*OFFICIAL* Denon AVR 2310CI / 890 Owner's Thread - Page 5

you should probably check out some Onkyo owner's threads, as they (I believe on 70X and up) are the only models that offer both THX processing and Audyssey. There is probably plenty of discussion on whether people prefer THX processing.

However, you should know that even on these Onkyo models the THX thing is not mutually exclusive with Audyssey. You seem to be conflating many different things (Audyssey room correction vs. THX post processing vs. THX amp certification etc.) You would STILL start with MultEQ room correction, as the EQ filters it creates are really separate from "post processing" items.

For example, on an Onkyo if you have THX RE-EQ turned off, you will be on the "Audyssey" EQ curve which introduces a slight roll-off. If you turn on "RE-EQ", the Onkyo automatically switches to the "Flat" Audyssey curve so you do not get a "double roll-off" of the high freq's. The fact that you are using THX post-processing does not exclude you also using the MultEQ room correction as your "starting point".

On the other hand, a "loudness" correction system like THX "Loudness Plus" is an either/or thing vs Audyssey Dynamic EQ. You use one or the other.

I believe you may have to have VIDEO CONVERT set to ON to enable the GUI overlay.... it's probably something either with that or the i/p scaler setting.

Also check the GUI settings (MANUAL SETUP > OPTION SETUP), see pg 33-34 of the manual..... although these settings are GLOBAL so it wouldn't explain why it's working on one input and not on the other. I bet it's something with the convert / scaling settings (which are set BY INPUT).

Video Conversion = turning on/off the Denon's ability to convert one type of signal into another. e.g. converting component video input to HDMI output. It is a separate thing from the SCALING functions, which are handled by the ABT chip.

So, having "Video Conversion" turned ON with "i/p Scaler" OFF means that the Denon can cross-convert formats, but it will do zero processing to it. So everything will go out at the exact same resolution it came in.

I don't actually understand why this affects the GUI overlay... perhaps the GUI graphics are generated in the analog domain and with CONVERSION disabled they disappear

hate to break it to you, but it "worked" the whole time and the only thing you changed was the number on the display. apparently you developed some irrational fixation about making the number on the display meet some arbitrary standard you have in your head...

the problem is you have now thrown Dynamic EQ out of whack; had you read my FAQ you would have seen that the reason the volume is the way it is, which is that Audyssey calibrates your volume dial so "0" is equal to the specified reference volume which films are mastered to. Listening at -15dB is actually fairly normal.


actually you had another choice, which was to do nothing and simply TURN UP THE VOLUME



First, Dynamic EQ is known to cause issues with certain video games that are mastered with heavy surround content. It is really intended for film / TV content, which again is mastered to that known reference point; video games are mastered to all sorts of wacky levels. Many people choose not to disable Dynamic EQ with certain content (e.g. music, video games, occasional badly mastered TV shows). There is no harm in simply turning it off when it isn't making things sound better.

Second, with your obsession for changing the number on the volume dial, as I mention above you have whacked out the balance of Dynamic EQ which is making the problem worse. Dynamic EQ is assuming that "0" is the reference volume, and the lower the volume goes the more aggressively it attempts to boost the bass and surrounds to maintain the tonal balance.

This creates twin problems, (1) because now you are listening at -40 when you SHOULD BE at -15, you are getting much more "boost" than you should be and (2) the "reference" tonal balance which Dynamic EQ is trying to maintain is what it would sound like if the volume was at +20 or so!! This is almost certainly exacerbating the problems (although certain video games will still be problematic).

So.... take a step back, return the input source level settings and speaker channel levels back the way they were, and pop in a good movie to judge how you enjoy the sound of Dynamic EQ. And don't worry if the volume says "-10" when you are doing it!

ezat -- sorry if I came off a little harsh BTW it was late when I posted...


A volume of "0" (reference) should be REALLY LOUD in most people's rooms for most content, although the perception of "loudness" is going to be dependent on your preferences, your room acoustics, etc. let's get down to some basics -- what are your speakers and how big is your room?


that is actually somewhat normal because the volume scale is going to be logarithmic -- on my setup, -50 is about the lowest I can be and have any sort of audibility. Now, it shouldn't be literal silence at -40, but it's normal if it's very soft. If you google up a "decibel scale" online (there are many with different examples) you can see that a 40 dB change is like the difference between a whisper and a vacuum cleaner...

well, loudness is somewhat subjective, as you say "not ridiculously loud" is going to vary from person to person. The JBL's are fairly efficient (and all of your speaker channel levels were set negative, right? which is what you would expect with big, efficient speakers) so don't be afraid to crank it up.

Also, consider that the amps in this Denon may be a lot cleaner than your old Kenwood. Distortion greatly increases the perception of "loudness" as your ears start to hurt earlier -- Denon's amps are rated with very low distortion figures so it's possible that you could just be hearing cleaner sound so, even though the absolute volume may be just as loud, you don't perceive it as such.

I experienced this firsthand a couple of weeks ago when I upgraded my friend's setup from an old entry-level Yamaha receiver to a much more powerful, newer, mid-level type Yamaha. With the old receiver, if you cranked it too far it was painful, everything sounded harsh and distorted. With the new receiver, we were listening to music to test out and I just cranked it up really loud, and it sounds so clean we didn't even realize how loud it was.... until my friend turned to me to say something and we realized we had to basically be shouting to hear each other.