Anthem D2/D2v/AVM50/AVM50v/ARC1 tweaking guide - Page 590

BD playback on PC is far from being adequate lots of issues with all the software players. Your issue is probably not caused by the D2. I am using a PC with the D2 and used a JVC HD1 and HD2 without the artefact you are describing. I am using what I consider the less worst of the entire PC based software player which is Arcsoft TMT. Even with that player there are glitches. There are also glitches with the different video card and their driver.

The first to do is to confirm if this is D2 related. Have you try to watch a movie with the PC directly connected to the JVC to see if you get the same behavior?

I am having a lot of fun with a Pioneer BDP-05FD.

I am considering a BDP-83 as a possibility if it can be dezoned for Blu-Ray playback. Right now my current solution for dezoning region B and C titles is to use a HTPC with AnyDVD killing the region code. This is far from being uptimal.

I really can't say what would work best for you. I recently (like a month ago) got the D2 for 4700.00 CDN. At the time people in this thread were shocked because the best deals they could find were 5900.00 USD. So 4500.00 USD is a very good deal!

Also keep in mind that you should get a half off coupon to upgrade to the D2V and you'll have a year to do so. 4500.00 for the processor and 50% off the upgrade price to get into a D2V makes it an awesome deal.

I changed over to balanced interconnects when I got the D2. I don't know how much of the difference was the D2 and how much was the balanced interconnects but the difference in my theater is out of this world. The balanced interconnects are cheap so I'd recommend doing it. I needed six (5 channels plus sub) and it only cost me 150.00.

I'd definitely grab that D2 if you can get it for 4500.00!

New year, new check... any news on the release of the D2v2?

Thanks, Bob! I appreciate how clear you made your answer! I know exactly what to do now.

My dealer told me that they are going into production this month and that pricing will be confirmed at CES this weekend.

However, someone posted earlier that they were holding pricing at the D2v1 level.

Pricing is fine, I just want to know when I can actually get one in my hands...

I don't think the D2V2 is in full production right now meanwhile CES be will interesting since it is a good occasion to show the latest prototype and to firm the release date.

I have no idea how long it will take from production (this month supposedly) to delivery. But I was told that there should be no problem for early April when I need one. (famous last words)

Here is a suggestion to eliminate all the problems.

Use a stand alone Blu ray player to play the Blu Ray disks to the D2. You then get great video and with the right player the HD audio codecs.
Use your PC to store any SD or HD videos and stream them with a Popcorn Hour or other streamer to the D2. You get 1080P and most 5.1 audio codecs perfectly.
If you load PlayOn on you PC you can stream Netflix and Hulu to the D2.
Just a suggestion I am offering. It is the route I took after getting fustrated with my HTPC. There was always some driver or board problem as well as Windows hangups that needed rebooting.

?

I have an AVM50 and Sony "Pearl" projector. I wanted to get a BD player (possibly the Sony S550) and was wondering since the AVM50 does not decode do I use HDMI or component? I am seeing talk of an upgrade to the AVM50 which will allow it to decode the new code...how will that change the way I will hook up a BD player? I am just a little confused of how to hook things up to make sure I get the best audio and video.

I know the 550 can decode internally the new codecs therefore a setting for LPCM or PCM should be engaged on the 550 side and let the AVM do the rest using HDMI

I've also cross-posted this in the remote forum, but I figured I have better success in this thread regarding the Harmony One and D2...

Anyone come up with a solution for directly selecting one of the inputs that have multiple selections (i.e. DVD1-DVD4, TV1-TV4, SAT1-SAT2)?

I know from the D2 manual that you can directly tune to those inputs with a sequence of buttons (THX, 8,5 for DVD1, for example) but a seuence cannot be set up as an input for the Harmony.

I'm struggling to get this point across for what I want with online Harmony support. Anyone else run into this and find a good solution?

I'm also tried learning the button sequence with several button presses, but to no success either.

Also - anyone able to get the video processor menu button to work? It's a hold of the 7 key, but the default setup for the One seems to not allow for a button 'hold' vs. button press. Any thoughts here?

Thanks everyone for the help!

David,
I called Harmony support and had them whip me up a set of those 3 key source selectors as additional "input" definitions. Since that brought the list of input selectors to more than 8 I can't go into the input definition page of their configuration stuff myself anymore without losing some, but no matter as its set up correctly now and there's nothing I need to do in that page.

In the activities and the device page, I just reference any of the definitions they've set for me just like referencing the normal inputs (such as the original "DVD" which cycles through the overlayed stuff). I.e., there is now a named "DVD1" (etc.) which results in the correct 3 key code being sent.

This was done by level two support and should be available to them for your use in their database of Harmony 880 stuff for the D2 (which should apply just fine to the One). When you call Harmony support, just let the level one person know that you need some special input selection definitions added (which the level one guys can't do) and ask them to put you in the queue to level two support. Tell level two you need some additional input selection definitions added that each transmit a set of 3 key commands. And let them know that they've already done this for an 880 user for his D2 setup so they can look in the database for "DVD1", "DVD2" etc., and perhaps save themselves some time.

One problem I had was that the first try they did resulted in an "input selection delay" after each transmitted key press, which meant the D2 timed out before it saw all 3 key presses. It is easy to see this happening if you watch the on screen display while trying it. I also had a problem on an Activity change where a power off command for a source device was being transmitted after the first of the input selector keys (as if the input selection was already completed) -- which meant there was a power change delay that happened before the 2nd and 3rd keys -- and again the D2 timed out before seeing them. Again this was easy to see happening on screen (while also keeping an eye on the power down and power up of the sources).

But Harmony level two support is great and they just kept at it until they got it right.

I suggest you have them enter definitions now for ALL of those direct access input selectors for you, even if you only intend to use a few of them at the moment.
--Bob

I don't understand your question.

If you are asking about converting audio to analog I don't know the answer because I don't know enough about the analog audio output stage of that player. Odds are you should send HDMI LPCM digital audio to the Anthem and let the Anthem do the conversion to analog audio output for your speakers.

If you are asking about surround sound processing, I doubt the player does any.

If you are asking about decoding the high bandwidth Blu-Ray audio formats (TrueHD and DTS-HD MA) there will likely be no difference between having the player do it and having the Anthem do it. However my recommendation is that you have the player do it and send HDMI LPCM to the Anthem as that makes it easier to take advantage of Blu-Ray's audio mixing features (which can only be applied in the player and can only be applied after the audio track is decoded).
--Bob

My recommendation is that you get a player that can decode the audio tracks to HDMI LPCM and send that to the Anthem whether you are using the original AVM-50 or the new AVM-50v. Video to the Anthem would also be HDMI, and video from the Anthem to your Pearl would be HDMI.
--Bob

Based on their prior product releases, if they are actually in production now (and I have no separate confirmation of that) then they are likely within a month of first shipment barring problems discovered during production.
--Bob

Thanks Bob!

That answers my question perfectly

this could be due to a number of reasons: What type of board are using? codecs playing blu ray? Most likely it is due to a driver/codec issue. Please be sure you do not have more then one codec installed on you htpc. I use vistacodec pack with mine and powerdvd 8 and have no issues at alll with d2 playing blu ray off hard drive.!

Hey Bob, could you chime in on this? mikefl52 has me seriously considering getting a power conditioner. I'd love to get your take on this. I know it's one of these hot spots around AVS. Some say it's useless others swear by it. What's your opinion?

David - thanks for the reminder - sometimes I guess I should just read the manual every few months to remind myself of things..

This statement was my I could've had a V-8 moment. I have been trying to figure out complicated sequences of buttons to get DVD1-DVD2, SAT1-SAT2, etc. to be easily programmed on my MX-700. I have been using multiple source button pushes in timed sequences to do this.

I can go back and delete these and just use the direct access THX - # - # sequences and it will simplify things!

There are 3 separate things lumped in here:

1) Power conditioners: Attempt to present a "clean", constant voltage, noise-free power source. This is where max current draw could be a concern.

2) Surge protectors: Attempt to react rapidly to sudden spikes in voltage and divert that voltage so that it can not reach your equipment.

3) Battery backups: Provide voltage for a period of time so that you can ride out short term power failures. Max current draw is also an issue here as is the total draw you are putting on the battery which will determine how long a power glitch it can handle (typically a few minutes at most). Again, the idea is not to be able to watch TV during a power outage, but rather to let you glide over a brief power glitch (of less than a second) without having to wait for equipment to start up again and without having to worry about whether the hard drives might not react fast enough to protect themselves. If you have a real power outage, the battery backup duration of a few minutes gives you time to power off devices manually. (Of course if the power outage happens while you are not around, then you won't be there to do that and things like always-on DVRs will just have to fend for themselves when the battery runs out.)

Personally I don't buy into power conditioners. You can pay a lot for no real gain in audio/video quality. I expect the power supply in each device to handle the wall power presented to it. If it can't do that, I'll replace it with a better engineered device. I use surge protection for my display (modest, but only partial, insurance against a costly replacement) and I use battery backup for things that have an internal disk drive or that take a long time to power up. These would include the PS3, DVRs, and the Anthem itself. As it turns out my APC battery backup also provides surge protection, so that's an added advantage, but I've got it in there primarily for the battery backup.

Due to current draw issues, I don't have my power amps on anything. They just plug straight into the wall. If I lived in an area with more lightning storms I would look into surge protection for them. But keep in mind that a direct lightning strike will produce enough energy to blow power plugs out of the wall and knock over equipment, so don't expect a surge protector to do miracles.

ETA: And while we're at it, paying money for exotic power cords or wall sockets is just silly. Ask yourself, why should the last 3 feet of power wiring make a difference when the builders put only standard power wires in your house walls, the squirrels are chewing on the power lines and transformers between you and the power station, and the power station is 50 years old and not typically run by home theater enthusiasts? It is cheaper, and probably just as effective, to draw a chalk pentagram around each piece of equipment.
--Bob

I much prefer a bifurcated rhomboid using a lime green marker. Better primary colors and less intermodulation distortion.

I very much agree with your points. I would just add the following:

1) Most power conditioners (the affordable ones) do not attempt to clean up the AC sine wave (like the $2k PS Audio Power Plant units do). They just clean off the high frequency noise using low-pass filters, and of course usually include surge protection (example, Furman AC-215 for $200). Noise filtering can be effective. We had set up to demo a 5.1 system at ICES at the Las Vegas Convention Center, and we were hearing all sorts of loud crackly noise, like static, from the speakers. Finally sent someone out to a computer shop to buy a basic AC power cleaner, and the noise went away as soon as we plugged it in. But the noise came back when we re-arranged the AC power cables around the box to make them look "neat." Turned out that the noise on the dirty source AC line was able to hop right across to the cleaned output power cords unless they were kept physically separated. We even had to wrap the cleaned cords in foil to add extra isolation. But in the end the system remained perfectly quiet.

I hope no one's home AC has the kind of dirt on it that is common at ICES, but it does illustrate the concept.

So the idea of fat "audiophile" AC cords leaves me cold for exactly the reasons Bob stated, but there may well be merit in AC cords that have a shielded jacket, when used in conjunction with an AC cleaner. It might be sufficient to have only one such shielded cable in the system--the one feeding into the AC conditioner--assuming the noise is from outside the theater room. It should also be noted that switching supplies can put more HF noise on the AC than traditional transformer/rectifier supplies, so the system's components should be taken into consideration, using care in dressing the various AC cables. Bundling them all together to look nice may not be ideal.

2) If you are using a video projector, it's been advocated to use a battery backup so that in an extended outage, the unit can be put into its cooldown mode properly (bulb off, fan on) so as to avoid impacting bulb life.

Point well taken!

Hhttp://www.toruspower.com/rm_20_bal.htm Is anybody familar with this gear?

Bob - you rock as always! 39 views on my thread in the remote forum and not a single reply or suggestion. Thanks for your help!

Dave

Glad I was able to help!

I would agree whole heartedly regarding the projector battery backup. Had one bulb go when power went out and since then not a lost bulb but a few power outages. Bulbs at $400 and one backup at $129. No brainer for me.
John