Anthem D2/D2v/AVM50/AVM50v/ARC1 tweaking guide - Page 1280

Eric,

I assume you mean a D2 and not a D2v. Double-check in the setup menu that S-Video is indeed selected as the on-screen menu output. That's the first step.

Theo

Has anyone ever noticed how 'noisy' the D2v can be?

When i mute the D2v sound and place my ears next to my rear speakers(closest to the unit), i hear significant broadband noise from speaker. When i shutoff the D2v, then the noise level dramatically drops and only hear the faint amplifier noise. When i turn on the D2v and mute it, the noise level jumps up again. I even went and bought RCA shorting caps and placed them on all analog and digital inputs on my D2v. Noise levels didn't change much, if at all.

Even as a long short, i replaced my RCA connections to my amp with XLRs. Meh ...tough to tell if that helped at all. Noise is just as much as with the RCAs.

In my system anyway, the D2v is the noisiest component. Sad that one pays $8K for a pre-pro that isn't as quiet as you'd expect.

Stone Cold Quite here with THOUSANDS of Watts of Audio

+ 1

Maybe start disconnecting each of your sources to the D2v one at a time and see if you can find the source of the noise that the D2v is amplifying.

Not to jump on the band wagon, but same here. I do not experiance that noise at all. Perhaps it is comming from anther sorce? Or you are getting cross talk from a router or a cell phone?

OK guys ...first of all thanks for the feedback you've provided. Very much appreciated. But i have to ask whether you quieted down all other external sources of noise in your theater(AC, fans, lights, fridge etc) before you performed the listening tests, playing some music for while(10 secs or so) before muting the D2v? Forgive my arrogance here but also did you place your ear right next to your speaker with the amplifier(s) on (and not in auto-mute as some amps do)?

My only sources into the D2v are the DVR, via Optical and HDMI and the Oppo 95 player via HDMI, Stereo XLR and 5.1 MCH analog. The Oppo is off but will test both it and the cable box for possible sources of noise.

Thanks again guys! Appreciate the feedback !

EDIT:

Removed all my sources from the D2v and no apparent change in noise levels
Edited by dmusoke - 9/10/12 at 12:24pm

I have shut everything down as in lights, AC, ETC. the works. I have had my ears to my speakers doing this just the other night as I thought one of my Paradigm S8’s was having a tweeter or clicking issue. That issue was a rouge cricket, but I could hear it with during the playback of a movie. With that I had my whole system fired up (D2v, 2 x P2, and a P5 Amps, Oppo 83, Sonos, & DVR Sat box) and muted it and heard nothing. My S8’s fronts are 4 feet from my D2v, and my Sub 1 is less than two feet from it and no noise.

Do you have a line conditioned between your D2v and the outlet? Any other device on the same circuit as the amps?

By the way I had bunch of issues like this in an earlier system and it wound up that every time my blackberry sent or received and e-mail I got the noise you are referring to.

So I have an aged D2 (purchased in 2006) with firmware 1.33 and to it is connected an Oppo BDP-83 (latest firmware via HDMI)... I have the Oppo configured with secondary audio off and output set to LPCM... with EVERY DTS-MA 7.1 soundtrack I notice nasty cracks/clipping in the right/left mains and center during loud/active passages (scary enough to think that it might be damaging the speakers... which are JTR triple 8's)... particulary bad was the BD of "War Horse" (the cracks/clipping not necessarily the movie), the scene where the main character participated in the trench assault... good lord I thought the speakers were blown...

To test, I configured the Oppo to use just the DTS core and, as expected (since the core is only 5.1?), everything was fine... Next I tested the "War Horse" BD using my HTPC (via HDMI to the D2) and played it using TMT 3 (which is configured to output MA as uncompressed LPCM) and it played fine as well. Anyone else with an Oppo 83/D2 combo notice anything similar?

Yes I am running a D2. In the setup menu I have set it to show to all. I hope it wasn't just a simple mistake as having to specify s-video...

sfm, I am running a Oppo 83SE and the only problem I have heard is the known problem with Toy Story and Jurassic Park 1. It is partially solved by turning secondary audio to "on" thereby listening to the core 5.1 output. I believe this is a known issue with the Oppo83/D2 combo.

Gerard ...thx for the feedback. I have a Torus line conditioner between the wall and the rest of the electronics in my rack. I unplugged the D2v from the Torus and went direct to the wall outlet. No change in noise levels sadly but it seems the noise is mainly centered around 60Hz in the woofer with other higher frequencies heard in my tweeters.

Interesting... all MA 7.1 BD's I have (admittedly not a lot... but the recent Hunger Games also exhibits the same issues for me) and all that I have rented have exhibited this same behavior (and turning secondary audio on is the way I work around it... but not a desirable solution)... I don't understand why this wouldn't be just an Oppo issue as opposed to an Oppo/D2 combo issue since the D2 doesn't accept 7.1 LPCM and assuming the Oppo properly recognizes this wouldn't the Oppo simply mix the back 2 channels with the surround channels and call it a day?

Shot in the dark but:

1. Did you try unplugging the incoming cable tv coax from your DVR? Cable TV feed can be a nasty source of RF and spuriae as well as causing a ground loop. If this proves the source of your noise contaminant, you may need ground blocking adapter on the coax or call your cable company and complain about the noisy line. In my case, squirrels had chewed the wires outside my house, exposing the copper.
2. Did you try plugging the unit into another outlet?
3. Do you also hear the noises through the headphone output?
4. Can you test the unit at the dealer's store or do you know someone at whose home you can set up your Anthem temporarily? If the noises you hear are also present in the headphone output, no need to bring anything else like amps and wires.

Good luck.
Edited by Certz - 9/10/12 at 3:31pm

1. One of the first things i suspected and did. No change.

2. Yes, no change.

3. Don't have headphones to test with .

4. Dealer is hours away and have no friends close by(I know. Its pathetic, isn't it?)

I will have to come up with something else.

^ Check the Hum and Hiss FAQ in the Audio Theory forum here for suggestions.

A common source of hiss is radio frequency interference from room light dimmers, perhaps in a different room. To test this remove power from the dimmer (not just turn it down). Many dimmers have a cutoff switch on them you are supposed to use before changing bulbs -- or cut off the power at the circuit breaker box.

60Hz interference is typically either ground loop current (see that FAQ) or power line interference that has penetrated cables which have lesser quality shielding. That last can often be addressed simply by shifting cables around.

Isolating the cause of ground loop current requires some logical thinking about how to cable things up in different combos. Ground loop current is garbage current (often 60Hz power line interference) that travels between your devices along the shields of the cables connecting them looking for a path back to ground. A device in the path doesn't even have to be turned on to form the next link in the path. The exit to ground is often through the 3rd pin of a 3-prong power outlet on some device. The most common source of ground loop garbage is stuff coming into your house on the shield of an improperly grounded cable or satellite TV feed wire. The next most common is due to using multiple power outlets which happen to be wired to different circuits with different ground potential. All of this stuff has easy fixes once you isolate the cause.
--Bob

The problem you are having is a bug in the OPPO 83. Certain recent 7.1 DTS-HD MA tracks are authored in a way that the decoder in the OPPO 83 can't handle properly. How "certified" studio encoders can produce audio tracks which "certified" decoding chips can't handle would make for interesting reading I suppose. Good old DTS. The problem only happens in the OPPO 83 (not their newer players, which use newer decoder hardware) and only for 7.1 DTS-HD MA tracks when the player is doing the decoding -- i.e., HDMI LPCM output or Analog output.

There's no problem with 5.1 DTS-HD MA tracks or traditional, lossy, DTS tracks. Not all 7.1 DTS-HD MA tracks will exhibit the problem, but it looks like you've just managed to try viewing a number of tracks that do exhibit the problem. "War Horse", the first "Jurassic Park", and the 7.1 track on "Toy Story 3" are examples. The 5.1 track which is ALSO on Toy Story 3 has no problem.

For folks with a decoding AVR (like the D2v) the workaround would be to use Bitstream output from the OPPO 83. Since your D2 can not decode 7.1 DTS-HD MA, the best workaround is to set Secondary Audio ON, which causes the full-bit, rate, but still lossy, 5.1 DTS 1.536Mbps "compatibility" track to be used instead in the player. Not ideal, to be sure, but the best known workaround. Of course for Toy Story 3 the workaround would be to select its alternate, 5.1 DTS-HD MA track.

The audible symptoms are often described as sounding like "clipping", and that's a pretty fair description, although technically, what is happening is not clipping. For example lowering the output Volume on the OPPO's Analog outputs won't help.

The bug is apparently tied up with a hardware issue on the decoder chip used in the 83. It does not appear that a fix is possible in firmware.
--Bob
Edited by Bob Pariseau - 9/10/12 at 8:20pm

Just did a full reinstall of software ver. 1.33 and my ARC measurements.
Everything is back exactly as I left it and my on-screen display is operational again!!!!

All is perfect now!

Thanks to all the great info in this thread. Bob has been a help with both the D2 and the Oppo.
Good luck with your noise problem dmusoke. I just checked the noise floor of my system and it has never been this silent. I'm also using a P2 as my main amp and Harmon Citation amps to drive the other channels in bridged mode. Even those channels are silent. The only noise in my room now is from the display of the Velodyne SMS-1 controller that whines a bit when on so I make sure to turn off that display.

So far I am very very happy with the D2. So much so that I'm on the look out for a D2v even though it will cost another 4K to upgrade...

NEw issue with D2v, so tonight I am watching the local news. I pause the DVR, when I come back, there is a very muted sound. Cranked volume to 0 db, no increase in sound. Seems there are a lot of issues for a $9000 receiver that shouldn't be there.

Turned off and back on again, problem went away. My ppoint is that this should not be hapeening to a high end kit. I might expect it from Pioneer, Denon Onkyo, but they are also a LOT LESS EXPENSIVE. Detect hostility? YES, you do.

Many set top boxes (like DVRs) are infamous for having lousy HDMI implementations. Lots of folks use Optical Digital Audio cabling from their DVRs to avoid audio issues the DVR has on its HDMI output.
--Bob

Ok how do I set this up. I have a toslink digital and analog capabilities form my DTV DVR. Will I srill get my 7.1 Channel sound this way?

Funny thing is that having had the exact same setup and exact same cable for over a year to my old Oknyo, I NEVER experienced this problem. So with due respect Bob, as I know you are a valued member and contributor here, why is it always another component that causes the problem and not the Anthem?

Have you contacted Anthem? tech@anthemav.com. All companys have issues but not all of them will help like Anthem.
John

It's not "always" another device. It is just "often" another device. HDMI handshakes in particular are driven by the Source device through the Anthem, which is likely a more complicated process for your DVR than was the case with the Onkyo.

Optical will give you only up to 5.1 channels input from the DVR. If your DVR is capable of playing 7.1 channel program content then you will need to use HDMI, in which case the next step is to consider upgrading your HDMI cables, which may reduce the chances the DVR has to deal with signal error situations (a task it may not be good at).

If you meant you were getting 5.1 from the DVR that was being expanded to 7.1 speaker output in the Anthem (the more normal scenario) then that will continue to work the same way using Optical audio from the DVR.

In Setup > Source Setup for your DVR input, simply change Audio In from HDMI Dig to whichever Optical input jack you have used.

In the DVR, set its Digital Audio output to use Bitstream (may be called Dolby Digital) instead of LPCM (which will only be stereo).
--Bob
Edited by Bob Pariseau - 9/10/12 at 9:32pm

Which software version? In my last post I recommended updating v3.01 to v3.09 but you haven't indicated whether it's been done.

Another reminder - the worst way to diagnose HDMI is by elimination and conjecture. Comparing your new system vs old amounts to two data points out of millions possible, and the longest path to a solution.

Can the noise be heard from a couple of feet away? If not, it's within spec. Sometimes it's within spec even if the noise can be heard from the listening position, like when super-efficient speakers are used.

Silence when ear is against tweeter is not a design criterion, and comparing amp noise to preamp noise is apples vs oranges. In general, preamps have a 20 dB or so lower signal to noise ratio than amps and this includes our lineup. All active devices generate random noise, and the higher the gain the higher the noise floor. The only way to completely remove it is to put the brakes on particle motion, though there will be other much bigger issues if temperature is low enough to make that happen.

I need some help and suggestions here from the group: I'm looking for a good TV tuner solution to use with my AVM50v. I'm decommissioning Cable in my house and transitioning to over-the-air HD and streaming. Ideally, I'd like to route everything into my Anthem for two reasons:

1) Ease of switching and audio purposes.
2) Use of the 50v video card and options
3) Ability to send audio and video to a second zone where I have a second HDTV.

So, I believe that the only missing piece for over-the-air is an HD Tuner solution that I can use to give me either component or HDMI out.

Has anyone used a truly good solution?

Currently, I'm running the antenna to my HDTV and then using Toslink out back to my AVM50v.

I'd appreciate any feedback and additional suggestions.

Theo

I use TiVo for Both Cable and OTA - But I am NOT SURE if the NEW TiVo's Have OTA.

I've indeed looked at the TiVo Premiere. Great product. The only drawback is the mandatory service fee for the first year.

Subscription Fee Every Year. Nothing is for Nothing