Official VSX-01TXH and VSX-03TXH Owners Thread - Page 7

I thought we were going to edit this thread to include 03? What happened?

Hi all. I seem to be having a problem getting my VSX-01 to process Dolby TrueHD. I have a panasonic BD-30 player connected via HDMI to my VSX-01. The Blu-ray player is set to bitstream all signals including TrueHD and DTS-HD. When I play "Ice Age" (DTS-HD only), the receiver processes it fine and displays DTS-HD. However, when I play "I am Legend" or "300" which is TrueHD, my receiver only recognizes Dolby Digital. Any thoughts? My TV is a Samsung 46A650 and I have JBL CS480 (5.1) speakers. Would appreciate any help.

How about just starting a new Thread "Official Pioneer VSX-03TXH Owners Thread" instead of jumbling it up with the 01 and making it confusing for people that own the 01. New people that are novice to Home Theater may get confused and think they have the 03 when the really have the 01 if you combined these two. Just my thoughts.

First of all do you have in connected into the BD HDMI port on the 01? If not I recommend you change it to the BD port. Also I just say a post for a firmware update on your player, maybe it might need that. Here is a link http://panasonic.jp/support/global/c...0/bd30_na.html . Go ahead and give that a try and see if it fixes it.

Good luck..

Chris, I do have it connected into the BD HDMI port.

I looked around on the web and noticed a website talking about your BD player. Something caught my eye in this artlcle...heres the web address....http://www.hometheatermag.com/discplayers/1207panbd30/ If you go there go down to the "The Old Bitstream" and read that. This may be where your problem lies. I'm not totally sure what is going on, but hopefully this will let you know weather or not this is a issue with the BD player or the Receiver. But I highly doubt its the reciver causing this.

Good luck!

I think the OP tried but the title didn't change. He has alerted the Mods, but so far the title hasn't changed yet. There is nothing stopping us from discussing the 03TXH here.

If you go to post one it shows the Thead topic has been changed to Official VSX-01 and VSX-03 Owners Thread. For some reason the original Topic didn't change.

:-)

As Bilbo46 added though, all the NEW Pioneers (01, 03, SC0x) are all THX Select2 PLUS or TXH Ultra2 PLUS, which means they now have the new THX Loudness PLUS. This allows reference level AQ at lower levels, like if you live (like me) in an apartment and could never listen to movies at the high reference levels. And let me tell you, it works and they sound AWESOME!

But there is bad news too, though. I exchanged the 03 last night for the better SC-05, and am GLAD I did - it is an incredible receiver. Sadly though, the problem with the LG BH200 dual format player got even worse! This is what I posted on the other Pioneer post (for all the newer models):

I had the LG BH200 dual format (BD & HD DVD) player. When playing BD using bitstream to my Onkyo 805, everything plaid just fine. When I played HD DVD movies occasionally during pause/play or chapter change, during that time when the audio signal would stop, then begin again when the movie would play, the 805 would lose the signal during the HDMI handshake, and mistake it for a stereo signal and play loud modulating static noise from all my speakers. A few days ago, I had bought the new VSX-03TXH. When playing BD movies through the BH200, they played just fine. But when I tried ANY HD DVD movies, I would get that handshake problem with the VSX-03TXH, even right from the start before even getting to the menu, and have that static coming out of all the speakers.

I sent an E-Mail to both Pioneer and LG. Pioneer responded with "since HD DVD is a DEAD format", they won't bother to even look into this! LG just said to take it to their authorized repair center - a local TV/VCR repair show (DUH???).

Last night I returned the Pioneer VSX-03TXH, deciding to spend the extra money and just get the much better SC-05 receiver and LOVE IT! BUT!!!!!! Now the LG BH200 does not play at all with the new SC-05. Both the Blu-Ray and the HD DVD audio sent through HDMI is only recognized as either a STEREO or 192mhz STEREO signal! And now, if I turn up the volume, I can just barely hear any sound, but it still sounds like coming from a far distance, and through a tiny bit of static. So there must be a compatibility problem between the newer Pioneers and the LG BH200 player. As both my PS3 (through PCM) and Toshiba A35 (through bitstream) still work, there must be an internal problem with either BH200, or something with the HDMI input on the Pioneer - perhaps that new anti-jitter they put in for the HDMI? Sadly, I returned the BH200 as it was still brand new, and it looked like neither company had any interest in trying to fix this. Kind of a shame too, as the BH200 was quite a nice player, was once $1000 when it first came out, was of very good quality, and just this one unit was able to replace THREE units in my rack (BD, HD DVD, and had a great DVD scaler inside it).

Anyone else with a Pioneer who has tried the BH200? Did you also experience this?

Chris, I installed the latest firmware update (v2.4). My previous version was 1.6. This seemed to fix the problem. Interestingly, when I use "Pure direct" on the VSX-01 (no decoding is suppose to happen), it still displays, TrueHD (assuming the display denotes the receiver output rather than the inputed signal from the BD player). I can't imagine that the firmware update gave the BD-30 ability to decode TrueHD, but nonetheless it is working great now. Thanks!

Glad it worked for you, I figured it would probably fix your issues. For some reason it seems alot of BD players are having issues latley, not just your issue but audio cutting out, video not handshaking correctly etc. Manf. need to get there act straight and test these BD players it seems.

Your BD player decodes before going to the Reciever, but at the same time the reciever was trying to do the same thing. There may have been a confict between the two decoding wise. I guess the patch fixed it then..

Congrats, enjoy your BD viewing!!!

I been reading the forum since it was created. I received a lot of useful information from it thanks to all of its members. I have the vsx-01 and like to know is it possible to set the cross over to something else instead of the preset ones. (50,80,100 and so on). Thanks for all of the help.

Sadly thats all it gives you. It would have been a nice feature to allow crossover freq. in 1hz increments, but we all know that would just be to easy for the manf. to do.

Whats your fav. things about the VSX-01TXH? I know mine is probably the look for one, the quality of audio for another. I just got it so I'm still tinkering with it, I will say this it has a lot more features than my old VSX-816 ever had.

Glad we could help you!

Just a quick clarification. If your Blu-ray player is set to bitstream (so it's sending out TrueHD in your example), the 01 will still show TrueHD whether it is in Auto, Direct, or Pure Direct modes. The receiver is still decoding TrueHD in all three instances, but Direct means that no additional processing is applied (such as Standard or THX listening modes, SBch, etc.) and Pure Direct is the same as Direct only no MCACC settings are applied either (speaker distance, channel level, acoustic calibration).

I have another question for other owners. I was listening to a CD in my Elite 79AVi using a 2 channel analog connection and the 01 display said "96kHz Stereo." Is 96 kHz the standard CD sampling rate or is my 79 or 01 doing some sort of upsampling? It displayed this in Auto, Direct, and Pure Direct modes I believe. I don't remember the sampling rate being part of the display information on my old VSX80 with the same player.

The standard CD sampling rate is 44.1KHz. Check out the following sites:

http://support.turtlebeach.com/site/.../890612006.asp

http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~hgs/audio/44.1.html

http://communication.howstuffworks.c...g-digital3.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Boo...io_CD_standard)

Thanks for those links, I have to say I learned something.

I know my DVD player can take 16 bit and add bit depth, but I couldn't find any mention in the manual of upsampling CD's. My guess is the 01 is doing something, I just need to figure out what.

It's possible...and since you say you've never seen "96 kHz Stereo" displayed on the 01, I'm guessing it is the DVD player, which also happens to be a SACD player. I'll have to mess around with its settings.

Either way, I like how the display shows sampling frequency, in this instance and when I play a 96 kHz Blu-ray.


Also, I am now using my 01 as a pre/pro for an Emotiva UPA-7 amplifier. The setup was really simple, I connected the audio cables and just hit the SP button on the front panel to switch from SP>A to SP>OFF to turn off the internal amp (although it appears the pre-outs send a signal in both cases). I ran through the MCACC again to readjust levels and make some tweaks.

Don't let this make you think I was unhappy with the amp in the 01, on the contrary it was quite an improvement over my VSX80, but I noticed a difference in power right away. I popped in Master and Commander and was impressed by what I heard not even pushing the amp. It was so clear and crisp too. Setting up the 12V trigger was relatively easy, I just set Trigger 1 on all inputs to MAIN so whenever I power on/off the 01, the amp follows too. Now the 01 barely even gets warm (only from the processing).

Considering what I paid for my 01 and the fact that a UPA-7 can be had for $650, I think my "separates" are a great deal compared to other actual separate components. Plus, when I replace the 01 down the road, it will be self-sufficient again unlike a pre/pro. I'm pretty happy with everything...except I need to upgrade my speakers now.

I'm running into a little problem with my 01. I have my Xbox 360 hooked up via HDMI to the Reciever, settings on the Xbox are set to Dolby Digital etc. For some reason or another the reciever is showing Stereo instead of DD. Now a few days ago it showed Stereo, and then last night it showed DD, but then again today it shows Stereo. Is there a setting I'm missing or is this a handshake issue with the reciever and the Xbox 360 or is this my 360 being stupid? I will try some other games that are know DD and see if that works. The game that my GF is playing right now is Final Fantasy XI Online. Is this game buggy that anyone may know about??

Would this be a big step above the 1018? Trying to decide between those 2 and the 03txh.

The name Elite should give it away. I noticed a huge diff from the 1018 to the 01. I did a sound comparison at BB/Magnolia AV and at high volumes it was night and day. The higher quality hardware in the elites (Power Supply, Amplifier) showed its stance while watching video clips. You can read up more on these amps or call Pioneers Customer Support and ask them what the major diff are. Hopefully I helped out.

Thanks. I figured it would be. I also would like having the THX Select2 Plus if I wanted it. Now I just gotta decide between this and the 03txh.

I think at least a few people on this board, and in another forum (I can't remember where) have done some research and discovered that the 1018 and the 01 are identical on the inside as far as the power section goes. You can even get on Pioneer's website and compare the parts lists available for the two (and the 03 as well), and they are exactly the same as far as the important stuff (like the power supply you mentioned). I have no idea why they would sound different as you described, maybe the Magnolia people had them running through different EQs, or perhaps they were calibrated differently? All things point to the 1018 being an 01 "in street clothes" as one other member so eloquently put it.

EDIT: Parts list for the 1018

http://parts.pioneerelectronics.com/...m=VSX-1018AH-K

and for the 01

http://parts.pioneerelectronics.com/...lNum=VSX-01TXH

Thanks for the links. Here's the link for the 03 parts: http://parts.pioneerelectronics.com/...lNum=VSX-03TXH

I think there has always been some overlap between the top model in the regular Pioneer line and the entry level Elite models ever since the VSX-1014TX and the VSX-52TX came out back in 2004. This is what makes the top end regular Pioneers such values and makes it a somewhat tough value decision in determining whether the extra $150 to $400 in MSRP for the VSX-01TXH and the VSX-03TXH makes sense. The Elites offer you better construction (which can translate to better sound) and an additional year warranty as well as few more options in terms of connectivity.

Agreed. At least for the 1014-1017 series, the top non-Elite Pioneer has pretty much been a twin of the entry level Elite. The 10XX series has long been Pioneer's top value -- a bargain, really -- especially at street prices as they are frequently discounted more than the Elites.

However, this year Pioneer did create a distinction (in the US versions) by dropping the THX capability from the 1018 while retaining it for the 01. I was a skeptic, but got hooked on THX with my 1015, so when I bought a receiver for my daughter, I went for the 01 to retain those features. Of course, it helped that I lucked into one for only ~$30 more than the best price I've encountered so far for a 1018.

The 03 has a few upgrades over the 01 (aluminum front panel, HDMI jitter reduction, an additional digital input, etc.) but I couldn't rationalize them being worth a ~$150 premium (street), although in my setup the extra input would be missed. (YMMV) Oddly, the 1018 has the extra input missing from the 01.

The basic chassis is the same on all three, though, and there is no reason to believe one would sound different than another. Still, there is no discounting the "feel good" effect of a better brand in audio. I'll admit I'm more comfortable with an Elite than a non-Elite, and I'm willing to pay a bit more for it, even though my brain tells me it shouldn't matter.

I can get this receiver for $50 more than the 1018 (and either one comes in at well under $500 from my dealer). Is the 01 worth the $50 price difference? From what I can see in this thread, the biggest plus is THX while the biggest minus would be no upconverting (although I'm not sure I care about that since I will be running a PS3). The additional year of warranty coverage is also nice.

We all have our own priorities, but to me the $50 would be well spent on the 01. IMO, at that differential, the 01 is the sweet spot for value in the Pioneer AVR lineup this year.

But I'll admit up-converting is a non-issue for me, as I actually prefer a receiver that just passes video signals without processing. The other equipment in my chain does it as well or better than most receivers on the market. That said, I'm not aware of any difference between the two in that regard. If the Pioneer website is to be believed (and it does contain some mistakes), both employ the Genesis Faroudja DCDi chip to up-convert analog signals to HDMI. That seems a little surprising to me, as I would have expected Pioneer to incorporate the proprietary technology they use in their TVs rather than license someone else's.