The "official" The Onkyo TX-SR706 Owners Thread - Page 3

You can only select PLII if the incoming signal is 2 channel. Probably the broadcast you were watching last week was either DD 2.0 or 2 channel PCM, and the broadcast this week was DD 5.1.

Ok thanks. I gave PLII a shot last weekend and found I liked it better than DD.

I was pretty excited to finally get a THX receiver but I haven't been impressed with the THX modes. The sound isn't as exciting as DD or PLII IMO.

So I haven't been able to find to many reviews on this receiver and I'm still trying to decide if I should keep it. For those with it, what made you choose it over other one's at the same price point?

Well, i like the following features of the 706:

THX Loudness Plus (i use it late at night frequently and need to use low volumes)

Music Optimizer for Compressed Music Files

Nice looking setup menu

man i really want this unit to be trouble free but it looks like it isn't

Do you also use Audyssey Dynamic EQ? Can you compare/comment on the effect they each have on low-volume listening?

I'm a little confused by the manual, if I'm sending audio from my PS3 over HDMI in PCM format, can I use any of the DSP modes? It looks like you can depending on whether or not your using the full 192kHz Dolby TrueHD or not.

I'm also assuming from research that if I set my cable and PS3 to 1080i, I can simply have the receiver pass the signal unmolested to the tv correct?

What is loudness plus?

I'm guessing it's in the set up menu? I don't see an toggle button on the remote. I have to listen to a lot of stuff a low volumes and am not getting the clarity I expected from my new speakers and reciever.

Press the Audio button on the remote and then the Up arrow until you get to Late Night. Then press the Right arrow.

I have just done a comparion and i agree with sexon. Dynamic EQ provides richer sound at low volumes compared to THX Loudness Plus.


It is under: Setup > Speaker Setup > THX Audio Setup

I am on my 2nd 706. The Audyssey did not work properly on the first one. On the second one the Audyssey also did not work properly. I bought the receiver from OneCall.com. I called Onkyo tech support on both ocassions and they spent about 2 minutes with me and told me to return them both. I just got off the phone with a OneCall tech support guy. They were willing to pay the return shipping on my 2nd return but the tech guy had this crazy theory that the cube satellite speakers which point in different directions were cancelling the sound in the Audyssey mic. At this point I was willing to try anything, so I adjusted the speaker to point in the same direction and to my astonishment I was able to calibrate using Audyssey. I them moved the speaker back to the original position and I was still able to calibrate it so I don't know if it was just a coincidence or if he was somehow right. I had read an earlier post here that said they could not get Audyssey to work properly at first but after a week it worked. Perhaps it needed a burn-in period was the thought.

As for the sound after using Audyssey - WOW what a difference. I really didn't expect it to be so dramatic. I agree with earlier post that the low volume listening after using Audyssey is greatly improved. Now I gotta dig in a explore some other features.

I just purchased a 706 at CC as they had a good price taking into account the coupon and web discount. Given the issues I have read about, i wanted the ability to return the unit if I had an issue. I was replacing an integra 7.1 unit that is about 7 years old.

I have not yet setup the audio with audy, i spent last night working on getting everything else setup and working. So far I'm quite impressed, I use a PS3 for dvd and have comcast cable. Its nice to finally run everything through HDMI. I have everything set to 1080i/1080p and set the receiver to through to my panny plasma. I have no issues what so ever with lipsinc on any devices. Pic quality is perfect and the HD sound tracks on bluray are quite impressive, I was blown away by pirates of the Car. in the extra detail in the sound.

The setup and onscreen menu's are easy to use and intuitive. The top of the unit does get hot, I might see about getting a fan to be safe.

Overall, for ~$700, I'm quite impressed, I'm curious to see what audy does when I set that up this weekend. Hopefully it works properly as I really like the receiver.

I had a chance to play with the Audy feature this morning and the setup seemed to work flawlessly. I want to play with my sub woofer placement but that has nothing to do with the performance of the settings. No issues with detecting the speakers or proper crossover settings.

I really cranked transformers after the setup and was impressed. DolbyHD really uses the back channels more which is great, especially when your running only 5.1. the receiver does get hot when you push it, but that appears to be normal for these newer onkyo's.

I'm very pleased with the 706, its more power than I need, has great calibration features and clean hdmi integration.

Thank you very much for your review of this product. I am still trying to decide if I want this receiver or not. Your review has pushed me further to the side of ownership. But others seem to have had many problems with theirs which still makes me nervous.

Thanks,
Jim

Does any one lose signal when watching a DVD ran through the receiver? It's happened quite a few times since I got mine. I'll be watching a DVD and all the sudden the screen will go blank and my TV says "Looking for signal". During this time I am still getting audio though. After a few seconds the picture comes back.

I have my DVD player hooked up via S-video and HMDI out to the TV. In the set up I have the recevier output set to 10080p.

That has never happened to me, but my DVD player is hooked up to the receiver via an HDMI cable.

Do you think it's an issue with the receiver or just a S-Video to HDMI conversion issue?

I don't know for sure, but is sounds like a conversion issue. As an experiment, you might try connecting the DVD player to the receiver with a composite video cable and see if you have the same problem.

I haven't had that issue with my unit.

Question about the listening modes.

I'm running my PS3 PCM into the receiver so as to get Dolby TrueHD. normally the display says multichannel (which I know is normal) however, I notice I can also choose other modes such as THX cinema.

My question is this. The Onkyo manual shows that you can use the listening modes for Dolby TrueHD, but not for Dolby True HD 192kHz. What exactly is the difference between Dolby TrueHD and Dolby TrueHD 192kHz? Iron man seems to stream at 48KHz to the receiver, are some movies encoded in 192khz?

The sound is much better when I can use the THX listening mode, but I want to make sure I'm getting the best quality sound. THX Cinema seems to give the most punch. Just streaming the sound PCM through multichannel seems to be very bass heavy without the mid range and bass punch.

Does receiver just suck? I own one and it appears to be great, but this forum is no where as active as the 606 or even 806.

I'm very interested in this receiver, and I see that for those who have been able to get Audyssey to calibrate, it works well and they are happy with the receiver's performance.

I like 4 HDMI inputs, and I particularly like the phono input (LOTS of vinyl in my basement!), but I'm still concerned about a lack of input "slots" for lack of a better word. As I read the manual, if you use an HDMI input, you must "map" it to a "named" input, like DVD, CBL/SAT or some other. Therefore, (excluding the front AUX input) you can only have 4 A-V components connected, is that correct?

I intended to connect to the HDMI inputs my (1) Blu-ray player, (2) HD DVD player, (3) FIOS HD-STB/DVR, and (4) region-free upconverting DVD player. I additionally have (5) multi-region/multisystem VHS VCR and (6) LaserDisc player.

I thought that I could just connect the first four devices to the HDMI connectors, and the other two to the A-V connections for VCR/DVR and DVD (for the LD player), but I am coming to the conclusion that I will be unable to select all of these inputs from the remote or front panel, since the HDMI sources will have to be "assigned" to the four A-V positions.

Am I right? Am I SOL? Am I going to need an external switcher to connect all 6 video components?

Well, as I read the manual more closely, I believe I have a workaround. On page 24, it discusses signal selection. If I understand correctly, I can have (as an example) assigned to the "DVD" input (1) my DVD player via HDMI1, (2) my LD player connected to the "DVD" S-Video and "DVD" R/L RCA audio input jacks, and (3) my LD player's Digital audio output assigned to "DVD" via Coax 1.

If I understand correctly, in this circumstance, if I select the "DVD" input, the receiver will process (and pass through) the HDMI1 video and audio ONLY IF the DVD player is on and sending an HDMI stream. If I have the DVD player off, it will next process the S-Video signal from my LD player and either the Coax Digital Audio (preferentially) or the L/R Audio inputs (if no digital signal is detected), right?

So as long as I turn on the correct SOURCE device, the receiver can handle several video and audio inputs on a single "Input". Am I correct?

Hmmm.... I'm liking this receiver more and more.

Anyone did try a component video cable from DVD player to upconverse 1080P through 706 receiver yet? Thanks for posting your experience.

I'm still having issues with running my DVD player through the AVR. The connection is Component in - HDMI out.

During every movie I watch, the picture cuts out and my TV says "Looking for Signal". The audio still works during this time. It only lasts about 3-5 seconds but it's annoying. With older movies it happens 5-7 times during a movie and with newer movies it happens 1-2 times.

I called Onkyo and they haven't heard of this issue and want me to try a reset. Hopefully that works. Going to lose all my settings though which sucks. On the plus side their support tech was very nice and ensured me they would get the issue resolved.

I'm considering the 705 and the 706. I'm just wondering if I should spend the extra $120 to get the 706. I don't care about video up-conversion or an extra HDMI. The 705 has enough. What I'm wondering about is sound quality, is there any difference. Any difference in amps or DAC's and what are the extra THX, etc. modes the 706 has and how do they benefit me over the 705. Thanks!

check if your Audio TV Out is set To ON (in the HDMI settings section), the Speaker setup will gray out i think

I'm having a similar issue on component-hdmi, but on my Wii. I nailed it down to something specific. It seems to be something to do with the component's sensitivity/reference level. Symptoms:

1) Highlights are squashed. For example, on the wii's message screen, you cannot see the envelope borders or the lines in the "paper". Other screens that are supposed to be striped in white/light color are also just white. anti-aliased fonts look funky because the borders transition too harshly into white, etc. It's easy to see this if you look at some snow photos - they all look plain white.

2) Any screen that's "too white" causes the receiver to lose signal. I know it's the receiver because it outputs the blue screen after the TV is done resyncing. Some examples on the wii are the white transition screens, the message screen, and any webpage with white background.

3) as soon as I "darken" the screen (e.g. press home button on wii, which will fade to dark) the signal gets back.

4) The signal loss only happens on component (either 480p or 480i). On composite the highlights are still squashed, but there's no loss of signal.

5) Even on component, it doesn't happen always. It seems to happen more once the receiver is warmed up. After reading your msg I tried a reset (my speaker was already cold), and it seemed to help with the dropouts for a bit (highlights still squashed, but no dropouts), but once it warmed up the dropouts came back. I tried resetting again to no avail.

What I presume is happening is that the white reference level/sensitivity is off, which could cause all light colors to be clipped to white, and real white to be off bounds. The upscaler may be able to deal with small "too white" parts, but once a screen has too much white, the receiver detects the whole signal as "out of bounds" and drops the signal.

You can try recording a disc with all-white jpegs (and some with very light gray detail, e.g. snow pictures), to check if your issue is similar to mine.

I have a TX-SR705 and I downloaded the manual for the 706. I noticed from the manual that there is a new listening mode (DTS Express). What does this do exactly?
It sounds like if I bitstream audio from the player that selecting this listening mode the AVR will mix the secondary audio content and allow me to listen to mixed content as in BD profile 1.1 and 2.0 features. Am I correct? Has any 706 owners tried this yet. This could be great if it did mix the audio. Then I could bitstream all codecs.

I'm not sure what DTS Express is, but it won't do what you are thinking/want it to do. To get the multiple audio streams on a BD the decoding has to happen in the player, it cannot be bitstreamed.