Onkyo TX-SR604 opinions (and questions) - if you own it, click here!

I just pick up one this week. I haven't installed it yet though. It'll go into the rack in the theater room of my almost finished new house, in about two weeks.

I don't know yet about the deinterlacing. At a minimum, I'm assuming 480i -> 480p.

As for running your video connections through the AV receiver, I would think that that anytime there is upconversion/transcoding of an analog input, the result could be skewed. At the very least, the unconversion algorithm has to "fill-in" the missing pixels during upconversion.

If it's a pass-through though, I would still think there is the potential for some minimal signal loss.

I bought the 604 almost 2 weeks ago. The only problem I have so far is running component video through it. When I do, I get an horizontal pink looking line that scrolls up the screen from the bottom to the top. When I connect directly from the HD-DVR to the TV, the line is gone, so I am assuming that it is coming from the receiver. (My tv is a brand new samsung s5087W). So I just have connected the DVD and DVR directly to my tv for now. I have not found an answer to this problem yet. I am in the process of getting HDMI cables, so hopefully those will work and I can ditch the component connections.

Other than that, I love the receiver. I would agree with others that it does run hot though. But I do like to play it loud.

According to the onkyo website, this receiver does NOT perform de-interlacing:

Video Features

HDMI Video Upconversion - NO
HDMI Switching Input/Output 2/1 (repeater)
HDMI Bandwith up to 1080p
HDMI Version 1.1
Deinterlacing for HDMI Output (480i to 480p) - NO
Composite and S-Video to Component Video Upconversion - YES
Composite to S-Video Conversion - YES

Also, if you have full size front tower speakers, make sure follow the speaker setup otherwise it assumes they are all bookshelf size and will automatically limit (100Hz) the frequencies it sends to them.

i've been pretty happy with my 604. sounds great, though it does run hot. i just made sure to give it adequate ventilation.

as for video pass-through, most of my higher fidelity sources are hdmi (dvd, hdtv), which work great. my only complaint is that the 604 will NOT process audio via hdmi without an hdmi display connected. it works great when i'm using the HD pj, but during daytime hours we use an old CRT, and we have to manually switch the digital source to the toslink. not a huge issue, but an irritating one. if your HDTV doesn't have hdmi and you're thinking of using this receiver with the new tosh A2, don't think you'll be able to pull TrueHD off the hdmi. you won't, not without an hdmi display connected.

also, as others have pointed out in other areas of the forum, it doesn't have pre-outs.

otherwise, this is a great receiver, and a stellar amount of performance/features for the money.

yes, the sub IS pre-out.

just curious... what would the benefit of this be?

FYI, the onkyo 604/674 does allow you to set whether the audio on hdmi is passed through to the display or not.

i don't think there would be any advantage here - the video would be just as "touched" by the device separating the video from the audio as it is by the receiver currently (it passes up to 1080p video through - in theory, without degradation).

that's not to mention that the onkyo (possibly others, too?) will not pull off the audio unless an hdmi display is attached. i've not found it explicitly documented (though i have experimentally determined it), so it's possible that my player simply isn't satisfied with the hdmi handshaking without a display attached (and thus isn't sending the audio in the first place without a display on the other end of the receiver).

I've got a Pioneer Pro-730HD with DVI input which I use a cable to convert from HDMI to DVI. I'm thinking of buying the A2 and wanted to use the 604 so I could get TrueHD audio.

Am I going to have a problem like this one?

I have the same question. I have an older CRT HDTV but it does have a HDCP compliant DVI input. I was planning on going with an HDMI -> DVI cable to go from receiver to tv. Will the audio still work fine?

If so, does the 674 have the same problem or does it account for that (since it does transcoding or whatever it's called).

I have a Vizio 50" plasma and I did not see any signal loss with component or HDMI. I think that anyone who has a problem with the display should look at your cables first. The Vizio has a faroudja chip that allegedly upconverts video.

What about composite or S-Video?

This receiver looks like a real bargain compared to its competitors. A few observations about some of the questions raised here.

While a split out box to split HDMI into audio and HDMI video would be nice I strongly suspect that this compromises the HDCP "rules". That is you have the audio "in the clear" and can record it via a standard TOSINK. Yes, this is absurd but then HDCP is pretty much absurd.

This may be the issue for the requirement to connect a display in order to get the audio. That is the display agrees that all is well in HDCP land so the audio plays. Does anyone know for sure that any receiver works without a display connected?

The pink bands wondering up the display could be grounding problems. In some cases just plugging the receiver, source and display into the same power strip can might fix it.

If you are simply "switching" component you should see minimal degradation. On an A-B comparison you MIGHT be able to see a difference. This comes from the fact that you have more connectors (4 rather than 2) so there is some theoretical loss. Internally this is a basically a switch which means its unlikely to have as much impact as the additional connectors.

The only conversion it is doing is composite and S-video to component. First of all these signals are low bandwidth crap. So its pretty much crap in crap out. I doubt that this receiver does any processing on these signals. So basically its still 480i coming in via component. There is a high end Pioneer Elite which costs twice as much which does a fine job of deinterlacing and its a big deal.

Both S-Video and composite have two channels. Component has three. So conversion is cheap and easy. Its like going from a dirt road to a superhighway, you won't slow down much. Probably 25 cents worth of components.

How did you come up with 4 connectors?

This is the same experience I have, but my lines are black HDMI does indeed fix the problem, though my DCT 3412 HD-STB has software issues that don't allow me to use my 604 as a switch... it bitches about HDCP There is an upgrade to the STB but I haven't installed it yet.

So I send video from the HD-STB to my HL-S4676S using HDMI, but send the audio directly to the receiver. Works like a champ, no lines.

Sorry, I wish i could help you there. This is a great value receiver, and I really enjoy mine...

I would hope that HDCP compliant DVI would also work. My projector does have an hdcp compliant dvi connection - if I had a cable long enough, i could test this for you.

I just got this receiver and a sub this last Wednesday... been really enjoying (re-enjoying?) some of my films with full 5.1 sound. Previous receiver only had 2ch ins, no optical and then there was that missing sub...

I haven't fully calibrated the system with a sound meter, yet. Did run through the automated setup, though.

My first question would be, at what volume level do the others that have this receiver run it at? I was used to a pretty low knob setting on my old receiver. When I first started setting up the Onkyo, I put the volume knob to 20 and thought I was having an input problem as I couldn't hear anything at all... It wasn't until around 35-40 that I started hearing anything out of the receiver and I watch films between 60-80 (loud, but not too loud). This is a pretty small room (10x11 or so), so I figured that the 604 would be "too much" power for this little space.

Normally I would blame the speakers, but they did pretty well, volume wise, on the old receiver (some POS low-end Sony receiver from pre-optical days). It also seems like the reference white noise for manually adjusting the speaker levels is at the proper volume.

Other observations:

It does run rather warm, doesn't it? Not a problem in my environment, though.

It can pass non-standard HDMI resolutions. My HTPC is set to the native resolution of my HD72 (1280x768).

The sound is fantastic. Of course, I *am* comparing the sound to a POS receiver that was
pretty much only driving two front speakers and the center channel...

Hooking a HTPC 5.1 soundcard up to the discreet inputs on the back of the Onkyo sounds decent enough. I'm not sure if it's a good idea or not to do, though. If I shut down or power up the HTPC while switched to that input, the receiver will shut down from the "clicking" of the soundcard powering up. Definitely the fault of the card and not the receiver, though.

-MD

volume will obviously vary depending on your environment, source and speakers; i generally have the volume (for tv/movies) in the 55-65 range.

comparing the volume "numbers" between those receivers is like apples/oranges, though. don't be afraid of having to turn it up - you're gaining finer control of your volume levels, and when you adjust to it i think you'll like it.

(give it a little more of a turn, and i think you'll find it will blow that small space out easily).

a followup: i have small satellites in my living room - i'd guess that setting the volume for my receiver in the mid-upper 60's generally gets me a reading around 80-85 db on the radio shack sound meter.

it all depends on the source, though. when watching something in DD on HDTV, the commercials can be quite a jolt.

I kind of figured that was the case, but I couldn't help but worry about it Thanks for the reply. It does put my mind at ease that the "normal" operating range is in the upper area of the dial and not the lower.

1 Out of the STB/DVD or whatever.
2 Into the receiver.
3 Out of the receiver.
4 Into the TV.

I am getting distorted/shaky video occasionally. Powering off the 604 and back on clears it up, yet it reappers again. This happens frequently. I am using component connections from the cable box to the 604, then component out (25' cable) to the plasma. The 604 and tv are both new, could this be a heat issue with my 604? I plan to give it a little more space and monitor any changes. If this doesn't resolve, guess I will use DVI out of cable box to HDMI in on 604 and HDMI to TV. Very curious if anyone else has same results using component pass thru???

Forgive my confused newbie ignorance, but I just bought the 604. What's the best hookup for cable box/DVR from TW? I have all of the cables coming in mailorder.
1 - cable box DVI out to HDMI in Onkyo, then Onkyo HDMI to Samsung TV
2 - cable box DVI out to HDMI Samsung TV and optical out to receiver

The Onkyo will be in a closed cabinet though I have a small fan and lots of space above it. I hope that's okay heatwise. Does it automatically trip if overheated or just fry? Thanks!

Is the onkyo capable of connecting stereo speakers to a "zone 2"?

I just bought this receiver, and I have two questions.

1.) Regarding HDMI audio out: I have a Panasonic commercial plasma (no speakers) with HDMI input. Do I need to enable HDMI audio out to get the desired audio decoding through the 604 even though I don't use my TV for sound?

2.) I have a 6.1 setup. Should I ditch my single back surround speaker or is there a good way to properly set up the receiver for this?

Thanks.

Yes, SR604 will let you connect zone 2 speakers directly using "Zone 2" speaker terminals at the back. However, you will be limited to 5.1 in main zone, if you use them.

If you have a 7.1 in main zone, then you will need to connect another receiver to SR604 "ZONE 2 LINE OUT L/R jacks" and then you can connect zone 2 speakers using that receiver.

Check out page# 79 of owner's manual for more details.

Since this receiver outputs 95w per channel to 7 separate channels, what if you dont have surround speakers hooked up? Will it send the power from the surround channels to your 3 front speakers?