Anthem D2/D2v/AVM50/AVM50v/ARC1 tweaking guide - Page 61

I have the rack version. It looks just like the regular version except the ears aren't quite as wide and have two holes in each side. I'll see if I can snap a picture.

Tom,

I'd appreciate it if you would. My D2 is the standard version, the rack mount version was backordered when I ordered mine. All my gear is rack mounted in a MA Slim5 with custom faces, etc except the D2. I emailed Anthem this morning about converting it over, but it will require a trip back to Anthem and a service charge. I was thiinking about buying another D2, but the rackmount version, and using the one I have at my lakehouse. The reason I'd like a picture is to see if the rack ears are flat or if they are still curved like the "wings" on the standard version because I have trim strips that cover the component mounting screws on my rack. If the ears are curved, I won't be able to use the trim strips. Thanks.

I'm currently testing a Velodyne DD-15 with my D2. For those who don't know this subwoofer, it has a built in room EQ system with 8 parametric filters.

I'm kind of limited as to where I can place this beasty, so using the controls to tame the room resonances is a big deal for me.

Well by using the combo of the DD-15's features and the Anthem D2's features I've been able to achieve what strikes me as a surprisingly flat response over the full 15Hz to 200Hz range reported by the Velodyne's calibrated mike (via an an on-TV display that's updated in real time).

I'm using the D2's one parametric filter near the very top of its range to squelch the highest room resonance, and using the 8 filters on the DD-15 to handle the ones below that. I'm also using the D2's ability to overlap the cross-over frequencies for the main speakers and the subwoofer.

And finally, I'm using the D2's THX Ultra2 setting with "Boundary Gain Compensation" turned on to tame the very lowest frequencies. This last makes a BIG difference in taming the response of a sub placed in a corner.

Using the DD-15's live reponse graph, all of this actually went surprisingly quickly.

Time for some listening.....

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While I'm doing that, here's a question for others who have played with this area of the D2's setup:

What is the purpose of specifying the sub as THX Ultra2 in the Room Response Filter portion of the speaker configuration?

The Boundary Gain Compensation setting (which apparently requires the Ultra2 setting as well) has a pretty obvious effect. But I can't figure out what the Ultra2 setting does all by itself.
--Bob

I've been using dual DD-15's with a D1 for 2 years (mated with 7 ceiling mounted Thiel Powerpoint speakers). The Velodyne's 8 parametric filters have enabled a nearly flat frequency response with the exception of a single valley no amount of compensation will correct. I haven't used the Boundary Gain Compensation setting.

I haven't messed with it for quite a while, but your post has spurred me to experiment some more with it this weekend.

I collect and watch a lot of music DVD's. I use an MX-3000 remote control equipped with DMX-3000 software to control a Sony CX-777ES DVD changer to navigate between the hundreds I own. I have macro buttons on the MX-3000 that automate switching to the D1's excellent audio music settings and the Velodyne's music settings. The combination enhances the music presentation substantially over standard movie settings. I'm looking forward to the first 3 music HD DVD's being released with Dolby Digital TrueHD audio on November 14 all pre-ordered via amazon.

Chris

Bob - interesting info. I have the Velodyne SMS-1. Things are more or less flat, but a dip in the 80Hz range that's hard to correct. Maybe I'll try messing with the D2's settings as well to see if it helps.

I have SMS-1 controlling a pair of M&K MX350 subs along with the D2, and ahve achieved a near ruler flat frequency response from ~16 - 200hz.

If you are having a big dip at 80hz, and your crossover is at that frequency as well, you might try adjusting the phase on your sub/SMS-1. Also, if you have multiple crossovers at the same frequency the culmination of multiple crossover slops could be to blame.

randman,
Re your 80 Hz dip: First make sure the crossover in the Velodyne AND the crossover in the sub(s) it is controlling are ALL turned off. If your sub doesn't have a bypass for its internal crossover, then simply set it as high as you can to minimize its impact. The only crossover you want active is the one in the D2.

Assuming you still have a dip, the usual first step is to try shifting the sub around to a different location. Even a few inches of shift can help de-couple it from the room cancelation or resonance effect. However the details of construction of your room and limits on physical positioning may mean you can't eliminate such "room suck" just by moving the sub.

Next try adjusting the subwoofer phase to minimize cancellation in the vicinity of the crossover frequency. While playing low frequency "white noise" through the sub *AND* a main speaker (e.g., the left front), sit in your listening position and adjust subwoofer phase until you find the setting that produces (by ear) the *GREATEST* amount of the upper frequencies. You can adjust phase using any available phase control (i.e., in the D2, in the SMS, or on the sub(s) themselves). However, there's no point in fiddling with more than one control as they all do the same thing.

The Avia calibration DVD, for example, has a subwoofer test that produces the necessary sound on the LFE and left front channels together. Set it to "Repeat Pattern ON" before entering the subwoofer test area and it will keep looping long enough for you to try all the different phase settings.

The phase adjustment that lets you hear the most high frequency sound in this test is the setting where the sub and left front are producing the LEAST cancellation of each other's output in the frequency range where they are both playing -- i.e., near the crossover frequency. Try all the settings and you should be able to hear the timbre of the white noise change between mostly low bass (max cancellation) and a more uniform bass hiss including higher frequencies (min cancellation). That latter result is what you are looking for. The effect is usually subtle, but you'll hear it with careful listening.

If you still have an 80 Hz dip after phase adjustment -- and you likely will -- then the next step is to use the D2's "advanced" speaker configuration settings to set *DIFFERENT* crossover frequencies for the main speakers and the sub. For example, set the sub crossover to 90Hz and the mains crossovers to 70Hz. The crossover point is not a cliff -- there's a gradual change. By overlapping the frequency settings like this you add more contribution from both speakers right at the crossover point. Similarly, if you have a peak at the crossover, you can do the opposite setting to splay the crossovers and reduce the contribution of both speakers at the crossover.

Also, check that you are using an appropriate crossover point to begin with. The usual rule of thumb is to set the mains crossover at (roughly) *TWICE* their spec'ed low frequency response. E.g., if they are spec'ed to go down to 50Hz, then don't set their crossover much below 100Hz. However, given that limit, you have flexibility to pick the crossover that works best in your room. I.e., there's nothing magical about 80Hz for example unless you are really trying to hit the THX specifications -- futile if your room has a problem like this, unless you want to pay for room treatment. So pick the crossover center point that lets you overlap or splay the settings to deal with a room problem right at that center point.

I've found you can also get interesting results by playing off the D2's sub volume setting against the volume control in the sub itself. Lower one and raise the other (to maintain overall calibration balance with the mains) and you may get unexpected benefits near the crossover point. The live response graph in the Velodyne makes it easy to do such experiments.
--bob

Monty,

The rackmount ears are curved. You can see a photo of them at the Anthem website if you go to the Custom Installation page and download the pdf.

Cheers,
Tom

Thanks Tom, I see it now. For whatever reason, that PDF is not on the D2's custom installation page.

I guess I won't be able to use the anodized trim strips on the side of my MA rack to cover the mounting screws...

Monty, Bob:

Thanks for the suggestions on getting rid of the 80 Hz dip. The only crossover that I use is the one on the D2. The SMS-1's crossover is disabled. The sub itself (Paradigm Servo 15, version 1) doesn't have a built-in crossover. I don't have much options in where to put the sub, so I'll try the phase adjustment first, and if that doesn't do it, I'll try the other suggestions.

Thanks again.

I continue to be amazed at how sensitive bass response is to room conditions. It really is important that you do your testing with the room configured just the way you expect to use it during normal listening, or you will just confuse yourself and waste time.

I'm still playing around with the calibration of the Velodyne DD-15 with the D2 -- so many new tweaks to try! In any event, this morning I had a stubborn case of room suck around 50 Hz that wasn't there last night. Then I happened to close the closet door where I stash my stuff and voila that particular dip vanished! Apparently my closet likes to hoard 50 Hz sound waves.

So be sure you have furniture placement, rugs, pictures and other wall hangings, doors (open/closed), curtains (open/closed), etc., set the way you will most usually use the room for listening. And then don't CHANGE any of that stuff while you are testing different calibration settings or you won't know whether it was the new setting or the new room config that produced whatever difference you see/hear.
--Bob

I picked up an Anthem D2 recently, running 1.06 software, and just configured this. I have several problems enumerated down below.

I have three components hooked up via HDMI:

1. Toshiba HD-A1 HD-DVD player. Set to 1080i output. HDMI->HDMI cable.
2. Dish 921 Satellite PVR. Set to 1080i output. DVI->HDMI cable.
3. HTPC computer, configured at 1920x1080p output. DVI->HDMI cable.

The HDMI output from the D2 feeds a Dtrovision DD-D12P 1in 2out DVI distribution amp. This in turn feeds a Westinghouse 37" LCD and a Sony "Pearl" projector.

The D2 is configured to output 1920x1080p@60hz.

1. I find that the Toshiba HD-A1 always works correctly -- audio and video over HDMI.

2. The dish 921 video output behaves erratically. If I turn off all components, including the D2, and then power on with the input set to Dish921, the image is all magenta colored. If I go into the D2 video output menu, and manually toggle the color space from Auto->HDTV, and then jump out of the menu, the video changes to the correct mode. However, if I then turn on the HD-A1, and switch to that input, and then switch back to the Dish921 input, the image is all green saturated, and there is no way to fix this other than resetting everything and starting over. The main setup menu for the D2 remains the correct black background color, however.

3. There is no video output what-so-ever from the HTPC. It appears the D2 is not asserting the proper DDC/DVI related signals when the system boots, so the video card in the PC never outputs the DVI signal starting from the system boot. Perhaps the D2 doesn't recognize 640x480? Most external scalers have a way to configure this behavior (like the Lumagen), but I don't see a way to do this with the D2. I do have a small Dtrovision DDC DVI dongle that fakes the signal during boot, but this thing doesn't pass 1080p correctly, so I can't leave it in the video chain -- with this I verified the D2 doesn't display 640x480, but will pass 1368x768 correctly (but this configuration is not desirable).

4. When the D2 is set to output 1080p@24 to the Sony Pearl, the video is smooth for about 10 seconds, and then "stutters" for a couple of seconds, and this cycle repeats. This happens with film based content from both the HD-A1, and HD PVR film based material for the Dish 921. Does anybody else have this working smoothly?


This entire system was working fine from a video switching perspective at 1080p before swapping out a Dtrovision 4way DVI switch for the Anthem D2. I have played around with several video output modes in the D2, all to no avail.

Per BobP on another thread, I also switched out ALL of the HDMI cables, as well as using a direct HDMI connection from the D2 to the projector (bypassing the Dtrovision DD-12P). Same problems in this case.

Are discrete IR codes available for switching the output from 1080p @60 and 1080p @24 ?


Any insights?

I'm not aware of IR codes that do this. I don't have RS-232 control in my system, but looking at the spreadsheet containing the RS-232 code set (downloaded from Anthem's web site), it looks like there are discrete commands to change the video output format. There's a surprisingly large number of RS-232 commands available.

sfield,
Did you have a chance to experiment yet with setting Repeater = NO in the D2 input settings for the sources giving you grief? The problems you report with the 921 really sound to me like a bad HDMI handshake between it and the D2.

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Did you upgrade your D2 to the V1.06 firmware yoursef or did it arrive with that software already installed? If you did it yourself, were there any problems during that process?

We have a report here that Anthem is testing a beta version of new software which includes adjustable video signal timing. If you talk to Anthem tech support, they might have software for you to try as regards your HTPC problem. In particular, your report that the D2 won't handle 640x480 from your HTPC sounds very odd.

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Here's another thing to try: Reconfigure the D2 to the settings that *SHOULD* work for you.

Now in the D2's Setup screen, Save User Settings. Then Restore Factory Settings. Then Restore User Settings.

Now look through your various Settings to make sure they all restored to what you expected them to be. If not, correct any differences and then Save User Settings again (for future use).

It is possible that some configuration setting in your D2 got corrupted, and this is a way to reset things.

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On the color space issues, I just want to be sure you aren't getting confused by a misconfiguration of the video output to your display which you are then trying to fix by adjusting the INPUT color spaces and formats. You need to get the display output settings in the D2 correct FIRST, then adjust the D2's input settings as necessary.

Turn on the D2 and select a video input that has *NOTHING* connected to it. The entire screen should now be bright blue (not pinkish or greenish) -- the default screen the D2 puts up when it senses no incoming video signal. Now hold down the "7" key on the D2 remote until the video adjustment menus come on screen. The body of the menus should be pure white and the portion of the screen surrounding the menus should still be brignt blue -- again neither a pinkish nor greenish tint.

If the color is *NOT* as described then you have incorrectly set the D2's Setup / Video Output / Data Format value -- or alternatively your display is not properly configured to match the value you are trying to use in the D2. Bring up the Setup screen (which should be Red), try a different value, and Back out of Setup to check what results.

While you are at it, make sure the D2's Setup / Video Format / Color Space value is also set to "HDTV" so the correct color math is used for your Pearl.

If you make any changes in Setup / Video Output, be sure to accept the changes -- i.e., change "NO" to "YES" when asked to confirm you want to make such changes (when hitting "Back" to exit the Setup / Video Output screen).

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Having confirmed that the Video Output color settings are correct, then now set the INPUT color space for each source device. Select the D2 input for each source device in turn, then press and hold the "7" key on the D2 remote. Scroll to Picture / Input Color Space. There should be two checkmarks -- one for what the D2 does if it receives a YCbCr signal and the other for what it does if it receives an RGB signal. The default settings (Auto YCbCr and Standard RGB) are most likely the ones you want to use for each of your source devices -- except that you may need to use Extended RGB if the graphics card in your HTPC uses computer style digital video encoding (e.g., Black = digital 0) as opposed to the "studio" encoding found in typical home theater content such as DVDs (e.g., Black = digital 16).

Finally, go into each of your source devices and make sure it is configured to OUTPUT the right stuff. For example, your cable box should likely be configured to output YCbCr 4:4:4 (instead of RGB) over it's HDMI output.

If you make any changes to these video adjustment menus for your various sources, you can save the entire set of changes by going back into the D2's Setup menu and Save User Settings. [Save Installer Settings does the same thing -- it's just a second memory that you might use while experimenting or as backup for your main settings.]

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Now try things out. If you get a good image from a particular source, do a couple of things. First, press the Select key on the D2 remote repeatedly and note the status information it displays. For example, the second press will display the incoming video resolution and also whether there is a good HDCP copy protection handshake on the that connection ("CP") or not ("NP"). Depending on your source device and its resolution, you may or may not get an image displayed if the HDCP handshake is unhappy.

Next, press and hold the "7" key and then scroll to the Info panel in the on-screen menu. This will display details about what the D2 is receiving -- in particular whether it is RGB or YCbCr, and which format of YCbCr -- as well as what it is converting it to for output.

Note the values that are displayed when the image is good. If you get a bad image, go check those values again. Note any differences as they may very well lead you towards what's going wrong.

Keep in mind you will need to deal with each input source separately here.

Also, if you get a bad image, try this: Momentarily switch the D2 to a different input and then back to your desired input. This will force a new HDMI handshake.

It is also possible that your display has its own info screen that will confirm what it is receiving from the D2. The important thing is that this info SHOULD NOT CHANGE as you switch between D2 sources. The D2's scaling and color conversion is supposed to convert any video input to a single style of output. If your display is getting different stuff when you change D2 inputs then the most likely thing that is going on is that you have mistakenly connected your display to the Zone 2 or Record outputs of the D2 (which are, by default, pass-through) instead of the Main output.
--Bob

Do D2 have parametric EQ build in?

They don't yet. It is one of the rumored upgrades that will be available, with no release date known. This would be something for the D2 and not the 50. l would guess not until the end of next year. And yes, that is a totally uninformed guess .

l

Actually the D2 does have a Room Resonance Filter which is basically a one band parametric equalizer.

Actually the D2 currently does have one (and only one) generalized EQ, but it is specfically intended to help cure your worst room resonance in the bass frequency arena, so your ability to adjust its center frequency is limited by the current subwoofer crossover setting.

See the Room Resonance Filter page in the speaker configuration Setup options.

The D2 also has a variety of less adjustable filters for helping to cure a variety of EQ-ish problems. Some of these can only be toggled on and off, such as the "Boundary Gain Compensation" filter for deep subwoofers (e.g., THX Ultra2) placed in a corner or against a wall. Others have a set of fixed settings you can choose between such as the filter that helps deal with the muddying of voice related frequencies due to placing the center channel speaker against a wall or too near the surface of the display.

Other filters are not intended to solve EQ problems but rather are intended for use in specific listening conditions, such as the reduction of LFE channel dynamics when you don't want to wake the neighbors.

Anthem is on record that they are working on extending the set of general purpose EQ filters, as well as adding calibrated microphone sensing and an automatic room EQ setup process. This extra processing is supposedly dependent on the extra DSP power offered in the D1 and D2, and so would not be offered for, say the AVM-50.
--Bob

Bob,

I've tried all sources set to Repeater = NO, as well as setting just the 921 to NO and YES. That didn't have any impact on things.

The D2 came with 1.06 already installed. I believe there was a sticker on the outside of the box somewhere that said software v 1.06.

Note with the HTPC, the intended output resolution is 1920x1080p. It doesn't get this far, since the 640x480 BIOS boot graphic is never seen. That's even with the EDID dongle in place. Same behavior with/without the EDID dongle. Apparently, Gefen makes an EDID dongle that will pass 1080p, so that would be a work-around if all else fails. I expected this to "just work" though. Note the machine has a radeon 9600 XP/XT.

I will try resetting the saved settings tonight, and the other suggestions. Note the '7' output display options show the expected information, as does toggling through the various status indicator options.

It would be nice if a future software update also supported detection of film content, and then switched to 24fps output automatically. That's assuming this output rate works correctly with the Sony Pearl and the D2.

sfield,
Yes the auto change to 24fps video output (for displays that support it) has been discussed here. So far there's no indication that this is coming in the next software release.

When your HTPC image fails to show up, what does the D2 show as the input resolution it is seeing? Or is it saying "No Video"?
--Bob

You may be the first to get this to work, so interested if the dongle does it's stuff.

Few other trials & tribulations in the thread regarding HTPCs. Personally I switch to an HD2K after the AVM-50/D2 with a high qual HDMI switcher. Macros programmed, very seamless.

I look at these posts and get scared. I bought my avm-50 and should be here this week..

Has anybody just been able to take out of box and connect?

The directions seem easy.

budeone,
Relax. It will probably go smoothly for you as it has for others here. These threads tend to fill up with posts from only those folks having problems or folks trying to push the system to its limits.

While you are waiting for your AVM-50 to arrive, the best advice I can give you is to see to your cables.

In particular, consider getting top end HDMI cables that are only just as long as you need them to be. Although this may be overkill, problems with HDMI connections can be particularly frustrating to debug because they tend to be intermittent. HDMI either works or doesn't however, so HDMI problems if any, will be pretty evident.

If you are using component video cables, good cables are also a help. Component video problems can sneak up on you -- you'll see a picture but it isn't as high quality as it could be.

Keep in mind that for some source devices -- particularly a DVD player that also plays the exotic audio formats such as SACD -- you may want to plan on more than one TYPE of video and/or audio connection to the AVM-50 so as to be able to use all of the features of your source device. For example, no player shipping today will pass multi-channel, high res, digital audio over an HDMI connection if you are currently playing an SACD disc (due to licensing restrictions from the folks who own the SACD standard). Running 6 channel analog audio cables to the AVM-50 will cover that base for you.

Also think about where you are going to place your AVM-50. It has a lot of electronics inside and will be happiest if it is in a location with good ventilation and no immediately adjacent heat sources.

The default settings in the AVM-50 are well thought out. So make changes to those settings gradually. Get the basics set up first, and once you are comfortable with that, then feel free to start playing with some of the fancier features. A good rule of thumb is to set each of your source devices to do the MINIMUM POSSIBLE processing of any audio or video content. Leave it to the AVM-50 to do all the work. So for example, your best results with a standard DVD player will be to have it pass 480i video (instead of 480p or video upscaled to 720p or 1080i). Leave it to the AVM-50 to do all the de-interlacing and scaling. Similarly, turn off video enhancement "features" in your other devices.

Finally, remember that the AVM-50 is at the center of electrical connections to lots of other stuff. So heed this advice: Turn EVERYTHING OFF -- even better, disconnect everything from wall power -- before connecting or disconnecting any cables between devices. Then double check that both ends of all connections are as you want them to be before you restore power to anything.
--Bob

Once again thank you Bob.

I bought the best cables that were offered at monoprice.

I took your advice and just bought a short cable for dvd to avm-50

The rest are 6-10-15 foot.. I didn't know how many to get so I just bought a bunch of them. I am sure I have way to many.

I only play movies from blockbuster or some other video stores so I don't think they play any crazy type of different sounds.. Just some have DTS that I love.

People think I am crazy for spending more on a pre-amp than I did for my TV..


I will know real soon.. I think I may stay away from this thread for a few days..lol

If this works they way I picture it will.. this will be 4500.00 spent well

I purchased a D2 2 months ago and have no problems at all. The only minor problem was with the heat issue however it never caused any problems. For my own satisfaction I did install a fan in rear of my cabinet and the heat issue is gone. Anthem makes some very intelligent equipment. One day when I was installing some banana connectors I acidently pulled the optical cable from it's socket. When I turned everything back on all worked well except for my H20. The D2 would power on but after 10 seconds the D2 shut down. After re inserting the optical cable the H20 worked fine. If you do connect something wrong it has ways of telling you. You will love your D2 more than your wife.

I'm wondering what the lowest price paid for the D2 is here in the states.

budeone,
All the sound you'll find on commercial DVDs (i.e., movies and such) will work just fine through your HDMI connection to the AVM-50. Regular stereo (and mono for old movies), Dolby Digital, DTS, and the extended versions of those for surround speaker setups that include rear speakers, will all work automagically. If you end up getting one of the new, high definition players (HD-DVD or Blue Ray discs), their higher res, multi-channel sound will ALSO come through the HDMI, and indeed that's by far the best way to hook them up.

The same is true for traditional CDs.

The problem only arises when playing the exotic music discs -- DVD-Audio or SACD -- that are sold as like CDs but better. The people who license those formats to player manufactureres put restrictions on digital audio connections that are only slowly being removed.

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But here's another example: If you have a set top box for TV (for example a cable TV box) which happens to have an HDMI output you will likely find you can get both video and top quality digital audio via an HDMI connection. However, if you have that box set to change output resolutions according to whether you are currently tuned to an SDTV or HDTV channel, then it will need to do a new HDMI/HDCP handshake each time you change from one to the other. This causes about a 1 to 2 second flicker in the video and there's really no way around it if you want the advantage of the digital video connection. Blame an industry obsessed with copy protection (HDCP).

But then AFTER the new channel's video locks in, you may find there is an ADDITIONAL 1 to 2 seconds before the AUDIO starts! This is another type of handshake. If your set top box happens to work this way, and you find it as annoying as I did, you may want to run a separate digital audio connection from it to the AVM-50 -- for example an optical digital audio cable. Then you'll still have the handshake delay for the video to lock in, but the audio will start right away.

Although the traditional digital audio connections (optical and coax digital audio cables) can not handle the high bandwidth required for exotic formats such as SACD, or audio from HD-DVD or Blue Ray discs, they will handle both the normal and the multi-channel TV audio just fine -- indeed identically to what the HDMI connection would have given you. So you lose nothing doing this.

The AVM-50 makes it easy to specify a different input for audio when using any HDMI socket for video.
--Bob

If it gives you some additional comfort my dealer said that he (and other dealers) were not seeing the same "problems" with the AVM50 as with the D2.

My dealer says, for the moment, he will sell the AVM50 but not the D2 because of this.

BLS, Sorry, but we're not allowed to talk street prices on this forum, only MSRP, so you probably won't get an answer to this. Your best best is to find your closest dealer and haggle with him. I will say that you will love the D2 if you buy one. Mine has worked flawlessly so far.

The D2, do mostly to HDMI HDCP issues has quite reached the point of plug and play. You may not be old enough to remember the early days of Windows plug and play where it had similar issues.

But the good part is you've got a lot of talent and experience here to help you thru any issues, however many (or few) you encounter.