The "Official" Yamaha RX-V1800/RX-V3800 Thread - Page 257

Anyway know if the 3800 can be bridged? Im planning on buying a emotiva xpa-5 to power my fronts/center and possibly my surrounds and was wondering if I would then be able to bridge my surround backs to increase power to something closer to the xpa-5's 200 wpc.

I have the 1800 and it cannot be bridged. I suspect it's the same with the 3800.

If the internal amps are only powering the rear surrounds I think you'll get close to the claimed 140W per channel anyway, which should be plenty for the rears.

Is the 12V trigger just a mono 1/8" jack, My equipment is expecting wires so just strip the wire off and go from there?

Also where do you define the behavior of the 12V triggers, the manual does not say much about it. I just want it to be on when the receiver is on.

It is a 1/8" mono jack..you can get a 6 foot cable from Radio Shack for $3.99. On my 1800, the 12v trigger is on as soon as I turn on the 1800.

If I remember correctly, the mono cable's center wire is positive; the wire in the shield is negative.

As an alternative to the mono cable, you can also use a 12v wall wart plugged into the 1800's switched outlet in the back. It'll accomplish the same purpose as the 12volt trigger output.

Has anyone, who runs their PS3 to their yamaha 3800, had issues with the ps3 decoding to the receiver? I turned my power off to my basement for about an hour earlier tonight and when I turned it back on my ps3 was no longer working what I would consider to be properly. I was attempting to watch my Eagles: Hell Freezes Over DVD (DTS) and use the PS3 to decode and then send the signal to the receiver via Linear PCM but the receiver doesnt say PCM on the front panel as it usually does and instead says the different surround codecs such as neural thx. Ive checked the ps3 settings and they are all set to Linear PCM so Im not sure whats the issue? The receiver seems to work fine with my xbox so i think the issue is with the ps3.....

The small lights on the 3800 front panel will tell you whether you're receiving PCM or a DTS bitstream. I would check the PS3 audio settings to see if anything changed. I always used bitstream from the PS3 for DD and DTS, but there's nothing wrong with PCM either.

The 3800 settings might have be lost when the power was out (it's not supposed to happen unless it's out for about a week, but you never know). But if it was receiving PCM in the past and now it's getting bitstream from the PS3, it may just be using a different decoder setting. You can always change the decoder to whatever you want.

If you click STRAIGHT on the remote does it change back to PCM?

The receiver settings are still the same. As for the PCM light on... yes it it is on in the bottom left corner. But while the PCM light is on the main display of the receiver says different types of surround codecs where as it usually says PCM. So to recap the Receiver use to say PCM on the main display, never noticed if the little PCM light was on while the main display said PCM. And now the little PCM light is on but the main display doesnt say PCM instead says different codecs. The receiver settings seem to be the same as before, and all the PS3 settings seem to be the same as before (all the decode settings are on linear PCM).

If the PCM light is on then for sure the PS3 is sending PCM. Neural THX is not showing the audio codec, it's just a processing mode that can be applied whether the 3800 is getting PCM or bitstream.

So somehow Neural THX got selected as the surround decode mode, maybe it was a glitch when the power was cut. Just go and select a different surround decode mode, or press STRAIGHT to play PCM with no processing.

Sorry to drag up an old thread but I'm a total newbie and just got this home unit.
Can I ask what settings I'm supposed to have for it? I know everything is set up correctly because I'm getting sound out of all speakers but I'm not sure if I have the settings correct.
Ok, first off I have my PS3 hooked up to it by HDMI through the Blu-Ray port, then an HDMI going from the Yamaha to the TV. I also have my PVR set up through optical, my DVD player set up through coax., and my subwoofer hooked to the unit by a coax. cable (that's right isn't it).
OK now my problem is when I tried one of the Blu-Ray lossless tracks it didn't sound too impressive. Am I supposed to set the 6190 to some special setting? What about the PS3? Is there a special setting for that? I like a lot of bass in my movies and I just wasn't hearing that so if anybody has any ideas what I might be doing wrong please let me know.
Oh ya, there seems to be a lot of speaker inputs. For 7.1 which speaker inputs should I be using? I think I have it correct but I'm not sure.
Sorry for all the questions but like I said I'm kind of a newbie and I really want to watch some movies today. Thanks!

The connections sound fine, but you have to balance all the speaker levels (either by running the auto setup with the include microphone, or by doing it manually). Every subwoofer is different, so you might have the sub level set far too low, which would explain the lack of bass. Also, what speakers do you have?

carnage6,

Which PS3 model?

PS3 (fat) = set HDMI audio to Linear-PCM, select the HD track on the movie
AVR = select STRAIGHT on your remote, your AVR front screen should show MPCM with all 5.1 speakers lit up (7.1 if applicable)

PS3 (slim) = set HDMI audio to bitstream
AVR = front panel should show the HD codec name

I have the original 60G PS3 (fat one). When I play the movie through it and I select the lossless track in the menu all I get is a PCM light and a DD light which I don't think is right.
My speakers and subwoofer are polk audio. I'll have to dig up the exact model number.
I tried a normal DVD and that sounded ok but I have a 7.1 setup and I was not impressed when running the lossless 7.1 soundtrack.
Also, I'm not sure I have the speakers set to the right jacks. Obviously I have the front 2 set up to the FRONT jacks, the middle ones set to the SURROUND jacks, and the back 2 set to SURROUND BACK/BI-AMP. Is that correct? I notice there are jacks called PRESENCE 2/ZONE 3 which I have no idea what they are for. Also when I played the 5.1 track from the DVD the sound came out the front and middle surrounds not the front & back as I would have liked. Is that normal?

Sorry for all the questions.

To hear a lossless track with the 60G PS3 you have to select Linear PCM (not Bitstream) in the PS3 (under BD/DVD Audio Output Format (HDMI)). The receiver will show PCM because the PS3 has decoded the lossless track to PCM (since it can't sent HD bitstreams).

For the speakers, you have them correct. A 5.1 track uses the side surrounds, 7.1 adds the two rears. But you can turn on PLIIx in the receiver to expand 5.1 to 7.1.

The presence speakers are extra ones that go at the front, but you can't use them at the same time as the rear surrounds so you don't really need them.

carnage6,

Sounds like your PS3 is not setup properly. You should see MPCM on your AVR for Blu-ray playback. Did you verify the PS3 HDMI audio is set to Linear?

It also sounds like your speakers are not setup properly. I'd get this corrected before bothering with anything else.
Get 5.1 working correctly then worry about 7.1
I'd suggest a surround setup and calibration DVD, there are a number of them to choose from.

Anyone have any problems with the subwoofer connection on the RXV 1800 not working I tryed my sub with another amp and it works just wondering if anyone has had this happen.

More than a few people have plugged the sub cable into the multi-ch input instead of the pre-out on the back of the 1800 (both connectors are marked SUB WOOFER, so make sure you have the right one).

It's also just possible the 1800 pre-out voltage might be too low to turn on your sub automatically, in which case turn it on manually. And are you sure you're playing something that should use the sub? Use the internal test tones if you haven't already.

The 1800 has CS II capability built into it but is disabled on all versions except the Japanese model by default.It can,however,be enabled.First it must be placed in diagnostic mode.With the amp off,hold down the a/b/c/d/e and the right preset/tuning/ch buttons and push in the master power button,when it powers on release all 3 buttons.Turn the program knob until number 27 shows on the display.It should say "soft sw" on the first line.Now hit the straight/effect button once.The second line of the display should change from "sw mode pcb" to "sw mode:soft".When the 1800 comes from the factory certain features are either enabled or disabled on a printed circuit board,but that control can be switched from the pcb to the firmware,which the procedure described above just did.Now hit the right preset/tuning/ch key 3 times until you see" CSII:not".Now hit the straight key.It should now read "CSII:enabled".Every time you hit the preset/tuning/ch key it brings up a different parameter,you can also enable rds and aac in this manner,as well as change from Ntsc to Pal video output format and enable/disable the Neural surround and XM,among others.Please note that this will reset all the user altered values,but this can be avoided.Turn the program knob to 28 and you should see preset inh.Now hit the master power on/off and you're done.If this has been covered before then I apologize for the redundant post,I've read most of this thread and didn't see it mentioned.

Thanks for the info, but it has been discussed before (link). Unfortunately Yamaha removed the ability to enable features in the diagnostic menu of some of the newer models (probably after they saw we discovered it!).

Oh sorry,I missed that post,but it is a(very)big thread.

I used to have a DCT3412 HD box that I ran through my receiver and then to the TV. Every now and then I had issues with the HD box resetting the resolution but no big deal.

The other day they got "newer" boxes in with 320GB harddrives so we traded the older ones in to give these new ones a try. It was really a simple switch and most of it works OK but some HD channels still give me some issues. I have been noticing that some of them start in "slow motion" and then go black only to then come back on a little later. Really annoying... sometimes I have to hit pause on the remote to get them to come back at all.

Are these just HDMI issues between the HD box and the receiver? I really can't believe these issues hasn't been fixed yet. I assume that if I take an HDMI cable directly to the TV this might fix? Should I try something else? I tried setting the cable box to native and all kinds of other modes and I don't think I'm doing anything wrong.

Any guidance would be appreciated.

Cheers

I have a question, I think this unit has a 3 band EQ for the subwoofer channel, is it a Parametric EQ and can I tweak it myself using the GUI without using the RS232 program?

Sub EQ = 2 band with 10 preset / selectable freq's. Yes, you can tweak it in the GUI.
Basic Setup > Sound > Parametric EQ > Sub

That's where I would start. Also verify cables are good.

Cables are good as I have moved all of them around. Another funny issue I have noticed lately with this new box is that the receiver can't seem to make up its mind on the audio. The TV went black and then I saw the receiver switching (blinking) back and forth between audio/video modes. I wonder what the heck is going on here.

I'm going straight to HDMI 2 with coax to see if that changes it. Why it this so difficult to get right? I wish sometimes I was back in the 'ole days of component cabling and optical with no digital "blip" problems and just a slight degradation in picture...

Actually, that's precisely what I would try with a cable box, Component & Optical. For three reasons:

1. See if that resolves your HDMI issue (source box has poor HDMI out)
2. Verify the issue is not from your AVR HDMI out
3. There is no actual benefit (picture or audio) using HDMI from a cable box.
Component & Optical should give you equal results vs HDMI.
If results are better with HDMI then something else is wrong.

This is normal with the new DCX model when you have the DCX set to NATIVE and you are using HDMI. I do not send mine through my 1800 with HDMI but straight into my TV via HDMI and when there is a resolution change from say 1080I to 720P there is a lag from when you change the channel and when your TV adjusts for the new resolution. If you change from a 720P and a 720P there is no black screen. It is only when the resolution changes. It will do the same hooked up through your Yamaha like in your situation. You could change your DCX to say 1080I output all the time but which scaler do you think will work better. Your TV or that MOTO?

BTW What is the native resolution on your Samsung?

You can find out more in this thread:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=968638

I have a PN58A650 Samsung Plasma which is 1080p. All these silly moto boxes seem to give HDMI passtrough problems. My DCT box also "crashed" the box setting the resolution back to 720p and then the 4:3 override to "Off". So there is no advantage of going HDMI out of these boxes? If so, I guess I would rather go component if it limits the "blips" from HDMI? Am I understanding this right?

Thanks for the feedback. Will report back.