*Official* Denon AVR 1909/789 Thread - Page 234

It works well enough (and the factory remote is so poor) that you could almost say its necessary for proper Denon operation. Although any Harmony will work, just get one that supports enough model memory, as some only hold like 5 devices.

If setting up a Harmony, select a AVR-3808CI as your receiver in the Harmony software, so that you can get all the extra discrete codes that are in the Harmony database for that model. Most of which will work for the 1909/789 as well giving you far more functionality than the original remote had.

Just picked up my 1909 from the parental units house, where I had it delivered, and am waiting to take home and open after work

Are you saying the default codes for the 3808CI are more complete than the ones Logitech has for the 1909? I have the ONE too and I love it.

yes, see this post:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...0#post15880210

I will be using a 1909 to power up whole home audio (separate from my home theater) via a Russound PRO-8HP. I will be connecting an Apple TV via HDMI. Will the video from the Apple TV be output to the Monitor Out Component jacks? I will be using a monitor only to view the Apple TV information.

Thanks!

no, receivers do not do any DOWNconversion (i.e. HDMI > component). what goes in as HDMI comes out as HDMI.

just hook up your Apple TV with component + optical. that's how I have mine, works better than HDMI.

Amazing how low a retailer can quote for a product they are out of stock on and won't get in the future!

Thanks bp,

I appreciate the quick reply! I'm reading your Denon to English Dictionary now.....Tons of good info there and I appreciate your efforts here!

Very well. Though it needs to be pretty directly pointed at the component. I had hoped it would be a little stronger than my 1909 remote.

Thanks. I have read as much of this thread as I can and your site in prep for this units arrival. I have the post bookmarked where you guys are talking about adding the discrete codes for Aud/EQ etc..., but I am sure there are more dumb questions coming from me. A lot of what I read I barely understood, so even if I have read what to do, I wouldn't know that was the answer to my question. If that makes any sense LOL.

I love my Harmony 550...The only component that needs to be pointed at is my LG-LST3510a; but that is an anomoly of the LG itself...

it's funny, I've found it really varies by component. my older Denon AVR 888 was awesome in this regard, it would receive the signal regardless of where I pointed it; the 789 is much more picky.

I have been a Denon 1909 owner for almost 1 month now. All is fine with the AVR, and I only had to post one question. Now I need to do one more.

I have Energy Speakers:

C-300's Fronts
C-C50 Center
C-100's Surrounds
No Sub at this time.

I really like the way music sounded with this configation is 5 channel Stereo.

A week ago, I got my C-50s for the back Surrounds, and the Denon will only default to 7 Channel Stereo. This does not work for me compaired to the 5 Channel mode, so it is time to go back to "Old School" in a 2.0 (and with a future sub.. 2.1) mode.

I am now playing around with the Direct and Pure Direct modes for the first time. Can someone help me out with the difference on these two modes?

The Pure Direct sounds just like it says, pure, and Flat (and dead). The Pure mode sounds better, but I cannot engage the Multi ED in this mode, and so I guess that is this way works, but what is Pure Direct (access allowed to the Base and Trebble adjustments)?

I guess I need to play around more with the DSP modes too, but I sure miss my 5 Channel Stereo mode, for it was Perfect!!!!

I actually just posted a thorough rundown of DIRECT/PURE modes yesterday, you should review this post:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...9#post16220229

The only difference between DIRECT and PURE DIRECT is that the pure direct mode also shuts off all the video circuitry, including the display on the unit. They share the same speaker settings, surround parameters, etc.

The reason it sounds "flat" to you (in a bad way) is that you don't have Audyssey turned on for Direct/Pure mode. Going from the full Audyssey + Dyn.EQ suite to the "regular" sound is probably a big letdown In that post I linked above I give instructions for enabling Audyssey in Direct/Pure mode.

On a side note -- have you experimented with other "matrixing" options for multichannel music? You know, there are other options besides 5/7ch stereo mode. Try Dolby Pro Logic MUSIC mode, DTS Neo MUSIC mode, and also NEURAL. Plus of course you can play with the Denon DSP's (I find "jazz" to be the only one that isn't horrible).

This is a BIG Lift up, and I guess my timing could not have been more perfectly time to post this Question!

You have just given me a ton of resources and things to try, and that will keep me busy long enough to find "Something" that will work.

Batpig, I was also thinking of one last thing I remember reading from you a while back. It was about a Harmony remote, and how it would access a few additional DSP modes that 1909 has, but not accessible with the 1909 remote. I really did not want to go that road, but was willing to read through the forums to try.

I really love this Denon 1909, and the Energies at close out prices, and the help in these forums, is more than any reason person could hope for.

And between you (Batpig) and me, any time I ask the forum (and you) a question, all I am REALLY trying to, is to get you to your 6000th Post (lol)

Thank you once Again!!!!

BTW, Batpig, I know you enjoy running the Aud when the Wifey is away. I hate it. But it is getting easier over time. Once my speakers are fully borken in, I am going to run, what I call.... Another Batpig.....

I do not even think of it as another Aud Auto Setup, for I have read "How" many times you have run the Aud.

When I have to run it again, I say inside with a chuckle.......

I GOT TO RUN ANOTHER BATPIG AGAIN.....

Hey batpig - this is great information. I just took another quick review of your guide. I may have missed it, but the above information appears to be split up into a few different parts. Perhaps giving it a section of its own may be a good idea. Not that I'm trying to give you more work.


I will second this; I find DPL Music to be a favorite, but the others mentioned are good, too. Thanks again!

He just posted this link for me which explains accessing the extra DSP modes with Harmony.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...0#post15880210

I've had my 1909 for about a week now, and really do like it. I have a couple questions--and I can't seem to find the answers in this thread, (nor in the manual), but I suspect they are here.

1. I've rerun the auto set-up a couple times. On some TV shows, the surround speakers overpower the fronts--on other shows it's fine. (Seems like NBC causes the problem, CBS doesn't???). Anyhow, I've tried to use the Ch. Sel. button and go into fader mode to lower the volume in the surrounds. I know this is dumb, but how does the fader work? If I press the up or down arrows, the menu just goes to another channel. If I press the left arrow, the front volume goes lower--but I don't hear the back get louder--likewise, if I press the right arrow, the front gets louder--can't tell much difference in the rears. Is this normal?

2. After using the fader function, it appears the rear speakers are "off"--I don't hear anything from them again. I'm not positive about this, but that appears to be the case. Is that normal? I reselect my TV/Cbl input, and then the rears seem to work again.

3. After manually altering the level of a channel using the Ch. Sel Enter button--how do I get back to the Audyssey settings generated during auto setup?

4. I'm confused in the relationship of auto set-up and the quick select buttons. I understand that quick select needs to be "memorized" if I want to save a given set of settings. So if I have various combinations of input/volume/etc memorized into the quick select settings--how do I get back to the Audyssey auto set-up settings? Or do I have to save them in the quick select right after running set-up?

Thanks in advance.

My set up is:

Comcast HD DVR box (Motorola) connected to 1909 via HDMI
Sumsung LN46A650 connected to 1909 via HDMI
Bose Acoustimass double cubes with passive sub for left/center/front
Yamaha powered sub
Boston surround speakers (wall mounted--small and old!)

(Yes, I know, the speakers are my weak link!!)

Batpig or anyone else.........

I have the 789, + a new Denon 1940Ci DVD/SACD/DVD-A player. Scratching my head big time. When running SACD via 6 ch analog, no issue with the Sub. I just received SRV "Couldn't Stand the Weather" Japanese SACD 2 ch only. I can't get the sub to come on for nothing. Went into set up> Manual> 2 ch > Main +LFE as mentioned by you a couple of days ago...nothing.

I have messed around in the 1940 Audio set as well to no avail. No issues with DVD-A, although that is going over HDMI.........Any thoughts?

As far as I can tell the optical out on the 789 is only a passthrough for the the first optical input.

Is there any way to get optical out from the hdmi audio? Or to have the optical output pass the active digital input?

I don't think there is but maybe i'm just wrong.



If your wondering why I would want to do this, I have a pair of Tritton axpro headphones that require an optical input. I would rather just have it run whatever the receiver is set to, rather than swapping cables around, or just using them on my game console.

I recently discovered that my cat chewed the cord in half on my Audyssey DM-A409 microphone. I tried looking on eBay for a replacement, but no one is selling one at the moment. I did look on Denon's website to find a distributor, and I found some places that sell it between $25 to $30 plus shipping. Can someone offer anymore suggestions on where I can find one at a reasonable price?

If I do get a replacement microphone, I will make sure that I put it somewhere my cat can't get to it. She loves chewing on cords. I guess all cats do.

Sincerely,
David Raymore

Edit: I did find a seller on eBay when I entered the part number 324010001003D, and it's price is $22.95 plus $7.95 for shipping. Tomorrow is my payday, so I am planning to buy one as soon as possible.

ebay has had the best deals, but they come & go. It may also be possible to repair the cord if you're handy.

For what it does for your receiver, that is a reasonable price. Many places are selling them for almost double what you mentioned.

I imagine if you are halfway decent with a soldering iron you could repair the wires, but I wouldn't bother, for fear that the new connection would somehow negatively affect the mic. readings.

EDIT: Isn't the actual model number DM-A409? Pretty sure that is what my 789 came with. Maybe its different for the 1909?

there is NO processing on the multichannel analog inputs. no bass management, no Audyssey, no nothing. It is just analog passthrough to the amps; the only thing you can do is adjust the EXT IN SW level to make sure the LFE track gets the proper boost, and adjust channel level trims.

If you want bass management with SACD over multich. analog, you need to set it up in the PLAYER, not the receiver. If nothing comes in over the ".1" analog cable then the sub won't make any noise.

Any good universal player should have speaker settings built in for the multich analog outputs, you should be able to set distances, speaker size (small/large), etc. in the 1940Ci. Just remember that the Denon is still applying channel level settings to the EXT IN input, so leave the channels levels zeroed out in the player.

you aren't wrong, HDMI audio won't come out of anything but the HDMI OUT. This receiver does not cross-convert audio formats at all, so analog audio only comes out the analog OUT's, SPDIF audio only comes out the optical OUT, etc.

This is a common phenomenon with Dynamic EQ exacerbating the crappy mixes in TV shows. With well mastered content (DVD's, Blu Rays, etc) you won't get this.

If it only happens on specific channels/show, it's probably easiest just to turn Dyn. EQ off temporarily. If it's a global issue (you think the surrounds are too loud all the time), I would make global changes to the channel levels (MANUAL SETUP > SPEAKER SETUP > CHANNEL LEVEL) and trim down the surrounds a bit.



I'll be honest and say I have no idea how the fader works! I think the problem is that you don't get OSD overlay on the TV screen, so you don't know what's happening. I tried diddling around with it one day and had the same experience you had -- I didn't really understand what was changing and how to revert back to normal settings! So I abandoned the "fader" button and moved on with my life



You can always revert to Audyssey's settings by going to AUTO SETUP > PARAMETER CHECK > RESTORE


You are correct with your latter assumption -- there is no way to "turn off" the settings from the Quick Select without memorizing ANOTHER Quick Select as the "default" settings.

So lets say you run Audyssey. You go to the TV/CBL input and futz around with the channel level settings and then memorize it as Quick Select 1. The problem is, the Denon's memory (Personal Memory Plus) remembers your channel level settings and you can't turn them back unless you remember to save a Quick Select as the defaults.

In my opinion, Quick Selects are really only useful if you have a very simple setup (i.e. you only use three sources), or if you use them to access a specific mode that is infrequently used (in which case you should save a 2nd Quick Select as your "revert to default" button).

Last night I ran Audyssey setup with ease. All the dimensions were accurate. It did set my fronts to large but I later changed them to small. I also changed the LFE to 120 hz. My other settings are MultEQ on, Dynamic EQ on, and Dynamic Volume off.

My setup
Polk RT800 towers
Polk CS400 center
Polk TC80i surrounds (4)
Polk PSW450

I popped in a BD movie to test things out. My fronts were really quiet, while the center did most of the work. Also the surrounds seemed too loud. I was a little concerned and didn't want to turn it up too much while the family was sleeping. This morning I checked things out and it seems I forgot to turn off the DRC on my PS3. Whoops. Cured things.

The sound from the Denon is amazing compared to my now retired Sony DB940. It almost like having a whole new system. I can't wait for the first official movie viewing tonight.

Big shout out to the forum, especially batpig for the handy dandy setup guide, for the helpful information.

I do not think I can fix the cord since it was chewed by my cat in two separate pieces. I did find a seller on eBay that sells the DM-A409 microphone when I entered the part number 32410001003D for $22.95 plus $7.95 for shipping.

Go for it. If you can get $31 for the cat I'd say you're about even.

that's why I keep my Audyssey mic safely in the little cardboard box it came in. It and all of my extra wires, cables, and other A/V doodads live in a box, safely tucked away from the prying eyes/claws/teeth of my three kitties

added to the FAQ, good idea

On that theme: I know several of you keep a "crib sheet" of notes from various Denon threads that you have found helpful. If have have something like that, or anything else in particular that you found helpful which you think should be in the FAQ, please email your notes to me at batpigworld at gmail dot com. There are many times when I say to myself, "I should remember to add that to the FAQ" but then it gets lots in the shuffle of these giant threads. If I have a copy in my email box it will be easier for me to track stuff down. Thanks!