HK 635/435 firmware upgrade experience - Page 6

<<My question is basicaly if I do the firmware upgrade does this fix the problems.>>

It fixes what it was meant to fix. It was a great receiver before, and a better one after the upgrade because of the sticky surround option.

<<Also, I have a two year old Dell laptop what do I need to upgrade to the latest firmware.>>

1) A PC / laptop with a DB-9 (9 pin) serial port connector
2) A female-to-male DB-9 straight-through cable
3) The upgrade software on the PC / laptop

John F

Here's the upgade page...

http://www.harmankardon.com/product_...20635#download

Does anyone know if HK plans on improving the start delay when playing CD tracks. It's not a dealbreaker, but it's annoying to miss that first .5-1.0 sec or whatever. I'm guessing this is common, but please let me know if this doesn't happen to everyone else. I remember people complaining about it on the 630 - I wonder if they can lessen it further on the 435/635?

johnny, sorry, but a few more questions. With this first second skip, can it be remedied by simply starting the track over? And does the first second of each song skip when moving from one song to the next, or is it just on the very first track?

You know....I don't notice it on every CD and I *usually* only notice it when I start the CD. I never seem to notice it when it changes tracks, but I think it's there once in awhile. Hmmm...I'll have to go listen this weekend and get back to you. It may depend on the disc. Edit - FWIW - I think it says something that I can't answer your questions without going back to listen for it.

Also - don't assume it happens to everyone (could be my denon 1920 which is a piece) unless a few guys post something about it. :shrug:

Now I'm going to turn you off the 435 with my pickyness

ps: It's just Jon btw - Jonny-Oh was a nickname from college

No, I'm pretty set on it. Nothing else in its price range gives me the features I want and nothing else weighs nearly as much.

You like em big eh?

Just did the upgrade on my 435. Went well although the verification portion was kind of flakey... had issues twice... told it to continue both times then it completed fine.

Was successful... redid all EZsetup and now it seems to sound a little better... can't put my finger on why... just a little bit cleaner and balanced. One thing for sure is having it stay in Logic7 7 cinema is wonderful. It was such a pain before but I was getting used to it. Now it's like night and day, just sit back and enjoy.

Thanks HK!

Yes, the dropout can be recovered by starting the song again. And no, it does not occur between each track. It's been a while since I used a CD player, but with my HTPC (which outputs full-res FLAC files bitperfect over optical) the dropout only occurs when the HK gets a new kind of stream (switching from 44.1kHz audio files played in stereo to 48kHz Dolby Digital and vice versa, etc.). Once the stream is constant, the dropout never occurs again until another switch. At least that's my experience.

And no, I don't think they can reduce it any further. It was actually touted as a design feature to avoid the possibility of any digi-noise getting to and damaging your speakers. The following quote is from a previous explanation by an HK rep in regards to the 630 (though he was wrong about it not being upgrade-able, as they did reduce it by a bit with the new firmware on the 630):

"The unit continuously monitors the digital stream to make sure it's in the right processing mode. It takes a split second to lock on to a new signal. Once there is a break or change it will automatically detect and switch between PCM, DTS, DOLBY DIGITAL modes and set the DSP. This can't be upgraded and the delay actually mutes harmful sounds and noises from certain digital sources that abruptly drop signal or don't transition cleanly between signal changes and pauses."

HK is good for esoteric 'design features.' I find that most of them are the result of poor/no beta testing. Either that, or their beta testers live in a cave in Afghanistan, and they're just happy to have any sound other than that of dropping bombs. Dropping audio and failing to hold the last mode used would seem pretty trivial under those circumstances.

Jon, my experience is the same as sensibull's. Never a delay when changing tracks, but always a delay on the first track, which can be remedied by starting the track over. This is reasonably common on units with DSP's by TI and Cirrus. For some reason, Motorola based gear gets this right. Motorola DSP's just kind of disappear into the background on music playback gear, whereas TI and Cirus based gear frequently remind the listener that modern A/V processors are computers, with the accompanying data stream interruptions, necessary resets, reboots and all.

I just bought an HK 635 and upgraded the firmware first thing. The upgrade went smoothly and I now have the 4.12 version of the firmware.

I like the program that they use to install the firmware upgrade that lets you control the system from your computer. This is great for those that want to connect the receiver a HTPC.

I should mention for those of you that are looking to upgrade and that have a MicroCenter near you that they have a QVS brand 6 ft DB9/ RS 232 cable for $5, a good deal for a cable you may only use once although those that have a HTPC may be able to find a use for it.

The instructions call for a male to female cable. I am confused by that.

Don't both the HK635 and a PC laptop (have to borrow one) have female inputs thus I should need a male to male cable?

Shelly

Your computer should have a male connection, the 435/635 have a female connection. In thae case that the laptop has a female connection, then you may have to get a male to male cable.

PROBLEM:

I need some help, guys. I'm getting a "WAIT DATA" message and I'm sure my connections are solid/screwed in tight. Diagnostic says the port is working properly. I've tried to reconfigure it several ways.

I'm using an old IBM Thinkpad 600. It's a PII 300 with plenty of RAM

I bought a M/F RS-232C, Serial cable from Rat Shack. It's not a null cable or anything like that. Box just says straight up RS-232C.

Am I screwed, or is there something I'm missing?

Thanks

Something to consider:

I assume you have the 9-pin serial port on the laptop and you are not using an adapter. If that is correct, make sure the OS is Win98 or higher. Being a PII, the laptop might be OS Win95. The update will not work with Win95, I already tried it with an old PC.

G'luck

Thanks for the help. It's Windows 2000.

And your assumption is correct. I dusted off the old 600 with a DB9 male port just for this job. My T41 is serial portless.

I am at the same point, can't get the computer and the receiver to talk to one another. Anyone know how to resolve this? I am using the same cable from Shack and am running windows xp. Please help!!!

Shelly,
I am not aware of any laptop, or other pc for that matter, that has a female com port. Are you sure that you are not looking at the rgb video connector? Com ports by default are 9-pin male, video is 15 pin female. The com port has two rows of pins, the video has 3 rows. Perhaps your laptop does not have a com port at all (as newer ones have dropped this port in recent years).

I was just confused by the wording in the instructions.

I have never looked closely at any PC laptop. I'm a Maxc guy so will have o borrow one.

I have never been very bothered by losing the L7 mode with dvd as I just wait for the movie to start and switch then.

I have been watching a lot of HD with my new projector, however, but stay with just the HD channels. The HK does not lose the L7 as long as I toggle through just the HD channels on my Comcast HD receiver. This has surprised me.

I will be doing the update sometme next year, though.

Shelly

After the firmware update toasted my receiver, h/k tech support & customer service provided a return authorization. I've got my new receiver from them, and it upgraded without problem. I want to acknowledge h/k for providing better support than any tech company I've dealt with before.

I haven't had any luck finding anyone with an suitable laptop to borrow.

It's kind of a catc 22 - if it's old enough to have a serial port, it's not likely to have 128M of RAM, or has someone done it with less?

...or it's running Windows95. I have a dilema similar to both you and Shelly. I'm a Mac desktop user, but I have 2 Windows laptops. One is new and doesn't have a serial port, and the old one has enough RAM, but it's running Windows95.

Anyone tried a USB to serial converter yet??

After 3 days of looking, I finally found a serial cable. None of the big box CE retailers seem to carry them anymore. Staples had one.

I had no problem upgrading my firmware as I just borrowed a laptop from my office that had the right connections, and they also had the right 232 cable. Otherwise, my personal laptop does not have the correct serial port, and it would have been a major pain to use my desktop. Point being, with all of the people who have had trouble upgrading the firmware, I think it raises a question that H/K should figure out another option to do this.

It is unfortunate that people who paid $700 or more for a top-notch receiver with upgradeable firmware can't take advantage of it. And in this case, not only is the flag issue nicely solved, but I truly think the receiver sounds better now. Voices are crisper and clearer out of my center channel, the sound is even more expansive than it was before, bass seems better. So hopefully you guys can find a way to get this firmware upgrade.

I'm having difficulty finding the right serial cable. Did a search at Staples and found only female/female DB9 cables - not male/female DB9. Can anyone provide a link to an online source?

Buy.com has one for $5.99

http://www.buy.com/prod/Startech_com.../10309055.html

Thanks! Just ordered one...much appreciated...

Hello everyone,

Does this update allow you to set different speaker sizes for different inputs or surround modes in the 435/635? The manual states that it's possible, but it seems it's not. I previously had an AVR 320 which I had set to 5 Small + Sub for DVD, and Fronts Large, Cent and Surr Small, and Sub to None for VID2 or whatever it was for TV viewing. For some reason I can't do that on my 435. My speaker level settings are set to Independent if that matters.

What have you noticed?

Thanks!

I just upgraded a friend's 635 and the auto setup has become very screwy. It is not recognizing the surrounds or the sub. Ive increased the volume to -28db on ezsetup but it still does not recognize the missing speakers. When I do a manual setup, the surrounds and sub are loud and clear. Any ideas? The upgrade brought the firmware to 5.12.