Pioneer SC-25 and SC-27 Receiver Thread - Page 165

Hi, have a question i hope someone can help answer.

I`m about to purchase a external video processor (Lumagen Radiance) that i want to use for all video sources and i would therefore like to turn off the video processing in my Pioneer SC-LX72 and let the Lumagen do the job instead.
I have a satellite box connected to the AVR via HDMI1 and i tried to access the video parameter menu from the remote but it only says "not avaliable".

Can anyone help explain how to set the AVR in pass through mode so that no video signals is processed by the LX72?

Any help is appreciated.

^^^

you don't have to do anything... you cannot apply processing in the avr for a hdmi source, it will only pass it straight through...

Ok, that`s good. I just saw also in the manual that the processing do not effect inputs other than DVD, TV/SAT, DVR, VIDEO1 & VIDEO2.

Thx!

ok, i have had my SC-27 for a couple years now but not until yesterday have i ever had an issue with it.

First off, yesterday was the first time my SC-27 ever had to push 5 speakers as i always only had a front stage made up of 2 Paradigm Signature S4s and Signature C3. I added 2 Energy CR-10s yesterday as surrounds and plan (or at least was planning) to add 2 more very soon. So after set up yesterday, i decided to go through the "usual suspects" of surround heavy movies and bass heavy movies. I played a demo disc i bought in here which has the "best" surround scenes and also LFE scenes. I played the book of Eli first and that was amazing but then the next clip was Knowing with the plane crash scene. To my surprise, my SC-27 cut out and the blue power light was blinking. I had the MV at -10dB which is not nearly close to where i usually watch my movies (usually -6dB or -5dB when i only had 3 speakers) so i was shocked when it cut out.

Is it possible that the SC-27 is unable to push all 5 speakers at high volumes? Did the addition of those 2 surrounds really push my SC-27 to the limit? Does this mean i cannot enjoy a 7.1 set up as my SC cannot push 5 speakers? What other ways would you guys suggest i test my SC-27?

^^^

you are running your speakers as "small" and crossed over at 80hz, correct?

you have checked and rechecked ALL of your speaker wire, correct?

it's unlikely that the stated listening level would put the avr into protection...

Agreed. Sounds like there's a short somewhere. I'd recheck your speaker connections and make sure there are no stray wires. And then I'd run MCACC again. Usually it shows if there's something wrong, (though with dipole rears, it can erroneously say they're out of phase.)

I am running my speakers as small and crossing over as high as 100Hz so i am not too sure. None of the wires are touching each other so that's why I was worried. Can I do that again where I play the scenes and see if it cuts out again or would I damage the receiver by doing that?

recheck your wiring, the complete run... it's almost certainly a short...

"can" you damge it? yes... but it sounds like the protection circuits are doing their job...

Hey
Hey Chris, thanks for your help with this whole situation but I want to be clear, what exactly am I checking in the speaker wire run? I can actually see the entire run and there doesn't seem to be a problem. Also this never happened before when it was jsut the front three which means the rear two may be the issue. I hve pushed my system to reference before with no issues. Should I try the testing of the scenes again and see what happens after I check the connections at the back of the receiver?

Take a flashlight and look very carefully for stray wires anywhere around any one of the connectors at the AVR or speaker. I would probably just pull the wires, make sure no stray threads are left in a connector, and reconnect. As long as you have to go through all this, you could pull the wires off the AVR for the rears, triple-check the fronts, and see if everything works, then reconnect the rears.

I need some clarity from you guys: if I have an analog input, have the receiver set to Pure, and output via the analog out, does the receiver do any A/D/A conversion? For example to apply the volume setting or something?

^^
Good question. The answer is "mostly" Pure Direct will turn off phase control, standing wave filters & the MCACC EQ as well as other digital processing, like loudness compensation, etc. But underneath that is still the preamp channel levels & distances set by MCACC calibration. If you turn MCACC completely off in the MCACC preset menu (remote or front panel), then we think you will be in pure analog direct. Your receiver may actually then display Pure Analog Direct (the SC-09 does), instead of Pure Direct but since I have the SC-09, I'm not sure if the 25/27 display will be different.

over the years, some owners have figured out that when they turn MCACC off in pure direct, the volume *may* change a bit, indicating that indeed, MCACC was still operating at the basic level to set the channel levels even in pure direct with its EQ off. since a part of MCACC was still on, this would suggest an ada conversion still taking place. We cannot say definitively and Pioneer (as are other receiver companies) not clear on this, but the best guess is that once you turn MCACC completely off, then the signal chain is analog.
Edited by ss9001 - 11/22/12 at 3:05am

I thought analog inputs were always converted no matter the mode on the 25/27? That changed with the 37, I thought, but I could well be wrong on all of this.

I wonder in what domain volume is applied? Even with everything turned off you still have apply volume. On a sort of related note, volume is applied to the digital OUT on the receiver correct? Or is it just to pass along the signal?

just caught your question...

according to the block diagram in service manuals, master volume trim follows everything in the signal path including after all processors & the DAC's. It also is before the preamps, speaker selector switch & power amps. So it is an analog control, not done digitally.

Most receivers activate DD DRC when less than 5 speakers are in use. Perhaps this is the first time you have watched a movie without DRC being applied!

Turn on DRC in your AVR's menu. Then try watching the same scene with DRC being applied.

Probably digitally controlled, however...

^^^

yes...

So is volume not applied to the digital out? If one has an all digital chain, then the signal would have to be converted to analog for volume control, than converted back to digital to be output from the digital out. Seems strange. Conversely if this is wrong than it implies that if volume is done digitally and you had both an analog source and feeding external analog amps or crossover the analog signal must always be converted to digital for volume, no matter if you had Pure on or not. So is the first case or second case? Or in the first case maybe there is no volume applied to the digital out, I've never used it, is it just a pass through type of thing?

I just recently upgraded my Samsung ln55b650 lcd tv to a 3d tv and now I need to upgrade my SC-25 receiver (breaks my heart as I loved this receiver) There are 2 deals I've been looking at and would like your guys opinions on what receiver would be best. I'm currently looking at the Pioneer SC-1222-K and the Onkyo TX-NR717 as they are both similar in price and both on sale. I think I want to stay with Pioneer but I've been reading a lot of good reviews about the Onkyo. I'm worried that I'm going to lose quality going with a new receiver but what's the point of getting a new 3d tv without getting a 3d receiver. I'm still not positive I'm going to keep the tv though because my 3 year old Samsung still has a better picture than this new LG 3d LED but we'll see.

^^^

alternatively, get a bd player with 2 hdmi outs...

Yes, but I would also like to be able to use my PS3, XBOX 360 and my Direct TV box while trying to keep the HD audio tracks.

^^^

other than a bluray disk, there are no other sources with lossless codecs...

do you need to get 3d video from those 3 sources?

Well, I'd like to be able to play 3d video games. I suppose I could do optical cables from the satellite receiver. So if I had a bluray player with 2 hdmi outs, how would I run the cables?

Hello, everyone.

I was wondering if the SC-25 has any volume leveling feature for night waqtching (not to be confused with midnight mode) similar to the Denon Audyssey dynamic volume feature? Is Pioneer's equivalent featured call Auto Level Control?

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Home/AV-Receivers/Elite+Receivers/SC-25

Thanks.

Ok, so I have a question for you guys. What do you think would be my best option? Purchase a new receiver (between $400 - $600) or just buy an Oppo BDP - 103 and use the 2 HDMI outs so I can still use my SC-25 for audio? I don't believe I would be able to find a receiver as nice as the SC-25 for the price I want to pay and I've read a lot of great things about the Oppo.

What would you guys do?

And btw, I got rid of that LG. The quality was terrible. Instead I got a Samsung 60ES7500 and it is much better. I still think the picture on my original Samsung is better but the 3d on this new Samsung is quite amazing.

Going the Oppo route would be a good choice, in my opinion. Another option you might consider, is the Sony BDP-S790. It doesn't have all the "bells and whistles" of the BDP103, but you can find it for about half what the Oppo costs. It has 2 HDMI outputs, which is what you're looking for, and is getting good reviews. either way, I wouldn't get rid of the Pioneer. You're right. It would be hard to beat for the money. Just my 2 cents.
Mark

Yeah, I went the Oppo route. I've actually been wanting one for a while and now I actually have a real reason to spend the money. I appreciate the responses guys. Now I've just got to figure out the best way to set everything up.

^^^

plug one hdmi to the avr, and one to the display... voila, done...