Onkyo TX-NR818 "official" owner's thread discussion - Page 89

I've paid for my 818 and its features. I'm not trying to get something for free. I simply expect that the power button will switch the device on and off just like I expect the device to know how to handle 23.976 fps and 24 fps.

Emotiva has superior service.
Is this the SINGLE problem that you referenced below?

Most likely that is a different group asking (e.g. tier 2 support) or that was from a different stage in the discovery process. They asked me very similar questions early on, it's probably part of the script.

I am about to take Onkyo up on their offer to exchange my HT-RC180 (HDMI board failing out of warranty) with an 818 for additional $$. But looking at this thread, I see a lot of (very specific) complaints. This is a badass AVR, is it not?

Good service is one thing, working products another. And yes, that's the one problem I was talking about.

Just got a second reply from Onkyo support that the problem is known in Japan and that there probably will be a firmware solution. They just don't know when it is planned for release.

It is. No complaints here. The FPS and lag isn't something I'm affected with, and I usually notice when something like jerkyness/sync problems are present. I use my AV mostly for what I bought it for. And that's music. The majority of the time I use USB audio or Tuner. But I've watched plenty of movies and enough games of battlefield 3 to know it IS a badass AV.

I opened my 818 and Hooked it up to my 2 Martin Logan motion12s and a dynamo 500.

Sounded good so far still have 4 Logan 10s and another sub to hook up as well but waiting on some wires

He finally took the 818 out of the box - hallelujah

Ya I did lol

I got a thread on my theater build I got some pics posted in there

Unfortunately for music gapless support isn't there either, especially important if you use USB or Network. FPS isn't affected me too as I didn't run any video through the receiver jet, but might become a problem in the future, I don't know, at least there is a hack with secondary out. Still for this money I would expect to do every basic thing with unit without any additional wires and reconnects... Unfortunately with Onkyo it is not the case. If you are ready to opt out of ARC/OSD/gapless and use it only as an amplifier then it is great. But it seems I also have defective Audyssey mic, so I cannot properly calibrate for the room. As there are obvious resonances in my room that need to be removed this is really important for me... Looking for alternative microphone currently to try and verify the problem is actually with it being defective.

Sounds like bad luck

How is reliability on the TX-NR818? Thinking about buying one in the near future since the only Denon with XT32 is a bit above my price range.

Just a bit put-off by some of the issues in this thread and in others over reliabiltiy / Customer Service.

I'm having a very serious problem with my TX-NR818 receiver. I have a Sony BDP-S370 Blu-Ray player connected via HDMI. The Blu-Ray player is set to output video at its original resolution so the majority of the video processing is done by the receiver. Some DVD's have their main menu in 480i while the actual movie is in 480p. When selecting Play from the DVD's menu there is an alarming delay of 7 seconds before I get any audio or video. I've timed it. This means I miss 7 seconds of the show I'm watching. This may not seem like much, but most TV series don't start with opening credits like movies do. I also have my desktop PC which uses Intel's HD 4000 graphics connected via HDMI to my receiver. The PC is running 64-bit Windows 7 SP1. When I try to play audio of any kind there is also a 7 second delay before I hear any audio. How do I fix this?

Does the front panel of the 818 show anything specific within those 7 seconds? What are the picture settings of the 818? What kind of TV is connected? Which HDMI port? Does the TV do any processing? Is RIHD enabled?

My receiver is connected to a cheap computer monitor that doesn't do any video processing. It's an LG IPS236 monitor with a native resolution of 1080p. The 818 receiver is set to ISF Day for the picture setting. It's set to upconvert all video to 1080p/60 before outputting it to the monitor. I've tried all of the HDMI ports. This issue is not specific to a specific port, it happens with all of them. My monitor only has one HDMI port. During those 7 seconds the HDMI indicator on the receiver's display flashes steadily until it locks onto the audio/video signal. I should note that by comparison Denon's AVR-591 receiver locks on to the same signal in less than 0.5 seconds. Granted it doesn't have a video processor inside, but that shouldn't make this big of a difference.

Sounds like normal handshaking. The problem is probably the monitor. Is it connected via DVI? Do you have the chance to test with a "normal" TV?

What happens when you set the 818 to "Through"?

My home theater system is in a small room. I sit approx 5ft away from the monitor. My receiver is connected to the monitor's HDMI port, not the DVI port. My only question is why does Denon's AVR-591 receiver take less than 0.5 seconds to complete its handshaking while the Onkyo 818 receiver takes 7 seconds? The addition of a video processor in the Onkyo should not increase the handshaking time from less than 0.5 seconds to 7 seconds. I will try setting the Onkyo to Through, but doesn't this disable the Onkyo's video processing? Also, why would a monitor with a built in TV tuner make a difference in the time it takes to complete handshaking? That doesn't make any sense.

I think we are starting to see a perfect example of the "elitist" attitude being referenced here:
Home Theater: What Is It Now, Anyway?


Keep in mind, the 818 is technically still a midrange product.

It can be more than HDMI handshaking that causes delay in sync. The display has to recognise and lock on to the incoming frame-rate (24.00 or 60.00 might be relevant here), colour space, resolution etc. HDMI handshaking is a hit and miss thing with some combinations of devices.

I don't believe a cheap LCD does not have a vp. How can it display a picture without a vp? If the LCD really only can accept just one type of input, 1080p RGB video signal, say, then it won't work at all if sent YCbCr or lower resolution or PC signal.

Set the bluray player to output your display's native rate. (ie let the bluray player handle the video conversions)

Does the picture look worse when you do it this way?
If not, you are done.

I just got this receiver all setup and ready to go. It was an replacement for my Denon AVR-2808CI. Needed more HDMI inputs as the Denon only had 2. The Denon also had hand shake issue with my pvr.

For music, the sound is on par with the Denon but Movies and TV is another story. The Audessey XT32 makes dialog clearer and provided a little more detail. More dynamic. I have Audessey Curve set to music/flat with no dynamic eq or volume enabled. Hope they include gapless playback for y’all. It's getting a little too much to have to read about it every few posts. There are so many cheap devices that have the capability to stream audio. Just get one of those. I use a Mac Mini as music server and send the signal to my receiver or DAC to a dedicated 2 channel music system.

When I originally wrote about this amp... I thought it might be just the feature set I was looking for but I wanted to ask about a few things I've read here that may be a concern...

1) Use of pre-out *just* for Front L/R. I read an earlier post where someone was talking about their 7.1 setup. I would only be doing 5.1 with a second zone. I have a power amp I plan to use for the Front L/R but I want the AVR to power the remaining speakers. He seemed to indicate (and perhaps this was just because of the 7.1 setup???) that if you used external amplification for the fronts, you needed to use it for all channels. Is that true?!!???

2) HDMI Sync/startup. This seems to be an issue with many of the AVRs so maybe it's not particular to this model (i.e. the source device may be the thing misbehaving). Does this model/maker have more problems than others? I've heard the DirecTV SAT box implicated... that's what we use so I'm particularly interested in this. Seven seconds to go "live" sounds like it would be pretty damned annoying over time.

1. No.
2. Issue is with all brands of AVRs as cable/sat boxes are generally not designed to be connected to an AVR. Work around is to simply connect the HDMI directly to the TV with optical from the box to the AVR. DTV boxes have especially been problematic as although it may initially work without issue, a new firmware update to the box may very well introduce an HDMI handshake issue.

Thanks JDS...

Regarding the DTV box... so if I hook that right up to the TV would you recommend using the ARC of the TV or the digital out from the DTV box to get the sound signal?

I also expect to be using an HTPC box for a fair amount of content... I can certainly ask over in that forum but since I'm on the subject... are you or anyone else here aware of specific video cards (or motherboards if I use the on-board) doing a better/worse job with the handshake?