Integra DHC-80.3 - Page 109

1)Yes - I leave the pigtail connector on the PC RAC input and disconnect the longer mini XLR cable just for convenience...
2) Yes - I do all cals out of the room from my laptop wirelessly
3) I presume - once power is connect, the preamp lights up. One cable to the 80.3 PC input and one to the mic and you are ready

 

1 - yes it is a good idea to leave that cable hooked to the 80.3. It will make it much easier to connect up when you run Pro again (and you will run Pro again :))

 

2 - theoretically wireless is good and will work, but I have never trusted it personally for a calibration. One dropout for one second and you could ruin the cal and have to start over. And as it can take up to 2 hours to do a 12 point cal, you don't want to have to do it twice. I dug out an old router from my 'retired gear' closet and have permanently wired it to my 5509, so all I need to do to run a calibration is connect that router to my laptop. The router doesn’t need an Internet connection or a wireless connection or anything - all it does is act as a link between the laptop and the prepro.

 

3 - yes - one connection is the mic, the second is to the 80.3 and the other is for the power jack from the supplied PSU. When you plug the preamp into the power, an orange light illuminates and you are good to go.

 

Not at all a PITA - it's not all that intuitive and the Audyssey instructions are hopeless. Note that the in-app instructions cannot be relied on - as it says in the FAQ, they tell you to connect the Onkyo 5509 via the PC input but in fact it needs the AUX input.

 

Good luck. Be sure to come back and tell us how you get on.  BTW, do you have any independent measuring gear, such as REW or OmniMic?

 

 

EDIT: If you can tell me what wasn't clear in the FAQ answer you refer to, or what else you think should be added, (eg the wireless thing) I will be happy to amend appropriately - thanks.

Edited by kbarnes701 - 12/4/12 at 9:51am

Thanks again guys.
I think I will follow kbarnes701's suggestion and hardwire the laptop to my modem. 'Paranoia runs deep' as someone once said and a 15' ethernet cable is pretty cheap.

And yes, kbarnes701, I know I will run it at least a few times at the get-go to work out the bugs and as I read the threads and find out things I've done wrong. Not to mention when I reposition speakers, furiture, etc. Tweaking is in my blood.

The confusing part in the FAQ was what I mentioned in my #3 (#5 in the FAQ) where it says ''plug the pre-amp into the mains...''. If what is really meant is ''plug the power into the pre-amp...'' it would be more clear to me.
Please don't mean to sound like the FAQ is bad. Quite the contrary. Its much,much better than Audyssey's manual. There are few things that upset me more than poorly written directions. Maybe people that leave their shpping carts in the middle of a parking space rather than walking 20' to the cart area . OK ,Tom, take a deep breath and count to ten.

Thanks again guys. I'm sure I'll be back here or to the Audyssey thread again.

Tom

 

Roger that... I will amend that FAQ answer to make it more clear. Thanks for the heads-up.

 

WRT to that, take a look at this post and see what happened to one guy when the cal was interrupted unpredictably...

 

http://www.avsforum.com/t/1346723/the-audyssey-pro-installer-kit-thread-faq-in-post-1/3450#post_22662357

Bad crossover, bad capacitor on it would deplete and cutouts start then relieved by turning volume up, Paradigm support's email and phone comms led me right to it, replaced the mid/tweeter crossover and problem gone for a whole month now. Did it now after i swapped the DHC-80.3 for the PR-SC5509.

Sorry it sounded like I was saying I was a big deal. It was not what I intended. I've been a computer hobbyist since '83 and tutored a great many people on how to use them. That's what I meant by "wizzard," although I should have said "witch." Audio has also been a hobby since the '60s. Despite this, I am much less knowledgeable than many on this forum and I learn something every day.
Edited by Theresa - 12/7/12 at 4:31am

Just finished reading all 109 pages.

Just ordered the DHC 80.3 and DTA 70.1 amp. I'm hoping to find an audyssey Pro kit under the christmas tree from my wife:) I'm hoping it will be delivered before next weekend.

I recently sold my Onkyo 3008, which has XT32. It only powered the two surround back channels and a Primare A30.5 amp powered the rest. I actually enjoyed this setup very much but felt audyssey was a bit of hit and miss with the measurements.

I recently upgraded my front speakers from Dynaudio focus 220 to Contour S5.4's. Quite a leap in SQ in all regards. This led me to make a new audyssey round of measurements with the new speakers. I had been lucky(?) with the old measurement, which had just the right amount of punch and no ringing in the bass at all.

Doing a number of measurements I was just not able to bring back the good punchy sound I had from before, although a last measurement with only 3 points did the trick. Faulty mic? Anyways, long story short I'd been reading alot of great things about the Anthem MRX recievers.

Having just experienced a great improvement in SQ with the new Dynaudio contour speakers I was eager to take my system even further.

I decided to buy a MRX 300 reciever. I ran ARC and tried a number of different room gain settings and reran ARC etc etc. I just couldnt get it to sound good. I should mention, that I have 18 vicoustics treatments in my room and with 2 18" subs, the respons is without any dips, only a peak in 30hz. Anyways, to me, the MRX 300 just sounded bright and fatiguing. All my usual test material sounded too bright and my wife asked me to turn down all the time. I tried alof of different settings on the MRX, no ARC, turning down the treble etc. To me the MRX just is very unforgiving. Perhaps I like the sound more rolled off.

I was sorely missing my Onkyo 3008 at this point, albiet it proved a little tricky at times, to get just right. Sometimes you need to try something different to know what you had?

I really did give the MRX 300 a good shot at things, but from the first notes it just didnt feel right. My wife never complains about MV in the -10 to -15 region on the Onkyo 3008. Right off the bat she asked me to turn it down on the Anthem. We ended up watching movies at MV - 25 to -30! argh. Not trying to bash the MRX reciever to be honest I was REALLY hoping it would be better.

To give the Anthem a bit of credit, the Jim Keltner improv. never sounded so good. And some material in stereo did sound very good. So maybe 10% of my music and movie material worked fine...

So what now?

I decided to return the MRX 300, which I had NOT anticipated reading the raving reviews it has gotten. Compared to the Onkyo I had, it was at best, a sidegrade.

Wanting to get back to the Onkyo sound I then decided on the processor along with the AMP and will add the pro kit. This time the Integra version of it.

I'm hoping this setup with be easier to get a good audyssey measurement with (pro kit, and perhaps my mic on the 3008 was a bit faulty?), and perhaps the better DACs and general quality of the 80.3 will then, infact, be an upgrade from my old Onkyo 3008.

Maybe the real upgrade for me would've been the Anthem AVM50, but I just couldn't afford it right now, it also just recieved a significant price bump where I live.

Anyways, thats my little hifi/HT story, crossing my fingers I do not get dissapointed the the 80.3 and DTA 70.1:)

And for the record, entirely not trying to bash Anthem and ARC, it just didn't work for me with the MRX line of recievers. A friend of mine has the AVM50 and his system really does sound awesome and not bright and fatigueing at all.

I have a few friends with Anthem D2V's and it is a very good unit. I do think that ARC is good, but not at the level of XT/32 with a Pro calibration. I once did a side by side comparison in the same system of a Pro calibrated 9.8 vs. a D2V with ARC. With a number of classical SACD's from an Oppo player via HDMI, three of us had a hard time telling the difference between the two. But, that was a 9.8, and for sure my 80.2 sounds much better than that. If anything, an 80.3 is at least as good and might be a smudge better.

In any case, I think your findings parallel my own on Anthems. They do sound good, but even for the money, the latest Integras sound even better in my view. The possible exception might be on the analog inputs, where the Anthems might outclass the Integras. But, that is an area that is not important to me.

So, good luck with your new 80.3. I think you will be quite happy.

I am running the Oppo BDP-95 though an Integra DHC 80.3 processor.

I am using 5.1 RCA analog connections. Aside from setting it up as multi-channel,

how do I ensure I am using/hearing the DAC's in the Oppo?

Are there additional settings I have to make ?

Thanks for all your help

Rest assured that you are hearing the Oppo DACs. There is no A/D conversion of the Mch analog inputs on the Integra. Stereo analog can undergo A/D conversion and thereby use the Integra DACs plus other features of the unit, such as Audyssey and bass management. But, this can also be bypassed using Direct sound mode.

Personally, I think it is a waste to use the Integra this way, bypassing most of the features you paid for in it. But, if that is they way you like it best, happy listening. If it were me and I found I greatly preferred an analog signal path, I would likely dump my Integra for a Parasound P7 pure analog processor. I expect it might sound a bit better via analog than the Integra is capable of, not that Integra's analog sounds terrible. I just do not think it sets the world on fire. It is, after all, optimized for the digital inputs and contains within it many EMI generating digital circuits that the Parasound does not have.

But, fortunately, I am delighted with my Integra used with an Oppo 93 via HDMI.

+1
The benefits of the Oppo's "better" DACs do not out weigh the benefits of the bass management and audyssey XT32 provide. I believe Kal Rubinson stressed this earlier in the the thread. I suggest you try hooking up the Oppo via HDMI and use that for multi-channel listening and use the analog outs for two channel listening.

I don't have my system completed yet but I will be purchasing the OPPO BDP-103 over the Integra DBA-50.3. Both models have been compared side by side and the OPPO created a much higher quality picture than the Integra Blue Ray Player. I am using the Integra DHC-80.3 and the DTA-70.1.

I'd recommend you using a HDMI connection from your blue ray player to your DHC. Then you should use the 'Through' setting on your DHC. Let the DHC do the audio portion of the movie. The new Audyssey MulitEQ XT 32 has improved so much. I'd let the video filters in the OPPO handle the video and send it "Through the DHC" to the monitor. You really don't need both processors working at the same time. No difference in video quality. I'd bypass the DHC or OPPO video. Your choice. Though I would recommend the DHC for the video also since the video processor is much more up to date than the OPPO 95. But I don't know the specs for the 95 and if it uses the same QDEO processing chip.

Peace out and happy holidays.

Doesn't the Integra also incorporate Audyssey XT32 when in two channel mode? I.e., are you assuming in the above that the analog outs from the Oppo and the Sabre DAC impelmentation from that unit will outweigh the improvements Audyssey XT32 does for the Integra's 2 channel as well?

I don't have an 80.3 yet (should be in the mail shortly), so am curious. I was debating whether to get a Oppo 95/105, essentially for the XLR analog outs, or just go with the 103 (or an older 93).

Guess I could just go to my bro's and try it since he has the 80.3 and 95. But curious what others have found.

Not to worry, it just reminded me of that famous quote from some movie from some comedian, I can't remember which/who. I'm sure you are much more humble than your original post implied.

To the PBC guy's thread.

I would like to say that my opinions are from extensive research and from talking to other people who have these units in the field for actual hands-on testing. Also I get my opinions from actually talking to the technicians from the companies that produce these products to better understand them before making my assessment.

I am not here on these forums to be-little anyone. I'm just stating my own experiences and many of my friends experiences on various products that we discuss in the AVS forums. I hope my information helps you out. But when in doubt, call the manufacturer, there their to assist you the best they can. And don't forget about the AVS forums, there are a lot of trusted people on these forums that will go out of their way to help you with your problems if you are seeking solutions.



The difference between the BDP-103 and 105 is that the 105 is pretty much designed to do the audio and video coding as well as the DHC. But if you use the 105, the Audyssey will stop working cause you will be entering the analog world instead of the digital world and you will have to do your own room configurations and audio calibrations. But the MultiEQ XT 32 in the DHC is so fantastic; that, why would you want to run your speaker setup in analog mode like on the 105? The Audyssey will do everything for you with incredible sound and results.

Also the QDEO video processor in the DHC is also implemented in the 103 and 105. They both use the latest Marvel video chipset.

Though the 105 is pretty much for the person who doesn't have the DHC or a pre-amplifier and just wants to connect their blue-ray player straight to an amplifier and out to their monitor. The 105 is designed to do the video and audio processing like the DHC without all the bells and whistles including AM/FM station tuning and again room calibration.


I'm purchasing the 103 myself and setting my DHC to 'Through' so my OPPO will do the video filtering and bypass the video filtering in the DHC since there both the same and send my signals straight to my Plasma. But I'm having the DHC do my audio processing. There's no benefit for sending the filtered video signal from my OPPO to my pre-amp to re-filter it again. The 103 wasn't designed to do the audio coding. That's where the DHC comes into play. Plus there's a $700+ price difference between the 105 and 107 which can also make a big difference towards your budget.

There are slightly more differences between the 103 and 105 which I'm not going to get into now. Just google the 103 vs 105 and make your own comparisons then bring back those comparisons to the AVS Forums for us to give our opinions that may help you in making the right decision.

I hope I was able to help you out somewhat. Take care and I wish you and your family a safe holiday.


Panasonic TC-P65VT50 Plasma
Definitive Technology: RCS II & RSS II
Integra DHC-80.3
Integra DTA-70.1
OPPO BDP-103
Pioneer LX70 DVR/DVD Burner
JL Audio Fathom F112 Subwoofer
Bluejean Cables - Balanced Interconnects
Mycablemart.com - Ultra Flex HDMI
SurgeX SA-20 Sub and Amp surge protectors
APC S20BLK Surge Protector

Looking into a future purchase of Universal Remote Control for home automation including my home theater system.

I also want to add to this post that the Audyssey will need at least 3 speaker positions/configurations in order for MultiEQ XT 32 to kick in and work properly. So I doubt the XT 32 will work for the two channel setup. Remember Audyssey was designed for theater applications and not for stereo applications. Not saying you can't use it for a two channel application setup. We do have a thread on Audyssey here on the forums to ask this question or you can call Audyssey personally and ask them.

Good post Bill.

Thanks for the responses guys, just curious if anyone has actually tried first hand the 95 in analog vs HDMI on something like the the 80.3 or equivalently XT32 equipped processor or AVR.

I highly doubt I'll be able to tell the difference. I once A/B's the Oppo 83's HDMI section against a Cambridge 640v3 or whatever CD player (not top tier, but had well regarded dual Wolfson DACs) back when I had my Onkyo 886 (or maybe it was my Integra 9.8, or the Marantz AV7005 ... I change too much crap over time!). I ended up selling the Cambridge after an hour or so of flipping back and forth as I just couldn't tell the difference.

But I have read people swear by the new DACs in the Oppo and also how the XLR's lower the noise floor a tad so am curious. So given that, I will probably just borrow my brother's 95 if he can live without it for a week or so just for fun to try it out in any event once I do get the 80.3 which will hopefully be here this week.

Not sure I understand the point about needing at least 3 positions to work properly and how that relates to 2 channel and or impacts the usefulness of Audyssey for 2 channel? I.e., a) I wasn't aware you couldn't just use 1 position with Audyssey (and I guess rerun it at the same position 3 times if it had to take 3 readings) and b) with 2 channel I would still assume I'd be sitting in a 2 x 6 foot area in any event, and would take the usual measurements I would have in any event. But probably a discussion for the massive Audyssey thread!

It does require at least 3 mike positions, but not 3 or more speakers. So, you can calibrate just a stereo setup with it using at least 3 mike positions. Even in stereo, though, the more mike positions, the better, within reason, to get better response over a wider area and to minimize having it overreact to local acoustic conditions. I only use 11 positions with Pro across a 3 seat listening area for my 7.1 setup.
Edited by fitzcaraldo215 - 12/10/12 at 10:43am

I'm using the DHC 80.2 with the Oppo 95. The biggest differences between using Audyessy and Direct with music to my ears are the mid range comp of Audyessy which I don't like but the bass is superior with Audyessy engaged.  I've recently picked up the Audyessy Pro Kit but haven't really had any time to play around with it yet. Some may find the benefits of Audyessy outweigh the benefits of the better analog stage in the Oppo, I'm still undecided.

 

 

I will be seeing a friend tonight that has a ModWright modded 95 which he uses with an Onkyo 5508 with XT32. I believe he is quite happy using XT32 even with 2 CH music due having twin Rythmik subs. I do believe he still uses the balanced output/inputs in Pure/Direct from time to time but is more inclined to use XT32.

Bill

Why do you say this?  Each channel/speaker is EQ-ed independently.

I think he means to perform an Audyssey MultiEQ XT32 Full Calibration on the DHC 80.3 you must measure a minimum of three listening positions.

Possibly but that's not what he said.

Thanks for correcting me Bill and Charlie. I was referring to the surround sound calibration and not the stereo or 2 channel setup. I'm sorry for misleading anyone if I did that. I'm not aware if the Audyssey will calibrate for 2 channel stereo or mono. But there is a large difference between digital and analog and how it acts in a 2 channel setup compared to a 5.1 - 9.2 setup when calibrating for surround sound applications.

Not putting down the OPPO 105, but if your just going to use the OPPO just for your movie viewing whether it be in a DVD or Blue-Ray format, I would suggest the 103. I'm sure the 105 is a fantastic player as well but for basic operations, it may be a little overkill. But that's just my opinion.

Peace and happy holidays to all.

So, basically, the added cost of the 95 over a 93, plus the cost of the mods are going to waste in his system, because via HDMI or coax, there is no difference whatsoever between a 95 and a 93. Also, no matter how good the DACs in the 95 are, extra d-a and a-d conversions cannot possibly make the sound more accurate. Some people might prefer the sound that way, which is their right, but it makes no sense to me.

I feel crazy even asking this knowing that the source came from a Magnolia HT employee, but better to be safe than sorry.

The Magnolia HT employee commented that for any of their high-end installations they always run video sources straight to the display and audio only to the receiver/pre/pro (thus requiring sources to have multiple HDMI outputs) due to the video processors in these devices lifting black levels.

Any truth to this? I presume not, but figured I'd ask the people here that may have this unit as I'd like to utilize my forthcoming AVR/pre/pro to handle scaling, deinterlacing, and CMS (via ISFccc), but not at the expense of it lightening black levels.

To answer your question. Yes and No. The DHC is pretty advanced. From talking to a friend who has this unit and is using it with a projection t.v., I also asked him the same question.

He uses HDMI about 30 feet from the projector to the DHC. And another HDMI going from his Oppo 103 to the DHC also. He sets his DHC to 'THROUGH' so the Oppo will handle the video filtering but the DHC will handle the audio only. And the audio codec in the DHC is top notch.

But getting back to your question, if you have a high end player and pre-amp with ARC, you shouldn't need to split up the signal.
Unless you have an older receiver that doesn't have the ARC feature. Then you would need two HDMI outputs and split the video and the audio.

I hope this helps you out.

Have a safe holiday.