Official Pioneer SC-68/67 Thread - Page 23

I "lost" a couple of sources during my first attempt at setup.
After a day of fiddling with the input setup screen I just reset the system and started at square one.
I am trying to do the absolute minimum alterations to my input menus
I will rename them when everything is working as it should.

Just to make sure my question #4 in my last post is clear, what I am wondering is this:
How does music from iTunes on my iMac, assuming it was uploaded lossless, streamed via Airplay through Apple TV to my theater system (planning a Pioneer SC-68 to replace an older B&K and an Oppo 105 to replace my first gen. Denon BluRay), compare sonically with putting a CD into the Oppo and listening to it? Or, for that matter, attaching my ipod with the lossless music files, directly to the receiver?
In other words, is there some loss of quality due to any part of that path, (iTunes despite lossless, Airplay, WiFi, losing something because the Oppo 105 playing a CD is just better, etc.), most notably the streaming over WiFi?
Thanks.

Does anybody having problem tv screen going snowy when you press iPod control on button on sc-68..... This used to work for me before now , maybe after the latest firmware upgrade, it is not workin..... My tv is connected thru arc hdmi....

Why not add an OPPO BDP-103 instead? The BDP-105 was designed for analog output in mind. If you intend to use HDMI audio, save the money and get the BDP-103. Besides the SC-68 has features that are redundant with the BDP105 and vise-versa. If you intend to use the analog outputs, a separate pre-pro and/or amplifier will suffice.

Which Martin Logans?

Which REL subwoofer?

AVRs in general don't have power amps for subwoofers. Hopefully your REL subwoofers have power amps of their own, in which case your question makes no sense at all.

Lossless is lossless whether the source is a lossless file online, on a local server, or a CD.

I don't know why anybody buys CD players with good DACs like the Oppos when every AVR has digital inputs that allow you to bypass them. Bypassing the DACs in the AVR also bypasses things that are quite valuable such as bass management, equalization, and system tuniing so you want to rely on them for sure. Bottom line, paying the big bucks for one of the upscale BD players makes no sense.

The Apple TV sample rate converts to 48k... in reality, I don't think anyone would be able to pick out that difference..

Airplay is lossless.

A digital iPod connection is the same...

I use the Remote app on an iPad (or iPod touch) to control my iTunes library via Airplay.. works, and sounds, great...

I buy Oppos because they play Mch DVD-A and SACD (with 88.2 kHz PCM output). That's not a common capability.

To add to this so far it has played every single disc that has been thrown its way not the same can be said for a lot of other players out there.

Martin Logan Ascent i's
Martin Logan Theater i center speaker
REL storm lll sub
Sorry my question makes no sense at all
So my question is whether there is any sound compromises from WiFi streaming of those lossless music on iTunes as opposed to playing a CD in the system or for that matter connecting the ipod to the AVR directly.

And, by the way, are you saying that the question raised earlier in this thread as to possible incompatibility of class D amps with the REL subwoofer makes no sense as well?
I guess I have nothing to worry about then.

Thanks for your help!

I am using an Elite SC-67 and it clearly stipulates on page 78 of the manual that sound will be put out to both A+B Speakers and Subwoofer. It seems that when both sets are enabled and Dts: Neo X is going, it only puts out sound to the heights. It never once " switches " to the wides or even duplicates the sound like it says in the manual. Can someone please tell me if they get sound with both enabled in NeoX because I am ready to return this receiver if that can not work out.

Some good news .. I managed to get the USB-DAC driver to install

I feel such an idiot now, but it was only after re-reading Soniky's reply that I twigged that perhaps it was in some way crucial that I have the USB-DAC input selected when I connect the USB cable from my computer to the SC-68. Anyway, this was what made the difference. I have never come across a USB capable device where I had to go in and configure its inputs first - very odd, but I assume Pioneer have a good reason for designing it to work this way. Maybe they power down that section when it is not needed to save power, or reduce the noise floor??

BTW, the reason why I did not have the USB-DAC input selected was that in order to see my PC's display on my TV I had to have the DVD input selected. (there are actually problems with that also, but I will post details on this later)

Anyway, in order to see what was going on with my PC I had to disconnect the DVI->HDMI cable from the SC-68 and route it to my TV via an old HDMI switch which I have. I then selected the USB-DAC input and connected the cable. This time (for the first time) Windows detected the new USB device and attempted to install the new hardware. This failed with the message..

"A problem occurred during hardware installation. Your new hardware might not work properly"

I tried a number of times but got the same error. In control panel/System/Hardware it indicated that the Pioneer USB Device had not been installed correctly and could not start.

Next step was to try installing the USB-DAC driver from the AVNavigator CD. In Chrome browser I selected the option to install the driver, and it downloaded the setup.exe from the CD. I double-clicked on this not nothing happened. However, I was able to successfully run the setup.exe from my hard drive (I had previously copied the contents of the CD to my hard drive because of issues I encountered earlier, i.e. couldn't install the AVNavigator app from the CD)

I have selected "DS: Pioneer USB Device" in Foobar 2000 and selected 24bit mode. I now get the sound out of my speakers.

Initial impressions are that it sometimes sounds a little harsh/edgy compared to my Mapleshade adapter but I understand that there are some adjustment that you can do on the SC-68 which might help with that. I plan to spend some time to do some proper listening tests later.

Thanks everyone for spending the time to help me with this.

Page 19 states:
The A+B mode is separate from the Neo:X mode. Page 78 says that in A+B mode the B speakers output a stereo version of whatever is available in the A speakers.

Above that is states: It is unclear what "according to input signal" means in this case, since neither Neo:X nor PLIIz have flags in the input signal. In that case, if you want to hear the wide speakers, you have to manually select SP: FW ON using the Speakers function, and select Neo:X.

Hey Guys,

I am looking into purchasing a Pioneer Elite Series receiver. I want to make it quasi future proof. I originally was looking at the SC-68. I have a good friend who works at Best Buy who brought up a good point. He was saying that with the constant change in technology, I might be better suited going to a SC-65 and using the extra dough on my speaker upgrades. I guess what I getting to is, are there big difference between the Sc-67/68 vs 65? The room it's going in is small. I am planning on custom building a house in the next 5 years and want to use it for multi-zone and be able to power a medium theater room. At max, I'll be running a 7.2 setup. Possibly pushing either B&W's larger 600series speakers or their smaller CM series speakers. Let me know if you need any more info to answer my question. Thanks in advance for your help!!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Roger Dressler

Above that is states: It is unclear what "according to input signal" means in this case, since neither Neo:X nor PLIIz have flags in the input signal. In that case, if you want to hear the wide speakers, you have to manually select SP: FW ON using the Speakers function, and select Neo:X.




Ok well the heights stay on in the FH/FW mode and nothing seems to ' flag ' or ' switch ' to the wides and no where in the manual does it say that the heights will be default in A+B mode so then the manual and the receiver is falsely advertised. It looks like I will be returning this receiver, thanks for your help!

Iv just recently purchased the SC-67 and Im still learning alot.......what is the difference between PLII and Neo X ???

Hi guys,

My current Onkyo AVR started giving me some trouble in the last couple of weeks so I acted fast without doing much research when a deal came up on an SC-65 (I should receive it any day now).

The specs look great and it seems really good from a connectivity perspective. However, I have AVRs in both my HT rooms that have Audyssey and I find that I regularly use Dynamic EQ and Dynamic Volume - does the SC-65 offer similar features and if so how do they compare in effectiveness. I ask as this could end up being a deal-breaker for me as I find these features very useful with three small children in the house.

BTW, for those who own both Denon and Pioneer AVRs of a recent vintage - how does Pioneer's HDMI video switching speed compare, I ask as I've found my Denon AVR to be well ahead of my Onkyo.

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

It includes THX Loudness Plus which is similar to Dynamic EQ...

There is no feature that matches Dynamic Volume... you can turn on Dynamic Range Control to help out when listening at lower volume, but it won't react to wild swings in program levels like Dyn Volume does.

As far as HDMI switching, I have never really noticed it being fast or slow... it certainly isn't any slower than the Onkyo or Denon's I've had in my room recently.

FilmMixer, thanks for the quick response. You've given me something to think about as I've gotten pretty used to the benefits of Dynamic Volume as I've had it in my AVR for over 4 years now. I'm surprised Pioneer doesn't offer a similar technology on their AVRs - I can't see why they wouldn't just license Dolby Volume.

Thanks again for the info.

As a side note..

The CALM act recently went into effect... for broadcast, it should alleviate some of the massive swings..

If you are concerned about DVD/BR, you can turn on DRC as I said.

Thanks FilmMixer, I mostly care about late night movie watching and I like the fact that Dynamic Volume doesn't completely cripple the soundtrack the way DRC does. Still, if I have to give up something I guess I'm glad it's Volume rather than EQ as the SC-65 does still have Loudness plus which is similar to Dynamic EQ.

Thanks again.

Thanks ss9001, I did see ALC mentioned in the user manual but I can't find any information on it online to determine if it works in a similar fashion to Dynamic Volume or Dolby Volume or whether it's applicable to all input signals. Your feedback would be greatly appreciated. I see your point about the economics behind decisions but unless this ALC technology is equivalent it means that Pioneer AVRs come up short on a feature many people (at least people I know who all seem to have small children) use on an everyday basis so it just seems like an oversight to me, one that's easily correctable.

Can someone tell me what significant differences exist between the SC 67 and 68?
md