Anthem D2/D2v/AVM50/AVM50v/ARC1 tweaking guide - Page 221

I would call blue jeans cable (they use Belden and Neutrik). Unless you have a soldering iron and are good with it it's tough. I had bjc make up one end of 3 cables I needed, then I soldered the other ends on once I had fished them across the room. The soldering took about 15-20 min each.

I got my XLR cables from mcmelectronics. They also use Neutrik connectors. I bet they're much cheaper than blue jeans cable.

http://www.mcmcables.com/cables/24-2...30D7E91B0F975B

I deny everything

Is anyone using a sdi modded dvd player with the d2 and what are the results?

That's good to know! I've always enjoyed his posts. You are right though, he seems to be quite modest about his knowledge.


See!

That would be difficult there is no SDI input on the D2. And I don't think you want to modify a D2 to add that capabilitie.

That's what I thought thanks.

Thanks for posting this LEVESQUE,
Its good to know a little about the really knowledgeable people we have here.
Oh, you accidentally omitted yourself from the list of knowledgeable people.

A little feedback on 1.12L. Reported already to Nick (as appropriate). Still no good with the XA2 even after a number of power cycles on both, can get silent video (and only after a long lag) and no HDMI audio . UNFORTUNATE, the audio on other formats is clearly superior (not a huge leap but enough to be noticeable, particularly on component video 1080i in). Back to 11e.

I was going to try the 1.12L but the loader wasn't ready Wednesday. I guess there is no need now. I am back with e also, but I'm going to switch back to the 1.12K to watch a Blu-Ray at 24P. I can get a picture OK with the XA2 with the K but I've only been able to get sound to work one time.

no help so far . still waiting for anthem gurus to help me out.

If you have only HDMI connected to the AVM50 and select TrueHD on a disc, you will be getting TrueHD decoded into PCM into the AVM50. S/PDIF settings shouldn't matter - it's for coax/optical output.

larry

Apparently the S/PDIF setting on the 2nd gen Toshiba HD DVDs does make a difference. It turns upsampling on/off, look back a couple of pages for a post from FilmMixer. On my A1 the setting doesn't seem to have any affect as I always get upconverted 96K PCM instead of the proper 48K.

The s/pdif setting does seem to effect the LPCM output from the XA2 when playing HDDVD's. Setting it to "PCM" causes the XA2 to upsample to 6 ch/96khz for HDDVD while "bitstream" results in 6ch/48khz.

For SDDVD it always results in 6ch/48khz with 5.1 sources.

Looks like obie beat me to it.

Ankita:

Since my system is 5.1 (technically 5.0 actually), I've been leaving the AVM50 mode set to "none" and not applying any post-processing.

Okay, I need help. I am a new D2 owner and just got it connected last night and have a couple of settings questions specific to my situation, I searched but could not find specific answers, thanks for all help in advance:

1) I have a Toshiba XA-1, when playing a I have the 6 channel track set to none and the XA-1 set to pcm output yet I am still getting it to showing 5.1 96khz instead of 48khz with Dolby TrueHD, I got the impression this is just the Toshiba upsampling, I can not find a way around it, is there one? (I see there seems to be a way with the XA-2) Also I keep reading how the TrueHD needs the lfe channel to be boosted by +10db, where should I do that? in the source setting under LF?

2) My speakers are Martin Logan Obysseys for the front, Theatre center, and Scripts on the side and rear with a Velodyne HGS-15 sub (my amp is a Sunfire signature cinema seven). Would you suggest with these speakers and sub setting speakers to large or small?

What is all this talk of 1.12x firmwares? I assumed that at some point we would hit a 1.12 (which would be once the 1.11x became stable enough) and then we would start seeing 1.12x beta firmwares after that. 1.11 is still all that is available on the Anthem website.

I'm still using 1.11e with my XA2, PS3, and HR20-700. Things seem pretty stable, although I think my HR20 is having some occasional issue that is causing it to hang or reboot every few days (about once a week). I think it is some kind of HDMI handshaking issue, but can't be sure.

Are any newer firmwares working well with the XA2?

-Dave

Yeah, it looks like Nick and the guys are releasing new beta firmwares in a flurry here lately. That's a good sign in my book.

Reports are that the XA1 upsampling to 96khz can't be disabled. I wouldn't sweat it too much. I have the option on my XA2 and I can't hear a difference anyway.

Just set all speakers to Large, distances to zero, levels to zero, sub=use, and crossover to 120 on the XA1. This disables bass management in the player. Then use the D2 to do everything. As long as you have V1.11 software, the +10db LFE boost is done automatically.

Well, I couldn't resist. Got the oppo 970hd so I could see what 480i via HDMI to my AVM50 looks like for SDDVD. To be brief, it looks great. Noticeably better than either HDMI 480p or 1080p from the XA2. Noticeably smoother and with less artifacting and noise than via 480i over component from either my old Sony DVP9000 or from the XA2.

I'd say this is a steal for 150 bucks for D2/AVM50 owners. The differences might be more subtle on smaller screens but for my 110 inch it's a pretty big jump in PQ. Pj is a Sony Pearl.

The only reason I'll keep the XA2 now is for the 1080p24 upgrade. In retrospect, I should have gotten the cheaper A20.

Just for completeness' sake, here are pics of the AVIA resolution pattern (now including the HDMI 480i from the Oppo). Be sure to maximize them for clarity.

That upgrade was PROMISED back ay CES.

Maybe they meant 2008

After much deliberation, I will be going back to tubes for my 2 channel. I have have a B&K 200.7 for HT and a Rogue Audio Stereo 90 for music. While the B&K is fine for HT none of the SS amps I auditioned sounded anything like the Rogue. So the question becomes, how much tube gear am I going to bring back? Can my D2 really give me the warmth that I crave for music. If I use the analog audio in is it just a pass through? Can the Oppo 970 via HDMI give me the sound i crave? Or should I blow the dust off of my Consonance Tube SACD player? Hoping to not end up with 2 complete systems but the D2/OPPO just not cuttin it. I'll try just adding the Rogue amp for now and see what happens. Interested on how others have dealt with this dilemma.

thanks,

Lou

I can't seem to figure this out.

I am using my Denon 3910 to play the DTS sample disk. How do I get it to play in a 7.1. When I go to change the surround mode it doesn't give me the option.

Any ideas?

UPDATE: I figured it out, requires you to bring THX processing into the soundtrack.

Thanks

Yes, unprocessed 480i over HDMI into the D2 is as close to something like an SDI output as we're going to get. I'm thrilled with the picture quality, on a 123 inch Firehawk from a Ruby. That Oppo is a killer deal - and it plays CD, HDCD, DVD-A and SACD on top of all this. (But, it has the WORST remote - all those same size little buttons that are impossible to differentiate in the dark - gotta get a programmed remote happening soon!)

Some of the OTA HD broadcast is pretty fine as well. I'm embarassed to say I still don't have HD-DVD/BD yet - but when I do, I'll experience another jump in quality, I'm sure.

I tried searching the thread but can't find where to purchase the AVM-50. The local dealer that comes up from the Anthem site told me not to spend for it and instead buy a Tivo cable box since the primary reason I'm looking to purchse the AVM is bad picture quality from SD cable channels. He said that would be greatly improved with a new cable box and not to spend the $$$ on the Anthem. He also said that Anthem was out of the "video chips" and it would be a while before he could get me one.

Sounds fishy to me and I'd like to talk to someone else--any recommendations on a dealer?

Thanks,
Kris

There's a dealer search engine on Anthem's website. Anthem and Statement are two separate lines.

That dealer is FOS. That's my opinion of course.

Oh man, Kris, Kris my man, my friend, my compadre, can I just tell you that this dealer of yours needs to be hit over the head with a clue-by-four. This guy is a piece of work for sure. He's playin some serious games with you. Let me try to break this down for you...

So, the symptom of crappy SD cable broadcasts, ok, fair enough, it's a well-known problem out there. Switching to an HD Tivo Series 3 box will of course allow you to receive all the HD cable channels you wanna get from your cable provider, using Cablecards, and you won't find a bigger fan of the Series 3 for PQ and overall usability than me - it's a damn good box, and the dual tuner HD functionality is just what the doctor ordered. But let me make something clear here - you are switching in that case from SD crap to gorgeous HD signals - of COURSE the quality is going to be night and day difference. But to say that the nifty Series 3 Tivo is a replacement for the Anthem D2/AVM-50 is a HUGE leap. It's like telling a yachtsman that you will solve all his problems with an S-series Mercedes. The question is "what are you looking to accomplish?". Said differently, "why do you believe you want a D2 or AVM50?". Not trying to be patronizing here, but it would be helpful if you describe for us what your goals are - what are you trying to achieve? What are your other sources? List for us all your other equipment so we can get a better picture of how you would benefit from the AVM50. What are your needs right now, and also, what do you imagine your needs to be in the next 3-5 years (I know this hurts, but I bet you have some idea of where you're headed with this hobby in the next 3-5 years)?

If the answer is that your only major need is for your cable TV reception to improve to HD quality and have a nice way to record those HD and SD broadcasts, then yeah, a Tivo Series 3, for about 500 after rebate these days, yeah, you're good, buy the Tivo and forget about everything, put your left over money under the mattress and save it for something else that comes along that you actually need.

But, if the answer is that you would like to have multi-zone, multi-room control of a whole-house audio/video solution, or if you would like to have fantastic video processing up to 1080p for all video sources you own now and/or in the future, or if you would like a top-notch preamp that is flexible enough to handle virtually all post-processing needs, or if you want to control an independent Record Zone, or if you want to have top-notch audio and video from all your current and future sources, or if you envision using the multiple HDMI source capability to control BD/HD DVD, DVD or gaming sources, etc etc, than the D2 or AVM50 is a FANTASTIC solution, and one that cannot be replaced by the lovely Tivo Series 3 box. They are in 2 different leagues my friend, they are serving 2 totally different purposes. Needless to say, they are in 2 totally different leagues money-wise, for good reason.

You have to figure out what your needs are, and whether the great functionality and capability of the AVM50 is really something that you need, and then make a decision from there. Again, both products are PHENOMENAL at what they do - the only question is what are your current priorities and needs right now? What are the rest of your components? What sources do you use today? What do you envision using in the future? Take a step back, really analyze what your plans are in audio/video, and then the decision will become more obvious to you.

As for a decent dealer, go see Ensemble in Nashua NH. I know it's a serious hike from you in upstate NY, but NH is a lovely drive in the summer, and the lack of sales tax will more than make up for the cost of the gas to get there (even at 4 bucks a gallon!). Seriously, they know their stuff, they will get you a good deal, and they stand by their sales. Call them up and ask for John. They have been selling Anthem/Statement/Paradigm gear for a LONG time.

Let me know how you make out, I genuinely wanna help you make a good decision if I can. Hopefully, this triggers some more ideas for ya. Let us know your thoughts.

All the best,
Brian

I'm not sure where the Anthem dealers are closest to you, but a possibility is 6th Avenue Electronics, which is a chain with lots of stores in New Jersey and one in New York. I'm not too crazy about their salesmen (hit or miss), but they generally have Anthem products in their showroom to demo. I went to one which had the Anthem D2, Paradigm Signature speakers, and the Sony Ruby (which was a "hot" projector back then) all setup in one room.

I recently received and connected my D2 replacing a Krell Showcase. I configured the inputs for the sources that have HDMI outputs and they are working great. My XBOX 360 does not have an HDMI output so I have connected it via one of the component inputs of the D2, but it is not being output on the HDMI out. So I connected the component output of the D2 to my display and still no video. I've resigned myself to the fact that I must have a defective D2 unless someone can help me out with this.

Thanks

I must agree and disagree with your dealer.

If you are just trying to improve poor SD Cable Picture Quality
= By all means the D2 or AVM50 is NOT the right thing for that.
Talk to your Cable Company and get Digital HD Cable Box.

As for the other excuse your dealer gave you - others have
said FOS - I agree with the others on that point.