How does the Onkyo 656 compare to the Yamaha TSR-7810 for $489 from Costco? I have the Onkyo 608 circa 2010 and am considering an upgrade to have Atmos (5.1.2)

So all this upscale talk got me curious so last night I turned it on, when I did it went to "auto" mode and then there are 3 selections 1, 2 and 3. When it switched it auto picked number 2 for me ( i'm not sure what the 3 options are for, perhaps different resolution as there seem to be 3?) but anyway I went to a couple different HBO channels so I know it would be a 1080 feed and I was very impressed by the upscaling, I thought it did a great job and I think I will leave it turned on.

I use my 656 with directv and do not have this issue, I would not at all be surprised if it was more of a directv receiver issue than it is an onkyo issue. Does hitting the all stereo button fix it? Is your firmware updated?

I have never owned anything other than Onkyo so I can't compare. I do know that the 656 can be picked up right now for around $399.....I purchased mine in December for $550

Anyone else has a comparison between the 646 and 656? There's a $20 price diff between the 2 so if 656 is better, definitely worth the higher price.

Is anyone having a problem with the audio with this receiver? I have all all hdmi sources, and the sound seems to be a delay with sound coming out of the speakers. On my PS4 Pro, menu sounds come through, but there is a sound delay from the time I press a button and sound comes out of the speakers.

I am curious about these two units as well. With the prices on refurbs the 757 and 710 are coming into that budget too, but I have owned an Onkyo and Pioneer before. The Onkyo worked flawlessly for years. The Pioneer is dying after 5 years. I am willing to give them another shot but curious about Yamaha since it gets so much love here.

I'm confused by the power ratings on these receivers..

What is dynamic power vs rated output power. I am confused what receiver has more power.. The Yamaha Aventage AV-720 or this Onkyo TX-NR656.. The onkyo says 170w on the box, but the specs look lower than the Yamaha..

Confused!

Checking in on this OP, has any of this been fixed via firmware updates? I have a somewhat similar setup but need to upgrade due to 4k support. For the most part I'd primarily be using mine for my shield TV (DirecTV now, Plex, Netflix, Game Stream from my PC). While I do have a few other devices I may switch to chances are they wont matter much for sound quality. Plex will be handling the Movie watching and is capable of bit streaming. Not much music listening.

Setup is currently using Denon 3808ci, Paradigm Studio 60 v2, Paradigm CC-370, Outlaw Audio LFM-1 Plus sub (have ot change the surrounds out). Honestly the power of this setup is overkill for me but I wanted the headroom incase I ever moved it all in to the basement where concrete floors and the larger space would come in to effect.


Looking at this receiver now but don't want my settings to keep changing or having to constantly tweak all the time.

Almost March and still no word of the Google Cast / Chromecast feature that they're suppose to enable via firmware. Grrrrrr! I can grab a $25, but it's the principle of being mislead on the product.

I purchased the 656 about a week ago, in that time I have not been very impressed with this receiver. AccuEQ has been terrible for me. When it is on the sound is very flat. Turned off the unit sounds ok. Thinking about returning it and purchasing a Denon x1300. Does anybody have any thoughts on the X1300 vs the 656.?

Hello. Just bought the Onkyo 656 and received it yesterday. I cannot make it to recognize Dolby TrueHD coming from either my Oppo 203 or my Toshiba XA2. Everything is connected via HDMI. Any help is appreciated. Thank you.

That's what room correction systems do...adjust the FR based on your room's acoustic properties to provide a flat response. Some people prefer or learn to like a flat response...others do not and turn off room correction. Denon room correction utilizes Audyssey which does the same thing....flatten response...again, some like it and others turn it off. The results of AccuEQ, Audyssey, MCACC, YPAO, ARC, Dirac, etc. may differ a bit depending on what is done at different parts of the frequency spectrum but it comes down to your room's properties and your personal sound quality (SQ) preferences.

Not quite sure what you mean by this. If you mean Dolby TrueHD and/or other codecs do not show in your display, try hitting the "i" button on your remote to toggle through what information is displayed.

Hello. And thank you for your reply. What I have is TrueHD in input but showing Dolby D as output. I am bitstreaming. I hope this helps. Thank you again.

Can you get the receiver to pass through the 4K and HDR from the PS4? Under the settings for the PS4 Pro it shows that i'm not connected via "HDCP 2.2 so not all content may display at 4k etc..".


Also, does anyone feel like their picture quality has suffered with this receiver? I feel like some scenes don't look 4K or there's more noise than there use to be. I could just be imagining things but I figured i'd ask, I was thinking maybe there was some sort of upscaling going on that was messing with the picture. I'm using a Xbox One S for 4K HDR movies if that helps.

My receiver turns off by itself randomly once in a while. Also, I can't get the AUX to recognize an HDMI input.

Faulty receiver or a setting I should change?

I understand what the room correction does. I had an Onkyo before this one with Audyssey and it sounded great with it on. Had to replace because the HDMI board went out. And it's not that it just sounds flat, it sounds bad. The center channel sounds like my TVs speakers when AccuEQ is on.

Firmware update dated 2/23/17. Supposed to add Fireconnect support.

Here

From the Release notes:

The 2/23/2017 update will address the following, and includes
previous updates:
1. Minor bug fixes and performance updates.
2. Adds baseline support for FireConnect.
This update will enable streaming from Network Services /USB/
Bluetooth/Music server.
*Sampling rates of 44.1 kHz and 48 kHz are supported.(USB/Music
server)
*Onkyo Controller App is required to enjoy FireConnect.
*Note for Bluetooth pairing: If Bluetooth devices were previously
paired, you must pair the devices again after the Firmware update is
complete.

Updating now, as I've been wanting to check out this feature. Any suggestions on Fireconnect devices?

Tony

New firmware 4 days ago and still no Google Cast. Tsk tsk on commitments, Onkyo.

Ok...I think I understand now. I believe the Dolby Surround Upmixer (DSU) listening mode is the default output if the receiver detects the presence of Atnos speakers. Dolby Surround or DSU sends info to the Atmos speakers for Non-Atmos content (i.e. blu-rays) and generates a derived Atmos or 3D sound field/effect. "Dolby Atmos" will be displayed as the output if you have actual Dolby Atmos input. In any case, you can select the listening mode by using the Movie/TV button on the remote to cycle through the various choices...if your input is TrueHD, then TrueHD should be one of the choices available. Once selected, the output should be displayed as TrueHD. I believe the "listening modes" can be found in the 656 basic or advanced manual.

Thank you. Will try that. Have a great rest of your day.

Hmm....something does sound (no pun intended) amiss. Just as suggestions...you might want to:

1. Swap the center channel and another speaker at the AVR to see if the issue is in the cc speaker or AVR.

2. Turn off AccuEq to see if there is a difference.

Could possibly be a defective AVR...defective AccEq system/mic...center channel amp?

Edit: Saw your post in the Onkyo Forum....hopefully an expeditious response will be forthcoming.

Waiting is always frustrating! Firmware fixes and features under a vendor's control typically arrive faster. Other features outside of a vendor's control typically require agreements and licensing fees...the domain of lawyers...and require much more time. This scenario is not unique to Onkyo..this happens in the D+M camp as well...I suspect that Onkyo/Google Cast falls into the lawyer category. Having said this, I do fault Onkyo for the lack of communication ...experienced this in other areas as well...followers and customers deserve better.

D+M originally stated that Googlecast was coming, then did a 180 and released a brief statement saying that their goals were not in-line with those of Google...
Instead, Amazon voice control will turn up for their Heos enabled products.


BUT


Onkyo/Pioneer do have a bit of a checkered history recently for announcing updates and stretching out the delivery time.
Look at the DTS:X rollout as well as the fixes for Pandora.
There's blame to be levelled at the other parties involved, but then again, other AVR brands bet them to the punch by a large, large margin.

That's a fair statement that all parties have a part in the blame, but then they shouldn't announce a feature and print it on the box until it's a done deal. Codec or 3rd party apps.. just not good business practice.

Anyways. I'm an owner of this AVR and the Samsung 65 KS8000 series and ran into an issue with the AVR not being able to properly select some inputs. For me it was the FTV 4k capable and bluray behind the AVR. My Uverse source switches fine, but I couldn't do it on the other two sources. All new HS 10GB cables. I'm posting here to share in case there's someone out there that has the same combo that they can learn from my 2 week long experience trying to troubleshoot.

I did do a full firmware upgrade on the AVR and KS8000 as of this date with firmware and did a full factory reset on both TV and AVR. Under the factory reset the AVR's upscaling is set at 'OFF' instead of 'auto' where it gives you a upscaling value (1,2,3). Any attempt for me to set upscaling to Auto causes my issue. Once I disable the upscaling feature everything switching properly. Prob has something to do with the AVR upscaling conflicting with the TV's upscaling. So for me, I leave it OFF and let the TV do the upscaling and everything works.

Hope this helps anyone out there.

I tried connecting my direct TV box directly to my TV to see if I was going nuts in regards to a "worse" picture quality and well it looks better connected directly. When connected to the receiver the picture seems to get a bit more noise and the overall quality seems to gain a tint of red. Nothing crazy but it's something that my eye caught. I've turned off all the upscaling and the receiver should be doing straight pass through but unfortunately it's somehow affecting the picture.

Is anyone else experiencing this? Perhaps with a different receiver? This really is a shame as I was really liking this receiver.

I ordered this receiver for $350 yesterday, should I purchase a square trade warranty on it? Should I return it? I've been reading mostly negative things about it.

1. Tried it with another center channel that I have, same result.

2. With AccuEQ off its sounds better, with a caveat, its not as controlled. Voices sound more true and everything is more dynamic, but sloppy at the same time. Especially my subs.

I decided to return it. I have a Denon X2300 arriving tomorrow. We'll see how it goes.

Likely the 656 had a defect...good luck with the 2300...please post your results.