*OFFICIAL* Denon AVR 2310CI / 890 Owner's Thread - Page 168

Quite welcome.

We don't get many wives on here, so I'm sure your husband will be very appreciative that you logged in and ended up not only saving some money for the household, but got the better AVR too boot! For more info on updating the firmware of the 2310, click on the 2nd link in my sig if you haven't already.

I was thinking about purchasing the 2310ci considering the deals going on for it now but I have one question first. Is this receiver more than adequate to power fairly nice speakers (lets say $1500 for a 5.1 setup) or would I still be required to get an amp for them? I just don't want to purchase this if I'm going to have to get a bunch of extra stuff still to power everything. I am looking at getting a plasma tv and I currently have a bluray player along with a PS3 that will all be hooking up to this. I mainly watch movies but occasionally will listen to music. Just wanting to get an idea of how this would be by itself with nice speakers or if I would need to purchase a lot of extras to really make the setup work. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

I'm sure most people here don't have a separate amp.
I'm perfectly happy with the sound of the 2310 with no extra help

p.s. just got the firmware update from jdsmoothie. thanks

Forum member Flaken2000 was able to obtain the latest firmware update from another Denon rep. He has loaded it and confirmed it updates to Main Ver #69 and Sub Ver #34. The new procedure is different from past updates in that a separate .bin file must be loaded (formerly it was included in the .exe file).

*** NOTE: The new update procedure has you "reset the microprocessor" prior to doing the update, so if you're not experiencing any issues with your 2310, I'd think twice about installing the update if you don't want to have to go through the setup process again to include running AUTO SETUP.

If you're having difficulty with the installation, try the following:

(1) Even though the first COM port you used said COM CHECK OK, try another COM port that will also get a COM CHECK OK.

(2) If still no joy, then try the "Countermeasure" procedure listed in para 2.6 to start up the 2310. With the updates on my 2808, I found I had to use a similar secondary startup procedure with both updates.

(3) When resetting the microprocessor, the term "FL Display" means "flashing logo display". Simply put, just let the front panel display flash for about 3-4 seconds and then release the buttons and go on to the next step in the procedure.

(4) This update as provided has been confirmed to install correctly. If you're still having problems then please reread the .pdf file for troubleshooting tips.

The cost of your speakers has less to do with whether the AVR can power them than does their efficiency and ohm rating. If they are 88db or higher and 8ohm speakers then you won't have any problems at all. The 2310 will be plenty powerful. There are several new owners of the 1910 who had $2000+ speaker setups that were very pleased with the 1910.

To add to what jd said, IMO, that is an appropriate amount to spend on good speakers, to match the quality of this AVR, and provide a great HT experience. Today's AVR's (and many of these Denons especially) provide a great deal of SQ far more inexpensively than in the "olden days" because of a number of advances, especially Audyssey room EQ. Plus, in modern 5.1 setups, the sub provides its own power amp. So, a rough guide is to spend about 1.5-3X what you spend on the AVR on your speakers.

Does this receiver have discreet power on/off? I'm interested in getting this receiver but need for it to support discreet on/off so when my kids hit the macro button on the universal remote to turn the system on repeatedly (small children) that it stays on if already on versus toggling the power on and off.

Although the Denon remote itself has discrete ON/OFF buttons, it likely depends on how they are programmed into your universal remote. Using the Denon "remote preset code" in my DirecTV remote, the same button on the DirecTV remote turns the AVR ON and OFF. Using a Harmony Remote you're likely to have a discrete ON and OFF.

I can't seem to update. instructions don't work for me.
If i turn off (with on/off switch) and press it while holding surround left/right, it flashes all the LCD icons over and over. Never shows FL
When i eventually let go (of the surround buttons) it's done a microprocessor reset.
does a reset, and nothing else.

the countermeasure, turning on while holding surround left and menu won't turn on. flicking the switch while holding them will (as the manual says) leave the power LED RED. I then need to flick the switch off and on for the on/standby button to turn it on

any ideas?

That's all the reset is supposed to do. Just let the front panel display flash for 3-4 seconds and let the buttons go. It's the first step in the firmware update process. Continue with the instructions as listed.

right, so after over 5 seconds I let go, and it does to the regular menu

Correct. Now move on to the next step.

k. got it working. you were right. It's just weird. I'm used to putting a device in 'firmware update mode'
usually the device is waiting specifically for the update
here, you just push the update and force it
thanks

and i misunderstood the PDF (as it's SO clear )
says to wait until you see FL. I assumed it meant the letters 'FL' but it means flashing logos.
nevermind

That's what you get when someone tries to translate Japanese to English.

Thanks for the help jdsmoothie and SoundofMind. Now it's time to move to the Speakers section and start discussing speaker options. I think I will pull the trigger on buying the 2310ci this afternoon!

Hello, I just got a new AVR-890 and it's been working fine except when I use the optical in from my xbox360. The audio works fine up until I get to a certain point in the game, King Kong. At this particular point I get killed and then the Denon receiver clicks off and goes into protection mode. I can reproduce this problem everytime. I tried another opt. input but still trips the protection mode. I tried the rca plugs instead of the optical and nothing bad happens. I tried a cd player using the optical in and still fine.

I don't get it. How on earth can the xbox trip the reciever into protection mode via the optical cable???

I hope somebody can educate me on this.

Mike.

It could be due to a stray speaker wire. Check all your speaker wire connections to ensure that wires from one post aren't touching those of another post.

Hi folks,
Much searching so I'm sorry if I missed the "how to". I have a Sharp LC45-GX which came with an AVC out of the factory. However the separate panel will work without the AVC, so long as you feed it 1,080p via DVI. In the past I used a Gefen HTS + Denon 3300 to handle HT in this house, however the Gefen died and I thought - "hey the 2310 upscales so it should work as my replacement scaler".
Firstly - as you all know the Denon manual is written in Swahili, so thank you batpig for the great help in this thread and on your site.

Anyways, I connected the Oppo 981, set the scaling to 1,080p/60 (Australia), and great signal on the panel.

Next, I connected the PVR via component, and got a pretty good signal on the screen. The PVR outputs 1,080i, so the AVR-890 was definitely upscaling the component from 1,080i to 1,080p. Then I connected the PVR via DVI-HDMI, and the picture is verging on the awesome - this on a 5 year old panel.

Glitch 1: There's a slight high speed flickering occurring on both HDMI inputs, which is also there on the component input. After a while it is a bit like white noise, however it's definitely visible in low light situations.

Glitch 2: The screen shows "white" when you switch between inputs, which means the AVR-890 stops sending any 1,080p to the screen for that period.

If anyone has some thoughts on these I'd really appreciate it.

You have DVI-HDMI from the PVR to the 890. Do you also have a HDMI-DVI going to the Sharp? If yes, HDMI-DVI connections don't always work so well as is noted in your manual. There was a firmware update to resolve DVI issues so check your firmware # to determine if it's been installed on your unit or not. For more information on checking your firmware version # click on the 2nd link in my sig.

No offense jdsmothie and I appreciate your response but did you actually read my post?

Yep. Sure did. Do you know the various reasons that cause the AVR to go in to Protection mode?

Hi Mike. What jd has been getting at is that there is no known way for any particular input material to trigger protection mode in and of itself. Based on our experience, the first thing to check for is a loose wire/stray strand(s). When the volume gets high enough (I suspect there is a transient peak of sound emitted when you get killed) the strand gets vibrated and touches, or the voltage is enough to arc across the tiny gap, and a short is created and protection mode kicks in. So check at each speaker terminal, check all visible speaker wires for signs of damage, and especially scrutinize that tight speaker terminal area on the back of the AVR. This is why banana plugs are often recommended there.

The next thing we would want to look at is the whether impedence of your speakers is too low.

Basically, a short in the speaker wire or overheating will induce protection mode but I don't see how this applies to my situation.

As I stated, everything works fine EXCEPT when I use the optical cable from my xbox360, at a particular point in the game which is 100% repeatable btw, it will trip the protection mode.

My question is...Why and how can an optical cable cause an AVR to go into protection mode???

Thanks again for the responses. Ok. I already have banana plugs but since this problem is easily repeatable I'll test it again without any speakers plugged in right now. I'll report back!

Here's the update:

1)uplugging all the speakers behind the avr at first helped but alas was I able to repeat the problem
50 % of the time by tripping protection mode, so we can rule out the speakers and wires.

2)moving the video componnent cables from the avr to the tv directly while leaving the audio optical in the avr proved futile.

3)uplugging the optical cable or using the analog cables instead caused no protection faults
whatsoever. WHY??????????

4)using optical cables with my cd player to avr works perfectly. In fact the AVR works perfectly with my 3 satellite receivers, blu-ray player.

I tried ruling everything else out but the question still remains...why does protection mode trip only when using the optical cable and only with xbox and only at a paticular spot in the game?? ARGH!!!

btw, the red flashes are 0.5 secs apart.

Mike.

Right. In the troubleshooting portion of your manual that particular signal indicates that you should check those things we've mentioned. Based on your further troubleshooting, this makes no sense at all so I would do a reset the microprocessor. If that does not work, call Denon CS in the am.

Hey all,

Received my 2310ci on Thursday, first Denon ever. Read about half of this thread and all of Batpig's info. Very helpful. Setup was pretty straightforward (I'm pretty good at reading manuals and such and understanding what's going on).

A couple of notes:

It replaces an Outlaw 1070 receiver which doesn't have HDMI, so it is my first HDMI repeater personal experience. It has more power than the Outlaw, but I feel when really cranked waaay up (louder than I would ever normally have it) the Outlaw feels a little less 'strained' although the difference is extremely subtle. In normal listening ranges the two are pretty much similar, until Audyssey is applied.

This is also my first experience with Audyssey. In testing it out I find that the Audyssey does a great job on the EQ/DynEQ/DynVolume stuff. I did find that if I flip between it being on and off that I lose a bit of my imaging (depth/width) with it on. However I'm currently leaving it on as thus far it seems the better frequency response is a bigger overall difference than the loss in soundstage. The sound stage isn't totally lost, just diminished a bit.

I did run across a wacky HDMI handshake issue, and luckily figured it out the first day. I have a Samsung TV (LN40A750), a DirecTV HR21, and an Oppo BDP-83. When first set up the DirecTV was fine, but the Oppo had white snow. I swapped out the HDMI cable between the Oppo and the Denon and it didn't change anything. Swapping out the cable between the Denon and the TV fixed it. Seems a bit odd since the snow only appeared on one of the devices, but HDMI/HDCP is weird, so I went with it.

I also had a weird handshaking issue with my DirecTV for a while. I set it up so that the Denon would use the Anchor Bay to output 1080p, and set the aspect to 'Normal.' I did this so that 480i/p channels would be in 4:3 and 720p/1080i channels would be 16:9, with everything being processed by the ABT chip. About 1/2 the time I would go to an SD channel, it would display as 'Full' rather than 'Normal' even though the settings on the Denon were always 'Normal.' When the display was incorrect (full rather than normal) attempting to display the Menu on the Denon would bring up a garbled image, like the ABT had crashed or had a corrupted buffer or some such. Luckily a microprocessor reset fixed that, and now all my SD channels are in 4:3, and all my HD are in 16:9, and no garbled menus.

I wanted to share that story in case other DirecTV owners have similar experiences.

Interestingly my unit, which I got from 6ave, only has the January firmware update, the two newer updates are not already included. Since I've recently run the setup 3 times, and had to completely do my setup twice (due to the microprocessor reset), and currently have no issues I'm going to hold off updating.

Overall I'm very happy thus far. I've never really been impressed with Denon when I've heard them in shops, but I've had some weird behavior from my Outlaw (they are known to be glitchy in some circumstances), and the ABT in the 23xx series and up caught my eye. I was finally pushed over the line by the nice discounts on last year's models, especially since I have no interest in 3D compatibility, which seems to be the major new offering in the 11 models.

I also wanted to mention that I have a Wii connected via component, and it works flawlessly. I'm trying it out with DTS Neo surround on a lark, and like it so far.

The January update is actually the 2nd update. AFAIK, none of the last 2310's to be mfr'd will have the 3rd update installed as it came out too late. Unless you're experiencing one of the issues noted in the 3rd update, there's no reason to install it.

Hi, I was hopping somebody could help me figgure out this problem i'm having. All of a sudden there are certain buttons on my remote that won't work. I can't bring up the main menu, I can't switch input sources from dvd to v.aux or anything else. Now, I've tried resetting the micro processor, and still can't bring up the main menu. My CHlevel button doesn't work nor does the enter button. Volume and mute buttons work, as well as the grey sound setting buttons on the backside of the remote "pure", "STD", "cinema" etc. Nothing has happened to the remote as far as I know. Does this sound like an issue with my remote or was it something i pressed on the remote. I did press the quick select 1 button on top of the remote right under the red "off" button which does work I just dont know if that had contributed to the problem. I'm stumpped! any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Just turn to the RC page in your OM (p7 or so and p 40 or so) and check that the Device select switches are still where they should be (IIRC both go to the L).