Official Samsung HT-AS720 thread w. updated first post. - Page 48

Sounds like you are using the Anynet perhaps? I don't know. I use a Harmony One remote and all is right with the world

EDIT

Well looks like it wasnt the AMP afterall. My bad luck caused the card to screw up during the transfer. After software reinstall and screwing with the card itself. I have the sound back.

MP3s sound like crap of course but thats life. Atleast the games will sound correct now.

anyone know how to hook an xbox 360 to the av receiver?

my xbox came with cords that on one end have red green blue, then it splits and has red yellow white.

thanks in advance.

This receiver does not have component inputs. So no right off the bat.

However, If your 360 has an HDMI port you can hook it up to the receiver.

i dont know if i have an hdmi port is a first gen 360.
oh well. thanks anyways.

here is another question.

now when i go to play my xbox. and then go to the channel for it. it plays the cable sounds and not xbox sounds.

but i can play the games.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-De...edia_Interface

I'm looking for some help with an issue that I'm having with my system connected to an HTPC (Asus p5n7a-vm) using Vista Ultimate x64.

Very regularly after resuming from paused media the sound output will be very tinny and distorted. To be clear, it sounds great until I pause it, and once I resume it, it sounds like I'm playing music through my clock radio.

This happens with MPC, Zoom Player, WMP, Songbird, Itunes, and all sorts of media, including x264 video, divx video, mp3, aac, and blu-ray discs - I have not found a type of media or player where this does not happen.

I have tried several different drivers for my PC with no effect. I think it is related to the HTiB because restarting the computer will have no effect, nothing seems to restore it until I cycle the receiver on and off.

I am connected through HDMI, and I do not have any other computer system capable of outputting to the receiver to test.

This does not occur while watching TV, or playing either Wii or Xbox360. While I'm not certain that this is the best thread to post it, I'm hoping that there will be some idea of a possible fix for this issue, as it is fairly annoying

Hey everyone, I'm new to the whole surround sound setup but I've got a few questions about this receiver. Currently I have a Samsung LNT4071F, and the current connections I have to the TV are an Xbox 360 (HDMI), Samsung BD player (HDMI; I forget the model, but it's the lousy one that was bundled with my TV -- the one that can't be updated to the newer BD standards ), and an HD cable box (component).

Having just realized that this receiver has no component inputs, I'm wondering how (if at all possible) I would be able to hook up my HD cable box to the receiver (assuming that the two HDMI inputs will already be occupied by the previously mentioned devices) so I can make use of 5.1 surround sound. Thanks in advance!

Is it worth getting the extended warranty on something like this? i never know and don't want to have the thing break on me 13 months after i buy it and one month after manufactures warranty runs out.

WOW...48 pages of reading....my brain hurts!

I bought my HT-AS720ST for $165 last week at a CC that was one day away from closing it's doors. I couldn't pass it up! It was the display model and the only thing missing was the remote, but I have a Harmony 880 so all is good. I have two questions that were touched on in the past threads, but either they were not answered or I just missed them.

First is with HDMI passthru...
I have a blu-ray drive in my HTPC, and it's connected via HDMI to the receiver then to my HL-R4667W TV. The PC's resolution is 1280x720 (TVs native resolution) and when playing a Blu-ray DVD directly to the TV, I get a true HD picture, but when I pass it thru the receiver (for sound) there is a noticeable drop in picture quality...looks more like standard DVD. Is there any way to correct this without routing the video directly to the TV?

Second is with sound...
With the HTPC connected via HDMI, the display on the receiver shows "DVD PLIIx", and from what I've read (or think I've read), it's receiving stereo from the source and the receiver is converting it to 5.1? The PC is set to 5.1 surround sound and it outputs via HDMI along with the video. I just want the truest sound I can get, without too many "conversions".

It might be set up just fine sound-wise because it does sound great (a friend actually set it up for me), but I may have confused myself reading all these threads, terms and such. This is my first experience with surround sound.

Thanx for your help in advance!

From what I've researched so far, LPCM is used for HDMI audio, so that explains why my system is using DVD PLIIx to decode it. If it works...leave it alone I suppose. I still wish I has a solution for the degradation of the video signal though.

My Equipment:
TV- Samsung 46A550
Game- X360 (HDMI)
Blu Ray Player (Samsung 1500) (HDMI)

I am interested in getting the AS720, but my blu ray player only decodes True HD, not DTS-HD, so would that just leave me with another audio playback option with blu rays that are formatted in DTS-HD audio format? Like play in one of the other DTS formats this receiver/HTIB supports?

Also, there have been no "handshake" issues between my TV and Blu ray player, Anynet+ has been flawless, but i have heard bad things about the compatability with this receiver. Have there been any improvements to the firmware or any news on future HTIB's by samsung that follow along this style?

Also, on the website under Full Spec> it says this unit doesnt support ANYNET+ is this true?

kppolich:

your 1500 should decode DTS-HD but not DTS-Master Audio, even though it does not decode MA you will still get the DTS core, I have the same problem with my 1400 , but it sounds good to me even through 5.1 analog.

thanks bigvin, how noticable (sp?) of a difference is there sound quality wise between True HD and one of the DTS formats? I am asking bc i have never heard True HD signal.

Ok my head hurts from reading all this. But I need some help which may or may not have been answered.

Set-up:
52" 750 Series Samsung HDMI to 720
PS3 HDMI to 720
Directv HD-DVR HDMI to 720

Few issues:

First I have the handshake issue with the PS3, I understand to shut 720 on/off.

When switching channels on my HD DVR, sometimes the screen goes blank. Turning everything on/off sometimes works. However I am noticing it is the Directv DVR is possibly causing the issues when channels are different resolutions. Is this right? Do I have something not set right. It is very irritating.

Also do you have to use HDMI-CEC cables? I know for the anynet feature you need to, but is all this handshaking issue because of people NOT using HDMI-CEC?

Please help. I like this unit but the turning on/off for the PS3 stinks.

Well, I searched around on the internet for a HTiB set that would do what I needed, and the AS720 seemed to be all I neeeded. Most of the reviews were good, except for some complaints the sub wouldn't go up loud enough (I have NO IDEA what the hell they were talking about, I run the sub on level 0 and the volume on the back at about 75% and it's absolutly insane! I'd hate to see it at +10 and full on the back!)

I went to futureshop and they had a set on display and hooked up. I listened to some retarded christmas song DVD on it and I have to admit, it was one of the worst sounding sets on display (even worse then the $99 Insignia HTiB set at BestBuy). I remember reading on here that it sounded like crap in the store but great in your house, but I couldn't justify spending $679 plus tax on something that sounded so terrible.

Luckily I was able to find a set on sale and then price match it and got a crazy price so they ended coming home with me

I just setup the AS720 HTiB set yesturday and boy is it amazing! We had a crappy old RCA HTiB which didn't have Dolby 5.1, only ProLogic. Because I got a Sonly PS3 and Rogers HighDef PVR for christmas, I wanted an HDMI switching AV receiver and new speakers (especially a new sub, the 6.5" passive unit just wasn't cutting it anymore).

I was able to pickup a brand new set of AS720's for $371 plus tax and for that price I just couldn't pass them up.

I was able to get that price by doing the following:
Future Shop was selling the AS720's for $679.99 and they had a few in stock. BestBuy was selling them for $399.99 but had no stock (in their stores anyways, but their website showed stock), so I was able to print out the BestBuy website showing stock and take it in to future shop and they match the price, plus take off 10% of the difference... $680 - $400 = $280 x 10% = $28 so $399 - $28 = $371.99 plus tax.

I had ALL KINDS of trouble setting it up and I'm a computer tech!! I connected the new speakers and receiver using all the same cables as the old RCA receiver (other then a new subwoofer cable), and I couldn't get any output out of the subwoofer at all!! The only way I could get the sub to work was to hit the "stereo" button on the remote (so it shows Left Front, Right Front, and sub on the display), AND THEN TURN THE POWER OFF TO THE RECEIVER, TURN IT BACK ON, AND THEN THE SUB WOULD WORK! How retarded was that? I was almost ready to pack it up and take it back... but I read the manual and went through the speaker setup, and as soon as I changed my front speakers to "small" instead of "large", BOOM, the sub came to life. I canged the rears to small and disabled the "surroud rear" set (for 7.1 i guess). I was now able to play DVD's (Dobly Digital 2.1??? wtf is that?? I thought all DVD's were 5.1!!!) and BluRay (yay, 5.1 DTS ).

Next problem came when I tried to watch T.V. in high def. I stuck on National Geographic HD and the sound blew me away! Even for an 8" sub it was plenty loud and deep, but just a little muddier then I would have liked it (I'm a car audio nut, so like my subs tight). I messed with the crossover (which settings I found out only adjust the sound to the mids/highs, not the sub) and levels but just couldn't get it they way I liked it. In the middle of me messing around with the sub it kicked out and wouldn't come back on again! When I looked at the display on the receiver it was only showing Fronts and Sub, like 2.1. The T.V. was on a commercial. As soon as the show came back on all 6 lights lit up, but no sound from the sub . Turn the receiver off and back on fixed the problem, 5.1 with the sub working, but I'd have to do that every time it went to commercial. After screwing around for a few hours I gave up and went to hooking up my media PC. I ran the coaxial digital out to the receiver, and set it up as "CD" on the receiver (it sucks you can't change the names of the inputs). Unfortunatly when I enabled "true 5.1 digital output" on my crappy realtek soundcard, the sound just kept repeating like a broken record. When I have it in "digial plus analog" output, it sounds fine but only the fronts and sub light up on the amp. In true digital it shows all 6 but the audio is screwed. I put the amp in the "NEO16" mode for the output from my computer and it sounds great even if it really is faking the 6 channels. I'll probably pickup a PCI Express Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series card (only $99, can't pass that up and what the hell good is that MiniPciXpress slot good for anyway?) and run 7.1 analog audio cables to the Samsung receiver. No issues with decoding then .

Magically the NEO16 setting fixed the problem with my Rogers High Def PVR box too. When it goes to a goofy commercial the amp switches to NEO16, and when the show comes back on it switches back to digital . The sub stays on the whole time. Sweeeeeeet.

I went out and bought a replacement sub (Velodyne 12" DLS-4000R) and the adjustability of it blows away the Samsung 8" sub anyday. You know when your sub comes with it's own remote control, it's serious .

Super happy with the Samsung unit. Some goofy decoding problems with output to the subwoofer, do they really need to make it that big??, looks sexy but I'd like to be able to disable the blue LED ring around the power light, without dimming the main display, and keep it disabled permenantly. I'll probably pull the cover off and snip the power to the LED(s) that light it up.

The samsung speakers absolutely BLEW ME AWAY. Listen to Britney Spears - Pieces Of Me on this system (even with the stock sub). WOW. Neo16 mode set to Music (or Cinema if you want to hear Britney sing out of the center speaker) and it sounds just wonderful.

Anyway, sorry for such a long first post. If you have the chance to get these (especially for $400 or under), don't delay. Even though they sound like crap in the store, it will blow you away in your home.

-Jamie M.
(P.S. Who would like to trade my used for 2 hours Samsung 8" powered sub from the AS720 set for a pair of your almost new or new AS720 satellite speakers? I know some of you just use the receiver with your own speakers, so might have an extra set of satellites kicking around . I'm just itching to get the 7.1 setup!!!)

kppolich:

like I said I have a Bd-P1400 and use the 5.1 channel for audio, and from what I have heard this is how I rank the audio formats:

LPCM/PCM - crystal clear sound

DTS-HD - my player won't decode MA just HD, but it still sounds great.

True HD- sometimes sounds a little muffled and you have to bump the volume up a few notches, but depends on the movie, since The Dark Knight sounded great.

I also had a similar problem. I did some research and it turns out that my sound cards digital out (I was using coaxial, not optical) "goes to sleep" if no audio is being played for a period of time. When the audio resumed there would be a very slight delay (like .25 seconds) and then the audio would be very flat and tinny like you describe. Rebooting the computer fixed the problem every time.

A work around (at least on my onboard Realtek sound card) was to turn on "Karaoke 2 channel analog effects" in the Realtek HD Control Panel. For some reason that setting keeps the SPDIF port active constantly and I have no more problems with pausing audio, etc.

BUT, when I turned on my computer speakers (analog, 2 channel) they sound REALLY wacked out because of the "karaoke" setting. I never use them anyway, so it's not an issue for me but this work around might not work for all people.

I'm installing a $64 Auzentech X-Plosion 7.1 Cinema sound card (with 6 upgraded Burr Brown OPA2134PA analog OPAMP's ) and will be running 8 analog cables to my Samsung receiver... should be sweeeet

I'll let you know if that card solves the pausing audio issue once and for all

-Jamie M.

I picked up an AS720 at Best Buy for $399 on Boxing Day, along with an Acer 24" P224W with 2 HDMI inputs (this is going to be my little bedroom setup.) The set-up wasn't all that difficult (the hardest part was learning how to switch between inputs,) until I tried setting up my laptop and Xbox 360. I have a Dell Inspiron 1525 that has an HDMI out. I grabbed an HDMI cable and plugged it into the receiver. The screen on the laptop flashed a couple times, and told me I was connected to a TV through HDMI, except I wasn't seeing anything on my monitor. The monitor did wake from sleep once it was connected though, just that there was no picture. I know the HDMI port on my laptop is good, because I plugged it into a friend's 60" TV and it worked fine at 1920 x 1080 resolution. Right now, I'm running 1920 x 1080 on the monitor from the laptop over VGA, but I'd like to have HDMI working.

After giving up on the laptop, I tried setting up the Xbox with the AS720. I plugged in an HDMI cable from the Xbox to the AS720. No joy. Once again, the monitor did wake from sleep once I turned the Xbox on, but there was no picture. I heard that the AS720 has some handshake issues, so I tried turning the Xbox on first and then the AS720 and vice versa, but all that did was make my monitor go magenta (the entire picture was just solid magenta, not just tinted.) I also had no audio. Now, I know the monitor isn't the problem, as I plugged the Xbox directly into the monitor over HDMI and had a perfect 1080p picture. So I plugged the Xbox directly into the monitor over HDMI and changed the video settings to 480p, 4:3, Standard Reference Levels, RGB Color Space. I plugged the Xbox back into the AS720, and lo and behold, the video and audio started to work, except it was still in 480p, so I went to change the video settings. I kept the color space settings (no need to change,) set the reference level to Expanded (no problems there,) changed the picture to 16:9 (worked fine,) but then I tried to change the resolution to 1080p. Once again, the video went blank (monitor was still awake, with no messages like "No Input" or "Mode Not Supported") and the audio was gone. The settings reverted back to 480p and everything was fine again. Right now I'm stuck running it at 720p or 1080i, as I can't use 1080p. So far, I can't find anyone else with the same problem as me. It sounds like my receiver is having trouble with 1080p signals. Any suggestions for getting 1080p working?

Besides the video problem, everything else works good, and it sounds pretty great.

Hey everyone,

I've been using the HT-AS720S for several months and I really like it. I have run into a problem because I just purchased a PS3. So now I have:

HT-AS720S
HL-T5687S
Xbox 360 (HDMI)
PS3 (HDMI)
Time Warner Cable Box (HDMI)
Wii

My issue is that I only have two inputs for digital audio on my receiver. This means that I will not be able to get digital audio from all 3 HDMI devices unless I just run Optical Out from my HL-T5687S to my HT-AS720S. Is this correct?

Also, I am having issues with getting any sound from my receiver when connecting my HL-T5687S to my HT-AS720S through Optical Out. Am I doing something wrong?

Plug your XBox and PS3 into the two HDMI inputs on the back of the receiver. Plug the Time Warner HDMI cable directly into your TV. Run the optical out of the Time Warner HDMI box to the Optical Input on the AS720 receiver. Set that up under "CD" (use the Input Select button on your remote when on CD to select Optical 1). Set the DVD function as the PS3 (say HDMI 1, use the same input select button when on DVD), set the XBox 360 as SAT function (same thing, use input select to pick HDMI 2).

I am unsure how the Wii connects, but if it's got a Digital Coaxial output you could run that to the Digital In on the AS720 and then just rotate the CD input from Optical 1 to Digital to go between the cable box and the Wii. If the Wii has Component Out you could run that directly to the T.V.

In the end I ended up getting a 3x1 HDMI auto switcher and it works wonders. I don't even know it's there. I got my XBOX, PS3 and Rogers HD PVR all connected to it, one hdmi cable going to the AS720.


http://www.hdtvsupply.com/hdmi-auto-switch.html

I picked one up for $45 used on EBay.

-Jamie M.

I just tried that out and I am unable to select Optical from the CD option. Only coaxial and analog. I believe you can only select Optical for DVD and SAT.

Hmmm. Strange. Keep in mind you can only have "optical" assigned to one "device" at a time. I just checked, and I can set "Optical 1" to any device except VCR:


LICK FOR HIGH RES!

-Jamie M.

guys i know this sounds weak i even checked the posts couldnt find anything i just got my system ...samsung htas720........52" 7 series lcd ....bd p-1500 bluray..directv dvr10....my problem is i would like a good hookup using hdmi cables ...you would have to be very clear on the hookup because i dont have much of a clue...i would unplug everyting now and start from scratch...i should say i am up and runnng now but watching tv i am only getting 2 speakers to play in dvd mode all the speakers come alive dont know why or how..i would like to have a hookup where all the speakers are playing whether tv or dvd....i would appreciate proper settings for the reciever for best sound also...also when using harmony one remote it switches the reciever to right setting to hear tv but the reciever switches to another setting on its on then i cant hear tv i would have to switch it back manually any body knows why it does that...thanks anyone who can help i really need it its my first home setup...im truly lost cant afford best buy geeks at this time....i almost want to get rid of it im in over my head...

When watching TV and your TV box (satellite, cable, etc.) is connected to the AS720 receiver by HDMI, Optical, or Coax, the AS720 will default to "stereo" for non surround sound feeds. I like to enable "NEO6" on whatever input is coming from your TV box. That way if you go to say Nation Geographic which is DTS 5.1, it'll switch to 5.1, when it goes to commercial and it's only 2.1, it'll put on NEO6 mode and you'll still get fake surround sound out of all your speakers.

I hope that makes sense

-Jamie M.

Strange. It won't let me do that. Maybe there is a newer version where this was changed. Right now DVD is set to HDMI 1 and SAT is set to HDMI 2. Those appear to be the only two that I am able to select optical with. Anyone else know why this could be?

Hi Guys, I hope one of you can help me out with this problem.

I currently have my Xbxox360 and my Blu_Ray player plugged into the 2 HDMI inputs on the AS-720 reciever. Everything was working flawlessly until I plugged the optical audio out from my Samsung LCD to the optical audio in (Anynet+) input on the reciever. The tv now puts out great surround when i watch digital cable, but now when I play xbox i get popping in the speakers. If I mute the tv, the popping goes away.

Anyone have any idea why the amp is not liking this optical audio hookup, should I try running the optical audio straight out of the cable box instead

Thanks everyone

HDMI carries all of your audio for those two devices. I would never run the optical audio out of your TV to the receiver! Run the optical audio out from your digital cable box directly to the amp. If your cable box has optical and coaxial you could run coaxial to the receiver, optical to the T.V., if you still wanted to use the TV speakers. I don't believe the AS720 receiver will output sound out of the HDMI cable (but I havn't tested that) when it's on "CD Optical" mode.

My T.V. only outputs stereo out of it's "optical out", and was in PCM mode (which was causing popping) and had no option to change it to bitstream mode (or vice versa, can't remember). I don't use my T.V. speakers at all now, just the surround sound 24/7

-Jamie M.

First post here. Just purchased the samsung AS720 - sound is great for my average size apt and living room, have a sammy LNT5265 and a PS3 hooked up - great buy for the money. Although this system does not have an ipod hook up, is there a way to hook up my laptop to the avr in order to play mp3 files? I don't have an HDMI connection on my laptop, just your standard headphone jack. This system compliments my sammy TV and I'd hate to swap it for the Onkyo I've been eyeing that has the ipod dock. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Wildcat

Use a 3.5mm to RCA style "Y" cable to run from the headphone jack in your laptop to the VCR red/white inputs on the back of the AS720. Play all the MP3's you want no problem . Neo6 mode (if it lets you on the VCR inputs) will give you 5.1 from your two channel input.

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Belki...oductDetail.do



While you're at it, run the VGA out on your laptop to the VGA in on the TV and watch some music videos instead

-Jamie M.