Anthem D2/D2v/AVM50/AVM50v/ARC1 tweaking guide - Page 515

I notice in the targets window that ARC sets the maximum EQ frequency to be 5kHz, but can you tell me why it does this? It appears as though this can be changed, so why not set it to 20 kHz?

Guys,

I just ordered the ARC upgrade for my 2 year old AVM50. My dealer called to tell me it was in. When I asked when they could do the install they said "what install?". They had opened the box and it only contains the CD, mike, stand and cables. NO HARDWARE. I had read in this thread that there was a DSP upgrade that required a dealer to open up the unit. Can anyone confirm this as true and/or if some AVM50s don't need it?

thanks...

Bob:

Thanks....I think I will have to try it to fully understand your instructions. I don't quite understand why you are telling me to write protect the files either.

In any case, looking at my curves and targets, do you have any suggestions in what I should try?

You might want to read back through the thread on some of the discussion on this as there has been quite a lot.

The output of the speakers gets more directional as the frequency goes up. This means the ARC mic may pick up variations at the different mic positions that are not really due to room response but just due to "directionality". ARC has no way of knowing.

This is most likely to happen if any of your tweeters are above or below seated ear height as speakers tend to have poorer vertical dispersion patterns than horizontal patterns.

To avoid this problem, ARC stops correcting things at the Max EQ Frequency. It's actually quite amazing that ARC works as well as it does all the way up to 5KHz, and originally Anthem was strongly advising against raising this number.

They've since had a number of good reports from people who have had success raising the number. But if you raise it too far you will notice that the Calculated results get poorer in the lower frequencies due to ARC using some of its resources higher up.

And if you get bitten by the directionality problem, raising the frequency may result in Calculated curves that look good higher up, but that's misleading because the MEASURED values ARC is working with have been biased.

So if you want to experiment, look to pick a value that seems a natural point to raise ARC's efforts. I'm using 12KHz right now for example. You can also do a calculation at 20KHz to see what happens to the lower frequencies. But in the final analysis you need to trust your ears. If a higher setting sounds good then it probably is good. If it sounds bad, then it IS bad -- even if the Calculated curves suggest it should sound good.
--Bob

The DSP is in the same box that the base is in, so make sure they check in there. You definitely need it and I don't think Anthem would have forgotten it.

Thanks bluemark81, I will call them first thing to verify.

ARC writes to the currently Open file as you make changes. Write protecting the files means you can open them to study them without risking that you might accidentally do something that changes them. Potentially losing your work in them.

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Your charts look fine to me and the results should sound great!

Your sub is dropping down in the Music configuration because ARC has assigned a low crossover value to it. That makes sense since you only have your front speakers in that configuration and they don't need any more bass assist than that. So ARC can just avoid having to deal with your severe room mode below 100Hz. This is likely a good thing. The only problem would be if you play content that actually includes an LFE channel in Music configuration as you will lose some of the higher frequencies of that.

In Movie configuration, your Rears in particular needed a little more bass assist so ARC set the sub crossover higher and the sub is responding properly. So I don't think you have a problem in your sub's setup or positioning.

The rest of the curves look fine. Your residuals (Calculated vs. Target) are quite small and I see no significant problems. You might have a slight improvement raising the Max EQ Frequency -- I'd try 12KHz based on your charts -- but it's not likely to be a dramatic improvement since your front speakers are already good out that far.
--Bob

That's great to hear. Happened to me on my first try about 2 months ago and I have been waiting for it to happen again. Now, I can relax.

I suspect what's happening is that they've put some safety checks into the new firmware to detect any corrupted Setup settings (values out of range or some such), and if any are found it falls back to Factory Defaults rather than trying to repair just the bad value.

It may be that the ARC Upload is triggering some of these safety checks -- meaning that if you had a corrupted value in there that hadn't been caught, it now gets caught. That might explain why it hasn't happened twice to anybody. Of course that's just a guess on my part.
--Bob

Yes, your new sub does look pretty darn good! I too am interested in your next measurements. Of course you should also listen to some of your favorite music and movie scenes at each location, to see if you can hear a difference.

I tried playing around with different max EQ settings. Here are mine for 20,000 Hz. I haven't uploaded them to the Anthem yet. I will show my settings for 6000 Hz as well. These are two of the best I've found.

Following are the results of my 6000 hz setting.

In preparation for installing ARC (which I will be picling up from the dealer tomorrow) on my D2, I decided to review my setup. When I selected setup on the remote all I got was a blue screen. Got the same result by selecting setup on the front of the D2. Everything else is working fine, including the OSD and the video setting screen (#7 on the remote). I get the Anthem Logo on start up and the video from all sources is great.

The last time I was in setup mode was some time ago as everything has been working well and I've had no need to make changes. Setup was working fine previously.

I'm still using the original software version (v1.21) that came with the unit last year. I have never done an update or reload. After discovering the problem I tried powering down the D2 in all possible ways - remote power off, rear switch, unplugging the power cord and even unplugging all my source equipment. I'm using HDMI between all video sources but haven't unplugged any of the HDMI cables to prevent possible damage. I did check to ensure they are well seated.

I seem to recall seeing a post some time ago about a simialr problem but couldn't find anything with a similar problem by searching this forum.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks
RW

The Setup menu is an internally generated S-video source. If you have any other S-video source devices, one thing you can check is whether or not they work through the scaler to you HDMI output.

Most people who have had S-video issues, such as with the Setup menu, have discovered that a re-install of the firmware fixes the problem.

You are on V1.21 now so you could just try re-installing that, or you could go to the V1.33 firmware right now, which you'll have to do anyway to use ARC.

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You mentioned that you tried to go into Setup using the front panel. I suspect you meant that you entered setup using the front panel but couldn't see it on your TV screen.

If instead what you meant was that it didn't even come up on the Front Panel display then that's a more serious problem and you should probably call Anthem tech support. They will probably tell you to try the firmware install (to V1.33) anyway, but it would be wise to talk to them first, since loss of the Front Panel display is rare.
--Bob

Hi Bob:

Thanks for the quick repsonse. You are right about my reference to using the front of the D2. The setup menus show up there - just not on the screen. I guess I will just go ahead and install v1.33 when I get it (I assume it will come with the ARC package?)and see if that solves the problem.

RW

You can download V1.33 now from the Anthem public downloads page. Be sure to follow the instructions carefully.

You will need to save your Video Source Adjust menu settings to a PC file (using Live Video Settings Editor). Also, make sure you have your Setup menu settings saved in Saved User and/or Installer Settings. You can use the Front Panel display for that. Then Reload Factory settings before doing the firmware install. Make sure you don't have any powered HDMI connections during the install (I suggest you remove power from everything else to be sure).

After the Firmware install you Reload your Saved User Settings, and then restore your Video Source Adjust menu from the PC file (again using Live Video Settings Editor), and finally do the power down, power up, wait 30 seconds and power down cycle to complete things.
--Bob

Bob,

Thanks again for the detailed response on the subwoofer phasing. I will work on that and let everyone know how I make out.

How long is it taking users to get their ARC kits for their D2's once they are ordered? I am coming up on three weeks - is that normal?

Mike

Compard to your 20000 results you can see the smoothing in the low end at 6000, just what Bob was talking about. 20000 looks too high.
John

That's normal. Like their other products, they get made and shipped in batches. So your lead time will depend on the luck of where they are in that cycle when you place your order.
--Bob

As stated by the other responder, yes you will need the new DSP board installed in your AVM50. I'm pretty sure Anthem checks your unit type by serial number so that your dealer can't order a D2 ARC kit by mistake (which would, of course, not come with a DSP board).

Since your dealer sounds a little clueless here, I'll also remind you that you will need to install the V1.33 firmware after the replacement DSP board is installed *EVEN IF* you already have V1.33 installed in your AVM unit. This is necessary for the firmware to recognize, and set up properly for, the new DSP hardware.
--Bob

After having an Anthem AVM 20 for many years I just purchased an AVM 50. When sending a signal from either my TiVo Series 3 and my Directv HR20 via HDMi to the Anthem and then to the TV the picture is very "blotchy." If I go straight to the TV a 52" Sony Bravia XBR4 the picture is excellent. When going through the Anthem, although the blacks looks excellent and and the colors are fairly acurate the image apppears like it is painted in water colors. Watching swimmmers in the Olympics their bare skin looks painted on with very unnatural shawdows. I have been throught the calibration steps on the first post of this thread and I have tried all the different color spaces and data under Video Configurations. I have even made sure that the incoming native signal from sources matches the output from the AVM 50. I'm sure Im missing something-but I sure cant figure it out--please help.

This is something that's hard to address without being right there to see what you are seeing, but let's give it a try.

First I need you to report some stuff:

Select one of these sources that's giving you bad video.

Bring up the Video Source Adjust menu (under the "7" key) and report what it is showing for video input and output in the Info panel.

Also report the settings you currently have set in its Picture, Crop Input, Scale Out, and Output panels. Scroll down into those to get the numeric values.

Next report the settings in Setup / Video Output for the Video Configuration you are using for that source.

Finally, if there are any source device picture settings you can find, report those, and then go to your display and report what you have set for its settings for the HDMI input from the Anthem. Give me ALL the video related settings you can find -- including the basic Brightness/Contrast/Color/Tint/Sharpness values and any other confusing settings like "AGC". For the display's settings like Brightness, please tell me the range of those as well: E.g. Brightness is 45 in the range 1-100.

This will tell us if there is anything obvious wrong in your setup. If not, then we'll have to walk you through the process of checking your specific settings.

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Another thing to try is to temporarily hook up Component video from the source and also between the Anthem and the display to see if you have the same issue. This will tell us if the problem seems to be isolated to HDMI input or output or is also happening with Component.

If the Component hookup is better, then try Component input to the Anthem and HDMI output to the display. That will tell us if the problem is on the HDMI input side or output side.

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I'm assuming your input connections are HDMI to HDMI and that your output to the display is also HDMI to HDMI. If in fact either of those is HDMI to DVI let me know. Also I'm assuming you have no intervening devices on either side such as HDMI switcher or splitter boxes. Let me know if that's not true.

ETA: I also need you to report the settings you are currently using in Setup / Source Setup for that source device.
--Bob

Yes.....I'm sticking with 6000 for now. It is even better than the default 5000. I tried several right up to 20,000 to see what results it gave. I also tried several between 5000 and 6000 and 6000 is the best I've found so far. It's funny that even at 5950, I get odd notes that don't show up at 5000 or 6000.

I did some new measurements at 12000 and followed Bob's advice about saving and write protecting these files and then did some testing. The sound was very detailed and LFE seemed a little stronger but better. Overall, I can't say it has sounded better. Will stay with this for a while anyway.
John

The 80dB effort didn't seem to do much. I still had lots of measurement errors, and my sub still doesn't really look like a sub. And I still have huge earthquakes when the sub kicks in.

There's evidently some giant room problem around 200Hz and between 1k and 5k. ARC fixes a lot of stuff (right front didn't get corrected in this version as well as it had before -- which leads me to believe that ambient room noise is a big factor). But the sub is still anemic.

It's hard for me to know how much of this room stuff will get fixed when construction is done and I have permanent windows that shut out most of the background noise. But my charts resemble Trevlan's early sub problems (at the low end, see http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showp...ostcount=15317). I suspect I need to get a beefier subwoofer.

Is there anything about this that indicates it might be a problem with ARC? Or is it pretty clearly environment and/or subwoofer?

Hello everyone,
If I re aim my surround speakers, NHT 2.5's, should I re-measure with ARC? These speakers are on brackets, mounted on the back wall behind the listening position about 26" above ear level at the tweeter, and 1' behind. They were firing at about 20 degrees to the side walls and I was going to move them to 45 degrees. Any suggestions?
Also Bob mentions that you should "Write Protect" ARC files for comparison purposes. How is this done? I am sure I will feel stupid after your response, but it is not "clicking" in my head. I am running Windows XP, SP2.
Thank you guys so much for all of the help you provide for this amazing piece of gear, D2 with ARC. John.

Thanks Bob,

I have tried just about every option I can think of. Currently the Info screen under the "7" button the input and output the same 1920x1080i 59.??this is also the native res of my Sony xbr4 LCD.
I have tried component (from source to Anthem to TV) and it is much better but still considerable worse than going to the tv directly. I have now also tried Toshiba HD DVD player with the same results.
I have attached an image "direct" of what it looks like when I go straight to the tv and another image "Anthem" that goes through the Anthem. Ignore the lines running from top to bottom that is just a result of the picture--it is the wavy lines on the solidly colored wall in the background I am talking about.
I will try and get the rest of your questions answered. BTW, these wavy lines appear even if you take color saturation down to the point of it being black and white.

Going component from the source to the Anthem and then HDMI to the TV is also much better

Yes, do a remeasurment. Write protect by right clicking on the file, and checking off "Read only". This will prevent changes from occurring if you open the file up and fiddle with it, ie, do target changes or calculations.
John

John:

With regards to write protect, all I've done is saved my initial room measurements as a seperate file. I then use it to try tweaking the calculations. ie., I open up the file, try playing with the various targets by pressing the "targets" tab, and then press the "calculate" tab. If the results look good, I'll do a "save as" to not overwrite the initial default calculated file. If you want to try one of the files containing the resulting curves you've obtained, plug in your pre/pro and press the "upload" tab while you are in the file you want to load. Read only or write protect can be done by right clicking on the file and it will be under "properties", so you don't mistakenly overwrite your initial setting or any other ones you wish to protect.

Hope this helps.