# More gain for Dish network to home theater



## vincec (Jan 17, 2011)

Hi everyone...

I have an issue with the level coming into my home theater from "Dish Network".

Of course I called Dish Network and asked about the problem and they said they don't supply any
signal boosters anymore, I should go to Best Buy and get one. Best Buy was like....WHAT??? 
So much for that.

What can I get to boost the input level to my Dish "VIP612 DVR"??

I can turn the volume all the way up on my Pioneer Elite receiver and still can't really get the 
volume where I would like it to be. Of course the commercials are very loud, but in general I 
need more. If we have 20 people over to watch "American Idol" or "Dancing with the Stars"
The crowd can overpower the program and the demand more.

The signal from my BlueRay with the volume set on -20 is very loud, and can get loud enough
to make our ears bleed, and never approaching the max volume of +2.

Watching a concert or movie on DVD or BlueRay is just an INCREDIBLE......the way the Dish should be!!

So my question is ..... How can I boost the signal from my Dish Network system?

Anyone have any ideas??? Thanks so much for any input you might have....


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## torceador (Sep 8, 2010)

vincec,

Dish Network seems to do all its engineering for its sponsors and licensors. Yes, their program 
audio is encoded extremely low. And yes, they have their commercials 10-20dB over program material on almost every channel. It is almost impossible to watch their programming late at night without the commercials waking someone up. If you are using the digital output of the VIP612, I am afraid you are stuck with that 'feature'.

If you simply can't live with that, you could use the Right/Left line level audio outputs, and run that into a compressor/limiter, like a dbx 166. You could then boost the program gain to the level you wanted, and then put an agressive compression slope or a hard limit just over that level, so that commercials would be 'squished'. Otherwise, just placing a preamp inline would get you the higher program levels, but would kill your ears on the commercials. This, of course, would affect REAL dynamics in program levels if you watched a movie that had a big soundtrack. Switching the unit to BYPASS would stop the effect if you happened to be watching a film with no commercials, but would drop the program level again. So the optimal thing would just be to change the limit level.

Also, on the VIP612, has anybody ever gotten it to recognize any brand of tv OTHER than Sony? In other words, I have three different sets from Sharp, Viore, and Samsung. I have hooked them all via HDMI to the 612, and all report a digital connection, but that HDCP failed, and it refuses to play digital content. Please don't suggest a 'better cable', that's Dish Network's only answer.


torceador


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## vincec (Jan 17, 2011)

Hey torceador...

Thanks for your explanation.

Now that I think of it, the level of movies on HBO, Showtime and the others are fine. You are right, they must mess the the levels for the advertisers.

Do you know of some inline amp I could use and I would just turn down the commercials???

I tried a little Radio Shack in line amp 3" long....... it did not boost it at all.... but it was only 15 bucks.

I would certainly deal with the commercials being "even too louder", I love working that remote.....LOL

Thanks....

vincec


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## torceador (Sep 8, 2010)

vincec,

What you want to do is simple. You are just wanting to boost a line level that is low back up to something that will drive your A/V input with similar gain to your Blu-Ray, hopefully without adding too much of its own noise.

The unfortunate fact, is that there are not a lot of little 'blocks' available to do this. Don't use a phono preamp, as it has EQ built in that would make your sound horrible.

At the very least, a small stereo mixer would do the trick, with one input panned hard left and one hard right. Set the input channel gains at unity and use the output level to go boosted into your A/V. Buying one off the shelf, this solution would cost you about 50-100 bucks if you got a Behringer, Alesis, etc. A Behringer MON800 has a home stereo 'look and feel' to it. I would rather have used pro audio over new consumer audio anytime.

That's if you want to buy something. Personally, I would ask around and see if someone would loan you something to try it, and make sure you're happy before you commit the cash.

If you're a equipment nut like me (or know one) there maybe something laying around that may do the job for you. Like in my earlier post, an old stereo compressor would adjust the gain, and you wouldn't even have to use the compressor part of it if you didn't want to. I've got a few old cassette 4-track recorders that the cassette mechanisms don't perform as well as I like (Read: BROKE), but the input preamps work great, and have separate RCA outputs. I use them to boost low line levels a lot. I get them at yard sales and eBay for usually less than a ten-spot. I use a Tascam Porta One to buffer my RS SLM to my Cakewalk UA-1G USB interface when I use REW. That preamp is FLAT from 7Hz way past 24KHz (remember this is just line level and not moving a speaker). I use battery power with it so there isn't any 60Hz or 120Hz component added by my front end electronics.

An old equalizer, set flat but with boost, would give you the ability to increase the gain, at the expense of a little comb filtering if it's a cheap one. A headphone booster, distribution amp, stereo microphone preamp (like a M-Audio Audio Buddy), disco or scratch mixer, would get you boost with varying degrees of added coloration and noise.

A step-up audio transformer would be a non-powered, passive solution that I hate to suggest, since there are so many variables to consider, there are always losses, and high quality ones can cost a lot. The do provide great isolation between units (the VIP612 does have a lotta RF hash generated in it). That said, old Public Address amps have yielded me high impedence tapped input transformers that have performed this very trick admirably.

I hope I haven't confused you, but wanted you to put on your 'thinking cap' and see there are several ways to skin the cat here. Let me know when you get it worked out.

Good luck,
torceador


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## torceador (Sep 8, 2010)

vincec,

One more thought. I seem to remember some kind of "+12dB" boost in the Elite's menu system. I can't remember if that can be assigned per input, but if you can, that would save you a LOT of grief.

torceador


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## vincec (Jan 17, 2011)

Geeze..... this can certainly get complicated!!

Thanks for all the information.

I'm going to research my receiver manual to see to see if i can find that +12 db option.
The manual is around 100 pages and I wondered if there was a way to do that.

My task for the weekend!!!

Thanks for all your help

vincec


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## nholmes1 (Oct 7, 2010)

Look for volume compensation or input level compensation, I know most denons from 3-4 years ago did this so I would think you would have the option.


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## WooferHound (Dec 8, 2010)

I recommend a Behringer 502 or 802 mixer
http://www.amazon.com/Behringer-802-Premium-8-Input-Preamps/dp/B000J5XS3C
It's a very useful little mixer with lots of features and it's only about $60


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