Tim Roberson wrote:
I've just bought my first SACD disc - Dark Side of the Moon
Played it on my Pioneer DVD 656A player, but as far as I can tell, I'm
getting nothing from my rear speakers.
Can anyone tell me if I should be? I understood this was a 5.1 mix.

Only the SACD layer has a 6-channel mix. (as well as a stereo mix).

Here's how it's set up:
The DVD player connects to my surround amp using the 6 analogue connections,
and I then select the "6-channel analogue" as input on my amp. I run the DVD
player's test tones, and get sound from all the speakers in turn. So things
look OK so far.

When set up this way, I tested using both DTS and Dolby Digital DVD discs,
and get sound from all speakers. Again - so far, so good.

Time to try the SACD...
Going through the player's menus, there are 3 options for SACD playback (CD
/ SACD stereo / SACD surround). SACD surround seems the obvious choice, so I
take that setting. I put the Pink Floyd disc in, and I get "SACD" illuminate
on the player's display panel.....Still looking good.

I now play the disc, but get stereo only. It's the same no matter which SACD
option I select.

Take the SACD out of the player.

Assyming you have your DVD player connected to a TV or monitor:
On the remote, press setup.OPen the PIoneer's Initial
Settings menu. Go down to the Options menu. Select SACD
PLayback. Select multichannel. Press setup again to save the settings.

Try playing the SACD again.

If that doesn't work, stop the SACD and
press setup to go back to the INitial Settings menu. Go to the
Speakers menu. Select Audio Output. Select '5,1 channel' Press setup
again to save the settings.

--
-S.