Official VSX-01TXH and VSX-03TXH Owners Thread - Page 101

Lefty, I don't think the AVR will pass audio via HDMI while it's turned off. One option to use only the TV speakers is to run the HDMI cable from the DTV box to the TV & run an optical/digital coax cable from the DTV box to the AVR. That way you can watch TV w/o turning the AVR on & still get 5.1 from your DTV box when you need to.

I would run the Bluray to the AVR with just the HDMI b/c you'll probably want to get the uncompressed audio for BD anyway.

New to the forum....I have a VSX-03TXH that has a Tivo HD connected to the BD input via HDMI. Whenever I turn the receiver on (When it was shutoff on the BD input), shortly after powering on, it switches by itself to the TV/SAT input. Anyone know why this happens?

^^^

yes, you have kuro link turned on... turn it off and this will stop happening...

I have a TiVoHD into HDMI 1, which I assigned to TV/SAT.

This is concerning the 05/07 series receivers and Pioneer customer service is extremely frustrating! Call them anyway. Your receivers have the same issues and they need to fix it. The 05 and 25 are getting the newer firmware to fix the above issues though.

Okay, concerning the fix for the DD+ hddvd audio dropouts and the low volume on DTS- HD 2.0 tracks, there is a new firmware coming out next week that fixes the above issues!

After getting extremely frustrated talking to Pioneer customer service as they are saying these are not issues with the 05/07 receivers, yet they obviously were an issue with the 25/27 due to the newer firmware that fixes them. We all know there is very little difference between the 05 and 25 and these DD+ audio dropout issue have been prevelent since the 90 series receivers. Don't tell me I don't have a problem when I can hear it with my own ears! If the Toshiba was causing the problem as Pioneer customer service claims why are the only receiver's affected from Pioneer. Not one receiver besides the Pioneer has any dropout issues. Yet the new firmware from Pioneer for the 25 fixes the Toshiba problem LOL! Their customer service reps are such jackasses that love to pull the wool over your eyes! Don't tell me the SC-25 is an entirely different receiver than the 05 like I am an idiot! There is very little difference between the chips or processing! Also when other Pioneer comsumers are claiming the same issues don't tell me it is not an issue and I am the only one experiencing the problem. Best part he told me to buy a non Pioneer bluray player to bypass the DTS-HD problem LOL?

All I asked was the problem be duplicated using the Grumpy Old Men combo disc with the BDP-05FD and SC-05. They flat out refused! Let me tell you 5 years ago this would have never been an issue! I would have gotten a call back within a few days concerning the issue replicated in California with the results. I have done it on many occasions going back to the early days of dvd with their products concerning glitches here and there. Their customer service in the last few years has been nothing short of horrible. They wouldn't record the problem in their computers or give me a case # concerning the problem!

So I called Chris Walker from Pioneer and he couldn't have been nicer and I was extremely impressed! I explained the glitches in the receiver concerning the DD+ audio dropouts and the 2.0 DTS-HD volume problem and told him of the new firmware the 25/27 series receivers just got that fixed both of these issues! He takes down the info and the disc to test the problem and mentions he call his contact in Japan concerning the issue. He confirmed the new FW is in Japan at the moment and will hit the states next week fixing the same issues FW 1.041 did for the 25/27.

We had a great talk about many issues. New bluray players and receivers to come out in the Fall. All 3-D compatible. Newer features to I can't repeat here. Think features the competion has. Don't expect SACD or DVD Audio, they are sticking with BD 3.0 or bluray audio as the next best thing. There should be alot of newer products at the Cedia show and finally the bluray players should be faster than the tortoise they currently are.

There are drop out problems w/ the 01? First time I've heard of this...

I'm hoping someone on this forum can help me out. I have a Pioneer VSX-03TXH, Pioneer KURO PRO-111FD, and a Cox Communications HDTV DVR cable box. I've connected the cable box to the receiver and the receiver to the TV using HDMI. This setup used to work with occassional dropped signals and the TV going blank but turning back on. My cable box recently went bad and I exchanged it for a new one. Now the picture and sound on the TV is cutting in and out. So much so, that you get to see maybe 1 second of the picture before it cuts out.

In order to diagnose the problem, I connected the cable box directly to the TV and the picture is fine with no interruptions. Therefore, the HDMI cables should be fine. The complication comes when I go through the VSX-03TXH. Does anyone know what the problem is? Is the cable signal not strong enough to go through the receiver? Is the signal somehow not compatible with the receiver? Why did it use to work but now doesn't? Any help is greatly appreciated.

Researcher

Look back in this thread around April-May, search for DD+. It was broadly discussed. At that time Pio CS blamed the Toshiba HD DVD player and the user consensus was pretty much, so what HD DVD is dead.

^^^

+1... in many pio threads...

dead format with obvious workaround, most of us moved on...

obviously someone didn't though, since he feels the need to replicate the same post(s) in EVERY pio thread...

Hmmm, I guess I vaguely remember that.

My 01 is still pluggin' along just fine w/ my PS3.

The only thing I've really come to hate is how different MCACC can't have different speaker settings (small/large, and x-over points).

Hey guys, curious if anyone can help me with prob a dumb question. I'm using my 01 with my PS3 and 5.1 setup connected via HDMI. I'm a bit lost with all the settings and am wondering what I should set it to in order to get the best possible sound while watching a Bluray. Right now the front say BDP PCM, is pcm the best setting or should I have it some sort of THX or Dolby setting?? I also have it set with "stream direct".... Again sorry for such a newb q, but I would sure appreciate the advice/help!
Slcpilot

anyone know if the VSX-01 has dolby headphone as the headphone surround setting?

I have tried to find info but the mnaula seems to lack as well as google

Nope, I'm a fan of DH as well, and it was one of the main reasons I decided to try the Harman Kardon AVR254 which was about the worst experience with any A/V equipment I ever had. Too bad very few receivers offer DH. DTS Surround Sensation, after YEARS of marketing and promises, finally is available on TotalMedia Theatre (PC software player), and it's as effective as DH from what I can tell. Hopefully either of these two will be higher-profile in the near future.

Headphone virtualization in the Pioneers sucks.

Regarding DD+, it's also a bluray format, it's just that no one has used it (yet?). And also, it's in the ATSC spec, and some people are saying that some cable/sat companies are planning to use it in the near future. I have a Dolby bluray test disc with it on. Anyone by any chance tested DD+ on bluray with these receivers?

It's also not impossible that the problem was with the player, and not the receiver, even if only Pioneer had the issue. Recently we at the HTPC forums thought Pioneer had some bitstreaming trouble with ffdshow's newly cooked bitstreaming capabilities, cause we were getting dropouts on HD audio but others with other receivers weren't. Turned out that Pioneer was following more strictly the bitstreaming specs, and the other receivers seemingly just let some stuff that wasn't "right" through, so when the ffdshow developer realized it, he was able to fix it.

Thx.

I bought an Astro Mixamp to use with Sennheiser 555. THis has DH. I guess I setup an optical out to use it and see how it sounds on movies. I bought the MIxamp for my 2nd PS3 for gaming.
http://www.astrogaming.com/products/detail/69/MixAmp/

You would have to get the mixamp connected directly to the source though, cause I don't think the VSX will encode DD out of its optical output, and I'm not even sure if it will pass through the DD stream from the source (maybe it could).

Another thing is that the mixamp won't decode DTS sources, right? I use he JVC SU-DH1, but it seems to have been discontinued.

I could not find the JVC and so the Mixamp was the only option.

I did not realize that pioneer had a wireless 5.1 headphone

I would not try t orun an optical out to mixamp, just go from my PS3 directly to mixamp then use the headphones...but now that you suggested I may try to use the VSX01 and see what happens.

THx again

Let us know if it works.

There are several wireless headphones with DH, now that I take a look at them. The DH ones (as opposed to multi-driver ones which suck) seem to be coming out of big names like Panasonic and Pioneer (possibly Sony as well). I haven't had the best experience with IR wireless though, and RF 2.4 GHz seems like a bad idea, especially if it's not a digital transmission.

I will. The choices seemed limited esp. if you wanted voice with DH. Turtle Beach has a nice option for Xbox 360 but all I saw was the Mixamp for the PS3(but btw astro no longer includes the adapter to allow any headphone and mic work...it costs $10 plus $10 shipping)

So I've been having an issue with this receiver since pretty much Day 1, that I have been trying to fix on my own but cannot, so maybe someone here can help me.

There seems to be too much bass coming from the vocals from the center channel. It makes the vocals sound muffled and not as clear as they should be. I've run MCACC several times, and it always sounds that way. The only thing I can think of that can be an issue is that MCACC sets all my speakers to large, when they are in fact small bookshelf speakers. After MCACC is done I change them all to small, but it doesn't help. But I'm wondering if since MCACC thinks they are large, it has set the EQ accordingly as if they were large speakers? The reason I think that is because if I turn off the EQ entirely from the audio parameter button, the bass in the vocals goes away entirely and the vocals are crystal clear. Of course when the EQ off completely, it sounds terrible. The vocals are very tinny and just sound "off". It's hard to describe but anyone who has ever turned off the EQ entirely knows what I am talking about. But the fact that the bass is gone leads me to believe that it is an EQ issue.

So my question is, how can I adjust the EQ to try and get rid of this? I've found the EQ settings in the menu, but I don't understand anything about EQ in order to try and correct it myself. I'm hoping someone with more knowledge can give some suggestions on what to try.

Thanks.

^^^

nope, not a problem switching "large" to "small"...

where is your center speaker positioned?

I have an acoustically transparent screen, and the center is positioned right behind it, about 38" off the floor, and 4" back from the screen. I had the same issue when the center was on below the screen as well.

Any helpful hints on changing the EQ?

woops double post

ok, just checking on the speaker position... no offense intended, it's just sometimes people have their poor speaker crammed in a hole in their cabinet and wonder how come it doesn't sound good...

re: eq. can you post the eq numbers from mcacc so we can take a look at those?

from your description (bass in the vocals goes away), it sounds like the mid-range is where the issue is... let's take a look at the numbers and go from there...

No offense taken, I have seen and read about some terrible setups.

Here are the numbers from the EQ Data Check for the center speaker. If you were looking for something else let me know where it is.

63Hz: ---
125Hz: +7.5
250Hz: +1.5
500Hz: -4.0
1kHz: -4.5
2kHz: +1.5
4kHz: -4.5
8kHz: -0.5
16kHz: -3.0
TRIM: +3.0

Thanks for your help.

That doesn't look very good. Right off the bat 125 Hz seems very high and 500 Hz and 1 kHz seem very low. Have you tried moving the mic a little bit? Also, which MCACC mode are you using? There are 3 auto MCACC modes, the normal one (I think it's SYMMETRY), then there's another one, and then there's the ALL CH ADJ, which is the better one. SYMMETRY will EQ your speakers in pairs, the second one will not EQ your fronts and only all the others according to them, and ALL CH ADJ will EQ each individually.

I put the mic on the chair where my head would go, should it be somewhere else?

I just plug in the microphone, and a menu pops up and I click Enter and it starts. I am looking at it now and I see that you can choose custom and change some values, but I have no idea what to set here.

If I click Custom, I have to choose between ALL, Keep SP system, Speaker setting, channel level, speaker distance, or EQ pro & s-wave. All shows all of them, so I assume I should run this one? I I click Enter to ALL, it shows a screen that makes me believe it is saving 3 different settings. It shows SYMMETRY for M1.memory 1, ALL CH ADJ for M2.memory 2, FRONT ALIGN to M3.memory 3, and then THX speaker, which is set to No. I click the return button, and it shows that it is saving SYMMETRY to M1.MEMORY 1, but doesn't mention the others.

So I'm not sure if maybe it is running all 3 MCACCs, and saving them to 3 different settings. It seems to imply that one the one page, but then when I hit return it makes it seem like it is only running SYMMETRY and not the others.

Help......

OK so I can it again using the CUSTOM mode at looks like it saves 3 different sets of presets. Here is the EQ of the center channel from the ALL CH ADJ results:

63Hz: ---
125Hz: +7.5
250Hz: +1.5
500Hz: -5.0
1kHz: -5.0
2kHz: +1.0
4kHz: -4.5
8kHz: -1.0
16kHz: -1.5
TRIM: +4.0

Still sounds the same. Oh and the EQ for the SYMMETRY one is the exact same. The FRONT ALLIGN actually sounds less bassy in the vocals, but sounds similar to the tinny sound I get with no EQ. Here are its settings:

63Hz: ---
125Hz: +4.5
250Hz: +5.0
500Hz: -3.0
1kHz: -2.0
2kHz: +1.0
4kHz: -1.5
8kHz: -1.0
16kHz: -4.5
TRIM: +1.0

If anyone can suggest some manual EQ changes to try, I'm all for it. I have no idea what to adjust.

OK I am learning a bit more. It looks like others recommend running auto, and then fixing any speaker setting issues (like changing from large to small), and then running an auto mcacc with CUSTOM and choosing KEEP SP SETTINGS. I did this and now have this for center:

63Hz: ---
125Hz: +7.5
250Hz: +0.5
500Hz: -4.5
1kHz: -5.0
2kHz: +1.0
4kHz: -3.0
8kHz: -1.5
16kHz: -1.5
TRIM: +3.5

So not horribly different. And of course still too much bass in the vocals.

ARRGH!!!

You're pointing the mic upwards right? It seems like the sound is getting mucked on its way to the mic, or the mic may be positioned in a particular place where it yields those results. Unfortunately the receiver can only do so much, and room limitations are always a factor, this just tries to minimize it. Try setting the mic in a different place, if you haven't yet. Even if you move it slightly it may yield different results.

When you play the noise in the EQ settings, do all speakers sound more or less balanced, or is there an obvious timbre mismatch between them?

Also, is it possible to try calibration with the speaker in front of the screen? Which set of speakers do you have by the way?