The "Official" Pioneer VSX-1019AH Owner's Thread - Page 6

I read all six pages, so forgive the stupid question:

Does the 1019 decode DVD-A and SACD over HDMI? In the specs, it says:

HDMI DVD-Audio Transfer
HDMI SACD Transfer

The word "Transfer" threw me off. Does that mean decode/play? I'd love to be able to connect my Oppo player for my DVD-A discs.

-Chad

Yes. Just make sure Kuro Link is off. I have a macbook setup this way

Reading the manual for this tonight and I can't seem to figure out if this receiver accepts a 7.1 analog signal through the multi-channel inputs? The PDF files says of you have a 7.1 DVD player the players "back surround" are not used?

For real? This 7.1 receiver cannot accept an analog 7.1 input?

Thats right, it only has 5.1 analog inputs.

This problem is bugging me. I have VSX-919 connected to a Panasonic Plasma and Samsung BDp-1600 blu-ray player. All connections are HDMI. Yesterday I put BDP-1600 on pause to take a phone call and to my surprise, there was no sound after I restarted the playback. What I found that I needed to switch signal to another input and switch back to BD to get sound back. Does it sound like an HDMI issue or something wrong with the receiver?

Either an HDMI handshake issue or (more likely, in my opinion) you have Kuro Link set to on.

Dang, that sucks. Guess that goes for the VSX-919 as well?

You still get the 7.1 inputs if you want them, but your source has to be HDMI, I guess. The speakers can be still set up for 7.1 out.

In my setup, I am less interested in 7.1 than in multiple zones, so it works for me. I wanted to switch over from a multi-analog to HDMI anyways, so this is not a problem for me. I only have 5.1 speakers now, so it's not a critical problem. I am looking forward to using the iPod stuff in one zone and the 5.1 outs in my family room.

What "features" do you miss out on with the Kuro-link if you don't have a Pioneer Kuro tv? Is it basically that the remotes will work on both the TV and AVR and that's it?


That wouldn't necessarily eliminate a remote because I use the DirecTV remote for both satellite and TV controls, so I'll always have a 2nd for the AVR remote.

Bought 100' of 14 gauge - 15' for fronts (L,C & R) with about 25' each for the 2 rears. Ran the auto set up again and still have to crank her up to -30DB. It's really starting to annoy me that I have to turn it up that much and it's not even loud.

Yes It does decode SACD DSD/PCM over HDMI. I also have oppo 980H yesterday i played Pink Floyd...it was good...

Anybody knows how to set video seetings of Pio 1019?? i tried many times i keep geting not available message..I have oppo 980h is output to 480i and trying to finn out how the receiver up converts to 1080p. but i am not able to....any idea??

I recently pulled the trigger on the Pioneer VSX-1019 after finding a great deal on Amazon ($399 from J & R with no tax and free shipping). I upgraded from Pioneer VSX-D608 (a great AV receiver in its own rights) that I purchased about 10 years ago but still worked fine. Boy, what a difference! I'm hearing sounds from my speakers that I'd never heard before.

I have to agree with everyone when they say that the manual sucks. You try to read about a feature and it refers you to another page for further description. When you read the explanation on the second page, it refers you to a third page. It's positively maddening!!! I finally just went on what I know from previous experience and threw in a little logic and I think everyone worked out (so far!). There are so many ways to tinker with this unit, I'll probably never use most of the features and the manual is no help anyway. Also, the MCACC is a great feature and even reported that one of my surrounds was wired in reverse phase! Obviously, my old D608 could never have told me that; a quick rewiring solved the problem.

I have it hooked up to my Samsung LN46A640 LCD, Polk-Audio RM6750 speakers, Scientific Atlanta set-top box, XBOX 360 and an old Pioneer DV-525 DVD player that I wasn't using much because it doesn't upconvert (I was using the XBox to upconvert DVDs but that can get a little tedious). The upconversion feature on the 1019 is a great bonus, allowing me to use the old DVD player again until the prices come down on Blu-Ray players and discs. However, I wouldn't buy the 1019 just because it upconverts, because many newer players already offer upconversion. I haven't tried it yet but I wonder what the picture will look like on my older DV camcorder that I used to connect with an 'S' cable?

The one problem I cannot figure out is using a thumb drive with the 1019. I have a 16 GB stick loaded with music files that I usually use at work (we have severely limited internet capabilities there). I tried plugging it into the 1019 using the procedure described in the manual (put in Standby before plugging in, then turn on the receiver) then switching to the iPod/USB input. However, when I do this the on-screen GUI reports that my thumb drive is empty. I'm wondering if this may have something to do with the file structure or how the drive is formatted (FAT16/32 or NTFS)? Has anyone had a similar problem and/or can suggest a workaround?

Despite this, I still think the 1019 is a great product. I've always liked Pioneer products but hesitated purchasing a 1018 until they were no longer available. After reading the other threads about the 1019 versus the 1018, I was a little leery about the newer model, but now I think my fears were unfounded.

How do you have the unit connected? It will only allow you to access the video settings if you are using composite or component, not HDMI.

I have connected with HDMI....Oh no...
Is there no HDMI -> HDMI upconversion????

Nope. Very few mid range AVRs (or even top notch AVRs) have that capability. If that is really important you might look at the new Denon 1910 which does do HDMI-HDMI upscaling.

@ Sgt Mike44
I'm using 3ea 4GB thumb drives(ScanDisk) with 400 - 750 mp3s on them and I formatted them with Win 2K FAT32 before using with no problems. I do notice
that when I use Random play, it sometimes jumps folders(which I don't like) BUT
the sound is GREAT and it sure beats having loads of CD's to play from.

@Dalilama30 a -40dB setting on my volume is below a normal conversation level. I have to adjust to atleast -20 to -15dB for a loud enough sound and I
use about -10dB for most movies(Dish & Blu-Ray)! I must have the weakest
unit that's been posted so far.

Dwilks:

I will try reformatting the thumb drive and reloading the music files. How is the file structure set up on your stick? Individual song files in the root directory or in folders?

Also, I have my volume set for around -30db in order to hear anything. I'm wondering if the techs at Pioneer will read this forum and work on a firmware upgrade to resolve some of these issues?

@ Sgt Mike

I have them in individual folders, but after seeing your question, I placed some in the root folder of one of them(thumb drives) and the 1019 showed and played those as well.----------and they are SanDisk thumb drives

The loudness of the output has a lot to do with the efficiency of the speakers that you are using and their typical resistance(4 ohms, 8 ohms).

I'm using mp3s with VBR and constant bit rates of 128, 256 and 320 Kbps all mixed together with no problems

Hello

I just picked up the vsx1019 yesterday. I got it home home plugged everything in from my previous receiver and started the MCACC to setup my speakers. This is when I kept getting a message that told me my surround speakers were out of phase. I checked, rechecked and triple checked my connections and everything lines up. For curiousity sake, I reversed the wires on both speakers and the message went away, but now my wiring on those speakers are backwards. I'm using Klipsch cinema 6 speakers. Any ideas?

The very first time that I ran MCACC everything check out OK, but the next four
times, the 1019 either said that the front or back speakers were out of phase.
I know that they are wired correctly so I 'Ignored' the error and continued with the setup. I will guess that it's just another firmware problem.

I'm using Klipsch speakers also

I have had different brands of avrs and all of them have at one time or other done this. If your SURE the speakers are wired right then don`t worry about this.make sure wires are right on the 1019

Are your surrounds Dipoles? I just got a VSX-919 and my MACC did the same thing. I have a pair of Cambridge Soundworks Dipole surrounds, and I assumed this must have had something to do with it. With a dipole speaker there are two drivers, on the sides of the cabinet and one drive is out of phase with the other.

This has a decent description:

http://www.hometheatersound.com/feat...c_20030801.htm

I never had the issue with my older VSX-914, but the 919 is definitely detecting this...

The manual does mention that the phase detection may not wok properly sometimes and it does list dipoles and other reasons for that.
I have seen this pretty much every time I have run the calibration both in my old and new houses. Maybe if the hardware can't properly detect that, it doesn't relly matter. Maybe it's difficult to detect it for small speakers. I guess for the bass it is more obvious, but that applies to large speakers.
I have tried also the optimizer test from a THX DVD and it says that the sound should be more dispersed if the speakers are out of phase. I can hear a difference, but I can't really tell which is more dispersed and which is more focused.

I have no clue, but Im pretty sure my speakers aren't dipoles based on your description.

I guess what's worrying me is the fact that i switched the wires around and it said everything was fine when I know 3000% that they're backwards.

I actually watched a blu ray (top gun) before I did the mcacc and wasa getting a weird reverb effect that I could hear mainly duuring dialogue. I thought it was part of the movie until the characters were talking outside and it did the same thing. Any ideas as to what that might have been?

But it will accept 7.1 through hdmi,my dumb.

I just installed my 1019 yesterday and ran the full MACC. As other stated it detected my front speakers as out of phase. I verified the wiring to be good and continued with the full setup. After the full then ran the Auto MACC while "Keeping the current speaker setting", as Tex94 suggested on a previous post after setting your speakers to small. and my speakers were detected as "OK" now. Maybe this will help out some people but as other stated it should not be a big deal. My speaker setup are all polk audio: Monitor 40 for the front/rear, CS2 for the center, and PSW10 for the sub.

So far I am really pleased with the unit and experience the same volume level settings as others. For decent movie watching I'm in at -20db and to shake the room at -10db. My speaker sensitivities are 89 to 90db. I noticed during the setup the MACC sets all your speakers to the negative db range which may accounts for the offsett in the volume control. How high does the volume control go on the 1019?

As for the thumb drive, make sure they are formatted to FAT32 not NTFS.

What i found on the volumne issue is that i use ext. stereo(all channel stereo) mode and turn the effect up to 90. I don`t have a db meter but ext. stereo plays noticably louder.Also I went into manual mcacc then to manual eq adjust and raised the trim adjustment for all channels by 3 db.you may have to experiment,you have to do this for all eq memories. Hope this helps.I believe the volumne goes to +15,i run volumne -25 for bd and 28-30 for everything else.

Will an iPod play on Zone 2, or is it considered a digital input?

According to the manual, yes. The 1019 will even do iPod video in zone 2 (again, according to the manual)