Official Harman Kardon AVR 254 & 354 Owners Thread - Page 41

The PS3 cannot bitstream HD audio it can only send it PCM only. So you will never see any HD audio on your AVR. I went and brought a Sony 350 blu-ray player. I bitstream when I watch anything is 7.1 which I am watching "The Final Countdown" which is 7.1 DTS Master HD audio. Wow I haven't seen this movie in decades.

Wait... I thought it was better to send Multi-Channel PCM to the AVR. Is that not true?

Multi-Channel PCM is any of the HD codecs decoded already. That's what the PS3 does. It internally decodes all HD audio formats and passes it to the AVR as Multi-Channel PCM.

Multi-Channel PCM = DTS-HD MA Decoded = DD TrueHD Decoded

Right, and it doesn't matter if the disc player or the AVR does the decoding. You'll get the same HD sound either way.

Does anyone know if you're REALLY getting a DD TrueHD or DTS-HD MA bitstream to the AVR? It will always only says Dolby Digital or DTS.

Actually my source is the HD-XA2 HD-DVD player and the Sharp HP-20 blu-ray player, not a PS3. I have them both set to bitstream. I'll have to double check to be sure.

No it won't, it will say if it's getting a HD signal, or if it's getting an uncompressed signal it will say uncompressed PCM. If you're not getting either of those, you are just getting DTS/Dolby Digital. At least I would assume that being the case.

I believe the sharp does not bitstream any of the advanced codecs.

Hi!

Just got my AVR254, hooked it up to my HTPC via HDMI and tried to play some music.

I was a bit confused, since the sound is sort of like its being run through a filter of some sorts, the sound is "veiled", hard to explain.. am I missing something?

I changed mode to 2 CH STEREO, no Nightmode is on, to my knowledge any kind of sound processing is off. I haven't done any EzSetup, since I only have 2 speakers at the moment, and the EzSetup want's to run with a 5.1 setup.

What am I doing wrong?
//M



EDIT: Amplifier was broken, had it exchanged and now its OK..

Hello all, I apologize if this is in the wrong topic, but I've been lurking and trying to decide on a receiver for a while now. I think I'm going to go with the Harmon Kardon AVR-354 but have a question on speakers that I would be wise to go with. I'm planning on buying in stages - receiver and floor speakers now, center next, rear and sub when a good deal comes along.

I'm a first time HT buyer, so I don't have a very discriminating ear and when people talk about sound being rich, full, warm, with great highs and lows, etc. I can't tell the difference anyway. I want something that will match well with this receiver, that I won't destroy if I decide to crank my receiver up to eleven for that extra oomph, and won't necessitate a separate sub woofer immediately.

The setup is going to be used mainly for HD Television, gaming on XBOX 360, Wii and Playstation 2, and movies via PS2 on a 1080p LCD from Samsung. I plan on upgrading to Bluray in the next six months or so (maybe Black Friday if I find a great deal) and listen to music in the home rarely...though my wife might take advantage of the ipod docking capability.

Anyway, on to what I've found thus far just listening to speakers at stores....I'm considering a few sets from either Klipsch or Polk. Specifically, I'm looking at the Polk M70's (lowest price), Polk TSi400's (higher by $100), or Klipsch F-3 Synergy's for a bit more than double the M70's. What would anyone recommend for performance to price ratio among these choices? Does anyone have these speakers and want to share what their level of satisfaction is? It seems like the Klipsch ones may negate the need for a sub woofer so I could maybe save some dollars on that in the long run.

I'm not set for sure on either of these manufacturers, it's just what I've heard in stores and they sound 'good enough' in my opinion...like I said, I'm not an audiophile at all. I am planning on heading to a higher end place in the next week or so - my brother, who IS an audiophile suggested I listen to Paradigms before buying anything...but I doubt I'll be able to tell any difference anyway.

Any input from those who know more than me would be greatly appreciated.

EDIT: If it matters, the room size is 13' by 15' at the top of a staircase, so it's fairly large with two partial walls (stairs and hallway)

I just ordered my 354 should be in Tuesday. My first pre-hook up question is this, is there a dedicated phono input for my turntable or do I need to purchase a seperate phono amp?

ZellSF - so where does the AVR display whether or not you're getting an HD audio signal? I haven't seen it, not even in the OSD. Maybe I'm missing something?

Thanks!

There are 5 separate analog L/R inputs on the rear panel, so I'm sure that one can be used for your turntable. They are all independently assignable very easily in the OSD.

Congrats on your purchase and enjoy! The 354 has been awesome for me!

Right, I noticed all the inputs but the phono will need an amp if there isn't a phono stage built in, right?

yes if the turntable doesn't have one built in...



RTR

if you are bitstreaming hd audio from a bluray player and you have the audio settings set at auto so the amp picks the best sound mode the 255`s display will say dolby true hd or dtsma depending on the audio selected and these both are hd audio, with the ps3 it will only say multichannel pcm in the display. Tus for your amp to display the hd audio format you must bitstream the hd audio to it.

I have an AVR-354 and just bought a Panny DMP-BD35K blu-ray player.

Obviously the signal passed to the AVR is 1080p, so the receiver outputs this 1080P to the display (Panny plasma, 1080p) all via HDMI.

However, since we all know that the processing in "Off" mode does not actually turn the processing OFF in the 354, is it shredding my blu-ray signal with EXTRA processing?

The picture seems clear to me but I want to be sure that incoming 1080p signals, such as my blu ray, are not being processed again by the 354....

Any ideas?

I have question about AVR355.

1. My friend told me that, if I connect the CD player to 6/8 analog
input by use only 2 channel connection (use only Fl and FR), It make a better
sound quality?, because it bypass the sound signal direct to the volume
control.
2. AVR 355's spec show that it has 70W/channel in stereo mode and 65W/channel in 7 channel surround mode. If I connect my CD to 6/8 analog input by
use only FR and FL, How much for the power output? 70W or 65W per
channel?

I live in Thailand and in Thailand it has only 355 not 354

Hi!

1) Yes, you bypass all EQ:s and will only be able to do Volume control. Still, EQ isn't necessarily a bad thing. Sound is different depending on environment, speakers, cables and so on. To say that 'it is always best out the box' would be a lie, most things need to be tweaked to perform at its best (in its own specific setup).

In my setup i need to tweak the treble just a little bit, it makes voices sound more natural. I guess i'm saying, LISTEN.. and make up your own mind..

2) When set in 2 CH Stereo mode you will get the higher watts.

//M

"Processor off" was fixed in the firmware update. See the first post in the x54 problems and solutions thread.

Well, that sort of depends what you mean by "Processing." The signal is still being "scaled" to whatever output resolution, even if that resolution is the same as the input resolution; plus, there are overlays being added, so there is still processing going on. It simply isn't modifying the brightness/contrast/hue/saturation settings.

So, while I wouldn't call it "shredding" the signal, it's still not passing it through untouched. Still, 99RedSi, as you stated, it looks clear to you, so the "extra" processing that gets done obviously isn't something that you're noticing, so I wouldn't worry about it.

Well just got everything hooked up. I could really use some step by step to get Dolby HD/Dts HD.

I have my PS3 hooked up with hdmi and the PS3's firmware is up to date as of today. I was watching the Hulk and I see on the display uncompressed PCM. Is that what I want to see to get my best audio? I'm going to read through as many pages of the thread as I can, but hopefully I'll get a straight answer before 41 pages.

Also I noticed that the rear speakers in my 7.1 weren't playing anything? What mode should I set the receiver to? Something to matrix into 7.1?

Touché. And seconded. There is no work being done on the signal itself if the source is 1080p or 1080p/24. Those are passed untouched, or down scaled if your display does not support them. Essentially the only "processing" being done is scaling when processor off is engaged.

Read the PS3 as a Blu Ray player FAQ in the Blu Ray Player thread. That will answer your questions. Or use the search box at the top of the page. That usually helps, too

set your ps3 to ouput pcm over hdmi, the ps3 will decode the hd audio and send as multichannel pcm and the amp will say multichannel pcm. If you want to get 7.1 audio from 5.1 discs go to the audio options menu on the 255 and select dolby prologic IIx movie and you will see the 2 back speaker icons light up and you will get 7.1 from 5.1 discs, the display will now say dolby prologic IIx movie and will turn 5.1 into 7.1.

So prologic IIx will keep the original 5.1 channels as is, but matrix in the back 2? I would like everything to remain discrete, but allow all 4 surrounds the chance to be in use.

Wait, how are you setting your AVR to Dolby Prologic IIx with a PCM input signal? My AVR won't let me pick any of the Dolby processing modes unless I have a bitstream signal. This annoys me, because there's no way to tell the PS3 that I want PCM for 5.1 audio, but limit 2-channel audio to bitstream. With a 2-channel PCM input, my only choice on the AVR seems to be Logic-7.

I am about ready to jump on a deal on the avr-254, but am wondering if it is possible to create a "phantom center channel" with this receiver. My current setup will be just 4 bose 201 bookshelf speakers (I realize this is not a good choice, but I am building my home theater in steps, starting with the receiver and am gonna make do with these bose till I purchase the sbs-01 5.1 system). So does this receiver have a way to get the center channel audio from just 2 fronts?

Also, if anyone has the harman kardon paired with the SVS sbs-01 system I would be curious as to your overall impressions.

I appreciate the help here guys! Thanks!

It keeps the front channels as is, but the two surround channels are modified when it expands 5.1 to 7.1. If you think about it, it has to work this way (e.g. if a sound is supposed to come from right behind you, it needs to be removed from the side surrounds and fed to the rear surrounds instead).

I've been following along this thread, but don't recall this. Can you elaborate? What "scaling" would be done 720p -> 720p?

I don't follow HK receivers too much.

Is there a good source on the differences or improvements in HK EzSet, EzSet+ etc. Also, how does this compare to Audyssey and Dynamic EQ equivalent in EzSet.
Thanks in Advance. I am not a fan of Yamaha and Pioneer EQ.

How bad is the fan noise? My friend has a 347 and could get a 354 in exchange and is not sure if that is a good move or not. Seems like one to me.

(Old HK fan)