The "Official" Denon AVR-3808CI Thread - Page 644

But you didn't do any of those comparisons with the Oppo BDP-95.

^True. I had to leave something for you guys to do to keep yourselves off the street and out of trouble.
The 95 MC analog is reportedly significantly superior to the 83SE MC, both for SQ and for added flexibility as to distance settings. But for stereo analog, I very much doubt it's much of a difference. My point is simply that I've established for myself that the room's contribution is way more important than differences in DACs at this level of AVR quality. But you may have really good speakers/subs very well placed in a room that's been treated acoustically so of course, YMMV.

^BTW, note that all my A/B tests were done level-matched with an SPL meter and some were BAB.

just posting here to subscribe

Just bought one of these off ebay so hopefully it arrives in tact! I ordered a 2808ci to try and settle on a lower price but it was wrecked in shipment, still waiting on FedEX to process the claim so the seller will refund me. Anyway it worked out because Iwas looking at the 3808ci first anyway since it had network support and would supposedly work with DenONOFF for the ipad.

Reading through this thread now to look for any gotchas, tips tricks etc.

Upgrading from a Integra DTR-5.3 to get more power and true support for DTSHD and TruHD, not to mention Audyssey

Speakers are:
Paradigm CC-370 v3 center channel
Paradigm Studio 60 V2 Left / right
JBL Control 5 surrounds (the person sellign the paradigms didnt have matching surrounds)
Outlaw Audio LFM-1 Plus sub

All hooked to a HTPC that was running multichannel out from a Creative X-Fi so I could use Arcsoft TMT to decode TrueHD and DTS HD. Goign to switch to HDMI audio once I get the new receiver.

Also posting to subscribe...I also just bought a Denon 3808CI off ebay (hopefully not the same one as the poster above

I'm replacing my beloved Lexicon MC-1. I'll be using the 3808 as a preamp on the fronts and center. I'll power my surrounds with the 3808 and take my 2 channel Yamaha amp out of the equation for a while to hear how it sounds.

I came down to 3 choices in my search. The other 2 were the Harman Kardon AVR 3600 and the Onkyo TX-NR709. I didn't see anything that alarmed me about the H/K, but the lack of some connections was going to be inconvenient to me. The 709 just had too many reports of HDMI issues for me to be comfortable. So I hope I made the right choice with the Denon.

My system is:
-Display-
Sony Wega 30" KV-30HS420 HD CRT

-Source-
Sony BDP-S360
Arcam DV88
DishNet 522
XBox 360
PC
iPod Classic

-Front/Center Power-
Proceed HPA3 250W Triple Mono

-Front Speakers-
Aerial 6

-Center-
Aerial CC3

-Surrounds-
Klipsch 2.5

-Sub-
Velodyne FSX-12

As you can see, my system is a mix-match from several technological (and economic) eras. The multiple input types on the Denon 3808 should be ideal for my setup and take the adapters and external switches out my system too. I am hoping Audyssey will even out the front to rear color mismatch between the Aerials and the Klipsch a bit more. I currently run the Klipsch at a lower level than recommended with the highs rolled off a bit to minimize the mismatch. But it could be better - until I can afford to replace my surrounds.

No sub?

nintari, You got a great receiver. I had the 2808 and replaced it with a 2809 for the additional HDMI inputs and Dynamic Volume & EQ plus the cool blue light that comes on with DTS-MA and Dolby HD and have since bought (2) 3808's and absolutlely love them. I actually am keeping one for a spare. If peolple start to realize what an awesome buy these receivers are I figured finding like new units would get harder in the future. I know they won't do 3D unless you have a dual HDMI out Blu Ray but if you compare these to the Denon 3310,11 and especially the 3312 for what they cost it's amazing what you get. The better on screen interface and volume overlay is great. But I did give up the blue light. Did yours have the $100 feature pack upgrade that gives you Audyssey Dynamic Volume and EQ? If not it's a great feature and is still available. Enjoy the new receiver. It should serve you well.

A note to anyone else in this thread, does anyone have a PDF of the service manual? I like to get them for everything I own just in case. --Got it, thanks to all who helped!



mcarnut: yes I know the 3808 is more compareable to the current 4xxx series which is what kind of pointed me toward it. I had watched a few in the past 2 weeks go all the way up to $425-$520 which is why I said screw it and got the 2808ci...but then of course fate stepped in and said: "NO! you wanted the 3808ci so I am going to teach you a lesson in comprimise...your package is now destroyed"

still trying to be paitent with the seller and fedex in hopes that I might be able to work out a deal with the seller (get a refund but offer to buy it cheap even though it is broken, keep all the wires and remotes and etc that came with it, and see if I can find a replacement front panel PC board)


JefCon: mine should be here Tuesday the 6th shipping out of california. I found out from the seller that he had it listed with the remote...but according to him the remotes dont look liek the ones pictured in the first page here.... Thats ok though since I'll more than likely be controlling this mostly through audyssey and I still have the broken 2808ci here that has the remotes, I could use those in the mean time.

Oops!

-Sub-
Velodyne FSX-12

Thanks!

I think I was watching the one in CA too. If it's the same one, you got it for a great price! I was still trying to figure out which direction to go so I never bid on it. I did a Buy It Now on one that had the original box, manual, remotes, microphone and antennae, but it cost me a lot more than what you paid (I think).

Hopefully we'll both be in this thread years from now sharing tips and tricks on the 3808.

That's kind of funny you point that out. If there was something, IMO, to complain about with the 3808 (besides no HDMI 1.4 compatibility) it would be the lack of a blue light with the high def codecs. That's the one thing I actually miss from my old Sony -- that small bit of acknowledgement that everything is working as expected. Sad, I know ....

^^^ you are not alone! LOL!

mrcarnut: I re-read your post, I'm not sure if it has the upgrades or not and I have badgered the seller with a bunch of quesitons as it is

Any way to tell once I get it if it has the add-on?

JefCon: It was this one. I'm still watching other ones, may look at some broken ones just in case and to give someting to play with, but then again I may luck out and fedex or amazon tell me to to "destroy" this 2808ci I bought since it was damaged in shipping

As for this blue light thing... there isn't any other indication on the VFD of the unit or OSD of the HDMI out that says DTS-HD or TrueHD is active?

...am I missing something? The 3808's display indicates when it is decoding those codecs.

and I actually looked at them a few times years ago.

nintari

mrcarnut: I re-read your post, I'm not sure if it has the upgrades or not and I have badgered the seller with a bunch of quesitons as it is

Any way to tell once I get it if it has the add-on?

If you received the original touch screen remote with your unit and the microphone to run Audysee you can run the Audysee auto set up and when that is complete if you press the "Para" button on the remote and look at the display on the 3808 it will cycle through several Dynamic options such as Dynamic EQ ON OFF Dynamic Volume ON OFF Dynamic EQ/Volume On-OFF. If you refer to page 6 of the owners manual where it shows you the layout of the remote it is #11 on the touch screen remote. Hope this helps.

If you do not have the upgrade and are interested here is the link to get it.

http://usa.denon.com/US/Support/Pages/upgrade.aspx

If you can't find one, send me a PM for a link or email of the PDF.

Copy and paste they won't let me post url's so I emailed them to you
http:
//www
.manualowl
com/m/Denon
/AVR-3808CI
/Manual/170223

I love my Denon AVR-3808CI
Oop's I thought dirk1843 needed the manual but I guess nintari needed it

"I thought I was wrong once, but I was mistaken"

yeah got a copy edited my post to show that. I just like to have the service manuals just in case. I also typically like to find out about common component level problems that might pop up, so if anyone has had any and had to work on thiers (or take it to a service center) post it here, I would love to know

FedEX still shows mine arriving tommorrow. Been watching these still on ebay and every one has gone for $100+ more than what I paid! I reeeeeeally hope it is in good condition!

Well, yes, the VFD display shows the text of the codecs, but I'm lamenting the lack of a completely unnecessary "blue" light to obnoxiously glow for me. My old Sony had a blue LED "bar" at the top of the AVR that would glow when DD or DTS was enabled.

I would imagine there are three camps here: one camp which likes to see all their blinking lights and EQ meters and all; one camp that wants total darkness and no distractions; and one camp that doesn't care either way. I guess count me in the first camp.

To take my HT to the next level, I suppose I should wean myself of the need to constantly see my equipment, but I like the positive reinforcement of having everything in my field of vision!

In the best HTs the equipment is out of view let alone their lights.

I like to see what's 'activated' when watching movies, etc (is it putting out 6.1, 7.1,5.1, DTS-MA, etc) so when I'm interested I press the button on my Harmony remote I labeled "Denon dimmer" that allows me to cycle through the three levels of the front lights. I check to see what's lit up; then make it go dark. I like it pitch black and have used magazines to cut out sections of black pages to tape (literally) over every power light etc on all my devices so there are no lights on. It looks 'ghetto' with the lights on but they're not meant for that. I hated having the green, red, or blue etc power lights lighting up my room.

you could just use black electric tape

That's subjective.

Now, if you were to claim that the best practice for a dedicated theater space is to hide the equipment or house it all in another room, then true.

WSJ just ran an article about the best HTs in Hollywood. No equipment in sight except for PJ. Nothing subjective about it.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...tyleArtEnt_9_2

Not since the days of graphic EQs, spectrum analyzers and VU meters, have I had any desire to see the equipment. Speakers are a different story.

Back on topic..My 3808 arrived Saturday! I had it set up and installed (out of site, in a cabinet, with the rest of the hideous beasts!) by Sunday. There is definitely more tweaking to do, but so far I'm happy with the choice. I'm going to run Audyssey again though. I spread the positions out too far and got some funky results in the midrage. Also, the main remote makes me feel like a monkey with a Rubiks Cube.

Got my 3808CI in today! packaged extremely well! I have to give the seller that!

Tested to make sure it would power on and that there was no damage to it, all is working so far.

Pressing the para button on it does cycle through the options for dynamic EQ so it looks like they did the upgrade on it (I still have the remotes fomr the broken in shipment 2808ci here)

it did not have either of the remotes pictured in the first post of this thread, instead it has a RC-974 remote (might not be able to link to this pic.....)

the RC-974 remote is old, from the AVR 2805. As you can see there are no "Audyssey" related buttons on it... you just kind of got lucky that the "Para" button works!

honestly I didnt look for the para button on this one, I just used the remote that was with the 2808CI I have here.

still no idea on what to do with this broken receiver (2808ci not the 3808 i just got) until fedex says what to do, and the seller refunds me. I'm tryign to be as nice to the seller as possible in hopes I might get to get my refund and to dispose of the old unit, or if he insists on it back I'm goign to offer to buy the remotes and cables off of him.

Since I have a 3808 I ask this question (long winded): Ok - I have succeeded in totaling confusing myself after all these years. I have the original fat PS3 (purchased when they first came out - 4 usb's in front, PS2 compatible, etc ec). And I bought a 3D TV a few years ago and then they finally came out w/the adapter and then Sony updated the PS3 to play 3D games & BDs. I have a 4 x 2 switch/splitter that I was using to watch 3D on the TV and other non-3D stuff on a projector. I remember when I was playing around w/3D and the PS3 I "think" I could connect the PS3 through my NON-1.4 receiver and still get HD audio and 3D for PS3 games but not 3D BDs. This week I upgraded to a new 3D projector so I no longer need the 3D set etc. I have a dedicated 3D BD player that has component audio out and HDMI out so I use that for 3D movies since I get the HD audio and pic w/my existing equipment.

Sorry for the long post so my question is this: Can I connect my PS3 via HDMI to my 3808 and then from the AVR to my 3D projector and play 3D BD games along w/HD audio? I don't need 3D BD movies - just games.

I think I can if I first directly connect the PS3 via HDMI to the 3D Projector to 'find' the 3D video source; disconnect it from the projector; then connect it to the AVR