*Official* Denon AVR 1909/789 Thread - Page 8

For most cases I do agree. But sometimes I want to play video games and have the sound output from my TV, while using the AVR to listen to music hooked up to CD player.

Sometimes my wife and I just don't feel like having to turn on the AVR to watch TV. That's why the new Denon line with Dynamic Volumn interests me, hoping that will solve most of the annoyances. It's pretty close to perfect on what I'm looking for (integration with iPhone would be nice.) :P

Off topic a bit though, I wish there's a simpler way to output audio to a receiver. My TV has all these inputs, I'd rather just use my TV as the hub, and just send out LPCM from there to an audio receiver.

with the 10% off coupon on Circuit City now, plus 5% cash back on my discover card for shopping at Circuit City, I could get the Denon 988 (aka 2808) for $550 tonight...

Someone better talk me back into the 1909 and out of the 988 quick or this decision might be over.

$590 after coupon for the 1909, vs
$550 after coupon and cash back for the 988 (aka 2808)

Thoughts?

the 1909 was 570 for me after the coupon. picked it up today at best buy. have it hooked up now and i love the dynamic volume already.

there are only 2 HDMI inputs on the 988 which is a deal breaker for me... 1909 has 3 input I am upgrading to AVR-889 (AVR-2309) to get 4 inputs

but aside from that?

because thats easily taken care of with an HDMI switching box.

So the dynamic volume on the 1909 is worth more to you than the extra processor, Audyssey XT calibration, and generally higher sound quality on the 2808?

I wouldn't be monitoring this thread if I thought otherwise.

ted

so i'm playing with the receiver a bit and i can't get the dolby HD to go through on the batman begins dvd. i activate it and it still doesn't light up on the receiver. anyone have any ideas? it still sounds great but i want to hear the lossless sound i paid for.

click on display on your PS3 remote, you can check out what codec is playing there

it says dolby HD when i do but wouldn't the light on the receiver light up like it's suppose too?

This has been addressed at least 5 times in this thread.

One more time; the PS3 decodes the True-HD, therefore the receiving isn't decoding and being it's just receiving it as PCM it doesn't light up as it doesn't see it as anything but already decoded audio.

just a quickie question:

running HDMI (say from PS3) into receiver and then from receiver to HDTV allows absolute control of the audio without affecting the video? or is that just 'in theory'?


If I'm playing a typical music CD (again on a PS3) the max audio quality can be obtained using the above method?

Should we take bets on when the next time someone asks the difference between 1909 and 789 will be?

It may be possible to do what you want with an HDMI switcher, but honestly, I think the best solution for you might be a universal remote. You could set up macros that would switch off the audio from the receiver and activate it on the TV.

Of course, if your wife's problem is the same as many wives, it's that there are just too many remotes to mess with if everything runs through the receiver. For my wife (who actually understood it when I had 5 remotes too), it's really simple with a Harmony remote--she just hits "Watch TV" and everything turns on like it should. Everything is then controlled via the remote--the volume buttons control the receiver, and the channel buttons (and guide buttons, DVR buttons, etc.) control the cable box. That may not be the problem in your situation though, so it might be a moot point. I still think you can solve this problem easier with a good remote than you can with HDMI switchers...I just think that is rife with potential problems. Hope that helps!...sorry for being slightly off topic--there've been a lot of posts since I checked this thread this morning!


BTW, what's the difference between the 1909 and 789?... guess that makes 6! (just joking by the way.)

actually the question was brought up once in the thread (and got multiple answers all in the same page buried with tons of other questions) and i did a search and didn't come up with it so i posted here. no need to get an attitude. if you knew the answer you could have just said it.

Here is the end of my story:

The wonderful people at Best Buy (I am not trying to be sarcastic) took my Hannspree monitor back and exchanged it for a Westinghouse 22" monitor with DVI-D in. It had a line down the middle, so I had to take it back and get another one which is working fine with the 1909!

I am glad I bought both the 1909 and the monitor at BB. Nothing beats a brick&mortar store and real people. There are lots of forum members who seem to "hate" BB - which I don't understand, as nobody who does not want to has to go there. The people at the BB in upstate NY are very nice and always willing to try to help.

Having this resolved I can say that I am pretty happy with the 1909. My favorite feature is the three Quickset buttons. The volume change between the PS3 and the cable box used to drive me nuts - no more!

I have Axiom speakers and an HSU sub. Lossless audio sounds great and I find it - in my perception - noticeably better than e.g. DOLBY 5.1. (I am coming from the - excellent - Pioneer VSX-D912)

The Volume Leveling works, but it degrades the audio quality considerably.

Could you be more specific in how you define "degrades the audio quality considerably"? What are you watching/listening to?

Got my 1909 on Wednesday. Today I got credit for 10% with the coupon from the PO. I just ran the auto setup. It took about 20 min. to complete. Sounds great. This unit sounds so much better then my 10 year old Yamaha (which cost more then this unit 10 years ago). I'm very satisfied with the easy of use and the quality sound.

yes

Big River shipped my 1909 two days ago and it arrived today at 5:45 PM, double boxed, in fine shape. For some unknown reason, BR listed the 1909 as a pre-buy from about July 12 – July 16 and then withdrew it. They still have not re-listed it. I placed a pre-order on July 14 at MSRP, with free 2-day shipping, no sales tax and the BR 30-day price guarantee. I also know from experience that BR has a no-hassle, no-cost return policy that makes a purchase like this a little less risky.

Set-up went reasonably smoothly, with two glitches, one Denon’s and the other mine. I use banana plugs for my speakers, but the speaker terminals on the 1909 are not the same spacing as my plugs. Fortunately, I had a spare set of individual bananas, and it was a quick swap-out. The second glitch came during Audyssey set-up. Here’s a tip: pay attention to the menu icons. Sometimes you select a menu item by pressing “Enter” and sometimes by pressing “Left Arrow”. I bogged down at “Start Set Up” because I didn’t notice this.

After I figured out which button to press, the Audyssey set-up took about 15 minutes. I have a 5.1 system and it set all my speakers to “small”, with a crossover of 150 HZ. All the calculated distances were reasonably accurate and the level corrections were +9.5 dB and +9.0 dB for the fronts, +7.0 dB for the center, +5.5 dB and +7.0 dB for the surrounds and +3.5 dB for the sub. The sound quality and balance seem great to my ears, but then, my hearing is not especially acute. I will probably play with the settings to see the effects, but I doubt I’ll be able to improve on the sound quality.

The rest of my system consists of a Sansung LN-52A750, a Sony PS3 and a Directv HR21 DVR. I played a couple of BD’s and sampled some Directv HD-lite. The Audyssey Dynamic Volume seems very good, with 3 settings that apply progressively more correction: Day, Evening and Midnight. The effect is very noticeable and it’s quite effective at leveling the volume range, including during ridiculously loud commercials. The dialog is very easy to hear over a wide range of volume.

I owned an Onkyo TX-SR606 for about 3 weeks, but returned it primarily because of a very audible 60 HZ hum at normal-to-loud volumes with my PS3 and secondarily because it got very hot and I was concerned about the long term effects of the heat on the electronics. Naturally, I wanted to check out these issues with the 1909.

The displayed volume range on the 1909 is -80 dB to +17.5 dB. I tend to listen at levels from -40 dB to -20 dB, depending on the source. By the time you crank it to 0.0 db, the room is shaking…it’s just plain loud. I paused a BD on the PS3 and increased the volume to the maximum volume of +17.5 dB. At this level, there is a soft hiss in the speakers that is audible to me at about 8’ away. My normal seating position is about 12’ from the TV. When I decrease the volume to +5dB, the hiss is inaudible, even with my ear on the speaker. The hiss is a random, static sound, definitely not 60 HZ or a multiple. As far as I’m concerned, the 1909 is much better on this point than the 606 and it’s acceptable to me. I will be trying similar tests on other equipment to verify that the 1909 is free of the problem that plagued my 606.

After running the 606 in a room with an ambient temperature of 78 F for an hour or two, the temperature of the case reached 130 F. I ran the 1909 for a similar length of time and the maximum temperature I found was 105 F. A difference of 25 F might just make the electronics last longer. At a minimum, it’ll reduce the AC bills.

EDIT: One thing I noticed about the 1909 compared to the 606 is that the dialog seems crisper, clearer and easier to isolate from the other sounds. This is true whether the Dynamic Volume is on or off. Disclaimer: since I no longer have the 606, I'm relying on memory for this comparison, so I don't know how accurate it is.

So far, the 1909 is meeting my expectations. Unless I find something unexpected in the next couple of weeks, it’s definitely a keeper.

On another subject, but one related to the benefit that Audyssey Dynamic Volume brings to domestic tranquility, the Harmony One remote that I picked up with the new A/V equipment is just wonderful. I also got an IR2BT dongle so that the Harmony will control the PS3. My wife is very happy with the simplicity of the operation, and when she’s happy, all is right with the world.

I have read that the ear initially perceives it as 'flat' but once accustomed "it's awesome."


I wonder if this is what he is 'hearing'.

Apparently, the British audio mag What Hi-Fi? just reviewed the 1909 in a "shootout" with a similarly priced Onkyo and Yamaha and the 1909 won. I would love to read the actual review before I buy, but the bookstores by me only have last month's issue.

Has anyone here read the review and, if so, could you give me the gist of it?

Watt meter anyone?

So the 1909 just appeared on the Canada Denon website.

Retail price: $779.

@#$!@#%^#$^%$&^%*&

I searched for the review on their website, but didn't see it. Maybe they'll put it on there in the near future.

It sounds kind of muffled, i.e. not so bright and clear as when it is off. However, I have not had much time yet to see how it works with different sources ...

D'accord - I need more time to play with it and it probably is something I need to get used to. My first impression was that this is not a feature I will be using much with movies. I need to play with it watching cable. The volume levels between channels are often huge. I will report back next week - now I am heading to Saratoga for the races ...

I spent only about 15-20 minutes last night playing with Audyssey Dynamic Volume. I wouldn't personally characterize the effect as 'degraded', but it definitely changes the AQ and in the world of audio, one person's 'awesome' is another's 'degraded'. I would say that it will take some getting used to, but it will certainly meet the goal of providing a flatter dynamic range for my wife. One nice feature is that you can listen to the sound (you can't see the video) while you activate ADV, so you can cycle through the 3 levels, instantly hear the effect, and choose which (if any) level you want.

Bugs: What are your thoughts on the Audyssey Dynamic EQ ? I am interested in that cause I heard it is like The old Loud function on steroids. Want to have as much punch as possible but with clarity.. I was all set to get the 606 till the hum problem and heat issue were brought to my attention. I am now between the Denon 1909 or the older 988 which is now $650 from $1200 better sound processors and more power but lacks the Audyssey Dynamic EQ. Also looking at the Pioneer 1018 but it does not have any Audyssey technology it uses MACD for speaker set up not sure how it compares to Audyssey MultiEQ. Thanks for any info.

one thing i noticed on the HD tracks last night was an annoying high pitch buzz every once in a awhile. if i turned it back to the regular dolby digital it was fine but the DD-HD track would put out these high pitch ringing noises at higher volume levels (close to reference or at reference).