Onkyo TX NR709 Owners' Thread - Page 53

Greetings everyone!

First of all, I would like to point out I am quite new to receivers in general.

Anyhow, I bought myself an Onkyo TX-NR709, as well as Heco Metas XT501 as the fronts and Heco Center XT31 as the center. Still waiting for the sub and the rears, but, that doesn't have anything to do with my problem (I assume).

Anyhow, I connected all my speakers to the receiver (I didn't bi-amp or bi-wire) and turned the thing on (my receiver is connected with my PC's X-Fi Titanium sound card via a TOSLINK cable). I started by testing if all the speakers work - they do. Then I ran the Audyssey setup for 4 positions. Anyhow, it put the fronts down to about -3dB and the center to about -1dB. It detected the fronts as Full band / big speakers and it set the Center's crossover to 40 hZ. I turned on the Audyssey dynamic EQ and put it into movie mode and tried watching a movie with DTS signal.

I ended up being very satisfied with the sound quality, apart from one thing - when the volume is set to about 60 dB or higher, background noise is audiable during quieter movie scenes.

So, the first thing I tried playing around with were the separate speaker volume controls. No matter what I set the volumes to, when the volume got loud enough, the background noise would appear.

I then checked the manual and stumbled across the so called "LFE", which supposedly helps get rid of the unwanted hum. I tried out all the available options for it, but the hum remained.

My next thing to do was to switch around different play modes, and, while it didn't really help the issue, I found out the noise only happens when the center speaker is active. But the funny thing is, the hum comes from all three speakers, not just the center.

I thought the speaker wires might be damaged or something alike, which is why I tried hooking up the center speaker to one of the front speaker wires, as well as a different wire all together, and the same thing persisted.

After that, I moved onto the input signal itself and tried out both the optical inputs on the receiver with 2 different toslink cables and the problem is still here.

Right now, I'm running out of ideas on what to do. I've only used the Audyssey setup for 4 positions and I will try running it for all 8 later on today, after reading that it's supposedly a better idea to do so, but, I'm having doubts that will sort out anything. I have an HD6990 as my graphics card and I'll try running the signal to the receiver via an HDMI cable as well, just in case there might be something wrong with my sound card, although, I kinda doubt it. Will deffo report about it later on today.

Oh, one thing I left out - the humming noise doesn't appear until I tell the receiver to actually play something. But after I stop playing whatever material it might be, the hum goes on until I either turn the receiver on and off / switch to a different playmode and back.

So, if anyone has any ideas, any help will be greatly appreciated . I hope the unit itself isn't faulty and if it turns out to be, I'm sure I'll be swapping it for the same model, as other than the problem I'm having, it is an amazing piece of equipment. Love the upscaling to 1080p from pretty much anything as well :P.

Update: I just tried connecting the receiver via the soundcard on my motherboard, the problem is still present, so, I doubt running it through HDMI on my graphics card will help either.
Update 2: I decided I'd trick the receiver into thinking I have a subwoofer connected to it and set the L/R/C crossover to 80 hZ for all of them. The hum is gone. Success? I just hope it doesn't have any weird side-effects when I actually do get the subwoofer.

Thanks for the response Rick. I guess I didn't leave it unplugged long enough before, because it worked this time.

I'm sure this has been answered somewhere in this thread, but there's some additional info I may need assitance on too.
There are 2 images attached. One is of an awesome drawing of my setup, http://img855.imageshack.us/img855/4879/35021299.jpg and the other (highlighted in yellow: http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/7733/40330137.jpg) are the current connections I'm occupying on my receiver.

First issue, it's messy, yes. I wish I had an HDMI Xbox, but it's too old school for that. I can't seem to get video from the Xbox, but sound comes through just fine. If I plug the Component cables into my TV directly, it works fine. Am I missing somethnig with the Monitor Outs between HDMI and Component? I don't understand what I'm doing wrong. I assigned the ports in the Input/Output section fine (IN1) and Output is set to HDMI (Main).

Second issue, is my subwoofer in the right port? I had it in the port above the one it's in now and Audyssey had the oddest setup. I then put it in the Multi-Channel In section (obviously wrong) and that didn't work so well. Audyssey seems to like where it's at now and EQ went fine, just wanting to double-check.

Also, any suggestions of anything are glady welcomed.

TIA!


Edit: Just found this on Amazon to solve the Xbox via Component issue, but will still have an issue with the Wii when the times comes.

Pretty sure that's the WRONG sub-woofer connection you are connected to. The shaded are for pre-amp use.

The subwoofer out he has circled in yellow is the correct one. That one and the one directly above it both output the same signal.

Well, the Multi-Channel Input Subwoofer was unrecognized. And when I plugged it into the non-shaded Subwoofer port, Audyssey bypassed the subwoofer during the setup and used my Front Left and Front Right speakers as the "Subwoofer". Works fine in the port it's in. Biggest issue at the moment is the Component garbage I'm dealing with. I really just need an Xbox with that's new enough to have an HDMI port... Circa 2008 and all.

And FYI: Regarding the manual, it was no help at all for this subwoofer fiasco I was dealing with.

Hi marvin83, its unclear on the Xbox assignment.

First: is Component IN1 assigned to BD/DVD (default) or another name? If default, in the HDMI INPUT menu set BD/DVD Input from "HDMI-1" to "-----".

Second: correct

Suggestions:
Component to HDMI converter for the Xbox 360
Wii2HDMI for the Wii

My BD/DVD is set to "IN1" (default Component name) and the only HDMI's are 2,4,5, and 6 in the HDMI'S assignment section, the rest are "-----". The BD/DVD in the HDMI section is set to "-----"

Thank you for the links, I think I'll just go that route. I was just looking at that monoprice one earlier too, but didn't know about the Wii one. I love that the Component one has the Toslink connection so I'm not sacrificing 5.1 on Xbox.

The component thing still alludes me. Should there be anything in Component Monitor Out? I wouldn't think so. Either way, I'll most likely end up probably just doing the 2 products you linked and call it a day. Hundred times easier as I don't like how the HDMI's are right now as I had to change them to adjust for the Xbox and Wii.

Can someone look at the number onthe mike? I have a refurb 709 and audessey just sounds wrong, especially dialog. Thinking maybe I got the wrong mike. Also what is the latest firmware? Thanks in advance!
walker17

^^
The Audyssey mic for the 709 is the ACM1H.

Is there any way to identify the mic? I have a refurb unit and the mic was wrapped in a plastic bag, not in a box. there is a tag on the bottom with the numbers 061011 but no other identifing marks that I can find. Hope you can help. Thank you for responding so quickley!
walker 17

^^
The part number that Onkyo uses is 245044. It should be silver and look like a 3" mini Eiffel tower. I'd give Onkyo a call to confirm what you received if it doesn't look like the pic below.

Thanks, jdsmoothie for your help! It does look like the photo but so does the one that came with my now dead 707. are they the same do you know? sorry to be so much trouble, but the sound I get after cal. is very "spitty" for lack of a better word. I have not changed any thing except the 709 to replace the 707 and the sound, especially dialoge, is no where nearly as good as before the 709. I know some units have shipped with the wrong mic before, and I was thinking that could be the problem. Any help is greatly appreciated!
walker17

^^
Yes, the 707 uses the same mic so give it a try as well. The incorrect mic that was shipped with early units was the ACM1 which does look like the ACM1h, which is why I would call Onkyo (or the reseller you purchased the unit from).

Thanks for all your trouble! I will try the mic from the 707. Thanks again!
walker17

Price drop at TigerDirect with coupon code. It fell below my "Buy" trigger, but I'm hesitating 'cause the wife wants new carpet. Somebody give me a push please. We just got a fat tax refund and a bonus at work. My current receiver is the TX-SR601.

Much appreciated.

Do it for the extra HDMI and XT....

I have tried to correct the sibilant sound i am getting after running audessey. Thanks to the help fron jdsmoothie, I have tried 2 different mics and various locations for the mic, but the sound is still not very good. I did not have this problem with the 707, and have not changed anything other than the 709 in place of the 707. I did notice that the 709 does not have the latest firmware, but have hesitated to install because of other problems with firmware updates. Any chance new firmware could help my problem with sound? Or create new problems? My firmware is 1111 1077 0211 1105. Thanks for any help anyone can give! This "sibilant" problem is driving me crazy. I forgot to say that the sibilence is not there if I turn odessey off, but still does not sound as good as the old 707.
walker17

I just got my 709 last month and out the box I did a firmware update over the web with no issue. I would go ahead and update to the lastest firmware as it should not hinder anything else performance wise. I personally have not run Audessey on my yet as I was waiting for a pair of speakers to come in. So I can not compare Audessey vs Non-Audessey until Tuesday or Wednesday to see if my system has the same issue.

Thanks skiman, I wil do the updates and run audessey again
Walker17

Hopefully that solves your issues, if not you might have a bad unit. When I had my 906 and I ran Audessey it work like a charm no issues.

Onkyo is having some problems with the quality control of this receivers.
Your problem may be related to this.

Nicola

This doesn't sound like a QC issue. It sounds more like a Ground Loop Hum--especially if it went away when he set the crossover to 80Hz. The hum is typically at 60Hz, so setting the crossover to 80Hz would have eliminated it.

The last time I had this issue I fixed it with a 3 prong to 2 prong adapter, but you're not supposed to do that. Try to isolate the problem by unplugging the power to all the components but the receiver. Hook up an iPod (or something else that's not plugged into a wall for power) and play audio from that. If you don't hear the hum, it's likely caused by a ground loop. Add another component, play back audio, see if you get the hum. Once you've figured out which component is causing it, try following this guy's instructions to eliminate it:
http://www.audioholics.com/tweaks/co...m-hum-and-buzz

EDIT: Actually, I like this write-up much better: http://www.ecoustics.com/electronics...es/180767.html

This could possibly be a stupid question, but I will ask it anyway.

If someone had something like the Velodyne SMS-1, would it be worth it to connect it up if they had this reciever?

I have read a couple places where they say its OK as long as you configure the SMS-1 BEFORE you run the auto cal. You use the SMS-1 to work out some of the bigger peaks and whatnot and the Audyssey XT dials it in a bit better and corrects for time as well.

Or is it not worth it and totally redundant?

I found a new love with my Onkyo 709 this weekend, and I have a question.

First the question. I think I know the answer, but let me ask.
I also know that something similar, yet different, has already been asked.
When I start a movie, the video is on the projector screen right away, but there is a 5 second delay before audio kicks in. This isn't a big deal when starting a movie from the beginning, but if I skip chapters or select chapters, I miss out of the very beginning of that is happening with the audio. Is that just HDMI handshaking between the blu-ray player and the 709? Why just audio and not video delays too?

As for the love of the 709. I really liked the features and design of it before, but once I used the MultEQ XT, it now makes my speakers really sing. I love it!

Likely depends on how much difficulty your room adds to the EQ process. Although regardless, it is recommended to run the SMS-1 EQ "before" running Audyssey. If you don't get any responses from SMS-1 owner's in this thread, you may want to use the "Search This Forum" feature to get feedback from other SMS-1 owners as well as perhaps posting in a new thread.

I own 2 Onkyo receivers (705 and 709), and this issue is shared between the both of them, although I think the delay is not as bad on the 709. Basically, the delay is attributed to the latency of the receiver to process the audio track to your settings. You can Google if you want a more technical description. It's just something you have to deal with.

Yeah, I knew about running it before you run audyssey already and I did a search best I could of this forum looking for "sms", "sms-1" and "sms1" but didnt really see a bunch of stuff about XT. Saw some comments about MultiEQ and maybe one or two about XT that were dated....

I posted in the Audyssey thread and might start a new thread if I still dont get much back, but I figured I would start in these two threads first

Mostly I am interested because I know all AVR's with XT32 also have SubEQ which is supposed to be pretty good, but I havent read where someone has had it go up against a SMS-1 yet..

The 709 is one of the receivers I am considering upgrading to from an Onkyo TX-SR608. Others include the 609, 809 and the new 616.

I have owned Pioneer in the past (the Dolby Pro Logic days) and had problems with rear channel amps on their offerings but that is the past. I am curious about the Yamaha RX-A1010 and their new RX-V773WA. My son has a Yamaha setup and is very happy with it (RX-V371 I believe).

For source material I own a Sony ES 400 disc Blu Ray and Pioneer Laser Disc player (over 500 titles) so video is important to me as much as sound. My 608 does not up convert the laser all that well and that is another reason I am looking to upgrade.

I would appreciate any and all constructive/helpful comments regarding choices available in the $1,000 and under category of receivers. It seems the previous year of Onkyos are having their prices reduced to make way for the new stuff, but not the Yamaha Aventage. I have had the 608 for two years now and would like to make any new receiver last at least twice as long. I am married and need to think of my health, gentlemen!

Thanks.

Given your budget of ~1k most folks here will actually recommend the 1100 dollar NR818 that just came out as it has the latest EQ software from Audyssey which is XT32. The 709 would make it a couple years but I would hazard a guess the 818 would make it at least 4.....

The 809 has a better amp section than the 709 if you dont use an external amp like some do.

To be honest I would stretch your budget to get to the 1100 dollars of the 818.

I am getting the 709 simply because my budget is around 500ish which I can get a refurbed 709 with warranty for around that much. If I had 1k I would be looking at the NR818 or a AVR with Audyssey XT32 in it for sure.