The "Official" Pioneer VSX-1019AH Owner's Thread - Page 7

This is really good advice. When I run my music using the EXT.STEREO I get the same results with respect to volume. I've thought about doing what you propose on each channel (raising by 3 db) but I have not tried it. I've been worried it would mess with the MCACC settings too much but I guess if you raise all of the speakers by the same value they should produce the same effect (?). I might try that since you say it is producing more volume at lower levels. I assume the overall balance is the same as what you were getting from MCACC before?

Thanks. You saved me reading the manual. I think I'm going to go ahead with this bad boy. I hope the passthrough works when watching TV only w/ Kuro link. I'm burning enough watts with the 50" plasma and the PS3 running, I don't need to add even more load when watching the food channel...

I'm having a couple of issues with my Pioneer 1019AH-K that I'm hoping someone here might be able to help me with. I've had the unit for a few weeks now, and I'm very pleased with the sound and features. But a couple of HDMI issues have me considering other options.

1. When run my PS3 through the HDMI input labeled "BD," I get a bunch of digital white noise - but only on the menu screens. The white noise disappears when a DVD or Blu-ray plays. When I switch the PS3 to HDMI 2 connector using the same cable, the issue goes away. No white noise whatsoever. I actually returned my first 1019 because of this issue, but discovered that the second unit did the exact same thing. The odd thing is, I didn't notice the noise when I first hooked the PS3 up - everything was clean. On subsequent power-ups, though, the issue had returned. I've tried reinstalling the cables, to no effect. It's not the world's biggest problem, since I don't really need that input at the moment. But I may need it in the future.

2. My newly purchased Harmony One remote is unable to select the proper HDMI connecton on startup of the 1019.

First, my setup: I watch TV through a Tivo HD that's connected to the HDMI 1 input on the 1019. My PS3 is connected to HDMI 2, and the video is sent through the 1019's HDMI out to the HDMI 1 connection on my Samsung LN52B750 LCD TV. I have "Kuro Link" turned off on the 1019, and I've disabled a similar HDMI-linking feature on the Samsung TV.

Now, onto my problem: My "Watch TV" activity on the Harmony instructs the 1019 to switch to HDMI 1, which is where my Tivo HD is connected. This works fine when the unit is already powered on and I'm switching over from the PS2. But on startup, it simply hangs.

After startup, the 1019 appears to switch to the appropriate HDMI connection and I get a few moments of sound from my Tivo. But then the television completes its warmup and shows a black screen, with a message indicates that no image is being received by the TV. At that moment, the sound goes away as well, even though there's nothing to indicate that anything has happened with the HDMI connection.

I can resolve the problem only by cycling through the HDMI connections, back to HDMI 1, when everything works fine. I suppose I could add that cycling to the Harmony sequence, but that seems like a lot of trouble. This sounds like one of the "HDMI handshake" issues someone mentioned in earlier posts. Anyone have any ideas? Thanks in advance.

Hello. I have a similiar setup: VSX-1019, Samsung Blu Ray BDP-1600, Samsung Plasma PN58B540. I just purchased (about a week ago) the 1019 and I have noticed similar issues except that mine is when I watch DirecTV (HD DVR HR-20)connected via HDMI; if I turn on the tv and it's already set to an HD channel, I have video and audio but when I turn to a SD channel, I have video but no audio. I have to switch to another input and then back to HDMI1 to hear the audio on the SD channel. If I turn on the TV and it's already on the SD channel, there is no problem, I can hear the audio fine. I also tried your suggestion to the other poster about having Kuro Link on - which I turned off - but that doesn't seem to help the audio issue. Any other suggestions how I might resolve this. A different (better?) HDMI cable etc. So far I like the Pioneer but I don't want to have to continue changing inputs to regain sound. Any help/suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

TucsonJoe,
You need to turn off HDMI Control (Kurolink) if you are using an HDMI input for your sat/box. Otherwise the "TV" operations will default to component.
See page 40 for the default settings.
Once Kurolink is off, go to the Input Setup menu (page 39) and setup TV for HDMI Input HDMI1-X

There appears to be one common thread between TusconJoe and Felicia (and others) related to HDMI issues: they are all using Samsung devices - either BD players, TVs or both. It would not be the first time that two different manufacturers had HDMI handshake issues (so much for standard specs). Now, I don't really know if that is the case here but it may be. As for solutions:

1) Power On problem where Pioneer doesn't go to right input: I would try changing the power on sequences in the Harmony setup. You may need to try out different sequences to see if this fixes it. It sounds like the Pio is getting hung when the TV starts to do the HDMI handshake. Another option would be to change the delay settings on the devices so there is more of a delay between when the Pioneer turns on and when it switches to the HDMI 1 input.

2) PS3 issue - sounds like maybe a bad HDMI cord? You might try swapping it out and see if it gets any better. Don't buy a new cord just try out the Tivo cord first to see if that fixes it.

3) Audio issues between SD & HD channels - this one stumps me. Could be a DirecTV issue related to HDMI too. My only suggestions are (a) try and fiddle with the surround modes. maybe you need to select auto surround or std surround? Perhaps the Pio is getting hung up on some advanced surround option (not sure why that would happen though). (b) If it does not go away, connect an optical cable from the direcTV to the pioneer, assign it to the same input as the HDMI and use signal select to choose the digital signal over the HDMI audio signal. Yeah, it's one extra cord and you shouldn't need to do it but you aren't losing anything over the HDMI audio since toslink can carry all that DirecTV can deliver anyway.

The Pioneer 1019 has superb sound and blows away my Yamaha 665, but I cannot get this receiver to work properly using all four HDMI inputs for my: 1. Pioneer DVD player, 2. Panasonic BD80 Blu-ray player, 3. LG390 Blu-ray Player and 4. Toshiba HD-A-35 HD-DVD player. I use them all for their specific types of disc or user-friendly abilities.
The problem is that if the HDMI button is set for one of the players, it switches to the player on the BD input, and there seems to be no way to have all four players actually work correctly. The DVD player when using the DVD button has red stactic around the picture. As of this time only two players will work correctly. So I called the dealer and am returning the player. I would like to get this player since the sound is really some of the bet I have heard recently. Two parts: does anyone have a solution since Pioneer does not, and what other Pioneer player uses the exact same MCACC system. The six minutes used to set up the receiver provided fantastic sound.
By the way the TV is Samsung HL67A750 and the speakers Mirage OMD series all around.

Tex 94:
Thank you very much for the quick reply. I have tried cycling through the standard surround and advanced surround to no avail. I figured I would try and see what happens (kind of new to this. :-) ). Interesting enough, I read online another user who utilized an optical cable as well and said it helped. So I did connect the other day an optical cable to the DirecTV and the 1019. But silly me, I didn't know I needed to assign the input. I hate to ask simple questions, but how would I go about doing that? :-) When I look at the 1019's setup menu, under the HDMI input screen, the "digital in" is grayed out. Again, I appreciate your help and suggestions. Oh also, I did call Pioneer support and he told me "gee that's weird". And that was pretty much his advice. Oh well.

Ah, I should have read a few posts earlier and I would have seen CHP_VR's post. I changed the TV/Sat to HDMI and so far so good. Keeping my fingers crossed that it stays that way! Thanks again!

I'm finding the volume thing to be a real issue too. After I ran the mcacc it put all of my speakers to negative decibals. I played a blu ray and it was ridiculous. I had to crank it -15 to get a decent volume. I went back in to the menu and raised all of my speakers up and tried some rock band. With my old Pioneer vsx 917 I ran rock band at -43. I had to crank it to -24 to get a comparable volume. Does the whole db rating really mean anything or is volume just volume and differs from unit to unit because this thing is making me nervous so far. ALso my front speaker was distorting a little bit during the blu ray I was playing.

I just set up my new 1019(thanks slick deals) and have almost the same set up. I solved the TV HDMI handshake issue by reprograming my harmony to turn on the 1019 first. I'm using a panasonic TV.

I also have a PS3 on HDMI input BD. No sound issues at all. blu rays sound amazing.

EDIT looks like I have the same issue no audio on SD Cannels w/ directv.

Everything runs fine and I'm very happy with the sound this receiver makes. Any thoughts on Polk atrium 45's for zone 2.

Hey Guys!
Good news for the future buyers of pioneer 1019
Cnet reviewed pio 1019 and it says excellent ..

http://reviews.cnet.com/av-receivers...?tag=mncol;lst

The sound balance seems to be the same to me. I use ext stereo for everything except bd,the bass is even better with ext stereo. I can`t seem to get alc to work right,if you have got it to work right,please post how you did it.

I pretty much gave up on ALC. I think it works ok if you are doing some late night listening but I tend to use my wireless headphones for that. I leave my BD player input on Auto Surround, my Tivo on Std Surround (w/Neo:6), and my iPod on EXT.Stereo. I'm very happy with the sound.

I've decided not to care about the numbers on the volume control either. Yes, it might make me feel better to be listening to my BD at -50 instead of -25 but it still sounds great with no hints of distortion and I still have 32db more that I can crank up if needed (not sure I ever would though).

At my settings above I listen to BDs at -25, TV at -35 and the Ipod at -40 to -45.

Glad it worked for you. Enjoy your new receiver.

Just got my 1019 yesterday (haven't hooked it up yet). Noticed the HDMI port on the far left is labled "BD IN". Is there any reason why I couldn't (or shouldn't) use this to connect any HDMI device, like a non Blue Ray DVD player?

I think it's just a name. I just got mine also, but I'm waiting until the weekend to get some free time to install, MCACC it and test it out.

It's just another HDMI port, but it is known by that name, so when you select the input, I guess you:

1. Select the input function. Example: if you want to connect you cable box or satellite box, select TV/SAT

2. For that function, select the input terminal to be used for that function - in this case, (BD).

So the mapping needs to be made for that fuinction to recognize the input to be used. At least this is what I get from the manual.

BTW - remember to set the KURO link to OFF if you're not going to use it, it interferes with HDMI configuration.

It will work, but it's a dedicated port. You cannot assign anything to it.
you can, however connect any HDMI device, just remember, you will have to use the "BD" button to activate it.

page 40

I can not figure out how to get my Video iPod to play videos.
"Movies and photos can also be played back, but only if you use the "iPod control" scheme, where you use the actual iPod for navigation, rather than the GUI."
iPod Control Scheme?? Huh? I tried starting a video, then plugging it in to the unit and it just takes you back to the iPod osd.

Also I really wish they would have added some sort of alphabetical selection. Using the remote I have over 4,000 songs to scroll through or 400 artists. I know, get off my butt and select from the iPod, but still...

This is the exact problem I'm having. Did you figure it out?

There are a couple of caveats on video playback from the iPod:

1) It has to be from a late edition (Ipod Touch, iPhone, iPod Classic and some recent versions of iPod nano). My 5th Generation iPod cannot be used to playback video via the UB port.

2) You cannot make the iPod play back video through the OSD. So, you need to toggle the iPod control to the player. You can do this by first turning the input to iPod/ISB and then hitting RECEIVER-iPOD CTRL on the remote. This should enable you to access the videos (and music) directly on the iPod and play them back on screen.

Of course, there are other ways to play back iPod video/audio. Given my 5th gen iPod I have an old iPod dock hooked up with RCA and composite to the back of the unit. Sound isn't as high quality as the USB input but for day to day listening I am satisfied with it.

I don't have a clue why the setup is hobbled like this but it must have something to do with the iPod interface.

any issues with heat?
im looking at the 919 and heat seems to be a concern on the 1019
also, the place i would like to buy the 919 states it has only 2 hdmi in, and leaves out the a in the product name
ie : pioneer vsx-919h

Thanks for the feedback hernanu. Assume the KURO link doesn't play well with Samsung TV HDMI-CEC support (Anynet)?

No heat issues. I've played music and movies for hours and the unit is very warm but still cool enough that I can keep my hand on it.

The 919 has 3 hdmi in. Many sites are notoriously inaccurate with descriptions so I'd suggest that is the reason. But if the site is not reputable - or if it is not an official reseller of Pioneer - you could run into warranty issues.

I would definitely agree with their review, Advanced MCACC and all the supporting features make these notably better sounding units than the 600-Series Onkyo's (and it sounds like Yammy's too).

i am planning to get a new receiver with the best sound quality in my range.i know my question will sound stupid. but any of those who tried Harman Kardon old models like 130, 147 which does not have latest codec like dolby trure-hd and dts-hd MA how would you compare it to this model. i have test HK and i couldn't be happy more with its perfect sound quality although its only dd/dts 5.1 . i know to get the best sound quality is to get a high end model qith latest codec. my point is to get the clearest sound that any ear got recognize and near to reality and i believe that's the point of getting a receiver. so what do you think? would HK be enough or i should wait and get this till it arrive here with its new tech lpcm, HD audio and HDMI. i have 360/ps3 and blu-rays movies.
any brief answer please?

Ok, I posted about 10 days ago that I was going to get some time to hook this baby up properly (I hope).

I am aiming to get to it tomorrow. I have a couple of quick questions

My setup is like so -

Uverse
Samsung 52" HDTV
Sony PS3
Pio 1019 Receiver
Polk Speakers

Currently it is set up-
Uverse>Component>HDTV
Uverse>Optical>1019

Would there be any benefit in using an HDMI from Uverse to HDTV & Composite to HDTV for sound and then Optical to receiver?
(I am afraid of the sound issue problem I was told when Uverse system was first installed, and have read about)
How many Uverse people we have here, and how many are doing well with HDMI?

I also picked up a Harmony One remote with PS3 adaptor. For those with this remote & adaptor is there anything I should look out for when I set it up?

I may be back with more questions lol. (I hope it all goes well, crossing fingers I get same bass I had with my old Sony receiver from rear speakers when that THX intro with thunder comes on)

Thanks in advance.

I have uVerse connected to my VSX-919 and Pioneer KRP-500M monitor. The VSX-919 is basically the same as your 1019, only one less HDMI input...

You can use either component or HDMI to pass video to your receiver or TV. In my experience the picture quality was about the same either way. I happened to have some issues with the component outputs on the uVerse box that caused the picture to "scramble" whenever there was a white background on the screen. This happened mostly during commercials. Switching to HDMI eliminated the issue.

You may find that using HDMI introduces a noticeable delay when switching video sources. In my experience it can be 10 seconds or more, depending on the device, which can be annoying...

As far as sound, you will want to keep the optical connection from your uVerse box to your receiver. The uVerse boxes do NOT pass Dolby Digital over HDMI. If you go with the HDMI connection for video, make sure you use the "Signal Sel" feature on your receiver, to specify that you want the optical audio to override the HDMI, or you will NOT get Dolby Digital.

Some people have complained about audio issues with uVerse. This is because when the signal fluctuates it can have a very short drop in the digital audio. Some receivers have a hard time with this, and the short drop out turns into a very noticeable loss of audio. For some people this is a very annoying and repeating issue.

In my case, I have used the optical connection since uVerse was installed here in January. I just upgraded from a VSX-914 to the VSX-919, and I must say that the drop out issue is basically nonexistent for me - especially since I upgraded receivers.

I am not sure why you want to connect anything but your receiver to the TV. Are you thinking you don't want to use the receiver all the time? If you do need to use two connections at once, you will have to experiment. Not all of the uVerse outputs are active at once. As I recall, once you connect with HDMI, you can't use component or composite.

My thought though, is that you paid for a great receiver, why not use it as much as you can? I connect all of my sources to the receiver, and then run HDMI from the receiver to the TV - with no audio going to the TV. I have my receiver on anytime I am watching TV.

Your receiver will convert any analog video sources (composite, or component) to HDMI. Run HDMI or optical cables for audio to your receiver.

If you are concerned with the complexity of having to have your receiver and TV on at the same time, or having to juggle multiple remotes, pickup one of the better universal remotes that can do macros. Then you can program a single power button that will turn on both the TV and receiver. You can also program the remote to change sources on your receiver, AND modes on the remote.

Sony makes a cheap remote for about $25 that can do all of this. You can also spend a bit more and get a harmony or one of the other remotes. Once you do this, you can put away all of your other remotes for basic use. It also makes the system easy to use for other family members - including kids.

Congratulations on your new receiver, and let us know if we can answer more questions. Feel free to PM me if you would rather communicate that way.

Not sure, I don't know enough about the KURO link yet. I'm not a fan of CEC anyways, I just let my Harmony 670 control all of my components. HDMI is twitchy enough for me. You're welcome - it's fun to tinker with a new toy.

Good to know - so the BD port is only useable as the BD function? No big deal, just a little odd that they would lock this in.