*Official* Denon AVR 2309CI/889 Thread - Page 52

with the volume knob of course!

the best way would be to find a simple MP3 which had a test tone, then you could play the test tone via both methods and see if there is a volume mismatch (using an SPL meter). you may find that one is off by 5dB or whatever, and if you put them both in STEREO mode and tweak the volume every time you switch, the difference dissappears.

that's my theory and I'm stickin' to it!

what speakers do you have?

SO is there a way to edit the levels of the PL II Music setting itself, to match the Dolby Digital setting?

I'm going to be quite disappointed if I can't get the same exact file to sound as good coming from the Media Center vs. the Xbox Media Player. Maybe I need to point this question to an Xbox thread.

Does anyone know how to display video while listening to a source w/o video?

Ie, I want to listen to music from my laptop while displaying the TV...

So, I plugged my RCA inputs in to my CD input from my airport express.. then I went in to the settings for CD and put video source as TV/CBL (which is connected to my STB and is working properly), but didn't get video...

then, thinking that it won't display video because it's an audio input, I tried setting V.AUX to display the source from TV/CBL, but that doesn't seem to work either.. it just gets no signal. Anyone attempted anything like this?

read my FAQ, sir. your answer is maybe five questions down... I'm assuming your stb is hooked up with HDMI?

lol, as luck would have it, of course!! Guess I'll have to run a second set of cables for the component input.

Thanks for your help, Batpig! (and speedy reply)

We just purchased the Denon 889 and are wondering if it can be setup with an RF remote? If yes, what connections are used?

Hi cb, welcome. Just search this thread (upper right of the page) for "RF remote" and you will find several suggestions. There is probably more on the 1909 thread too (a good resource for you since this thread is not nearly as long), and that info would almost all apply to your model.

batpig? Can you edit the volume of the sound modes such as the Dolby PL II, Dolby Digital, etc...? Is that what you were referring to? I'm not understanding why I can't just set the mode to that Dolby Digital mode when I play the music in the "Media Center"? Why its not an option.

I think I explained it pretty clearly before, why don't you re-read my last post until it makes total sense to you.


The key thing you need to understand is that IT IS STEREO TWO CHANNEL either way. Your Xbox is just doing something where it tricks the receiver into thinking it gets dolby digital, there is no such thing as the "Dolby Digital mode" for stereo music. The only reason the receiver says "Dolby Digital" is that it's being tricked into doing so.

When it gets the correct two-channel signal from Media Center, it defaults to Pro Logic mode which is an artificial matrix mode. I bet if you turned it off and just put the receiver in STEREO mode it would sound normal.

Anyway, you don't even have a xbox right now, so don't sweat it. You are obsessing about a non-problem. Just wait until you get the coffin back and you can experiment a little and verify what I'm saying, until then don't worry about it.

Can anyone check if you can apply Dolby Pro Logic IIx processing to a 96 kHz Dolby TrueHD 5.1 input signal? The John Mayer Blu-ray is a good source. My current receiver can't do this with anything over 48 kHz. Thanks.

I've had my 2309 for almost a month. I love it. I ran Audyssey and it worked very well. I would like to tweak the sound a little bit by bringing out the center channel and adding a little more treble. I read and reread the manual and I'm just not seeing a way to do this. I'm confused and obviously missing something. Any suggestions?

This has been answered a number of times now, both in this thread most recently here as well as just yesterday in the 1909 thread here. Everyone should keep in mind that general questions like this can be searched (and answers generally found) in any of the other 2009 Denon model threads as well. The 1909 and 2809 threads have many more posters and provide a wealth of information. The "Search This Thread" button is located in the upper right of your display and entering key words like "center channel" will result in posts on that subject to include both of the posts listed above.

Everyone, I'm hoping you can help me out... I don't have the time to read through 50+ pages, but I have a simple question about a crazy problem.

Background info: I'm using the AVR-889 with my Sony 50A2020 RPTV, my Klipsch Quintet SL speakers, Klipsch SUB-12 subwoofer, and the Panny BD35 and Toshiba A35 blu-ray and HD DVD players.

When there is a loud noise in a movie (judge dies in her car in Dark Knight, loud gun shots), my system powers off completely. It's happened three times now, most recently last night, when I couldn't get it to come back on without powering off again immediately (through about 15 minutes of trying). I called Denon last week, and they assured me that "the machine is doing its job" in turning off because a signal could hurt the machine or speakers. I made sure my settings were as they told me, and they are. They also said to recalibrate the speakers, which I haven't done. They told me to keep the volume below -10, but frankly, that's sort of tough to do with certain films and shows. And, if I spent money to have a system that can output loud noises, why shouldn't I be able to do so?

Has this happened to anyone else? I don't understand what's going on here. I'm going to call Denon again Monday, but I just want to check and see what you all think. I'm this close to selling the 889 and going back to Onkyo, even though I have loved the 889 except for this one problem.

Thanks so much for any advice!

What volume setting are you using? Those speakers are fairly efficient with a sensitivity of 91/93 @ 8 ohms so going much above -10 would be REALLY loud!

And if they suggested redoing the AUTO Setup ... why not try that?

also bookmark my website, instructions for changing individual speaker levels is the 4th or 5th question in my FAQ.

for the treble, have you tried the Audyssey FLAT curve instead of standard Audyssey? The regular audyssey room EQ has a gentle high frequency roll-off, whereas the FLAT curve is, well, flat! so it will have more pronounced treble.

for 2-ch. music, you may also want to try the Restorer HQ (mode 3), I find this mode livens up the highs quite a bit.

yes it has happened, I don't recall whether it was the 2809 thread or this one but there have definitely been posters who found that during huge dynamic passages the Denon would shut itself down. I believe for one person it happened even when using the 2809 as a pre/pro!! (no amps!)

For these people, I believe they found that it was the combination of a specific volume number and the loud passage in a particular movie. Like, they could replay the scene at -8 and it would shut down, but if they were at -9 or below they would be fine...

Anyway, as JD says, the bottom like is volumes of -10 are higher should be ridiculously loud!!! The Klipsch Quintet are teeny tiny speakers, and tiny sub/sat systems are not designed to produce ridiculous SPL levels in anything more than a tiny room. How big is your room that you need to drive the volume to -10 or more?? And if it is larger than "small", I humbly suggest the root of the problem may be expecting room-filling, reference quality sound from tiny satellite speakers. What are the crossovers set at?

Ok I got a NEW Xbox, and sent off the old one to be fixed. I will experiment over the next few days. One thing I've noticed about the 2309CI that is different than when I had the 3805 is the volume levels are different, like what was audibly "low" on the 3805 -50, is now about -30 on the 2309. Maybe because I used the microphone and the Audussy setup on the 2309 and didn't use that on the 3805? Anyway, I'll continue to play with the music and see what I can figure out.

I am new to this site and have a question regarding the 2309CI vs 1909. I have reviewed specs and it appears the main differences are one more HDMI input and 10W per channel more power. I have a room about 15x20 with 12 ft ceilings. Currently I have a Sony ES AVR delivering 120w per channel but it is about 9 years old and lacking HDMI and several other tech improvements. My questions are as follows:
- Will the 1909 or 2309 have enough power to handle room size?
- Since I have found the 2309 almost as cheap as the 1909 are there any performance issues with the 2309? Are there any other significant differences between the 2 models?
- My 46" Samsung LCD is only 720P (not 1080P). Will the upscaling feature improve the resolution for my non HD channels? I already have a upscaling DVD player with Faroudja chip so will there be any difference running the signal through the receiver?
Thanks much.
Robusto

Hmmm....thanks guys for the feedback. I really appreciate your taking the time to help me out.

I haven't tried redoing the auto setup because it takes time and I haven't had it. I may do it soon, but my schedule doesn't leave me a lot of time.

My room is pretty standard size for a living room, not too huge but not too small either...about 17'x14'. The Denon guy told me to set the crossovers at 80Hz, and that's where they're at now. The speaker sizes are all set to small as well, which is what they told me. They also had me set the sub mode to LFE+Main.

Even if it's true that it's "too loud" I find it tough to believe that my Onkyo 604 didn't have any such problem before I traded up, so to speak. I know I'm not very knowledgeable about this stuff, but I expected more.

Furthermore, as of this afternoon, the thing will NOT even stay on. Even with no information passing through, it powered up and powered down immediately. Something seems very wrong with this situation.

that is the protection circuit, it's possible that there was some fault wiring or a short somewhere and you fried an amp. if you disconnect everything and the amp still powers down immediately, you need service.

fyi - 80Hz is way too low for those speakers, what did Audyssey set them at? and why on earth would a Denon rep tell you to lower them below what Audyssey did?

Robusto - welcome. You should review my FAQ and setup guide, linked in my sig. In the first post of the 1909/789 thread is a condensed version of my FAQ, and I give a specific feature breakdown of 1909 vs. 2309.


maybe, depends on the speakers but you're probably fine. I went from a Sony DA555ES to my current AVR 888 and it's just fine.


Read through the Video/HDMI section of my FAQ, the short answer is "don't worry about the video scaling in the receiver".

The same reason the rep said to set the sub to LFE+Main even though all speakers are set to SMALL. Most likely the rep was from Texas and as noted in the past ... the Texas reps are clueless.

So are you guys saying I should revert back to what I had? It's obviously been worse since I called them.

I had my sub set for the other setting (not LFE+Main), and I had one of the crossovers at 120, while the others were at 80. After my phone call, I changed them all to 80.

Should I try to change them back?

Your (3) LCR speakers have a low end of 80hz so they should probably be at 90-100+, however, the (2) satellites have a low end of 120hz, and therefore should be at 130-140+. Although you shouldn't go lower than what AUTO Setup sets them at.

Ok - I installed this beast Saturday and after getting audio just thru the TV (after changing the setting to AMP and cancelling out the TV audio), I resorted to component cables after about 2 hours of trying different setting and reading the manual. I thought carried both signals. TV is the Cosco 50" Panny.

Also, no flames please, doesn't this model upconvert 720 to 1080? Is this done thru setup?

ps. I've printed out and read half of this thread and now will do the remainer. I think this is a unit but I wish it wasn't so GD deep. It barely fits in my cabinet.

HDMI does indeed carry both audio and video, however, the video is not upscaled, rather just passed through. Upscaling occurs only with analog video cables (eg component). Although if your Panny is a 1080p, then it's already doing the upscaling so there's no need for the Denon to do it. Most likely you just have a setting problem.

Wow, I cannot turn the machine on now without it firing off in 3 seconds. No way to even change the settings back. Unreal. I'm going to call them now.

It should only take about 10 minutes for the AVR to cool down after turning off via the Protection Circuit. Definitely sounds like you've got a defective AVR.

Are you sure you don't have shorted speaker wires? Check your connections.

JD, that is freaking awesome! I copied your screenshot cropping of the Search Thread icon and will use it liberally in the threads I frequent. Good show!