The *Official* Onkyo TX-NR515 Owners Thread - Page 3

Got mine a few days ago.
Tried BD I. Robot DTS MA, seemed fine for the 10-15 min sample.

Just rented BD Total Recall Dolby THD, immediately getting audio drop outs every 20-90 seconds. Dolby light on the front panel stays lit, picture on the Tv solid. Only the audio drops out for about 1 second then comes right back.

I am updating the Firmware in the Onkyo right now. Then I'll put the disc back in but if I continue to have this problem, I will be returning this box and/or the BD Player (brand new sony BDP-S590 latest firmware).

This is my first step into hdmi HD Audio. It's supposed to be an upgrade from my perfectly fine HTPC with 6 channel analog HD Audio. Not so impressed so far. This is EXACTLY why I held off on "upgrading" for years.

EDIT: Firmware update on the Onkyo did not solve. Read in the Total Recall BD thread that this is common for this disc (and other newer Dolby THD titles), had to change to PCM to even get through the movie.
Edited by hammerdwn - 12/23/12 at 8:02pm

Hey everyone,

Just got this AVR for Christmas and it being my first AVR, I'm not exactly sure how to set it up. I'm used to having all my components running directly into my TV (a Panasonic GT25) and just using gaming headphones (either Astro A40s or A50s). Here's the thing: Each source has different settings for the picture controls on my TV's user menu and I've calibrated each source (PC, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii U) with either the AVS709 disc or the Spears & Munsil Blu-ray.

With the AVR handling all the video duties and outputting everything via one HDMI cable, is there an option to adjust picture controls (color, contrast, color cuts and gains) within the 515 and have independent video settings for each component? What do I set my TV's video settings at on the HDMI input (input one with ARC) so it's even across the board, midpoints for everything?

Thanks in advance.

Most Tv's have 3 or 4 picture preference "presets" for each input that can be modified/saved. Your Tv has Vivid/Standard/THX/Game/Custom. So for HDMI 1 you can actually use Vivid and for PC, then Standard for PS3, and so on.

It is an extra step when changing devices to change picture mode on the Tv. So the other option is leave all your video cables connected the way they are and use optical & coax & analog to get the audio into the Onkyo. Only certain devices (like bluray) will actually send higher quality formats (TrueHD/DTSMA) when using hdmi, so for those you really do want to send them through the Onkyo. All the other devices will be fine with DD5.1, etc. Unless you are stickler for audio bit rate - I don't know if DD5.1 via optical is same bit rate as DD5.1 via hdmi, might depend on the device (someone else can chime in on that).

If you want more details about the Tv picture settings then there I'm sure there's a GT25 thread.

Did you ever get a good answer to your question about now to select devices connected to Extra 1 or Extra 2 on the front of the receiver or on the remote? Someone posted about how you can click "receiver" then "q" and go into the setup screens for inputs to select them but ... that can't possibly be the only way. It would be pretty ridiculous. I have an apple tv on one of them, and a roku on the other, but I can't find out how to select them (and its not on page 50 ...the devices are already assigned, I'm trying to select them to play the devices in everyday use)

Another question. Im trying to find out a way to do a manual EQ but seems this model does not have the 5 or 7 Eq channels. Any ideas? Also if i remembered I had an Onkyo 706 which has manual eq and also like 4 another bands specifically to eq the sub - lower frequencies somewhere between 40hz-200hz.

If this model does not have this then I sadly have to return it. I like to do my own EQ. If this model does not have it then Which 2012 onkyo model has manual eq? I like tight bass but my sub now sounds too tight. I also own a denon 3311 in which the sub sounds more smooth and deeper and not too tight like on this onkyo. I ran audyssey but same results.

Help please.

Found the answer. The 616 models and above has the manual eq. As for too tight bass, its there anything I can do?

Note that unlike with your 3311CI which uses the higher version of Audyssey MultEQ XT which "can" EQ the subwoofer, the lowest version of Audyssey 2EQ used in the 515, 616, and 717 "cannot" EQ the subwoofer. If you are looking for a lower level model with Manual EQ capability as well as the capability for Audyssey to EQ the sub, consider the Denon 1613.

Denon 1613 was my first pick to replace my yamaha 471 in which I sold it last week. Because I have a denon thats why I skip it and took the onkyo with the only exception that I thought the 515 has manual eq; but its not. I know with the 4 bands eq for the lower freq at least i can alieve the tighter sound. I remember i did that on the onkyo 706 I owned before. My other consideration would be now trying the Pioneer 1022 or the onkyo 616. Yamaha 471 is not into consideration. I own the 471 in which for music is excellent but can not say the same as for movies if compared with my 3311 even though the 471 is a nice receiver. Its just what my ears want
Edited by javygonx - 12/27/12 at 7:42am

FIRMWARE PROBLEM!.. ANY IDEAS?! Im trying to do a firmware upgrade, On the menu I select FW; and after that it shows me the version; thats it!... If I do the USB process in which I select USB Input then it did not see any files!. My jump drive is in FAT32 and is completely empty; except for the 3 files needed for the upgrade,

As on LAN FW Upgrade; well; on the receivers there's no way I can select USB or LAN; as I said before it shows only the current version...

What Im missing?!?! I want to so the FW Upgrade before selling it. There' a potential customer for tomorrow!

When I unzip the update it came out as 3 files:
ONKAVR000D_00EAEA00EAEAEA.of1
ONKAVR000D_00EAEA00EAEAEA.of2
ONKAVR000D_00EAEA00EAEAEA.of3
+ folder AVR000D_Release that contained 4 more files:
ONKAVR000D_00EAEA00EAEAEA.of1
ONKAVR000D_00EAEA00EAEAEA.of2
ONKAVR000D_00EAEA00EAEAEA.of3
ONKAVR000D_00EAEA00EAEAEA.of4

@hammerdawn. Exactly. That was the prob. On the usb you need exaclty the 3 files plus a directory with another 4 files that you specified. Now works and I was able to do the fw upgrade.

Its tricky but works.

Now im playing blackops 2 and the audio appears as multichannel whie on denon as dolby digital. Any idea how to fix that? I pressed the buttons on tne remote that changes different types of audio codecs but never appears tbe dolby digital or dts.

Type of connection?

Goto
Qmenu
Information
Audio
What does it say Input/Output?

Input: hdmi1, multi PCM 48khz, 7.1ch
Outp: multichannel 5.1

Thats it. The output does not says at least pcm; just plain multichannel 5.1

I'm not an expert on 7.1 but...
Seems like your source device (game) is sending 8 channel PCM
I don't think the Onkyo can turn PCM into "Dolby Digital".
The Onkyo can do Dolby True HD 7.1 for Bluray titles with that format.
That game title has 7.1 LPCM, DTS5.1, DD5.1, etc.... so if you want DD 5.1 then set your source device (game) output to DD 5.1

If you goto:
Quick menu
Listening Mode
then scroll left/right, it will show you what modes are available when the input signal is LPCM

I tried. Did not worked. DD is not listed.

I just bought two NR515s,one was an open box. We'll see.

I'm surprised that I'm getting better sound than I was with my trusty old TX SR702. Maybe the Audessey works .

My motivation here was to go all HDMI, but I can't get sound through HDMI from my old Oppo 970 - I can't actually get the cursor to the HDMI option on the Oppo's audio set up menu. I'll post over there on that one.

My question there is has anybody tried to connect to a wireless network? My second motivation is to be able to play internet radio without plugging in my smartphone or tablet through and analogue connection. I see Onkyo sells a USB dongle, and I've got handful of generic 802.11n USB adapters which I'd like to be able to put to use. Is there documentation anywhere on how to configure the Onkyo dongle - that might provide some clues.

My other problem is that the remote is currently unresponsive. I'm not sure what I did to cause that,but I think it was my attempt to route some audio to zone 2. I'll keep you posted

regards, all

The "better" sound could be a result of goosing the LPCM rate in Oppo Audio Setup to the max, which I can do since I can't get to the HDMI choice.

fwiw, I don't think a generic wireless adapter is going to work. I found the manual for the official wireless adapter, and went through the process. It was supposed to display a 'wireless setup' prompt when I selected USB input, but it did not. I guess I'll buy one of theirs for now,or less get ethernet over power cabling adapters. That's probably going to be a better way to feed audio / video content up here.

And the Oppo HDMI audio problem appears to be ancient firmware. Need to update that as soon as I can find a blank CD to burn it to.

So the open box one does seem to be working to spec.

I came from a TX-RS500 and also noticed the Audyssey makes a difference I can hear. Also after I did a Firmware update the receiver defaulted and I set speaker distance and levels manually -it sounded dull without Audyssey running. Came to life after running full EQ setup.

Lets say you have a receiver like a 515 with network capability, a wireless network, no Onkyo wireless connector, a laptop running Windows 7, and an ethernet cable. You can connect the receiver to the internet through the laptop. Connect the ethernet cable between the laptop and the receiver. Go into the network connections control panel on the laptop, select both the wired and the wireless connection, right click, and choose bridge networks. Run the network wizard on the receiver. It should detect the internet. It took two tries for me, but it worked.You're essentially using the PC as a router. I was then able to listen to my net music services through the receiver's firmware for supported services. Pretty cool. That will work until I want to buy the Onkyo wireless connector. Its better than running the internet service on the PC and connecting the analogue output on the PC to an input on the receiver.

I'm not happy with the Zone 2 situation, i.e. you can't play digital inputs to zone 2, so you need to connect all sources from their analogue outs in addition to their digital outs. I was trying to connect the Zone 2 preout back to the analogue input, but that did not seem to work, though I'm not sure I performed the experiment properly.

I'm even more unhappy with the apparent inability to watch video from one source and listen to audio from another. (primarily to watch cable and listen to CD/Net/memory stick/PC, etc.). To get around that I think you need to buy an HDMI splitter *and* and HDMI switch - i.e. run the cable HDMI out to the splitter, run one of the HDMI cables from the splitter to the receiver and the other directly to the switch, then run the other HDMI cable from the splitter directly to the switch.

Anybody have a better idea, or a different receiver that does what I want?

1. Roughly 98% of all AVRs cannot pass other than analog audio sources to Zone 2, although the newer upper level models 3010/5010 now have Zone4(HDMI) output jacks.

2. The best work around is likely to just connect the cable (HDMI) to the TV with cable (optical) to the AVR for surround audio. this configuration also avoids and potential future HDMI handshake issues resulting from a firmware update to the cable box.

Hopefully someone can help me with this. I just replaced my TX-SR606 with the TX-NR515, set it up yesterday, and it works great except for one thing that I can't seem to figure out: how do you play an audio source (in my case, the Apple Airport, playing through the GAME optical input) while watching the video from another source (the CBL/SAT video feed that comes from the cable box and transmits through the HDMI MAIN output to the TV)? Sometimes I like to have music on while watching something on TV with no sound.

I had the exact same configuration on my TX-SR606 and it worked fine -- it would continue showing the video from the cable box and would simply switch the audio to what was coming through the optical input. With the new model, it plays the audio, but the display goes blue, presumably because there is no video associated with the GAME input.

There has to be a way to make this work. What are my options? Any help would be appreciated.

play around the setup for each actual source. For example, you can setup a TV source to use the Optical output of say your airport.

When I turned my system on today there was a message on the front panel "update available".
The Onkyo website version has zip file v118 which I installed via USB.
If I look at the current version on my receiver it says v1100-6105-0300.
If I look at the website PDF the versions are:
10/9/12 v1141-0108-0400 (supposedly only available via USB)
8/10/12 no version given
6/26/12 v1110-8106-0300

Why is my version not even listed?
What is the version that my receiver thinks it needs via Network Update?

I am always very reluctant to do updates via network.

Regarding 'watch one thing, listen to another' the consensus we came to on the Onkyo forum is to connect the cable/satellite receiver to the TV directly using component video, in addition to connecting it via HDMI through the receiver. (since a lot of us have component video cables in a box in the basement that we used before HDMI was invented). Then we watch the TV with the input set to component in rather than HDMI, and listen to anything else through the receiver. Flip back to HDMI when you're ready to watch through receiver again.

Set two of them up this way this weekend, works well.

Sorry for slight off-topic --
I had my brand new still-sealed TX-NR515 stolen recently from storage. Serial# 1066DC222R004072
If you have any leads, please contact me or police asap

Thanks

P.S. This was in Bay Area (San Francisco/San Jose/Oakland/etc.) but might be on the east coast by now, if it was ebay'd
Edited by Fry-kun - 1/7/13 at 9:02pm

I have the same exact question. I have reviewed all the answers and read the manual and for the life of me I cannot figure it out. Maybe I'm just dumb. Does anybody know, in step by step fashion, how you select from the receiver or remote a device that is plugged into HDMI5 or HDMI6 (i.e. Extra1/Extra2)? Thanks in advance to anyone who wants to help and old man out.

Seems like Quick Menu is the only way using the Onkyo remote but I have been browsing the Onkyo Forum and have seen this question. I read moderators saying there are discrete codes to go directly to the inputs (if you have a programmable remote like Harmony or something). Ask over there and if it's possible with the 515 they will reply and PM/email you the discrete codes (for programmable remote).

Thanks I'll give that a shot.