Pioneer VSX-1021 Owners' Thread - Page 79

Solved my own problem - also by doing a full system reset (power off, hold down enter on the front panel, power on)

I'm in need of some assistance if someone can lend a hand. I'm a total noob at this stuff, so If you could explain step by step, I would be very appreciative. My issue is with the subwoofer, no sound is coming out. My setup is below.

My two front speakers are klipsch 5.2's and the back two are klipsch Heresy's. I have a cheap panasonic center (hope to soon replace with a klipsch center) and a 450 klipsch subwoofer. I have ran the MCACC set-up and all speakers respond even the subwoofer. I have read over some of the postings and have set the subwoofer to 80Hz and the front speakers to small.

I'm not sure if this has anything to do with it, but we mostly watch content from our appletv. We have also have tried the radio and music from my iTunes library. I have tried every mode (tv surround, music, etc..) using the iPad app and we still can't hear anything coming out of the subwoofer. This type of content that we watch may not be good enough quality, like I said I'm not sure if that is true or not. Any help would be a blessing. Thank you.

Have you adjusted the "channel level" settings for your subwoofer in the setup menu? Maybe your sub is set very low and if you raise the level a bit you'll hear it better.

Hello.

Here's my setup

- VSX-1021
- Zone 1: Living room with standard 5.1
- Zone 2: Backyard deck with Bose outdoor stereo speakers
- Airplay/iControlAV2 from iPhone 4S and iPad 3, streaming from iCloud

Everything seems to work when playing through Zone 1. I need to play HMG (airplay) through Zone 2 while TV is on in living room.

How can I do this? So far, the ONLY way I can get anything at all to come out of the zone 2 speakers is to set zone 1 to "Extended Stereo", and then the zone 2 speakers are super quiet while the living room is insanely loud. Also, I cannot set zone 1 and zone 2 to separate inputs.

Also, should zone 2 have its own volume and mute controls? Right now, they are blacked out.

Sorry if this has been asked, but there's no way to search within only this thread (that I know of) and I'd rather not sift through 79 pages of posts. Thanks for helping.

^^^
Sounds like you may not have selected the Zone 2 speaker setting. You never told told the receiver the speakers are zone 2, not 7.1 rears. Check the manual pg 64. If this isn't the case, please let us know.

I'll do that immediately. Thanks.

Well, it looks like the "Speaker Setting" was set wrong. It appears to work now, but the receiver is very temperamental about which inputs it wants to play out of zone 2, and sometimes just shuts off for no reason when I'm trying to activate it. Zone 2's volume controls are occasionally deactivated also, for no apparent reason.

I was aware of the fact that only analog inputs will play through Zone 2 (really stupid, if you ask me, why not just put all inputs through and give the users a real option?!). But apparently AirPlay (from my iPad, iPhone, and Macs) also works. I'm happy about AirPlay, as that's pretty much the only thing I'll be using the Zone 2 speakers for.

I'm reading elsewhere that both zones MUST be set to AirPlay when starting up Zone 2, and then, only after Zone 2 is started and working, you may switch Zone 1 away from Airplay to watch a movie in the living room. This seems odd.

Digital inputs support up to 7.1 sound, zone 2 is only 2.0. If the receiver supported digital i/p in zone 2, it would have to downconvert 7.1 to stereo. Why does that bother you, as your only using analog i/p to zone 2? Correct, when you start AirPlay from an iOS device or iTunes, it starts in Zone 1. You can then turn Zone 2 on and select AirPlay (H.M.G.) as needed, finally. switch Zone 1 to TV, turn if off, etc.

is it possible to setup 2 subwoofers on the 1021? dont know why buut just asking cause i received a free subwoofer and dont know what to do it with.

Yes just split the output from the receiver to both subs.

I'm usually pretty savvy at this stuff but I cannot for the life of me program the remote to control my Samsung 8000 HDTV. I've tried every code in the manual but nothing works. I even tried another 19" Samsung TV and nothing there. I must be doing something wrong.

Any help?

Hello, I have a VSX-1021-K and I unplug it every time I turn it off. The problem I'm having is that whenever I turn the receiver back on the volume will reset to -34.5 dB. Is there anyway for the receiver to remember my previous volume level settings?

Hi Bob Bobson, go to Other Setup Menu -> Volume Setup -> Power On Level

Hello, had this receiver for about a year with no problems what so ever. I use airplay all the time and only recently it has been giving me problems. When i activate airplay from my iphone/pad the amp would turn on and display the name of the song i'm playing but there would be no sound. The only way to fix this is to power off the amp and do the reset by pressing and holding the power button. I would then have turn the amp on/off/on again to get the amp back into my airplay list of devices. Nothing has changed in my network since i bought this amp last year so i dont know how to troubleshoot this. Now this doesn't happen all the time, after i do the reset it might work great for couple days then out the blue decide to stop working again.

During one of the on/off/on scnarios i got the UE33 error but it went away with another reset.

My network consists of two Linksys E2000's one set as the main and the 2nd as a wap both using ddwrt. i have also tried the reset router(s) recommendation but that hasn't fixed the issue. Does it sound like a receiver problem where i would have to take it in?

Thanks

rsoares28, I am experiencing exact same situation. Receiver is 1 year old and now airplay is now working correctly out of standby. Shows name of the song so can't be a network problem.

I like this receiver but the HDMI standby is a joke. Why does the device sending the signal need to support CEC? I had a low model Sony receiver and HDMI passthrough standby worked without any problems but this device requires my HTPC to support CEC to work. HDMI passthrough works for a few seconds then video just shuts down. Really disappointing if you ask me.

Hello All, I’m new to the forum and need a little expertise. I have two pioneer 1021’s and everything has been working perfectly until yesterday when I unplugged both units in an effort to protect them from an afternoon thunderstorm. I plugged them back in last night and I get no video output from the HDMI connection. Component video works fine and I can get audio through the HDMI input, but no video output via HDMI on either unit. I tried doing a factory reset and the problem persists. I have gone into the settings and turned off the HDMI-control. I have tried different HDMI inputs and different devices (LG blu-ray, PS3 and DirecTV), but nothing seems to work. I’m at a loss and would love to get some feedback on what could possibly cause these two units to develop the same problem after being unplugged.

Hi Tekbyrd,
Try unplugging the Pioneer and then wait a few seconds and plug it back in, you should then see the HDMI Light on the Pioneer blink about 3 times.
It does this because it is checking for devices plugged into it.
When you unplugged your Pio's maybe there was a problem with this.
Look on page 23 of the OP Manual near the bottom of the page, it mentions this.

You can also look on page 48 about Video Properties.
Make sure that these are set properly, mainly the Video Resolution of your HDTV.
If it's a 720P HDTV and the Pio is set on 1080P your monitor may not come up.
Just a thought...
Next time don't unplug your Pioneer!

Good Luck,

Bud B
Edited by Bud B - 7/6/12 at 6:37pm

Hi Bob Bobson,

Why do you unplug it every time that you put it into Standby?
That's Crazy!
We had another guy that turned off an outlet strip each time to ALL of his components and the Pio would not remember Standby Settings..Obviously!
He then plugged the Pio into a "Always ON" Outlet on the strip and ALL was fine!

The hardest thing for PCB Components (Power Supply) is the in-rush of AC, it always comes in as a spike.
Power Supplies are the most common failures (Capacitors) in a microprocessor controlled unit, which is just about everything.
Many High End Electronics remain "ON" 24/7, never to be turned off and or unplugged from power!
This is the much ado about UPS's (Uninterrupted Power Supplies) battery Backups.
This is the "Standby" reason for the Pio's, why defeat what they have designed, For YOU?
You really are your own worst enemy!
Leave it plugged in and don't give it a second thought.

It's up to you though...

Bud

Hi Bud, thank you for the reply. I took your suggestions and you are correct when I unplug/plug the system I do get a blinking HDMO light. While my TV does support 1080p video, I tried all the different video settings, still nothing. I'm not sure that it means anything, but I cannot even get the Pio menu to come up via HDMI, I have to switch to a component or composite signal to see the menu. I think now that this has to have something to do with an HDCP handshake issue, but nothing I have tried so far seems to be working and I have no idea what could have happened. I have definitely learned my lesson.

I didn't get a reply to my first post, so I figure I would do a better job writing it and try again. The bottom line is that my Samsung Bluray results in a grainy picture running it through the Pioneer VSX-1021. I tried different cables and different input ports, but the picture remained grainy. I ran the HDMI cable instead directly to the television and the picture was fine. But of course, I can't take full advantage of the receiver since the audio return channel doesn't work. I tried another brand Bluray and it works fine through the Pioneer receiver. Any idea why the Samsung doesn't? Thanks.
Edited by gmanjel - 7/26/12 at 7:26am

Well, I can be counted as an owner of the VSX 1021-K Receiver Got it for just under $200 from Best Buy. It was a display unit, and the only part that *really* sucks is that it didn't have any accessories except for the remote... so I have no CD / Manual / Microphone.... Thankfully I'm just using it for 2.0 audio from my computer at the moment :-p All is currently working very well and I'm very excited for the possibility of using my PC monitor for some Playstation 2 action (God of War)...

Hello,

New member and already need help. I just upgraded to the VSX-1021 because I found it for a great deal and the airplay and 3D HDMI made it worth the upgrade.

Anyway I'm updating from a Denon AVR 790. With it I could matrix the surround back channel so I was using all 7 speakers even if it wasn't a 7.1 source. Is there a simliar setting on the Pioneer that I'm missing? Is it Dolby Digital EX? No matter what surround mode I use only the 5.1 speakers light up on the display. When I look in the iPad app it looks as if all speakers are broadcasting, but that is not the case.

Can anyone point me in the right direction? As convoluted as Denon's manuals can be I can't believe I can't figure this out!

Hope you enjoy your new AVR. The display shows the input, not the output. If you are inputting a 5.1 signal, only 5.1 speakers light up. Dolby Digital EX or Pro Logic IIx should do what you want. Do you hear sound from the rear speakers? That would be proof positive it's working.

The manual is available at Pioneer's support site for download so that's no biggie. You may want to purchase a microphone however. You need it to run MCACC & calibrate your system. You can purchase one from Pioneer (P/N APM7008) for about $33.

Enjoy your new setup.

Thanks for clearing that up. I must have missed that in the manual and it was driving me nuts! When I originally posted this no I didn't hear sound from the rear speakers, but I changed to Dolby II X and the surround back speakers are working, so I apparently just had the surround set incorrectly.

Other than that so far its been great. Love the airplay functionality.

Hi all,
I have been very impressed with the features of my VSX1021 for the 9 or so months that I've owned it. Taking the next step in my home AV collection, I'm adding a Mac Mini to provide DVR function and a more user friendly internet surfing experience (better than on the Wii at least!). It's a 2009 model Mac Mini with a mini-DVI to HDMI output into my AVR. At this point I have run into two issues to fully achieving my goal:

-The 2009 Mac Mini doesn't have audio in the HDMI signal...I chose to run an optical cable into OPT-2. My initial run at the setup had the HDMI cable running from the Mac into the BDR/DVR HDMI port of the AVR and I plugged the optical cable into OPT-2 and adjusted the AVR settings accordingly. Needless to say, this was not successful. Video was showing up in 1080p (with a minor issue in my next point) but I was getting no audio at all. At first I thought it was a fiber issue so I went ahead and tried all three cables and mini-TOSLINK converters I had to no avail. Next I just unplugged the HDMI and left the settings alone...voila the audio immediately comes through! Plug the HDMI back in and the audio went away. It is like the AVR is ignoring the setting I input at the OSD when the HDMI cable is installed. It is not an issue on the computer because I plugged in an external monitor with the HDMI and it did not work. Does anyone know how I can get around the issue on the VSX1021 so it disregards HDMI audio and uses solely the OPT-2 line?

-Second issue...My monitor settings on the Mac show 1080P and my TV says the signal going to it is 1080P but I have about a 4" border around the desktop. I fooled around with the different settings for video conversion on the VSX to no avail. The Mac has an overscan option which then puts everything about 1" outside of viewable space! I really don't want to have to plug this directly into my HDTV to get things to work...I love using the VSX as an HDMI switch.

Anyone have any suggestions?

AJ

That's normal. The left knob just switches between inputs and the right knob is for volume.

Noob here. I just bought a VSX-1022 and am waiting for a set of Energy Take 5 speakers to be delivered (still deciding on a sub), but am already starting to get buyers remorse. I didn't realize that the 1022 uses the limited ControlApp rather than the more robust iControlAV2 app that the 1021 uses. Judging from the speaker outtputs, the Zone B functionality looks different? I had assumed that the 1022 was essentially the same but newer but it looks like the 1021 is a better model. Now I'm thinking I should have done a closer comparison as there are still a few deals on 1021's to be found out there. I searched but did not see a good comparison between the two models. Can anyone point me to one or sum up the differences? Are there any areas where the 1022 is superior?

I was able to run my own comparison on The Verge but thiis limited and I'd welome any commentary on desirable features of either model. Thanks!

I sure looks like the 1022 is not meant as a successor to the 1021. Its list price is $100 lower. It has less output power, a reduced number of analog inputs, and a less sophisticated version of MCACC.

Open http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Home/AV-Receivers/Pioneer+Receivers/VSX-1021-K/
and
http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Home/AV-Receivers/Pioneer+Receivers/VSX-1022-K

to compare side by side.

The VSK-1122-K seems to be a truer successor to the 1021.