Pioneer 9G "buzz" poll (Elite and non-Elite) - Page 52

151fd Havent noticed any buzzing or hum and ive tried listening for it a few times

I think lucky in this case means getting a sympathetic technician. Precisely because there aren't defined "limits" for buzz level, most techs either just say "I don't hear anything" or "that's normal...they all do that" and you have no recourse.

Then just smile and enjoy it!

I got my intact 600m from Plasma Concepts earlier in the month (after one cracked one) but was delayed in actually setting it up until I got a cabinet/stand for it. Now that I am running the break-in, I hear the buzz quite clearly all over the room. Granted it wasn't quite as bad when I viewed a couple blu-ray's on default settings before adjusting the picture for, and then starting, the break-in.

It is pretty much like the video earlier in this thread.

But now I am debating what to do. After reading various pages from the beginning, middle, and end of this thread, it dampened any hopes of getting a "golden" replacement (if I can even get one at all) because so many people have gotten second (and third?) sets that do the same thing. I could also try contacting Pioneer I guess...

Yeah, sure. I mean, the buzz is there. The question is if the technician *thinks* its too loud. Being a half glass empty-guy, I think he'll just point out that it's normal.... next week tuesday I'll know more.

Regarding the video: that buzz is VERY loud.... mine's not nearly as loud. Can anyone with a very loud buzz comment whether the video comes close to reality or not? Or is it just the microphone? Like I said, that sounds terribly... mine seems silent compared to that. I'm shocked...

I've had my 141 for a few weeks. For me, I didn't noticed the buzz getting louder or quieter due to the brightness of the screen. If a brighter scene was being played. Could I have missed that? Doubt it though.

For me, it came down to the signal being fed to my 141. The brand of HD digital box also came into play for me. As my first HD box was made by Pace. With that box the buzz would be easier to hear (though you do sort of have to listen for it) when playing SD programming. Much harder to hear playing HD.

Then I switched to a Scientific American HD box. The Pace box had troubles locking onto a channel. Could hold that channel. Just when you switched to it....any how, with the SA box the buzz could be heard more (still relatively faint) between switching channels or to channels with no programming.

Did notice the buzz this morning playing the Iron Man BD. In the beginning. When there was a bright scene I think.

Have yet to try switching to PowerSave 2. If the difference in PQ is negligible and it eliminates or reduces the buzz significantly...to the point where I'd have to be standing within a foot of the screen I'll leave it in this mode.

Having said this...can anything be done to totally eliminate the buzz without turning on the PowerSave mode? And when I was at Best Buy yesterday I purposely listened for the buzz. On a 6020, Panasonic plasmas, Samsung LCD...didn't hear a peep. I really tried to hear it. Could the ambient noise be so great I couldn't hear it even when I put my ear within an inch of the screens??

Is annoying when we've sunk so much money into our 9G KUROs. Should be dead silient no matter the circumstance. No matter what kind of a/v signal is being passed to the 9G.

Just out of curiosity...could it have anything to do with the quality of our HDMI cables? I bought a cheap $30 no-name from Tiger Direct. Would using a "better" HDMI cable make a difference?? (yes I've read the many posts about how all HDMI cables are the same...no difference can be heard/seen...blah, blahhh).

I also read that some LCD's will buzz too. Just at much lower levels. My PC LCD monitors are dead silent. As are the LCD screens on my laptops. Does this mean LCD is in general a better way to go if you're looking for a "buzz free" HDTV?

I think that video makes it sound louder than it really is, but it does capture the annoying tone of it.

I don't think anything can be done. It is a characteristic of this technology, but IMO, panel variances make a small proportion of panels intolerably loud. Replacement is the only real option if you have one of those.

As I've described before, you cannot compare across difference environments. And yes, it's certainly annoying that these expensive TVs can have this issue. But no product is always 100% perfect.

Cables can't help the buzz, since it's something in the panel itself. There has been a great deal of discussion here about whether signal or power quality affects buzz, with no clear conclusions but a general consensus that they are not the cause and you cannot "fix" it by changing their characteristics. It's my own opinion that neither of these can be manipulated to alleviate buzz.

I do think LCDs are quieter than plasmas, and would be a better choice for someone extremely sensitive to buzz.. But LCDs have their own issues, like inferior PQ. Every technology has something to not like.

No.

I must be extremely fortunate. Neither my 5020 or my PDP151 has the slightest buzz. I put my ear next to both and heard no sign of buzz. My HD DVR Direct TV, however, is another matter. It buzzes loud enough to make up for both my Pioneers.

man you guys with no buzz are lucky. I must have real bad luck becuase i had 5020, two pro111fd, and 500m, and they all buzzes. only if i stand close to it

Chances are you're also especially sensitive to the buzz frequencies. If it makes you feels any better, that's probably great luck in every other circumstance except when you watch you Pioneers.

Well, the Pioneer service-guy just left... he said that the buzz on my panel would be within the normal specs and that he's seen worse.

I gotta say, I don't notice it the buzz that often now, so I guess I'll just let it go and focus on the superb PQ.

On a funny note, the guy asked me why I had sharpness at -15 on my KRP500.. I told him it's concensus that -15 or maybe -14 give the most natural picture and it's even default with Pure Mode. He would only laugh...

It is the default, whether he knows it or not. I wouldn't rely too much on repair tech's calibration opinions.

Sure.

Although it is indeed a weird value.. they should have started with zero, not -15. People will always think of -15 being less sharpness than default because most times 0 is the default.

Sometimes it's a good thing to be a 50 year old fart like me. I don't hear those high pitch buzzes anymore. So in my head, my 5020 has no hint of buzz whatsoever.

I've had my Kuro for about a month or so now....
At first I was VERY annoyed with the loud buzzing, but I quess I've grown in to not paying TOO much attention to it. But that doesn't mean it's not there

At an English forum, there was a member saying that it helped reducing the buzz when changing his Blu-Ray player from one HDMI input to another...

I tried to switch my PS3 from the input 3 to 4, but it didn't make anything better (meaning more quiet)... I still haven't tried to put it into number 2 yet because I need to crawl into my cabinet where the mediabox is...

Anyway, my question is if any of you people have had any "luck" changing the input and thus reducing the buzz...?!?

Negative. I got devices at HDMI1, 3 and 4 and they all have the same buzz...

I just got a new 101 FD and it buzzes. Definitely louder than my Panasonic G10.

It may already be common knowledge, but the buzz varies greatly depending on where I sit. Even one seat cushion off centre turns the display almost completely silent. It's dead centre that is the worst. I also notice that if I am sitting dead centre and stand up, the buzz also goes away.

I suspect that all of these panels buzz, but not every owner hears it because of 1.) seating / mounting location, 2.) hearing sensitivity, and 3.) how loud they play their sound system.

Oh, absolutely. I've always thought is was a bonehead way to implement that setting. It doesn't even conform to their own settings "standard," where "0" generally means "off" or "no-processing."

Yes, everyone who has a panel with loud buzz is well aware of how directional it is. As has been described here many times, it's almost as if the panel acts as a parabolic dish focusing the buzz towards the center seating position.

While the factors you cite certainly influence each owner's perception of the buzz, the panels themselves also vary such that most seem to be plenty quiet enough for most owners, a small proportion are virtually silent, and a small but very unpleasant proportion are excessively loud.

i just wanted to let the people know who have helped out with my TV that I have contacted Pioneer about my buzzing issue and black level performance and they said to contact an authorized service center. I have do so and they are ordering parts to replace the coils in the TV which they think are causing the lous buzz. He was very quick with his response like he knew what the problem was so im a lil confident that my problems will be fixed. I also asked him if they could check the level of my picture quality such as black level performance and PQ performance overall and he said they will bring a generator with them to see if everything is on point. So if all goes well my elite will be great, but if not i guess i will have to fight for refund or a replacement and I am willing to take a lesser model such as a KRP-500m or a 101 series. or another 111fd would be nice

Granted I've only had my panel a few days, but I can tell you that my panel has a buzz... but only noticable under certain circumstances.
That is why I voted 'No Buzz'.

In the power Save 2 mode there is no buzz at all. None.

Save 1 or 'Off' mode, there is a very slight buzz which is only noticeable in a silent room, and only during certain displays (bright, high contrast), AND... only if I am within 1-2 feet from the front of the panel.

I consider myself lucky so far!

shane

You are lucky, and there's no reason to think that won't continue. I agree that any buzz that can't be heard beyond 1-2' is essentially and effectively "No Buzz." Enjoy!

I get zero buzz in mode 2 on my new 500m but in standard, there is a good amount of buzz when 10' away from TV and directly in front of the set. What's odd is that if you move a few inches to the right or left the buzz is gone but dead center, the buzz is there.

Any idea if dampening would help this out or is this just the way it is?

It's odd because the buzz also changes depending on which Menu or Submenu you're in, lol.

That's not odd at all.....that directionality is the typical experience.

Over the course of the past year+, people have tried dampening, power treatments, service calls, and everything else they could think of. The only solution that is consistently effective is the one you've already found- use Energy Mode 2.

I believe a few owners who had excessive buzz from behind their TVs were able to lessen it a bit by dampening reflections off the back wall. But actual panel buzz, the kind that emanates from the glass surface like a laser beam, isn't mitigated by these efforts. I honestly believe that each panel just has it's own characteristic buzz and, as you put it, that's just the way it is.

Guys i need your opinion... i have a buzzing coming from the back of my TV which basically makes it sound defective cuz it gets really loud. I have contacted Pioneer and scheduled a service call. The service guy was suppose to fix my TV yesterday cause all the parts came in to replace the supposed broken parts. Wellll...the guy never showed supposedely he called my phone but it never rang. Anyway the guy told me he is going to reschedule for this thursday cause i guess the guy tried call in me to tell me one of the parts they got in was broken so they have to re-order and reschedule. Im a little concerned because Im wondering if i can convince these guys to tell Pioneer i have a defective TV so i can get a new one. I hope the service is reliable and they fix my TV good and well. But what do you guys think?? You think i shoudl fight for a new one or see what happens after they replace the parts then fight if it breaks again??

I hate any kind of buzz. But, I love my three month old Pioneer KRP-600M (N.American) which has more much more buzz than my six and a half year-old Panasonic 42" ED.

I discovered a way to induce a loud, annoying buzz. Fortunately, I did not discover this until weeks after I convinced myself that "my Kuro" had zero buzz issues. I know it is a very infrequent occurance for me.

First, I go to a website such as Bloomberg.com with an all black background ( I use the white bkgrd option for AVSforum). Then I zoom in and scroll around until the upper-left corner of one of the super-white boxes is positioned to cover exactly the lower half and middle-right two-thirds of the screen. The suddenly very obvious buzz reaches a peak so loud that it cannot be ignored by two people conversing twelve feet away. Fortunately, the buzz drops off significantly by almost any relocation of that white box. But it is still there in a slightly annoying form.

The good news is that, now that I know what causes it, it does not irritate me that much. I can avoid it altogether on the very rare occasions that it crops up. I have never heard the buzz with a movie playing and once or twice when I was watching TV. I think that was a football game on ESPN with the standard box of stats. I have seen that same graphics hundreds of other times with no audible buzz.

A weirdly related discovery under those extreme conditions, is that putting my hand six inches on the perpendicular from that exact area of the white box, I can feel the screen emitting intense heat just like putting your hand within six inches of an IR heat lamp.

My conclusion is that the buzz is likely the result of the design. I do not think that is really so bad, as the remedies would include lower plasma voltages, smaller panels with heavier bracing, thick double pane glass and much heavier and thicker PDP construction - just like the old, much more expensive, lower fidelity Panasonic I have in another room.

Now, YMMV, because many other factors affect our ability to hear the buzz. I once lived so far from civiliztion that I found the buzz from 60 HZ incandescent light bulbs to be so annoying that I could not stand a table lamp less than two feet away. The same lamp in my very quiet house in the 'burbs of a major city emits 'zero' buzz.

On most bright program material, there definitely is a twice or three times as audible buzz than my old Panasonic if my ears are very close to the front (less than two feet) or within four feet of the back.

Thanks to reading this thread, before ordering, I expected much worse. I am really pleased that my panel has zero buzz - UNLESS I stand really close to it or display super-white in the lower right quadrant. Super-white displayed over the entire screen has much less buzz.

Finally, I am sixty years old. It is possible, some "dog-earred" kids might hear some super harmonics that I no longer can hear, but I think a lot of other high-pitched noise makers such as hard drives in DVRs or Blu-ray motors and servos might compete.

I have no buzz on my about 1 month old 50" 5020FD with a build date of 3/09. I don't hear anything not even a peep on any power save mode or off. Maybe i'm death. I do hear the hum of my computer.