"Official" Onkyo TX-NR809 Thread - Page 36

It is a bit disappointing. Although I bought this receiver more for the audio capabilities, I would like these things to work. I just hope there is a simple firmware fix.

For those of you who have updated to the latest firmware, has it fixed the video issues and other issues it was designed to correct?

I did. Can't remember the exact sequence of steps, but I was able to get it done using just the receivers display.

I would suggest you look through the Display>Calibration forum for good advice, and google "calibration for dummies" if you want DIY. If you want the best out of your tv, calibration with a sensor is a must. The DVE disc will be a good start, and you can start with other people's settings and use the disc. The filters that come with are not very good though.

I would calibrate from blu ray direct to your display. When happy with results, introduce the Amp and make sure it doesnt change. Hdmi monitor=source, Direct should achieve this.

I am having trouble in adjusting for different sources like DVD and sky sat, see other posts, so have decided at the moment to leave these, as anything other than Direct changes things. I am most critical with blu ray, so have no compromises for this input. The subject is too extensive to go into here, but suffice to say hd and sd colour space are different.

Hi wl1,

Thanks for your response. As you and others have said, it seems a waste to have to always use the "direct" mode. It would be nice if they could at least fix the "through" mode via a firmware update.

I was really disappointed with the DVE disc. I hope I am missing something. One part of the disc discusses general aspects of user-level calibration, and another part gives the test patterns, but I could not find any section of the disc that gave both the test patterns and instructions on how to use them. I need to know which controls to adjust for a given test pattern and what to look for to know when the adjustment is correct. They give a little of this during the general discussion, but only for a few of the many test patterns. I thought I clicked on every link, but I never found any part of the DVE disc that explained how to use ALL of the test patterns.

Gregg

Didi you call to get that price. Its showing $869 now...

I found the DVE disk interesting, and thought the HD demos showed me the aspects of tv displays where the differences between panels was most pronounced. The most useful patterns are "2% and 4% bars above black" for setting your brightness.

You should look through the cal for dummies guide, and see if that takes your fancy. If you have a real good panel, you could get a pro to do it if you have more money than time. But the guide has a link to avshd test patterns, which might be useful, and it's free. You can't really set up by eye - I have got better by eye, but only by looking at what the sensor has lead me to.

I am away this week, but plan to progress the ISF and Custom mode investigation, to see if I can satisfactory results with the Amp. I have asked Onkyo, but my experience has been to get no response from their Support web form. Only had a response on their wall on Facebook, which is ridiculous use of social networking.

It seems Onkyo customer service is non-existant. I had a defective 808 model last week and tried calling them...30 minutes on hold and they never did take the call. I also e mailed them stating my unhappiness with their customer service..no response at all. I took the 808 back and got the 809. It is very nice, but the Audyssey setup is not nailing things all that well, and there are way too many audio options that defeat other options. Also a bit peeved that the video options are not working as stated in the manual..good luck getting any any info from Onkyo on that! I am going to try a Pioneer 1121 from Amazon and see how it compares. If the Pioneer is equal or better it stays, and I save about $240.00. I will report back here. It is supposed to arrive tomorrow.

could any owners comment on the speaker input posts? are they sturdy or flimsy? ive noticed on some less expensive receivers the posts are very flimsy and feel as though they will snap off if any tension is put on them.

since I use banana plugs exclusively I was considering gorilla gluing them closed, any thoughts on that?

I use banana plugs and I did not notice that the posts felt flimsy, though I do not have experience with many receivers. The posts certainly have not snapped yet (knock on wood)!

Gregg

LIKE them on Facebook and post your complaints on their wall until you get the answers you deserve. You will not be able to make a direct wall post but can comment on one they've started. Or start a thread in their discussion area.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Onkyo-...174688?sk=wall

If the Pioneer works out well I will be getting even by returning their product! I will do the Facebook thing as well. How can they treat their customers so poorly? This is not some cheapo item...it is medium high end product!

Banana plugs here also. Fine connection for me also. I used the twist connectors before I found the plugs and they tightened down nicely without weakness.

Anyone get discrete codes/hex or anything yet? I have found that codes from my old Integra DTR-5.8 are working sometimes. I would like a file of the specific 809's codes since there are so many new features.

This kind of treatment happens 90% of the time with all most all manufacturers.

I have had better experience with Panasonic, Yamaha, and even Sony. At least they answer the phone in a timely manner..lol (although the 'advice' given is usually worthless..lol)

Not Yamaha. I had a 867 some time ago and had an issue with it so I called tech support. I mean I was speaking with a tech within 3 minutes. Sadly I returned the 867 because it did not have enough power for my needs. Let me correct that, for my wants.


What he said about not fixing the issue or answering the question.

Good luck with Pioneer. I will say that if they have not changed MCACC since my Elite 23 then you may find it easier to easily switch listening modes without diving around menus and sub menus like I seem to have to do with my 809. I recently got my speakers back up and running and ran audyssey again this morning. It nailed it pretty well but of course I am floating in a sea of stupid modes I do not like or don't seem to work well. Also not happy with the volume difference between modes???? I need to obviously spend some time in the manual and play with the unit. Anyone know what TV Logic mode is? That thing about runs me out of the man cave when a commercial comes on and it switches to that from Dolby or THX. WTF? Ridiculously loud.

As for Pioneer/Sharp, they are not without their issues either. The VSX-21/23 line comes quickly to mind and not many folks had any luck with Pioneer support for the unit failing to power on with the remote. They had an unreleased firmware that supposedly addressed that issue (not available to joe public) and when people called about it they said to send to authorized repair facility for flash if still under warranty. Just saying, they never publicly acknowledged a faulty unit and still do not to this very day.

I asked Amazon about replacing my 809, since one of the HDMI inputs is bad, but the fellow said the 809 is backordered and not expected to be available for 1-3 months!

I had my Tivo connected to HDMI-IN3 for a week and often got a picture that was mostly pink. I tried a different HDMI port for several days and had no trouble. Finally, I switched back to the original port and got a pink picture immediately. So I guess there is something wrong with that port.

I hope that is an isolated problem and that it does not mean that additional inputs (or the main board or other electronic components) will go bad over time. I use about 4-5 HDMI inputs, but I can live with one bad port if that is the only problem with my 809.

Gregg

For what it'w worth C-Net seems to like the 2011 Pioneer mid line model better than the Onkyo 609 mid line model. We are higher up the model ladder though so who knows how they will compare at that level.

I will be interested to see what you find out on this. For me, I was annoyed at the loss of contrast and the darker picture. For now I have simply upped the brightness about 15 and can watch it, for now. I am not sure how to proceed here since I have calibrated my 61" DLP TV (for cable TV) but have not done so with my FP unit. Of course calibrating the AVR to both displays would be an ideal choice, however, we watch a fair amount of cable TV on the RP unit without the AVR on. Oh well, out comes the calibration disk and dancing back and forth between the displays and modes. Obviously the FP unit will always be used with the AVR on so that tells me I have a lot of RTFM to do as far as hopefully being able to select video modes for the different sources. Hoping the calibration settings in the AVR are similar enough for both displays because the FP unit is a no brainer, but the RP unit is not always using the AVR. I wil post what I find if I figure anything out at all.

You are right. It now shows 869. I purchased yesterday online with no phone conversation. The advertised cost 679. Otherwise identical ad.
Call them on it.

thanks for the info guys

Has Onkyo recognized there are issues with the video processing?

Any word from Onkyo on a firmware update or are we all asking one another the same questions?

I've had my 809 for a week now and still figuring it out....

There is a LOT to figure out...and some issues going on for sure. I ordered a Pioneer VSX-1121 from Amazon today. It's about $250 less than my 809 delivered. I'm going to give it a try and let the best one win..the loser goes back. I am a bit peeved about some of the issues with the 809. The video function is useless, the Audyssey did not nail my setup very well, and the manual is not clear about what many of the audio features are supposed to do.

The speaker posts seemed fine. I used dual banana plugs, and the post spacing aligns with them.

Nobody is sure there is an issue with the video processing, after all you can simply calibrate the unit when processing is turned on or not talk about it and simply turn it off. That is talking about the video processing.

Now let me talk about the standby video passthrough. Quite frankly I am getting really tired of the unit not starting up out of standby mode. Yes power off pass through works but when I want to power on the AVR to enjoy surround it sucks. At first there is a delay and then my display shows 720x480@60Hz, sound works for about 20-30 seconds and then we go through a handshake issue. After that all works well but as far as I am concerned this blows huge chunks and is not acceptable. Every other AVR I have had to this point simply comes on when I hit the power button. I am hopeful that I have set something wrong but I doubt it.

Then there is the issue with this TV Logic sound output. I got so tired of the sound diff I simply set it to that though the manual says nothing about this sound processing mode. At least we don't need earplugs now for commercials. Can anybody tell me what this silly mode is?

The Direct and Through video modes do not both behave as they manual claims they should....Through is messing with the PQ bigtime. Only Direct seems to leave things alone.

Another question... Should I set my Panny pz85u back to default picture settings and use the 809 exclusively to adjust settings? I have my custom values saved for my settings on my tv in case I want them back at any time. Or should I keep my settings on my tv and further adjust through the 809?

Also to the previous poster I hope the 809 comes out on top over the pioneer. Hopefully we will be able to decipher this 809 to make it easier to set up and enjoy.

To all posters... What are some recommendations you would provide Onkyo with to make the 809 easier to use and better overall? What can a firmware do to fix the video processing? Just curious for own personal reasons. Thanks

I have been able to use all of the iPhone apps for the 809 and the free one works just as good as the paid ones. I didn't find the other ones to be 5 or 8 dollars better. I used hacked versions to try before I buy. They all work though and in the end it will come down to preference of each apps functionality and layout. I have not used or seen the android app that is apparently better than the iPhone version. I really enjoy having the option to control using the iPhone. On Oremote you can use the iPhones keyboard to enter in usernames and passwords which makes things easier.

The unit also does not get hot in case people are wondering still if they haven't been able to find previous posts. It is a comfortable warm and nothing to be worried about from my experience so far. Cooler than my previous yamaha rxv1800 as well after a few hours of moderate use. I had no issues with my 1800 as well. Never caused me this much confusion to set up and use the way it is meant to be.

I do not like the delay the 809 has when starting up or switching to differed sources. There is about 10 seconds usually and it gets annoying. I assume this is the video processor's fault getting the video ready to be sent out. Even when picking a different video mode there can sometimes be a small delay.

I've said this before, and will repeat;

Note One!! Go in the owner's manual or the Onkyo website and learn how to do the firmware upgrade before you do anything else.

THEN:

follow the Quick Setup menu to a tee! If something is not working correctly take note of it then. Don't wait until you are up to your neck in the owner's manual before a problem comes up.

In the past I've jumped into owner's manuals and found myself jumping all over the place finding what I need. On this baby it pays to do the QS first, and then sit back and methodically follow the owner's manual for your more specific setup.

I am not saying that will solve all your issues, I still have some I am curious about, but overall this unit works and sounds great. I am not going to get all tied up in some limitations until I learn more. Basically it does everything it should do.

Use the t'shooting charts in the owner's manual if you are stuck, as well as the FAQs on the support (?) website. And of course, this thread for specific issues. Good luck!

BTW, if like me you only got the owner's manual on a CD, spend the 10 bucks and get a hard copy. Or load the pdf to your tablet or Kindle, etc.

+1