AVS › AVS Forum › Audio › Receivers, Amps, and Processors › Anthem D2/D2v/AVM50/AVM50v/ARC1 tweaking guide
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Anthem D2/D2v/AVM50/AVM50v/ARC1 tweaking guide - Page 32

post #931 of 40881
7/20/06 at 1:37pm
How do you connect IR to D2?

I use Xantech 789-44 connection block for IR distribution (http://xantech.com/products/p_folder/p_78944.htm). It outputs to a regular 2-conductor IR emitter. I tried cutting off the emitter, stripping the two wires, and inserted them into D2's IR connection block position 1 and ground.

This didn't work, however. It shorted the two conductors when I inserted the connection block back into the D2.

How do you guys do it? Of course I can stick an IR emitter on the front, but that's ugly. I'd like to use IR receiver in the back.

Thx,
Max
Reply
Reply

Gear mentioned in this thread:

post #932 of 40881
7/20/06 at 2:31pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by stieger View Post

So if anyone can answer my question about the Oppo sounding as good, on par, or 'worse" than the other 'more expensive" DVD players you have with HDMI, I would greatly appreciate it and I'll stop hijacking this thread...

Stieger,
I would imagine few folks have both the Oppo and a more expensive player doing A/B comparisons. I have a Symmetry (run as a 6 channel analog source) & a 59AVi, and I have an Oppo still in an unopenned box. I've run out of "sources" that can be programmed so there is no point in trying it out given satisfaction with the 59AVi in particular.
Tim
Reply
Reply
post #933 of 40881
7/20/06 at 5:52pm
Is there a set of standard or recommended settings for 59AVi when connected to D2 via HDMI?
Reply
Reply
post #934 of 40881
7/20/06 at 7:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Max Spivak View Post

How do you connect IR to D2?

I use Xantech 789-44 connection block for IR distribution (http://xantech.com/products/p_folder/p_78944.htm). It outputs to a regular 2-conductor IR emitter. I tried cutting off the emitter, stripping the two wires, and inserted them into D2's IR connection block position 1 and ground.

This didn't work, however. It shorted the two conductors when I inserted the connection block back into the D2.

How do you guys do it? Of course I can stick an IR emitter on the front, but that's ugly. I'd like to use IR receiver in the back.

Thx,
Max

I had the same question and couldn't find an ideal solution. What I did was buy a Xantech Dinky Link Mini IR receiver. I haven't done this yet (been too busy with other things), but what I plan to do is connect the Dinky Link to the D2's rear. Then, connect an IR emitter to my Xantech connecting block. The other end of the IR emitter would then be taped to the Dinky Link IR receiver. Not a very graceful approach, but it should work, and I don't need to have an LED in the front of the D2. The Xantech Dinky Link is pretty small as far a IR receivers go, so it's not too bad of a hack. Also, with this solution, I can theoretically use the two IR emitters in the D2, in conjunction with my Xantech connecting block.

It would be nice to use the D2's connecting block as the main IR "hub", but the D2 only has 2 IR emitter outputs, which is not enough for my needs. Thus, I need to keep my existing Xantech connecting block. Nick at Anthem said that if quad IR emitters are used with the D2, then up to 8 devices can be controlled. However, I did a Google search and could not find any quad IR emitters. With dual IR emitters, only 4 devices can be controlled from the D2's connecting block, which is not enough for me.
Reply
Reply
post #935 of 40881
7/20/06 at 8:23pm
randman -- thanks.

This would work. In fact, I'm doing a variant of the flasher-taped-to-IR-receiver to control my gear both via regular IR as well as Control4 (which uses IR itself to convert devices)
Reply
Reply
post #936 of 40881
7/20/06 at 9:36pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by stieger View Post

So if anyone can answer my question about the Oppo sounding as good, on par, or 'worse" than the other 'more expensive" DVD players you have with HDMI, I would greatly appreciate it and I'll stop hijacking this thread...

Best,

Stieger

Oppo is not as good as pio 79avi
but what oppo does is play
SACD, DVD Audio and recorded home dvd movies and audio CDs
with out any problems
where pio has some problems
BTW
I use both
Reply
Reply
post #937 of 40881
7/20/06 at 10:27pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kris Deering View Post

All digital is not the same. I've had several DVD players connected to my D1 and my D2 via coax digital connections, and the differences between them can be quite drastic. Most recently I had the Toshiba HD-A1, Oppo 970HD and the Denon DVD 5910. The 5910 sounds quite a bit different with CDs via coax with a far richer and fuller sound. I would demo this to anyone at anytime (I would do a blind test for you if you like). While I agree that the Anthem is doing all the processing, there is a difference.

Interesting. What was your impression of the HDA1 vs the oppo in this regard?


Is anyone esle concerned about how hot this unit gets? I was thinking of getting a cooling fan for the top of it because its so hot i cant even rest my hand on top of it for a few seconds.
Reply
Reply
post #938 of 40881
7/21/06 at 6:44am
Quote:
Originally Posted by randman View Post

Good news. Based on various folks' input (thanks), I did the following:

1. Restored D2's factory defaults prior to upgrading.
2. Ensured that my PC and D2's baud rate matched. Since the D2's factory
default is 19200, I set my PC to use that default as well.


Finally, I used my laptop, which has a built-in RS-232 port. The upgrade to v1.06 worked the first time!! It took about 8 minutes to get to the "FPGA" configuration area, and a total of about 14 minutes to complete the upgrade. When I was using my HTPC with the USB/Serial adapter, it was taking ~20 minutes to get to the "FPGA" configuration. I thought I made sure my HTPC and D2 had the same baud rate (I was using the highest available setting of the D2).

So, not sure why I was having trouble yesterday. Some theories:

1. The USB/Serial cable of my HTPC is good enough to save/restore settings but not good enough for firmware upgrades.

2. Maybe I should have used 19200 baud.

3. Maybe I should have restored D2 factory defaults before the upgrade.

4. My HTPC's audio is connected to my D2 with a digital optical cable. My HTPC's VGA out is connected directy to my projector. I know, HDMI sources are suppossed to be off, but my HTPC only uses a digital optical cable, so I figured it should be okay to be connected to the D2 while it is on.

Bottom line is that it works with my laptop. Now, HDMI and component out work. Video settings (menu 7) work. Not sure if I want to experiment some more with my HTPC. Anyone else have a Keyspan USB/Serial adapter that works okay for them?

Thanks.

Unfortunately, I'm not so fortunate. I have a new D2 and am unable to successfully complete a firmware upgrade from 1.00 to 1.06. After 2-3 minutes, it fails with:
GF9350 uC FLASH programming failed

From what I can tell, GF9350 is related to the scaler. D2 status now reports 1.06, and audio seems fine but I get no HDMI video.

Please help I'm still w/in my return period, and this firmware failure prevents me from further evaluation of the D2.
Reply
Reply
post #939 of 40881
7/21/06 at 7:36am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Krops View Post

Unfortunately, I'm not so fortunate. I have a new D2 and am unable to successfully complete a firmware upgrade from 1.00 to 1.06. After 2-3 minutes, it fails with:
GF9350 uC FLASH programming failed

From what I can tell, GF9350 is related to the scaler. D2 status now reports 1.06, and audio seems fine but I get no HDMI video.

Please help I'm still w/in my return period, and this firmware failure prevents me from further evaluation of the D2.


You must not have any HDMI sources on when you do the upgrade, including your display......
Reply
Reply
post #940 of 40881
7/21/06 at 8:06am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Krops View Post

Unfortunately, I'm not so fortunate. I have a new D2 and am unable to successfully complete a firmware upgrade from 1.00 to 1.06. After 2-3 minutes, it fails with:
GF9350 uC FLASH programming failed

From what I can tell, GF9350 is related to the scaler. D2 status now reports 1.06, and audio seems fine but I get no HDMI video.

Please help I'm still w/in my return period, and this firmware failure prevents me from further evaluation of the D2.

My installer received the same message using two different USB - serial adapters. I got an old Keyspan adapter out of my closet and it worked the first time. I believe the baud rate was 9600. I turned off every other piece of equipment in my rack, including a HDMI switcher.
Reply
Reply
post #941 of 40881
7/21/06 at 9:18am
Quote:
Originally Posted by FilmMixer View Post

You must not have any HDMI sources on when you do the upgrade, including your display......

Thanks for the quick reply. My first attempt involved use of a USB-serial adapter. I just remembered I had an old laptop in storage, and it happened to have a DB9 port on the back. After establishing a direct connection from the laptop, the flash worked successfully.
Reply
Reply
post #942 of 40881
7/21/06 at 10:04am
Did any of you D1/D2 owners previously own an AVM30 or AVM20? Just curious if you do in fact hear a difference in the sound quality between your D1/2 and the AVM line.

I know the D2 is more of a "scaler" upgrade vs. any audio differences (unless there are more notch filters or upgraded DACS) but just trying to figure out the "real/measurable" differences vs. that which is on paper - ie., can a person truly hear the difference between the AVM50's 24/96 processing and the D2's dual processors and 24/192 processing? I'd assume a person can't audibly hear that difference, but would like comments from people who previously owned the AVM20 or 30 prior to upgrading...

FYI, I used to have a Theta CII which I sold because it was SOOO hot even in standby that I could have cooked an egg on it - it warmed the inside of the cabinet and it had plenty of ventilation!

Best,

Eric
Reply
Reply
post #943 of 40881
7/21/06 at 10:11am
Hey folks,

Quick question for everyone - would appreciate your replies:

Did anyone audition the D1 or D2 prior to getting your AVM30/50?

I'm curious if you can truly hear the audible differences between the two.

Yes, I know the AVM has 1 processor and is 24/96 and the D1/2 is 24/192, but can people "really" hear that, or is it marketing schpeel?

Lastly, for those who do have the AVM50. Other than price, why did you buy it instead of the D2 when HDMI 1.3 and HD-audio is capable of 192/24, and the AVM50 will "only" process at 96kHz?

Thx all, just trying to decide if I should sell the 50 when I get it, or trade it in and get the D2 - but only if the audio differences are truly apparent...

Best,

Stieger
Reply
Reply
post #944 of 40881
7/21/06 at 10:22am
Does the D2 feature multiple output resolutions for a given HDMI input at this time? That is, if I hook my cable box HDMI output into the D2, I would want options for 720p output of 480i and 720p channels, and 1080i output of the 1080i channels. Does the D2 allow this in some fashion?
Reply
Reply
post #945 of 40881
7/21/06 at 11:37am
Quote:
Originally Posted by uzun View Post

Does the D2 feature multiple output resolutions for a given HDMI input at this time? That is, if I hook my cable box HDMI output into the D2, I would want options for 720p output of 480i and 720p channels, and 1080i output of the 1080i channels. Does the D2 allow this in some fashion?

No... the output is set to one rez.... is there a scaler that does this? Just curious..

Also, for my education, why would you want to do this? Since your display has a native rate, I am trying to figure out the benefit of doing this.. once again, just curious....
Reply
Reply
post #946 of 40881
7/21/06 at 12:07pm
Yes the lumagen scalars do this, but when you think about it it seems a necessary feature. How else do you handle things like cable boxes etc. I guess you could output everything 1080p/60 and be done with it. I might need to get my projector modded to accept 1080p/60 just to get around this sort of thing.
Reply
Reply
post #947 of 40881
7/21/06 at 12:15pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by stieger View Post

So if anyone can answer my question about the Oppo sounding as good, on par, or 'worse" than the other 'more expensive" DVD players you have with HDMI, I would greatly appreciate it and I'll stop hijacking this thread...

Best,

Stieger

Stieger,

I tried the Oppo670HD as a transport for my audio system it was connected in my Audiomat Tango 2.5 Stereo DAC and the performance is far below my current CD transport which is a Vecteur D2.2. I also did the same test with my AVM30 and again the Oppo as a CD transport is far from reaching the level of a high end transport. If you picky about audio you may not like it.

This is why I keep a separate CD transport to get the best out of my CDs.
Reply
Reply
post #948 of 40881
7/21/06 at 1:16pm
I really hate to crash this thread, but is there any word on if/when there will be an upgrade for the AVM-20 V2?
Reply
Reply
post #949 of 40881
7/21/06 at 1:29pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by stanger89 View Post

I really hate to crash this thread, but is there any word on if/when there will be an upgrade for the AVM-20 V2?


Greetings,

I am sure that no one who owns an AVM 50 would have the anser to your question. Why not try contacting Anthem directly?

Regards,
Reply
Reply
post #950 of 40881
7/21/06 at 1:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by uzun View Post

Yes the lumagen scalars do this, but when you think about it it seems a necessary feature. How else do you handle things like cable boxes etc. I guess you could output everything 1080p/60 and be done with it. I might need to get my projector modded to accept 1080p/60 just to get around this sort of thing.

Greetings,

Maybe I am missing something. Wouldn't you want to send your projector's native rez. from the Anthem? I have my HD cable box set to output 480i/720p/1080i because those are all the resolutions that it feeds natively. My AVM 50 is set to output 1280x720 which is my projector's native rez.

Why would you want the scaler to output varying resolutions which would ultimately engage your projectors scaling?

Sorry if I missed something..

Regards,
Reply
Reply
post #951 of 40881
7/21/06 at 1:45pm
Just thought there might be some Anthem owners interested in the upgrade following the thread as the "AVM-20 V3" as it would be called, would basically be an AVM 50.

FWIW, I did contact Anthem a couple months ago, but didn't get much of an answer (not that I'm surprised being forthcoming often comes back to bite them).
Reply
Reply
post #952 of 40881
7/21/06 at 2:59pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by uzun View Post

Yes the lumagen scalars do this, but when you think about it it seems a necessary feature. How else do you handle things like cable boxes etc. I guess you could output everything 1080p/60 and be done with it. I might need to get my projector modded to accept 1080p/60 just to get around this sort of thing.

It doesn't seem like a neccesary featrue... isn't a scaler made to "scale" to a resolution? That's the whole point.. if you just want to pass native output, then you would just want a switcher, or you could just plug the cable box directly into your projector and let it do the scaling... am I missing something?

And what kind of projector are you using? Why would you need to get it modded to accept 1080p/60 unless it's a 1080p, and I think all of those accept 1080p anyways ....
Reply
Reply
post #953 of 40881
7/21/06 at 3:16pm
When I spoke to Anthem a couple of months ago, they said there would be an AVM20 upgrade but they wouldn't commit to a time frame
Reply
Reply
post #954 of 40881
7/21/06 at 3:38pm
My projectors native res is 1920x1080 and it can accept 720p/1080i and 1080p/24 but not 1080p/60. I have a Qualia 004.
Reply
Reply
post #955 of 40881
7/21/06 at 4:24pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by uzun View Post

My projectors native res is 1920x1080 and it can accept 720p/1080i and 1080p/24 but not 1080p/60. I have a Qualia 004.

I was going to comment that the 004 was the only 1080p projector that can't accept 1080/60....

I have a Ruby and if it is any indication, the scaler in the D2 is better than the one in the Ruby, and I see no reason why you wouldn't wan't to use the D2 at 1080i... having the output change with different inputs makes no sense, and I can only imagine that the Gennum is better than the internal scaler that Sony is using based on my experience with the Ruby, which is much newer, and I would imagine has a comparable scaler in it... on that same train of thought, if you are going to spend the money to get the input upgraded to accept 1080p, why would you want to feed it 480 or 720... makes no sense... 1080p out of the D2 will give you pixel by pixel perfection
Reply
Reply
post #956 of 40881
7/21/06 at 5:50pm
If you had a 720p source, as in ABC-HDTV etc, and had the Gennum output it at 1080i, then the Qualia or ruby deinterlace the 1080i, you would get anomalies with video sourced material.
Reply
Reply
post #957 of 40881
7/21/06 at 7:47pm
uzun, D2 will output 1920x1080p/24. Since this is the NR of your projector, the built in scaler wouldn't need to touch the signal, as far as I understand it.
Reply
Reply
post #958 of 40881
7/21/06 at 8:42pm
If you try and take video sourced 60hz material and output it a 24hz you have a mess, you cant use 1080p/24 for everything, only for film based material. It's not suitable for most 1080i/60 or 720p/60 sports broadcasts, for example.
Reply
Reply
post #959 of 40881
7/21/06 at 8:48pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by uzun View Post

If you had a 720p source, as in ABC-HDTV etc, and had the Gennum output it at 1080i, then the Qualia or ruby deinterlace the 1080i, you would get anomalies with video sourced material.

There seems to be some confusion (and maybe it's me), but for non-native rate sources there will need to be a conversion in either the Qualia or the D2 or both. While you definitely want to avoid the both combination, the whole point of the D2 video processing is to do the conversion to the projector/display's native rate (just like the qualia does now).

Though I haven't seen any other 004 users report results, the p24 output makes the D2 a great combination if you can avoid the costly p60 004 upgrade.

The bottom line is you only want to pass in signals to in there most native form, eg if you had a cable/sat box that passed SD signals as SD, DVD at 480i, HD ABC at 720p & HD NBC at 1080i IN, but always pass p24 out of the D2 to your projector.
Reply
Reply
post #960 of 40881
7/21/06 at 9:11pm
FYI, i believe 720p 48/72hz and 1080p/48hz are coming in firmware at some point
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Receivers, Amps, and Processors

Gear mentioned in this thread:

AVS › AVS Forum › Audio › Receivers, Amps, and Processors › Anthem D2/D2v/AVM50/AVM50v/ARC1 tweaking guide