The "Official" Denon AVR-3808CI Thread - Page 12

Sweet, thanks.

I see this about the GUI display limitations on page 23 of the manual. Is there somewhere else it says only HDMI?
I would think according to this, component (non 1080p) is also acceptable.

Waited all this time and after power on I only get a green light or flashing red light. No display.

My dealer sold out already. Bummed out......

After studying the Denon 3808 manual online, I became intrigued about the option to use the two surround back outputs to bi-amp the front right and left speakers.

As I've never done any bi-amping or bi-wiring before, I am a bit confused. The manual does not tell you which sets of speaker inputs to use with which outputs from the receiver.

My Polk RTi12 towers have two connections on top for high pass and two below for low pass. With the Denon, do I connect the FR and FL to the low pass and the amp assigned Surround Back R and L to the high pass? Or does this matter at all?

Thanks to anyone who can help this newb!

Somebody please help a newbie.
I have the following components:
Wii
PS3
X360
Comcast HD Cable Box
PC with VGA
720p projector
1 area=dedicated HT

Do I really need this receiver, or will a cheaper model (like the 2808CI) suit? I don't think I need any upconversion, but will I run in to problems with a lower model when integrating all these inputs to a single output (HDMI), or two (HDMI and Component). Not too familiar with deinterlacing, upconversion, etc. Just want a receiver to accept all these inputs seamlessly and display them at 720P on my projector (possibly future 1080p projector). If this receiver is overkill, can someone suggest one. Thanks.

There two fundamentally different approaches to bi-amping a speaker (each of which are again different from bi-wiring) and it pays to read up on the subject before getting in any deeper. This article discusses the differences between passive and active filtering. I believe the Denon bi-amp configuration is used solely with passive crossovers, and the speaker connections you're talking about appear to be designed for use with an active crossover.

Sorry to hear that. It's inevitable that we would get at least one DOA story around here, but it's still a shame. I hope you don't have to wait long for a replacement.

Yep, really had a bad feeling when I felt the side with the power trasnformer bulged a bit.
I do not think their packaging is adequate. I don't know if the damage was caused between denon and the dealer or dealer to me, which is only a one day trip.

Thanks to DarkAdept for your response. Yikes, I did not know before how complicated this type of connection can be, best I stick to the standard hookups for now.

Another confusing thing I found in the manual in regards to the speaker hookup diagram is that there appears to be a pair of speaker outputs for "Surround A" and another pair for "Surround B". Then, the amp pre-assigned speaker output pair for Zone 2 is actually labeled "Surround Back". If I hooked up all these outputs, I would have a 9.1 system in the same room! But like many have mentioned, there is only amplification for 7.1 in the receiver.

Gotta admit the manual is very confusing to newbies such as myself...

Biggest issue with the 2808 to me is the lack of HDMI inputs. 2 seems inadequate given that I like to buy A/V components and everything is going to HDMI.
Even the 4 on the 3808 seems a little skimpy and a reason some folks are going for other options. I will fill that with existing equipment (2 HDMI on the PS3 and Oppo DVD + 2 DVI to HDMI for the OTA HD receiver and HTPC) much less future proofing for the next couple of years.
So, it depends on how 'into' it you think you will get and how long you want to keep it once you purchase. I am moving from a Denon 1705 because I bought just what I needed at the time and then I got a little addicted.
For you, I am sure the Xbox 720, PS4 and WIII (or whatever) will all be HDMI, so think about the future.

Unless you really like the features of the 3808 (like the GUI) then I would think you could get by with the 2808. Then again the GUI might be a godsend while using a projector. The 2808 will upconvert any signal it receives to HDMI with no problem, however receivers do not do this with VGA. That you will have to run separately. If you are using HDMI with comcast and the xbox 360 then you might consider a unit with more HDMI inputs, otherwise, from an input perspective, the 3808 is overkill and the 2808 will do nicely.

Other units you might want to investigate are:
Pioneer Elite VSX-92TXH (3 x HDMI inputs, same scaler as 3808, end of this month, $1300)
Onkyo 805 (3 x HDMI, HDMI upconversion only, currently available, $1000)
Yamaha 1800 (3 x HDMI inputs, scalar to 1080p, soon to be released, $1300).

Hope that helps! Good luck! Remember that all of these are fantastic receivers. Don't beat yourself up too much.

Just finished hooking up my 3808 last night and I can not figure out why it says Dolby Digital for my cable box that is hooked up HDMI, but not for my PS3. For the PS3 its say Dolby Pll.
Wouldn't I want all my sources Dolby Digital.

Also, I have a Samsung LN-T5265f (1080p) and before the Denon I had the PS3 and cable box hooked up directly to the TV via HDMI and now with the Denon in the mix the picture doesn't seem as good. The picture was better without the Denon, any suggestions. Thanks.

Thanks, soccer! One more question...What is the best switchbox on the market that can handle multiple, incoming digital audio and video sources, that you know of. Thanks.

Guys, I am getting confusing information related to Internet radio....I want to be able to add my own addresses where I want to stream from ex. http://85.17.15.84:8050 (AAC), however it seems that Denon used Vtuner.com DB and whatever stations are preset you are force to use them. Can someone check if above URL can be added so you can hear this station. I don't want to relay on preset station and I want to be able to add my own links/addresses.... Thanks in advance

a lot of people on the forums are having success with the monoprice hdmi switcher. in instances where they were having handshake issues with more expensive ones.

Honestly I am not familiar with switchboxes at all so I would do an advanced search on the forums. I know tons of people use them.

From what I've seen though, it's often just as cheap to upgrade to the next level of receiver (2808 to 3808 for example) to handle more inputs and then you're getting a better quality receiver with more features and better sound as well. My two cents anyway...

I'd be also interested to know answer to that. Can someone who owns this unit check it out? Thanks.

Well I got my 3808 set up yesterday. First thing I'm actually already looking for is how to factory reset ALL settings. If anyone knows how please do tell. I've also done a firmware update and to my surprise there was one. Also Network functionality seems to be semi broken as browsing to the device webpage just gives me a page that says PRESENTATION PAGE. It also doesn't seem to like my Windows Media Connect very much. I thought I could get some device config and control pages when browsing to it directly though.

Anyway my main gripe right now is the fact I use a Media Center PC which has a GPU with HDCP. I do DVI to HDMI out. Previously it worked just fine to the TV while watching TV content using the CableCard and OCUR's. But now that I pass it through to the receiver then and then out via HDMI to the TV I'm getting what are clearly HDCP issues. It's making the TV experience unwatchable and certainly seems I won't be able to use the receiver as it was meant to be as long as the HDCP issues continue.

Otherwise the receiver is awesome. Sound is great, picture quality with the HDMI is great. I'm sure there are a couple of good and bad things I've not even really had a chance to notice yet. The GUI seems a bit slow to me. But I couldn't imagine using the receiver without it.

I am new to the world of AV.

I set up this 3808 and had it working on the TV and fm, even my network.

But now I have lost my GUI screen.

I have tried to go over the options like NTSC settings, but it must be something else I did.

Any keystrokes or settings to disable this?

Try power cycling it - were you last in the NET or USB function? Could ge the grey screen (black screen?) bug.

page 58
press power while simultaneously pressing standard and dsp simulation, and hold until the display starts flashing, then release

kind of ctrl alt delete

3808Ci can stream internet radio and MP3 files. Has anyone tried to stream Sirius on line??

Powering off with the little main switch did it.

Tell me about the BUG. Should I do a firmware update?

This is my first AV since the Mcintosh days.
I don't care for the remote buttons.
It should have a motion switch for the display too.

I am using the 3808 with a new PRO1150 Elite, it's 720p. So far I do not see any degradation, tomorrow I will have more time to check.

I am new to the AV receiver world. My source so far is a HR10-250 from direct TV.

Some movies sound better in dolby and some sound better in 5.1

I assume they are sent in dolby and for real 5.1 I would need a DVD player or Blu ray player?

Is their an auto mode to tell me what I am receiving?

Yeah, found that. Done... Everything back to square one again. Just redid the Auto speaker setup for all 8 positions. Took about 10 minutes. Anyway I still can't figure out the HDMI / HDCP issue with the Media Center. So this may become a real PITA for anyone with OCUR's which I know isn't many. I'm still trying to figure it out. Will call Denon tomorrow though.

Another thing I noticed. The remote kinda sucks as a universal remote. Mainly I was hoping to replace the MCE remote but it doesn't look like that'll be possible. Maybe that new two way Denon remote will do the trick but that's even more money. Guess it's good I didn't get the 4308 :-).

If anyone has any ideas regarding the HDMI problem let me know.

I like monoprice cables. Just ordered some more. But I did have problems with their HDMI switcher. I got the 4x1 model. 2 ports work fine, 1 was completely dead, 1 had serious sparkles. Just fyi. They are cheap, so the risk level is low and I am pretty sure you can return it if it doesn't work for you. (I kept mine as I needed a 2x1 switcher and it wasn't worth the pain of returning.)

Can anyone tell me if the 3808 doing smart-stretch or lineair-stretch with 4x3 image?
Thanks.

Does anyone know if the optical outputs are switched outputs, or are they assignable? For instance, do the optical outputs have to be assigned to an input, or will they output whatever is the currently selected source for the zone?