with the Airstream and I'm not at the trailer right now to check.

I doubt the problem is with the DVD player. The problem actually occurs when watching TV through the speakers as well.

At this point, I'm ready to push for the dealer to either give us a new media player (doubtful) or check for a loose wire or connection. Something is causing this to happen. It's still under warranty until July, thank goodness!

Thanks for your help.

[KJRitchie]

The radio has to have an audio input from the Samsung DVDS player. Sine its a car radio the issue has to be with the radio. On my Sony I switch to source CD the press Mode to switch to CD2 to playback audio from the TV. My understanding with later model AS with dedicated DVD players the radio must have an audio input to receive audio from the player. I doubt it's an optical input but simple l/r RCA jacks. No Sony car radios that AS uses has HDMI input.

Kelvin

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I wanted to post an update to this issue.

It became clear to us the dealer was not going to figure out what was wrong with the Sony. So we decided we were going to simply install a new media player.

We visited a local audio store, ordered the new unit and arranged for the install. We took the trailer in this morning and they were able to analyze and fix the problem without installing the new unit. So they saved us a couple of hundred dollars! Foss Audio in Kent for those of you wanting to know the name of the business.

Anyway, the problem had to do with some wires which were installed wrong. Not sure of the specifics, but that's all I need to know. It works, and we're happy.

No thanks to Airstream! Although I'm generally pleased with our dealer, they just didn't want to do anything until they could recreate the problem.

Thanks for all your help here.