Denon 3910 Owners Thread - Page 243

Back when I did the update I downloaded a free trial copy of Nero, burned the CDs updated the player and removed the trial version of Nero.

Several years ago I used Roxio Easy CD Creator version 5 and was able to upgrade the firmware. I wish I could help you but honestly I don't think I've used the software ever since. I vaguely remember finding what I was looking for in kind of small print on the bottom, in kind of a hidden option (ISO burn?). WAY back in this thread there were detailed instructions and I just followed them. Anyway it worked and I've been able to enjoy DVD-A's and SACD's via Denon Link 3 ever since.

Mine is Roxio version 7. I've looked and looked and can't find everything called out in the instructions. Somehow I just can't get in the mood of adding and removing software just so I can burn 3 discs. Then too, Nero might be different now than when lots of you folks did the upgrade. They are up to version 8.

I find it a bit disgusting to get a stupid reply like I did yesterday from Denon. The instructions very clearly state "burn the discs THIS way, or the upgrade will fail". Then yesterday the email says "No, just burn discs any old way, as long as they are data discs". How can they be so cheap and uncooperative in not just mailing me the discs?

Let me ask another question. I guess I am just now coming out of the "dark ages". My previous rptv did not have hdmi. My Denon receiver (AVR3800) does not have hdmi OR Denon Link. As soon as I get my new Panny 58" 850u (any day now), the only thing I want to do is feed the VIDEO to the tv via hdmi so I can use the upconverting capability of the 3910 (FINALLY, after 3 years!).

Should I even care about the firmware update? I feed the digital via coax from the 3910 to the AVR3800 for DD and DTS. I use the analog outs for DVD-A and SACD. Does the firmware do anything for the VIDEO end of things? I don't own Raging Bull, so I don't care about that either. I've never had one hiccup with a dvd since I bought the machine.
Even though my receiver is getting older, it still works and sounds great. I know sooner or later I'll get a new one, but not in the forseeable near future.

Leave well enough alone?

Thanks to all that are trying to help me out.

Not to sound like a Denon fan boy but this DVD player is 4 years old, which is a relic in the electronic world. There are probably some discs in a file cabinet in a basement somewhere, along with the customer service answer sheet that was published with the discs, but know one at the factory wants to draw straws to see who gets to schlep down there to try and find a set to mail to you.

I guess you're right, John. I didn't think of it that way.

Just because it still works really well, has great PQ and sounds wonderful, it's old. Time to replace it.

I think I make just disengage this whole train of thought and wait for the Panny to get here. Hook it up as is and see what I have then.

Steve, did you try the upgrade process as suggested above?

My recolletion is that the latest firmware only addresses Denon Link III and does not do anything for HDMI/picture quality or anything video. So if you continue to use the analog outs for DVD-A and SACD and you like the way it sounds, then I see no reason to worry about anything.

Thank you. I appreciate that. From everything I could find about the update, it had to do with DVD-A over hdmi (I don't care) and SACD over Denon Link (my receiver doesn't have Denon Link.)

I will leave it alone. Found out today my Panny should be here Saturday. I should know soon how well it works the way it is.

ezervoud,

No I never tried. I was looking today and found that I actually downloaded the update from Denon nearly TWO YEARS ago! But as I said, number 1 it didn't seem to update anything I NEEDED. And second, I couldn't burn the disc properly. The pdf in the download file is very specific. Words are "if you don't do this, IT WILL FAIL." So I figured not worth the risk.

I can understand Denon not being overly excited about me asking for discs for a 4 year old machine. What I can't understand is how they could be irresponsible and give out info contrary to what came with the download.

On the other hand, I'll bet anyone a dollar that if I needed a $200 replacement laser for the 3910, they'd find one REAL QUICK.

Thanks to all that responded.

I probably should have related this effort to many PC upgrades I have done and then had to UNDO over the years. Sometimes "if it ain't broke, don't fix it still makes sense.

When the instructions say if you don't do this it will fail, it meant that the upgrade will fail not your player. If I recall correctly you said that you had some HDMI locking issues?
I had handshake issues between my 3910 and my HD LCD. The upgrade fixed it, even though there was no specific mention about handshake issues

I haven't used my 3910 for awhile (~6 months). Yesterday, I watched a few hours of a DVD. It worked great. Then I started listening to SACD (multichannel). I started hearing pauses in the songs. I started to watch the display and saw that the time readout was either skipping or stopping.

I cleaned the disk and tried again. The same problem. I tried a few other discs with similar results. I popped in a regular CD and had no more problems. This morning I popped in a few DVDs and had display problems. Red streaks become prominant in the picture, pixel blocking etc. The problem is also seen on the Denon splash screen as well (red tinges/outlines) on what should be a normal blue screen.

The problem occurs via DVI and Component cables. The same cables do NOT reproduce the problem with my Toshiba Xa1. This rules out the cables and the projector leaving the problem with the Denon unit. I purchased a cleaning disk and it did not solve the picture problems or the SACD problems.

Any ideas? I'm guessing maybe the laser/assembly is going bad? How do I get this diagnosed and fixed as quickly as possible? Or is this a more expensive and extensive problem than I think? I'm really not looking to buy a new premier player after just 4 years. Any advice/help would be appreciated. Thanks!

Hi everybody, I have the Denon 3910 & have been using it for music - SACD/DVD-A/CD's & just lately it is starting to not read the disks sometimes. Just comes up with 0's on the display. Is it just an easy fix with a cd cleaner thing or does it have to be sent it to be repaired?

Thanks

Seems like the cheapest option is a CD lens cleaner, and if that doesn't work you have to get it repaired.

Thanks Pbarach, I'll have to look for my lens cleaner tomorrow & give it a shot.

is there a recommended type of lens cleaner? the ones i've seen from memorex or whatever i'd be hesitant to put in my player, unless you guys have tried it.

sorry for reviving this thread, but I did some reconfiguring in my setup (new Pre/Pro), and I just happened to try a DVD (connected HDMI to pre/pro), and I cannot get the 3910 to bitstream the DD or DTS tracks to the Pre/pro via HDMI.....it shows up as Multi-channel only!

is this the case? Cannot be! Surely the 3910 can bitstream regular ol' DD and DTS on HDMI, no?

I've made sure the menu is in HDMI (multi) and Video mode

I could be wrong but here is my two cents
I believe you should connect the 3910 to your pre/pro through Denon link to get what you are looking for. If your pre/pro doesn't support the propriatary DLINK it you may want to try the IEEE 1394 connection which is a standard

after searching some more, looks like indeed the 3910 cannot bitstream DD or DTS via hdmi! christ, that is sad!

oh well, I just hooked up digiCoax and is fine now, but having the extra wire is just redundant.

ps- no, I dont have a Denon AVP so Dlink is no good for me, and the Onkyo 886 does not have 1394. Digicoax is fine for now. the Denon BDCI3800 will be the main video player, while the 3910 will be doing audio duties (SACD/DVD/CD)

Not via digital coax, it won't. You need to use Dlink, Ilink or analog for those formats.

huh? . I'm using digicoax, and have been for the past 4 years I've had the 3910, and Dolby Digital and DTS have been working flawlessly on the 3910.

are you referring to something else?

ps- yes, for SACD/DVDA I am using analog, if that's what you were referring to.

Exactly. How else does one interpret the following sentence? "Digicoax is fine for now. the Denon BDCI3800 will be the main video player, while the 3910 will be doing audio duties (SACD/DVD/CD)"

ah, I see the your confusion...i should have been more clear

I was referencing the original post, which was "no DD or DTS bitstreaming over HDMI on the 3910"

I own the 3910. It is indeed capable of bitstreaming DD or DTS via HDMI. Look at the manual, page 19.

Setup->
DIGITAL INTERFACE SETUP->
HDMI AUDIO SETUP->
MULTI(NORMAL)

24bit 96K DVD-V playback
I have the new Neil Young CD/DVD-V release Live from Canturbury. It will not playback higher than 48K. Even when I use the 2 channel analog out's, my Sony AV menu option for source indicates I pushing the 48K signal.
Is my AV reciever the reason I cannot access the 96K signal ?
Is the Denon 3910 the reason - copy protection compliance ?

I have tried a myriad of menu combinations on both the 3910 and the Sony DA3000ES, but none have led to 96K being displayed as source output.

If the answer is copy protection related, is there a tweak to defeat the CP ?

I have several DVD-A's that push 96K or even 192K via the multi-channel analog feed. But do not know if selecting this choice gets the 96K source from the DVD-V because when the Sony is in the Multi-channel selection, the menu for Source does not display bits or sample rate.

I have searched this forum for this topic, your patience if directing me to the specific thread would be more appreciated than I can express.

Thank you

I've had so many e mails on this in the last few years, which I could not reply to because I could not find the file but here it is finally!
Enjoy!

I found a remote hack that bypasses the need for a firmware change. It works perfectly and can be undone by repeating the steps (I don't know if I'll need to switch back to play the new safety encoded discs). Here it is

To make the Denon DVD-2910, 3910 and A1XV play DVDs from all regions:

1. Ensure there is no disc in the player.
2. Power off using the front panel On/Off button (not standby).
3. Press and hold Open/Close, Play and Skip Reverse (I<<).
4. Keep the above buttons held and Power-up the player using the On/Off button, holding the above buttons until the player's name disappears from the front panel.
5. Wait until the player finishes LOADING and the front panel of the player shows 0:00:00.
6. On the remote handset, press in sequence; 7 3 1 9 4 6 2 8
7. The unit should enter standby mode. On the front panel of the player, press the Standby button to turn the player back on.
8. To confirm the update, press on the front panel Stop and Skip Forward (>>I). The front panel should briefly display Region_A2. If not, then repeat the process 1-7 above.

This hack needs no firmware upgrade

What settings do you use on the 3910 to output a DSD signal from an SACD without having it converted to PCM? My 3910 is connected to a Denon 3805, so I can use DenonLink 3, optical or digital coax connection (no Firewire).

Tell me if I'm wrong, but I'm assuming that if I am outputting a DSD signal, I can't use the 3910's bass management features, right?

Connect the 3910 to the 3805 using the supplied DENON LINK cable.

On the 3910:

MENU->DIGITAL INTERFACE SETUP->DENON LINK->3rd

If the "3rd" menu item is not present, you will need to download from Denon the latest 3910 FW and apply the FW update to the 3910.

You will also need to configure the 3805 to use DENON LINK for the input assigned to the 3910.

I have all of this set up as you have described. So what's different about this setup than about using SOURCE DIRECT (which I really don't understand) on the 3910?

Hello everyone, I am new to this forum, and hope someone here can help with ideas why my Denon DVD 3910 is misreading CDs. When placing a CD into the tray, it will not recognize the CD and thinks its a DVD registering 00h 00m 00s. It does not do this with DVD-A or SACD discs. Further, the problem is less prevalent when the DVD player warms up. Any thoughts or suggestions are appreciated. The player was manufactured in March 2006, and works well except for this glitch. Thank you in advance for any thoughts you may have on a cause.

I'm not a technician, but my guess would be that the machine needs repair to its laser assembly; if that's what is wrong with it, the repair isn't cheap.

thanks pbarach, that seems to be the common thought from the threads I've read without the added factor of the warm up thrown in. Luckily, I have about two months of manufacturers warranty left, and can get the problem fixed. I hope these newer players dont go out on a routine basis like that after such a short period of time or this might be my last Denon CD player. I had a Denon DCD-2560 (circa early 1990s CD player) for 15 years and it never failed me. Thank you again for your help.