The "Official" RX-V3800 Issues & Observations thread

[Rich-n-Texas]

Hopefully this thread won't run into the 10's of thousands of posts like the ones on the AVS forums generally do. Too much info!

I moved the sofa and loveseat into the living room the other night so except for more acoustic panels to come, new drapes, and pictures and stuff like that on the walls it's now pretty close to the final layout. This obviously means that I'll be running the room EQ again, that's why I mentioned this.

The meat of the subject...

I have my DVD changer's Component Out connected to the receiver's Component In, and the DVR's HDMI out connected to HDMI In 1 at the receiver. It's HDMI Out is connected to HDMI In 1 at the TV. The DVD's Coax Audio Out is connected to Coax In DVD at the receiver.

The first problem I had, then solved was that I wasn't getting video out from the DVD while trying to watch Pink Floyd's Pulse concert. Audio was there (sort of but I'll get to that later), and after a lot of guessing, which included routing and rerouting of the video feed through the receiver but still getting no where, I decided to check the DVD connections. The green plug was pulled out at the receiver end. :rolleyes: The cable I'm using isn't the greatest from a quality standpoint, but it's the right length. I have an Acoustic Research cable but it's too long (10' I think). The benefit of this exercise was that I learned some things by trial-and-error about how the HDMI switching works from the setup menu screens. An issue exists though at the TV, where even though I have the PVR & DVD connected and output over one HDMI into the TV, the on-screen information shows DVR only. I guess the only thing to do in this case is to re-label that input to something generic like HDMI.

So while watching the concert it seemed as though the picture's color was washed out. I wasn't real happy with the PQ. Even the DVD wallpaper that's up when there's no disk inserted but the unit is powered on looked bad. Different shades of blue over the entire screen and text characters, even though they were formed correctly, weren't sharp, so I can't blame the DVD itself. I made adjustments at both the DVD player and the receiver, including changing the DVD output to 480i then back to 480p, and changing the receiver's output to 1080p (which was verified by checking the Info at the TV), but nothing changed. I'm going to reconnect the DVD directly to the TV and try again as well as trying a more up-to-date (from a PQ standpoint) DVD movie and check the results.

Audio output wasn't any better. Imaging was pretty much non-existent, and even when I manually cranked up the center channel's volume to about twice that of the front left & right, I could barely make out the vocals. I went into the YPAO's results screen and noticed some glaring inaccuracies. The speaker distance numbers were way off, showing front left, center and right as 1', one rear speaker at 1' and the other one at 8'. Volume at all but the subwoofer was set to 0, and all speaker sizes were set to large. Yes, I WILL run it again ASAP. Room acoustics have changed so all the more reason...

Life gets more and more complicated every day, but in this case it's a fun problem to have... right? :idea:

[f0rge]

so the upconverting from component to HDMI is crap? is that what you're saying?

[Rich-n-Texas]

I don't think that's what I'm saying.

Actually what I think I'll do instead of reconnecting the DVD's Component Out directly to the TV, I'll connect the Component Monitor Out from the receiver to the TV. It'll take upscaling out of the equation but still keep some video processing occuring at the receiver.

[L.J.]

Why not go directly to your display?

[Rich-n-Texas]

Well, I wanted to be able to take advantage of the upscaler. 480i converted to 1080p is a good thing isn't it?

Or are you talking about my experiment?:confused5:

[L.J.]

Didn't you say you were having issues running the video through your Yammie?

[Rich-n-Texas]

Yes. Into the yammie via component and out via HDMI...

Are you just messin' with me or do I need to edit my opening post? :confused5:

[Rich-n-Texas]

I did all of the usual cable troubleshooting and then just went right to the TV from the DVD player. I put Batman in, watched it for a while then reconnected the cable as it was before and the picture was the same. Actually I really don't think there's anything wrong or deficient with the PQ but instead it may be another case of unjust expectations on my part. I was able to go through all of the receivers resolutions from 480p to 1080p and verify it with the TV's info stats so I think I'll leave well enough alone. The component cable I mentioned doesn't have a firm connection so I may replace it or plug in the 10' AR cable.

I think I'm catching the Blu-ray Blues...

[L.J.]

http://images.bestbuy.com/BestBuy_US/images/products/8588/8588584_sb.jpg

[captjamo]

I don't think that's what I'm saying.

Actually what I think I'll do instead of reconnecting the DVD's Component Out directly to the TV, I'll connect the Component Monitor Out from the receiver to the TV. It'll take upscaling out of the equation but still keep some video processing occuring at the receiver.

Hey Rich, I've read many of your posts. I'm new in HDMI, switching, upscaling, etc. I know that component cables can hold up to 1080i HD video. I would think that your new 3800 would upscale to 1080i thru component out or does it only upscale to HDMI output? I guess what I'm wondering/saying is maybe upscaling is not out of the equation. I'm very interested in your posts on this stuff. HDMI is great when it is working. I have HDMI out on my cable DVR but it won't work when connected to my 92TXH receiver. I had to go component out to component in on my receiver. Works fine and is 1080i. Irritating that HDMI doesn't work all the time.
My PS3 is connected to HDMI in on my 92TXH and it seems to do pretty well outing the video to my TV and audio to my speakers except that about 35% of the time when I want to use the PS3 for games or BD it says "NOT SUPPORTED" on my receiver's display (signal does'nt pass or something) you can even here it switch signal off. I then have to turn receiver off then on and everything is fine. What is that all about hmmmm?

[L.J.]

I auditioned the 91 and ran into HDMI issues as well. Complete drops in picture in sound for a sec or two and then it would pop back on.

There should be no issues. If set to bitstream, your Elite would get a standard DD or DTS signal while playing BR. If set to PCM, then your Elite would just be getting a MC PCM signal via HDMI and should be able to handle that as well.

[L.J.]

I did all of the usual cable troubleshooting and then just went right to the TV from the DVD player. I put Batman in, watched it for a while then reconnected the cable as it was before and the picture was the same. Actually I really don't think there's anything wrong or deficient with the PQ but instead it may be another case of unjust expectations on my part. I was able to go through all of the receivers resolutions from 480p to 1080p and verify it with the TV's info stats so I think I'll leave well enough alone. The component cable I mentioned doesn't have a firm connection so I may replace it or plug in the 10' AR cable.

I think I'm catching the Blu-ray Blues...

So your saying the scaling to 1080p didn't produce any miracles :lol:

But I thought it should be near HD :lol: :lol:

[Rich-n-Texas]

http://images.bestbuy.com/BestBuy_US/images/products/8588/8588584_sb.jpg
NO!!! :mad5:

[Rich-n-Texas]

Hey Rich, I've read many of your posts. I'm new in HDMI, switching, upscaling, etc. I know that component cables can hold up to 1080i HD video. I would think that your new 3800 would upscale to 1080i thru component out or does it only upscale to HDMI output?
I don't think so. Component video signals at 480i are converted into S-Video or Composite and output at the S-Video Monitor Out & Composite Monitor out. Also, my receiver doesn't upscale Component video @ 720p or 1080i resolution. I also read indications that Component can handle 1080p resolution.

That's the best answer I can give you right now Captjamo. I should have checked that while I had component monitor out connected to my TV but I didn't.

I guess what I'm wondering/saying is maybe upscaling is not out of the equation. I'm very interested in your posts on this stuff. HDMI is great when it is working. I have HDMI out on my cable DVR but it won't work when connected to my 92TXH receiver. I had to go component out to component in on my receiver. Works fine and is 1080i. Irritating that HDMI doesn't work all the time.
I also have my FIOS DVR connected via HDMI In & Out, but I have no problems there. It doesn't convert the 1080i input to 1080p output which would concur with the Component characteristics mentioned above, and it does take a second or two to train up, but I blame that on the HDMI design mess (think corporate greed here).

My PS3 is connected to HDMI in on my 92TXH and it seems to do pretty well outing the video to my TV and audio to my speakers except that about 35% of the time when I want to use the PS3 for games or BD it says "NOT SUPPORTED" on my receiver's display (signal does'nt pass or something) you can even here it switch signal off. I then have to turn receiver off then on and everything is fine. What is that all about hmmmm?
Sorry, no PS3 here and no plans to own one. My video games look awesome here on my desktop PC. :biggrin5:

[GMichael]

Sorry, no PS3 here and no plans to own one. My video games look awesome here on my desktop PC. :biggrin5:

But are they on a big screen with audio going through your main system?

[f0rge]

ok so nothing really wrong then, that's a plus

[L.J.]

NO!!! :mad5:

Well there is no law that says you have to use the PS3 for gaming. It's a great player.

[f0rge]

Well there is no law that says you have to use the PS3 for gaming. It's a great player.

true enough, i've had mine since launch and i've used it to play 3 games (no lie), but i use it all the time for DVDs and BRs

[Rich-n-Texas]

But are they on a big screen with audio going through your main system?
If my computer was on wheels, I could wheel it right out to the TV and connect via DVI and run coax to an in at the receiver.

I've got a 22" widescreen and a 5.1 surround speaker set which suits me just fine. Besides, I'm pretty much all thumbs... oh... wait a minute, that's a big plus on console systems.

Never mind! :incazzato:

[GMichael]

If my computer was on wheels, I could wheel it right out to the TV and connect via DVI and run coax to an in at the receiver.

I've got a 22" widescreen and a 5.1 surround speaker set which suits me just fine. Besides, I'm pretty much all thumbs... oh... wait a minute, that's a big plus on console systems.

Never mind! :incazzato:

My PS3 has a wireless connection. I could play PC games through it. But wouldn't that be a form of blasphemy?:blush2: :yikes: :prrr:

[Rich-n-Texas]

I could buy a wireless keyboard and play games at the kitchen table.:prrr:

[GMichael]

I could buy a wireless keyboard and play games at the kitchen table.:prrr:
I like surfing & playing from my recliner. Blu-tooth is great.

[Rich-n-Texas]

If I had a big mirror I could put it up on the wall in the living room and blast away at Doom3 goons while in the bathroom taking a... :biggrin5:

[GMichael]

If I had a big mirror I could put it up on the wall in the living room and blast away at Doom3 goons while in the bathroom taking a... :biggrin5:

Wouldn't you need two mirrors? Or can you switch to pulling left to go right while grunting?

[Rich-n-Texas]

Wouldn't you need two mirrors? Or can you switch to pulling left to go right while grunting?

I don't use a joystick.

My hand-eye coordination is impecable even in reverse, and my brain-sphincter muscle communication knows no distraction!

[L.J.]

Rich, I think you mentioned before you would rather have a SA BR player vs PS3. Why?

[GMichael]

Rich, I think you mentioned before you would rather have a SA BR player vs PS3. Why?

I think he's just anti-PS3.

[Rich-n-Texas]

I think he's just anti-PS3.
That too. :10:

I'd just prefer a player that sits comfortably in my audio cabinet, is feature rich and can be controlled by my remote. There's no place on the floor or in the TV stand where a PS3 would fit. The back wall where I've moved everything is now full. Wooch mentioned that the newer players are (Iforget what he called it...) up to the BDA's latest standards, and since I won't be ready until the fall timeframe anyway there should be reasonably priced SA players by then.

[L.J.]

That too. :10:

I'd just prefer a player that sits comfortably in my audio cabinet, is feature rich and can be controlled by my remote. There's no place on the floor or in the TV stand where a PS3 would fit. The back wall where I've moved everything is now full. Wooch mentioned that the newer players are (Iforget what he called it...) up to the BDA's latest standards, and since I won't be ready until the fall timeframe anyway there should be reasonably priced SA players by then.

I don't know...I guess I see the PS3 as such a great machine I expect others to as well. I get plenty of use beyond BR/DVD/SACD/CD playback. Streaming music ripped in flac, having my entire photo/video albums just a click away. Surfing the web when I'm too lazy to get off the couch. And lastly, I enjoy a game of Madden or something with my kid sometimes. I mostly do sport games, not really into the FPS stuff.

Now don't get me started on BR playback which is absolutely freakin' fantastic :biggrin5:

Gonna be hard to beat for the price.

[Rich-n-Texas]

I had the day off today so I got back to speaker placement. I lined them up equadistant then ran the room EQ again. It never seems to work right on the first pass, but the second time around was the charm. Polarity was correct and distances were accurate, which to me is most important. One thing that bothers me is the volume for the left front. It's at -1dB with the right front at 4dB. It may very well be due to the clock on the left wall ticking, as well as the TV fan/color wheel sound level working in concert (Pun!)to skew the results.

So now I'm working at trying to get music on my PC out over the network and to the receiver. Good news: The router sees the receiver (I can ping it from the router) and I was even able to rename it from within the router's s/w. Bad news: I can't ping it from my computer. I followed the instructions that Windows Media Player describes for sharing music files over the home network, but when I tried to enable file sharing to the device (receiver) WMP didn't list it. Classic MS complication (Like I said, I have a love/hate relationship with Windows :rolleyes: ) I turned off my firewall, turned on sharing of my music folder but no luck. No biggie for now though. I'll deal with that aggravation later on after a few Maragritas. :yesnod:

[bobsticks]

Rich, I think you mentioned before you would rather have a SA BR player vs PS3. Why?

Because the PS3's appearance clashes with that of the IKEA pressedwood rollcart...hehehe

[Rich-n-Texas]

That dolly has more usefulness than a PS3 buster, and it isn't pressed wood, it's Maple smarty pants.

HEY! What did you do with Pix? :mad:

[bobsticks]

Easy there killer. Commawn now I'm just playin'. Remember you're typing at the guy who once published pictures of his TV perched on phone books. All in good fun, eh...

...and I don't know what happened to your Snuggy-Poo. Last I heard he slipped out of the electronic ankle teather thatcha had on 'im and was roaming the streets looking for Klipsch coupons.

[Rich-n-Texas]

Easy there killer. Commawn now I'm just playin'. Remember you're typing at the guy who once published pictures of his TV perched on phone books. All in good fun, eh...
Of course. :smilewinkgrin: = Don't take R-n-T too seriously. That was for my bud L.J. :ihih:


...and I don't know what happened to your Snuggy-Poo. Last I heard he slipped out of the electronic ankle teather thatcha had on 'im and was roaming the streets looking for Klipsch coupons.
Maybe this is a sign. Maybe it's a sign that Resident Loser is on his way back. :yesnod:

[pixelthis]

That dolly has more usefulness than a PS3 buster, and it isn't pressed wood, it's Maple smarty pants.

HEY! What did you do with Pix? :mad:

Been playing with a pair of two year old axiom m80s' that I snared.
Posting a thread in the speaker section.
Speaking of speakers, when ARE you gonna give up on YPAO and just use the friggin meter? I have NEVER seen this rube goldberg crap work.
As for "upconversion" you wont see any big improvement, if any.
And good luck with the router, does your receiver have a MAC number?
I can pull one up in the menu with mine but have never given it to the cable company.
And kudos on your PS3 comments.
A standalone is way more versatile, and the reason god gave us the PC IS games, net ,
and porn.
USING A GAMING CONSOLE for computer functions is like riding the rapids with a 10 speed bike:1:

[captjamo]

There should be no issues. If set to bitstream, your Elite would get a standard DD or DTS signal while playing BR. If set to PCM, then your Elite would just be getting a MC PCM signal via HDMI and should be able to handle that as well.[/QUOTE]

Hey L.J., Do you know how I would know I'm on bitstream? I have setting called "HDMI auto sense signal" or something like that. I can tell either the 92TXH or the PS3 is decoding DTS-HD though-it sounds great. Do I still get to use DSP modes? I confess I'm confused on which settings I should be using for Cable TV component connection vs PS3 HDMI.

[Rich-n-Texas]

Been playing with a pair of two year old axiom m80s' that I snared.
Posting a thread in the speaker section.
Speaking of speakers, when ARE you gonna give up on YPAO and just use the friggin meter? I have NEVER seen this rube goldberg crap work.
It gets me in the ballpark... most of the time. I'll further tweak with the meter soon.

As for "upconversion" you wont see any big improvement, if any.
True, but movies now fill the entire screen. BTW, I rented Michael Clayton on VOD last night. Standard def PQ sucked. When will I be able to see VOD in HD?

And good luck with the router, does your receiver have a MAC number?
I can pull one up in the menu with mine but have never given it to the cable company.
Yes, I can see the MAC at the receiver's setup menu as well as at the router. The problem exists in the Windows networking system. I can ping it at my PC, but WMP still doesn't find it in the "Share Media" dialog. And of course XP's support topics aren't much help.

And kudos on your PS3 comments.
Don't say that! L.J.'ll stop liking me if he thinks we agree! I have more remote setup questions to ask him. :biggrin5:

A standalone is way more versatile, and the reason god gave us the PC IS games, net ,
and porn.
USING A GAMING CONSOLE for computer functions is like riding the rapids with a 10 speed bike:1:
Y'all didn't hear that from me. :nonod:

[L.J.]

Hey L.J., Do you know how I would know I'm on bitstream? I have setting called "HDMI auto sense signal" or something like that. I can tell either the 92TXH or the PS3 is decoding DTS-HD though-it sounds great.

The auto sensing sets your resolution output to match your display but you have to go into the audio settings to set your PS3 to either bitstream or PCM. I leave my PS3 set to bitstream(you can leave it on PCM though) except when watching a BR with TrueHD and I'll explain why. The PS3 cannot bitstream any HD audio signals but it can bitstream standard DD & DTS signals like any DVD player can. My AVR does the decoding and I see either a "DD" or "DTS" displayed on my AVR. When watching a BR with a MC PCM track, the PS3 will automatically switch to PCM and play the uncompressed track and switch back to bitstream when your done. When watching a BR with PCM your AVR will display "MC PCM" or something similar to that.

Now when watching a BR with TrueHD, you have to go in and set audio output on the PS3 from bitstream to PCM. You can do this while the movie is playing though. Just hit triangle, go to audio settings and switch bitstream to PCM. Your AVR will display "MC PCM". Hitting display on your PS3 remote will show that the PS3 is decoding the TrueHD. This only has to be done with TrueHD. Why it doesn't switch over automatically like it does with PCM or SACD is beyond me. What was Sony thinking with that one. Word is this will be fixed with a firmware update eventually and the PS3 will switch over to PCM automatically for HD audio tracks.

There is no way to listen to DTSMA with the PS3 but that's gonna change soon. At the moment, when viewing a BR with DTSMA your only getting the "core" DTS 1.5 mbps track. Your AVR display should read "DTS".

Now that I've confused you even more, you can simply leave your PS3 set to PCM and it will decode everything and you will always see "MC PCM" displayed on your AVR.


Do I still get to use DSP modes?

My Yammie can apply post processing to MC PCM signals via HDMI. I use my DSP's with my PS3 all the time. Not all AVR's will allow this though, but I think most current ones will.


I confess I'm confused on which settings I should be using for Cable TV component connection vs PS3 HDMI.

Are you refering to the bitstream question here or something else?

[bobsticks]

As usual, L.J. you're a pioneer and a teacher. Gracias.

[Rich-n-Texas]

I need some tutoring on getting Windows Media Player to see my receiver. I can ping it and the right ports are open at the firewall, but still not seen. I wonder if WINAMP has the ability to share media over a network.

[pixelthis]

I need some tutoring on getting Windows Media Player to see my receiver. I can ping it and the right ports are open at the firewall, but still not seen. I wonder if WINAMP has the ability to share media over a network.

What I was about to suggest.
I use AMP for playing my flac flies, the latest version has a really cool interface.
Dont know about a network but my winamp works fine with my USB drive, which has all of my media files.
I gave up on the network idea because my receiver only works with MP3 and wma.
An external soundcard or USB DA is much preferable to me at least.
THE receiver gets its stuff over a toslink , whether DD or PCM, etc.
I just click on something on AMP and go, sounds great
And if LJ thinks we "agree" that just means you're learning something.
NOW I HAVE TO GO RIDE MY BIKE...:1:

[Rich-n-Texas]

I searched the entire RX-V1800/3800 thread on the AVS forums and as far as I could tell only one person there was having a problem similar to mine. His post count was two. He was never heard from again. Probably drowned in an ocean of text. I digress.

I got some suggestions from an engineer here at work that involves looking at the ports that are supposed to be opened to WMP so I'll sniff around there. I think Feanor or Mr. Peabody uses WINAMP so I'll get their take on it too. This ability to listen to the music that resides on my computer on my main unit was one of the selling points so I want to get this working ASAP. I don't own a flash drive... yet.

[L.J.]

I searched the entire RX-V1800/3800 thread on the AVS forums and as far as I could tell only one person there was having a problem similar to mine. His post count was two. He was never heard from again. Probably drowned in an ocean of text. I digress.

Check the 2700 thread. There were tips there on getting connected. Are you using the latest version of WMP? I read that WINAMP will not work with the 2700. Only WMP or Windows Media Connect, which I believe is integrated into WMP11.

Have you tried to manually configure the settings on your Yammie? Reboot your router?

And as Pix said, I believe your limited to MP3 and WMA files...no flac.

I had no issues....up and running in a few minutes.


This ability to listen to the music that resides on my computer on my main unit was one of the selling points so I want to get this working ASAP. I don't own a flash drive... yet.

Nice feature but the interface sucks. Very limited in what you can do. I found the internet radio station OK, but didn't like that you couldn't see who the artist were. Another reason to get a PS3 if you ask me.

[Rich-n-Texas]

Check the 2700 thread. There were tips there on getting connected. Are you using the latest version of WMP? I read that WINAMP will not work with the 2700. Only WMP or Windows Media Connect, which I believe is integrated into WMP11.
I'll look at the 2700 thread. Their thread search tool works fairly well. Yes, I'm running WMP11, and yes, Media Connect is integrated.


Have you tried to manually configure the settings on your Yammie? Reboot your router?
I didn't manually set the IP & MAC addresses at the receiver because they were correct when I looked at the info screen as well as at the router s/w. I pinged it with it on; packets were transfered okay, and then when I turned the receiver off, I got packet transfer timeouts which is what I expected.


And as Pix said, I believe your limited to MP3 and WMA files...no flac.

I had no issues....up and running in a few minutes.
I don't know anything about how to play flac and such on my computer; I assume a particular codec is needed?

My entire life is an issue! :(

Nice feature but the interface sucks. Very limited in what you can do. I found the internet radio station OK, but didn't like that you couldn't see who the artist were. Another reason to get a PS3 if you ask me.
That's about the same thing they were saying on AVS. Again, it seems like it would be a nice convenience to have though.

[Rich-n-Texas]

Another reason to get a PS3 if you ask me.
Does it come with popcorn? A LOT of popcorn?

[L.J.]

Does it come with popcorn? A LOT of popcorn?

This will be available on the next firmware update :p

[Rich-n-Texas]

:lol: What firmware rev is it up to? 100.100.10.10? :biggrin5:

[L.J.]

:lol: What firmware rev is it up to? 100.100.10.10? :biggrin5:

HA very funny....it's up to 2.0. Sony has stated there will be less updates and they will focus more on large quarterly updates. Something about quality over quantity. My main 2 concerns, BR playback & flac streaming are covered so everything else is a bonus.

I was reading and it seems like alot of people were having issues with the networking. Yamaha released a firmware update for the 2700 to take care of the problem with WMP11.

Some reinstalled WMP to get things working. Someone found that Twonky media server would work(never heard of it).

Is your DHCP turned on? maybe you can clear the manual settings on the Yammie, turn the DHCP on, reinstall WMP11 and see if that works.

You can call Yamaha but I bet their gonna blame it on your firewall settings :nono:

[Rich-n-Texas]

...I was reading and it seems like alot of people were having issues with the networking. Yamaha released a firmware update for the 2700 to take care of the problem with WMP11.
I would hope that update was incorporated into the 3800's as well.


Some reinstalled WMP to get things working. Someone found that Twonky media server would work(never heard of it).
Yup, I reinstalled as well but no help. I've never heard of Twonky either, but I get a little squeamish when I see these cutesie named media servers and P2P groups. Just don't feel comfortable installing such s/w or communicating with them.


Is your DHCP turned on? maybe you can clear the manual settings on the Yammie, turn the DHCP on, reinstall WMP11 and see if that works.
DHCP is on by default at the receiver, and it's always on at the PC. The fact that I can see it's IP address when it's on, but pinging it fails when it's off tells me it's not a network protocal issue. Feanor also gave me an idea in the thread I started in Computer Audio about using WINAMP. I'll bet your PS3 it's a Windows/WMP roadblock.


You can call Yamaha but I bet their gonna blame it on your firewall settings :nono:
I'm sure they would. Maybe a call to MS is on the horizon. :eek6:

[f0rge]

here's some words of advice: windows networking sucks

i've tried several solutions for getting my mp3s to my stereo, external pc usb audio cards, streaming to my xbox60, streaming to my ps3 etc

i found that all of it sounded terrible.

in the end i wound up using an apple airport express with the optical output, it's nice cause it's wireless too. out of what i've tried i think it's had the best results.

[Rich-n-Texas]

:o :o :o

All better now. :biggrin5:

[L.J.]

What did you do wrong? Your not getting off that easy :nono:

[Rich-n-Texas]

Okay, well... uhhh... I uhhh, didn't go far enough into the receiver setup for Net/USB. :nonod: I didn't run the steps where I press the Display button on the remote to get me to the Top Net/USB menu, and then select the PC/MusiCAST sub input. When I selected it, it then showed my computer name. I came back to my PC and sure enough there was a callout box on my desktop telling me a device was trying to connect and did I want to run the Media Connect procedure. After I went through that I was then able to start working my way into the music folders on the hard drive. I guess there's more handshaking going on between the receiver and the PC than I thought.

After I discovered all that I went into the Internet Radio sub input and found some stations. Favorite among them is a Classic Rock station called "Pink Floyd Rock-o-Roma".

So the moral of the story is... RFD! AND, no need to sub to XM! :thumbsup:

[L.J.]

Okay, well... uhhh... I uhhh, didn't go far enough into the receiver setup for Net/USB. :nonod: I didn't run the steps where I press the Display button on the remote to get me to the Top Net/USB menu, and then select the PC/MusiCAST sub input. When I selected it, it then showed my computer name. I came back to my PC and sure enough there was a callout box on my desktop telling me a device was trying to connect and did I want to run the Media Connect procedure. After I went through that I was then able to start working my way into the music folders on the hard drive. I guess there's more handshaking going on between the receiver and the PC than I thought.

After I discovered all that I went into the Internet Radio sub input and found some stations. Favorite among them is a Classic Rock station called "Pink Floyd Rock-o-Roma".

So the moral of the story is... RFD! AND, no need to sub to XM! :thumbsup:

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Too funny. I think I did the same thing but figured it out in about 2 minutes :) Don't worry, I won't tell anyone :rolleyes:

OK, that was cheap shot :1:

So, isn't the remote just awful. Waaay to many dang buttons man. I assume it's similar to the 2700 remote. Good thing you gotta Harmony. I still you use the Yammie remote when making adjustments though.

Hmm...seems we're limited to only 10 smilies per post. I didn't know that.

[pixelthis]

here's some words of advice: windows networking sucks

i've tried several solutions for getting my mp3s to my stereo, external pc usb audio cards, streaming to my xbox60, streaming to my ps3 etc

i found that all of it sounded terrible.

in the end i wound up using an apple airport express with the optical output, it's nice cause it's wireless too. out of what i've tried i think it's had the best results.


True.
TO ME WHY DO YOU NEED THE COMPLICATION?
Just get high q audio running out of your computer wth a toslink or rca coax and enjoy.
I CAN LISTEN TO internet radio, my entire CD collection, downloads, etc, and control it through my computer, and dont have to worry about virus's in my receiver

The best thing is two computers, and network the two together, put one in your system
as a server, and use your main as, well, your main:1:

[Rich-n-Texas]

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Too funny. I think I did the same thing but figured it out in about 2 minutes :) Don't worry, I won't tell anyone :rolleyes:

OK, that was cheap shot :1:
See how Pix has subliminally brainwashed us? Looks like some of us have been Assimilated!!! :yikes:


So, isn't the remote just awful. Waaay to many dang buttons man. I assume it's similar to the 2700 remote. Good thing you gotta Harmony. I still you use the Yammie remote when making adjustments though.
I wonder how many times from here on out I'm going to forget to flip the switch from Amp to Source. :idea: Something I've been wanting to ask: to what depth of functionality do you give the 880 for your receiver? I can't imagine that every single function the receiver's remote has can be duplicated, so where exactly do you draw the line? Not including the essentially one-time use functions?


Hmm...seems we're limited to only 10 smilies per post. I didn't know that.
Yeah. One time I wanted to fill up a response to resident bad-boy's post with smilies so the topic would take a rediculously loooooong time to open, but my attempt was thwarted by the site's s/w. :rolleyes: <== Had to delete wonna your lol's so's I could include that one. ;biggrin5;

[L.J.]

See how Pix has subliminally brainwashed us? Looks like some of us have been Assimilated!!! :yikes:

I go out of my way to do that :1:



Something I've been wanting to ask: to what depth of functionality do you give the 880 for your receiver? I can't imagine that every single function the receiver's remote has can be duplicated, so where exactly do you draw the line? Not including the essentially one-time use functions?

I have functions spreaded out over each activity. For example, under "watch a DVD" I have the movie dsp's, straight and a few others...... Under "listen to CD" I have the music dsp's, stereo, enhancer. Same goes for "watch Bluray" and so on. All AVR funtions are set on the obvious main buttons(menu,exit,mute) and the rest are set on the LCD buttons. I have most used ones set on the first page and rarely go into the 2nd.

Most functions are covered though. Go into "devices" and you'll see that the Yammie has like 12 LCD pages of functions :shocked:


For the 2nd zone, I input it as if it was a total separate unit and named it zone 2. The Harmony software suggests doing this and was already preprogrammed to use all the zone 2 functions for my 2700. So under "outside music", I can control it as if I was using the zone 2 remote.

I have zone 2 set for 2 sources...CD or cable music channels.

I also have "network music" as an activity.

I go in and make adjustments as needed. I think I have everything laid out pretty well. My wife loves the harmony and would never understand the Yammie remote.

[pixelthis]

most OEM remotes are bad but yammies are the WORST.
People who dont use universals dont understand one of the main advantages, mainly you can put buttons ANYWHERE.
I seldom leave my cable box section, it has buttons for tv control, amp control, etc.
My CD section has buttons for dsp, cd direct, etc.
mines a pronto btw:1:

[bobsticks]

most OEM remotes are bad but yammies are the WORST.


This has been my experience as well. My current Yammie came into a household that had seen Denon, Sony, and Onkyo units previously.

We all know how many times noobs come around these parts asking "Which receiver...?" questions. Before the Yammie I would've never thought to counsel using the remote as citeria. It's that bad.

[Rich-n-Texas]

I wish company's would make remotes an optional purchase. The functionality these days of those things is incredible, but the Harmony's and Pronto's of the world render them pretty much useless.

[Rich-n-Texas]

I was listening to music last night over the network and when I tried to play .wma's recently ripped from my fairly new Pink Floyd and Rush CD's I got "connection error" from every one of them. I checked to make sure the receiver can recognize wma's so I played some that were ripped a while ago and they played fine. I then did a side-by-side of the files and found that the PF & Rush tracks had a much bigger file size as well as a faster bit rate. I know I used WMP to rip these, but I may have used Rhapsody and my sound card's s/w to record the older stuff. That aside, am I drawing the right conclusion in thinking bit rate and file size are contributing factors leading to the connection error message?

[pixelthis]

I was listening to music last night over the network and when I tried to play .wma's recently ripped from my fairly new Pink Floyd and Rush CD's I got "connection error" from every one of them. I checked to make sure the receiver can recognize wma's so I played some that were ripped a while ago and they played fine. I then did a side-by-side of the files and found that the PF & Rush tracks had a much bigger file size as well as a faster bit rate. I know I used WMP to rip these, but I may have used Rhapsody and my sound card's s/w to record the older stuff. That aside, am I drawing the right conclusion in thinking bit rate and file size are contributing factors leading to the connection error message?

Could be a bandwidth problem but don't quote me on that.
It is such a hassle to keep nets going, this is why I use an USB souncard.
The idea of a "networked" receiver sounds great, but I watch computer video and listen to audio just fine without it.
When I listen to tunes or watch shows reliability is key, and this whole networked media
is just not ready for prime time, IMHO:1:

[Rich-n-Texas]

I'm willing to bet it IS a bandwidth problem. I did some more research on the Rush & PF tracks and saw that I used the WMA Lossless format, which will certainly increase file size and bit rate, so I'm going to experiment with a few of the other wma formats that WMP supplies and see what happens. I'm going to shoot for the fastest bit rate that the reciever will recognize.

[Rich-n-Texas]

Just an update to the situation with the "connect error". It doesn't look like it has anything to do with bit rate or file size. It happens when it encounters an M4P file or a W4V file. At first I thought these are "protected" files, but instead, it seems like something is converting them to a type, or format that my receiver won't recognize. I don't really know what's going on at this point, but I'm going to try to reorganize my Windows music file structure and hopefully some good will come from that.

In the meantime I'm back to an old problem. I don't want to turn on my TV when I'm fiddling with the receiver setup. I have to use some kind of monitor (was using an old CRT TV), and I'd REALLY like to find an inexpensive display device of some kind. If I could use a monitor similar to my computer's display, that would be great. Something lightweight, small footprint with a sharp enough picture that I would be able to see from the couch would be perfect. Somebody HELP ME!!!

[f0rge]

you really need to watch out for what filetypes are actually supported by your receiver, i'm betting it's just the basics (AAC, MP3 etc) and the ones you're talking about are a bit less widely supported.

[Rich-n-Texas]

I agree. The thing is, I don't know how they became files with that "4" in the extension. It will play WMA's, MP3's and WAV's, that I know.

[GMichael]

Just an update to the situation with the "connect error". It doesn't look like it has anything to do with bit rate or file size. It happens when it encounters an M4P file or a W4V file. At first I thought these are "protected" files, but instead, it seems like something is converting them to a type, or format that my receiver won't recognize. I don't really know what's going on at this point, but I'm going to try to reorganize my Windows music file structure and hopefully some good will come from that.

In the meantime I'm back to an old problem. I don't want to turn on my TV when I'm fiddling with the receiver setup. I have to use some kind of monitor (was using an old CRT TV), and I'd REALLY like to find an inexpensive display device of some kind. If I could use a monitor similar to my computer's display, that would be great. Something lightweight, small footprint with a sharp enough picture that I would be able to see from the couch would be perfect. Somebody HELP ME!!!

How about a computer display? Could you fit a 20" LCD somewhere in the room, close enough to view it?

[f0rge]

I agree. The thing is, I don't know how they became files with that "4" in the extension. It will play WMA's, MP3's and WAV's, that I know.

i'd wager it's how they were ripped to your computer. just looking at media player it really doesn't tell you what you're ripping to, i'd just pick mp3 and crank the slider to 320kbps

[Rich-n-Texas]

How about a computer display? Could you fit a 20" LCD somewhere in the room, close enough to view it?
A computer display would be great, but AFAIK there are no computer displays with composite/s-video/component video inputs. Essentially all I need is a dumb terminal since the setup menu isn't graphics intensive. What I now no longer have room for is the 19" CRT TV that I was using previously to set up DVD-A's.

[GMichael]

A computer display would be great, but AFAIK there are no computer displays with composite/s-video/component video inputs. Essentially all I need is a dumb terminal since the setup menu isn't graphics intensive. What I now no longer have room for is the 19" CRT TV that I was using previously to set up DVD-A's.


There's more than one was to skin a cat. But most of them make the cat scream and fight back.

This seems like just one of many reasonable answers. But I'm not to keen on Acer.
http://biz.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=3642069&sku=A179-1944

DVI to component adapter. http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=104&cp_id=10419&cs_id=1041901&p_id=2398&seq=1&format=2

[Rich-n-Texas]

There's more than one was to skin a cat. But most of them make the cat scream and fight back.
I haven't mentioned this before but one of my cats; Thelma has diabetes. She gets an insulin injection every 12 hours, but she seems to be handling it okay. The giveaway was higher than normal water consumption and frequent cat box trips. She's about ten years old now and the only sad thing is the fact that she's lost some of her independance.


This seems like just one of many reasonable answers. But I'm not to keen on Acer.
http://biz.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=3642069&sku=A179-1944

DVI to component adapter. http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=104&cp_id=10419&cs_id=1041901&p_id=2398&seq=1&format=2
What I remember about the previous conversation was that computer monitors wouldn't recognize NTSC/PAL formats. The question is, what format is the setup menu outputting in?

[GMichael]

I haven't mentioned this before but one of my cats; Thelma has diabetes. She gets an insulin injection every 12 hours, but she seems to be handling it okay. The giveaway was higher than normal water consumption and frequent cat box trips. She's about ten years old now and the only sad thing is the fact that she's lost some of her independance.


What I remember about the previous conversation was that computer monitors wouldn't recognize NTSC/PAL formats. The question is, what format is the setup menu outputting in?

Poor kitty. :nonod: It's good that she has you to take care of her.

[pixelthis]

I used a DVI>hdmi cable to watch my cablebox on my 19in Samsung while I was between TV sets , worked great and was HI-DEF:1:

[Rich-n-Texas]

And found this old post...

I was talking to an engineer here at work who has recently done some IP testing on a Digital Audio/Video chip and he tells me that what I propose won't work. He said the only way to accomplish this would be by using the HDMI out of the DVD player, through an HDMI - DVI adaptor cable then into a DVI capable monitor.
I own an LCD monitor now with a DVI input, so I'll get one of those adapters GM showed and see what happens.

BTW GM, I'm looking at a 19' Acer LCD right now here at work; the one at home is also an Acer, and so far, no problems.

[f0rge]

you would actually be surprised how many computer monitors have multiple inputs, my 22" LCD is like 3 years old and has composite, svideo, component, vga and dvi.

of course it will depend on how much you want to spend.

[f0rge]

I own an LCD monitor now with a DVI input, so I'll get one of those adapters GM showed and see what happens.

make sure the monitor supports DVI-A (analog dvi signal), many only do DVI-D (digital dvi signal). the signal coming out of that connector will be analog, unless somehow there's a DAC in there, which i doubt.

[Rich-n-Texas]

Are you sure the receiver's setup menu's OSD is analog?

From Blue Jeans Cable website:


First, when you're looking for a DVI cable, it's important to be sure you know what type of signal you need to carry. The DVI connection can be used either to carry a digital video signal (DVI-D) or to carry an analog signal (DVI-A) or both. The only way to be sure what your device accepts or puts out through the DVI connector is to examine the connection point and consult your manual. At right are pictures of a DVI-D plug (digital only) and a DVI-I plug (used for analog video, with or without digital video alongside). As you can see, the difference between the two lies at the right side; the DVI-D plug has a single, wide flat pin, while the DVI-I plug has that same pin, but also four additional pins, two above and two below it. Those pins are used to carry the red, green, blue and horizontal sync (R,G,B and H) lines of an RGBHV analog video signal (the vertical sync lies on another pin). If the receptacles on your devices don't have holes which will accept these four pins, then you have a DVI-D connection, which is all digital, no analog (your plug may also be lacking some other pins; if that's so, you're probably looking at a DVI-D Single-Link plug). If the receptacles do have holes for these pins, then you need to know whether both the digital and the analog modes are available on the DVI port--check your user's manual.
I'll look at the DVI jack on my monitor to see if it has the extra four pinouts. I have a perfect spot for the monitor that'll keep it real close to the receiver and allow me to get a short inexpensive cable. And I'm willing to bet non-widescreen LCD monitors can be had these days relatively cheap.

[f0rge]

well i assumed from the adapter that you were outputting the OSD from the receiver with component cables, which are analog.

[GMichael]

And found this old post...

I own an LCD monitor now with a DVI input, so I'll get one of those adapters GM showed and see what happens.

BTW GM, I'm looking at a 19' Acer LCD right now here at work; the one at home is also an Acer, and so far, no problems.


We used to sell Acer parts. Here's a typical transaction.

Us: Hello Acer, we have a customer who needs part number xyz. Please add that to our next shipment.
Acer: Sorry, that is no longer available.
Us: OK, never mind.
Us: Hello customer? We can no longer supply that item.
Customer: OK, never mind.

Next day.

The unavailable part shows up from Acer with an invoice for it.
Us: Hello customer? It turns out that we can get that part.
Customer: Too late. I bought a new Toshiba laptop last night.
Us: Hello Acer? We need to return that part that you said we couldn't get so therefore didn't order.
Acer: Too late. It's yours. Make sure you pay us on time!

We no longer do any business with Acer.

[Rich-n-Texas]

I see. My other monitor is an NEC.

[Rich-n-Texas]

well i assumed from the adapter that you were outputting the OSD from the receiver with component cables, which are analog.
I should have pointed out that I'm only using HDMI Out to the TV at this time. I'm using Component Out from the DVD changer to the receiver so essentially I still don't know if the OSD out, which is being overlayed onto the selected source output is digital or analog. Am I thinking this through right?

[pixelthis]

ANYWAY RICH, heres why you got your "deal"

http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/receivers/yamaha-rx-v863/


Its 999$, top of the line, thought you'd like to compare:1:

[Rich-n-Texas]

My "deal" if you'll recall, was a 35% discount. Who would thumb their nose at that? Free shipping, no sales tax? Remember? Is the 863 on store shelves yet? I think I made the right decision at the right time via L.J.'s heads-up. How many times have YOU preached that sure, you can keep waiting for the next best thing, and wait... and wait... and wait... and so on and so on.

My receiver's got four HDMI's in. I only see three on the 863. No network connection. Is there a USB port anywhere? Non removeable power cord. I'll dig deeper into the specs if needed, but truthfully I'm having a hard time believing it's their new top-of-the-line receiver. Could it be that someone at Audioholics is slightly mis-informed?

[GMichael]

My "deal" if you'll recall, was a 35% discount. Who would thumb their nose at that? Free shipping, no sales tax? Remember? Is the 863 on store shelves yet? I think I made the right decision at the right time via L.J.'s heads-up. How many times have YOU preached that sure, you can keep waiting for the next best thing, and wait... and wait... and wait... and so on and so on.

My receiver's got four HDMI's in. I only see three on the 863. No network connection. Is there a USB port anywhere? Non removeable power cord. I'll dig deeper into the specs if needed, but truthfully I'm having a hard time believing it's their new top-of-the-line receiver. Could it be that someone at Audioholics is slightly mis-informed?

I agree with you Rich. You can't keep waiting for the next great thing or you'll never own anything. But that 863 looks nice. Most of what is missing are things I don't care about. (you may have different needs) But I didn't see anything about memory settings yet. That would be a deal breaker for me. The lower power might not make any difference if I add a Emotiva 2 channel amp.:idea:

Oh well. Not buying anything just yet. :sad:

[f0rge]

My receiver's got four HDMI's in. I only see three on the 863. No network connection. Is there a USB port anywhere? Non removeable power cord.

amen, and worth every penny extra i'd wager.

the 3800 might have been "on-sale" because they knew this was coming, but that just played into rich's hands.

imo the extra cash was well worth the extra features, the extra HDMI alone would be worth $200 to me.

[L.J.]

Build quality.....screw the features for a second. I had the 661 for a sec, and 1700/2700 was a much better quality. I'm thinking same goes for the 863/3800. I'm sure the 863 is nice and all but the 3800 seems to be a step above it.

And man are they ugly. I love the clean look of my 2700.

Hide all the dang buttons.....why they spreaded out all over the place :nono:

[Rich-n-Texas]

ANYWAY, back to the here and now.

I'm seeing the light that I won't be able to just run a cable from the receiver's Component Monitor out to an LCD's DVI in with that adapter because all I could find were monitors that support D-Sub and DVI-D in only, at best, and they were expensive.

BUT!

Here's an adapter that would convert DVI-I to VGA, which would connect to the component adapter, then I could run a VGA cable to the monitor:

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=104&cp_id=10419&cs_id=1041903&p_id=2396&seq=1&format=2

The thing is, past experience has shown me that this amount of cluging usually ends up with the results not being what I originally intended, so I don't know.

[GMichael]

ANYWAY, back to the here and now.

I'm seeing the light that I won't be able to just run a cable from the receiver's Component Monitor out to an LCD's DVI in with that adapter because all I could find were monitors that support D-Sub and DVI-D in only, at best, and they were expensive.

BUT!

Here's an adapter that would convert DVI-I to VGA, which would connect to the component adapter, then I could run a VGA cable to the monitor:

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=104&cp_id=10419&cs_id=1041903&p_id=2396&seq=1&format=2

The thing is, past experience has shown me that this amount of cluging usually ends up with the results not being what I originally intended, so I don't know.

Might be easier to find a cheap LCD TV that already has the connections you need.

I found this in about 30 seconds. A little work should get you a better deal. http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8454415&type=product&id=1184369165654

[f0rge]

720p 19incher from bestbuy for $229?

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8454415&type=product&id=1184369165654

has hdmi, component, vga, svideo and composite, one of those is bound to work.

[Rich-n-Texas]

Thanks for the link. Thanks for the link. :smilewinkgrin:

Now I have to ask myself whether this project is worth persuing. Will saving bulb hours make a $229 purchase worth it in the long run? I know I'm a long way from being able to put the setup tasks aside, but eventually I will. I think I may just hook up that old TV and mount it up on a wall somewhere like GM did. Of course I'll probably drop it, but WTH.

[pixelthis]

Thanks for the link. Thanks for the link. :smilewinkgrin:

Now I have to ask myself whether this project is worth persuing. Will saving bulb hours make a $229 purchase worth it in the long run? I know I'm a long way from being able to put the setup tasks aside, but eventually I will. I think I may just hook up that old TV and mount it up on a wall somewhere like GM did. Of course I'll probably drop it, but WTH.


REMEMBER THE old saying that you can get so busy fighting alligators that you forget
that the original intention was to drain the swamp.
Seems like you've gone off on a tangent here.
Have you finished your install yet?
Why do you need to adress the setup menu before you get everything put together?
Also you can get a DVI converter cable pretty cheap, it just might work, you can take it back if it doesnt.

And I am sorry if you misunderstood my posting of the new yammie info.
One of the best bargains is usually a closeout model, the tech just never changes
that much, just thought you'd like to check out the "new" guard, a receiver
is expensive and will be around for awhile:1:

[Rich-n-Texas]

REMEMBER THE old saying that you can get so busy fighting alligators that you forget
that the original intention was to drain the swamp.
I don't recall that one but I'm sure there's a Yankee version that fits.

Seems like you've gone off on a tangent here.
Have you finished your install yet?
I do that often. I thought I might be able to quickly address the unnecessary need to turn the TV on during setup & install, but I'll skip it for now.

Why do you need to adress the setup menu before you get everything put together?
Also you can get a DVI converter cable pretty cheap, it just might work, you can take it back if it doesnt.
When the time comes, I'll get the parts from Monoprice (if they're in stock :rolleyes: ) and hope for a customer friendly return policy if necessary.


And I am sorry if you misunderstood my posting of the new yammie info.
One of the best bargains is usually a closeout model, the tech just never changes
that much, just thought you'd like to check out the "new" guard, a receiver
is expensive and will be around for awhile:1:
No problem. Still seems strange that Yamaha would consider it the next gen top-of-the-line receiver when so much is subtracted from it.

[f0rge]

No problem. Still seems strange that Yamaha would consider it the next gen top-of-the-line receiver when so much is subtracted from it.

i'm still not buying that this is the new top of the line, didn't the Z11 just come out a few months ago?

i'm thinking it's the top of the line for the mainstream receivers, and the 1800, 3800 and Z11 will continue to be the "audiophile" receivers.

[pixelthis]

i'm still not buying that this is the new top of the line, didn't the Z11 just come out a few months ago?

i'm thinking it's the top of the line for the mainstream receivers, and the 1800, 3800 and Z11 will continue to be the "audiophile" receivers.


you are right, the z11 is a specialty receiver with ELEVEN channels, why, god only knows.
And the lack of a detachable power cord and other perks is troubling, although it does still have 12 volt triggers, and I beleive, USB.
btw rich have you tried using the receivers front display?
TAKES A LITTLE PRACTICE and you need to remember where you are but it does work
When I STILL USED THE COMPONET switching on my receiver sometimes the power would go off and you need to reset it from the default (composite) to see anything on componet. My front display came in handy:1:

[shokhead]

Build quality.....screw the features for a second. I had the 661 for a sec, and 1700/2700 was a much better quality. I'm thinking same goes for the 863/3800. I'm sure the 863 is nice and all but the 3800 seems to be a step above it.

And man are they ugly. I love the clean look of my 2700.

Hide all the dang buttons.....why they spreaded out all over the place :nono:

I think there is more difference between the 863 and 1800 then the 1800 and the 3800.

[GMichael]

I think there is more difference between the 863 and 1800 then the 1800 and the 3800.

I agree. A quick check on the weights can be very telling sometimes. All three have about the same dementions. But the 863 is 26.2 pounds. The 1800 is 37.3 lbs and the 3800 is 38.4 lbs.

[pixelthis]

Build quality.....screw the features for a second. I had the 661 for a sec, and 1700/2700 was a much better quality. I'm thinking same goes for the 863/3800. I'm sure the 863 is nice and all but the 3800 seems to be a step above it.

And man are they ugly. I love the clean look of my 2700.

Hide all the dang buttons.....why they spreaded out all over the place :nono:


I had some QC peoblems with my last yammie also (a rxv800) which is why I wont be buying another.
Speakers are whats most important for the sound of your system, but the receiver is key to having an integrated troublefree experience:1:

[Rich-n-Texas]

I had some QC peoblems with my last yammie also (a rxv800) which is why I wont be buying another...
How many times has he told us that now? Maybe this many:
1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 :rolleyes:

[GMichael]

How many times has he told us that now? Maybe this many:
1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 :rolleyes:
My guess is that he has mentioned his one issue with Yamaha more times than there have ever been any issues with any Yamaha ever, anywhere in the world.

[L.J.]

I had some QC peoblems with my last yammie also (a rxv800) which is why I wont be buying another.

Never had a AVR go bad on me. I gotta 8 maybe 9 year old JVC AVR running some Vegas in the garage. Every thing else(Onkyo, Denon) has some years on it. Heck, my 11 year old VCR still runs like a champ. You gotta take better care of your stuff man :p



Speakers are whats most important for the sound of your system, but the receiver is key to having an integrated troublefree experience:1:

You keep making statements like that and people are gonna start to think you know what the heck your talking about :ciappa:

[Rich-n-Texas]

And now, without any further adeu...

[pixelthis]

Never had a AVR go bad on me. I gotta 8 maybe 9 year old JVC AVR running some Vegas in the garage. Every thing else(Onkyo, Denon) has some years on it. Heck, my 11 year old VCR still runs like a champ. You gotta take better care of your stuff man :p


A friend hooked some vegas up to his receiver, didnt think a receiver could throw up.
And how is related to "caring " for stuff when its broke outta the box?
A lesson, if your new toy acts squirrley (like sir talky) but them straightens out dont give in to wishfull thinking just because you want to play with your new toy.
THE PROBLEM popped back up THREE years later, its not a question of "takin care of my stuff", my stuff has to last so I take meticulous care of it



You keep making statements like that and people are gonna start to think you know what the heck your talking about :ciappa:

Not on THIS board, havent found anyone yet who really understands much about ANYTHING

And yes I have brought up the bad digital board on my yammie quite a bit
but it takes a lot of repetition to teach an ape ANYTHING:1:

[Rich-n-Texas]

Uhhh... I may have a hairy back but I ain't no ape. :rolleyes:

[f0rge]

pix you're a wierd cat, you go on and on about this problem with your one yamaha, even going almost as far a insulting another member for purchasing one, but then you push everyone to buy an onkyo/integra, which have many stories all over the net about reliability problems...

does that make sense to you?

[GMichael]

pix you're a wierd cat, you go on and on about this problem with your one yamaha, even going almost as far a insulting another member for purchasing one, but then you push everyone to buy an onkyo/integra, which have many stories all over the net about reliability problems...

does that make sense to you?

Are you trying to make him think logically?:idea:

[Rich-n-Texas]

He'll see the light eventually GM. We all do sooner or later. :idea:

HEY! Congrats on 8K posts dude. Can't imagine what this place would be like without ya! :thumbsup:

[Rich-n-Texas]

So do I come across as "self-involved" in this or any other thread I've started about my receiver? IMO, it's bad form to ignore others' questions or responses in general. Just a natural tendency I guess.

[GMichael]

He'll see the light eventually GM. We all do sooner or later. :idea:

HEY! Congrats on 8K posts dude. Can't imagine what this place would be like without ya! :thumbsup:

8k? Oh cool. Thanks Tex.

[L.J.]

A friend hooked some vegas up to his receiver, didnt think a receiver could throw up.
And how is related to "caring " for stuff when its broke outta the box?
A lesson, if your new toy acts squirrley (like sir talky) but them straightens out dont give in to wishfull thinking just because you want to play with your new toy.
THE PROBLEM popped back up THREE years later, its not a question of "takin care of my stuff", my stuff has to last so I take meticulous care of it

Well I see you finally got that quote thing figured out. Good for you!

No, I'm pretty sure there was nothing wrong with your Yammie. Sounds like a user problem to me.



Not on THIS board, havent found anyone yet who really understands much about ANYTHING

And yes I have brought up the bad digital board on my yammie quite a bit
but it takes a lot of repetition to teach an ape ANYTHING:1:

Hmmm....ever stop to think that maybe it's not everyone else who's off a bit. I mean, if I was crazy....would I know it :smile5:

[f0rge]

So do I come across as "self-involved" in this or any other thread I've started about my receiver? IMO, it's bad form to ignore others' questions or responses in general. Just a natural tendency I guess.

no i would not say self involved

[Rich-n-Texas]

...Hmmm....ever stop to think that maybe it's not everyone else who's off a bit. I mean, if I was crazy....would I know it :smile5:
:lol: Let me tell you about my sister L.J. (I know... uncalled for, but if y'all only knew).

Thanks f0rge. I feel better now. :biggrin5:

[pixelthis]

Well I see you finally got that quote thing figured out. Good for you!

[QUOTE]No, I'm pretty sure there was nothing wrong with your Yammie. Sounds like a user problem to me.

oh NO THERE WASNT ANYTHING "WRONG", just a bad cap on the digital board.
When the prob first surfaced it was only with digital inputs




Hmmm....ever stop to think that maybe it's not everyone else who's off a bit. I mean, if I was crazy....would I know it :smile5:


You havent figured it out YET, but dont worry, GM is just as clueless as you :1:

[pixelthis]

:1:
pix you're a wierd cat, you go on and on about this problem with your one yamaha, even going almost as far a insulting another member for purchasing one, but then you push everyone to buy an onkyo/integra, which have many stories all over the net about reliability problems...

does that make sense to you?


When have I "pushed" anyone into buying an Integra/onkyo?
I have had one for four years with NO problems whatsoever , NONE.
Thats a pretty good service record but, even more important my Integra has some real audiophile features, high current amps, a real phono stage worthy of serious consideration,
and usable features like CD direct, 12v triggers, net connectivity.
A lot have these today, but I bought this one four years ago.
AND I might kid rich but he really made a decent purchase.
But I garentee ya, a modern day yamaha isnt even close to what they used to turn out,
and even rich will agree on me with that.
A new "ht" receiver is nice, but I miss the day when you could get an audiophile grade receiver from a "mainstream" manufacturer

[GMichael]

You havent figured it out YET, but dont worry, GM is just as clueless as you :1:

Coming from you, I'll take that as a compliment. Seems that all the people you call clueless have about 50 IQ points over you.
The few people you do agree with are, well... about as bright as a black hole.

[GMichael]

I miss the day when you could get an audiophile grade receiver from a "mainstream" manufacturer

Anyone who calls himself a true Audiophile would laugh his a$$ off at this statement.

[Rich-n-Texas]

Coming from you, I'll take that as a compliment. Seems that all the people you call clueless have about 50 IQ points over you.
The few people you do agree with are, well... about as bright as a black hole.
Insulting me in my own thread. Sheesh! :rolleyes:

[GMichael]

Insulting me in my own thread. Sheesh! :rolleyes:

Are you saying that you and Pix agree? :17:

[bobsticks]

Are you saying that you and Pix agree? :17:


No, but they fight like an old married couple.

[Rich-n-Texas]

"Stop the hate"

:smilewinkgrin:

[GMichael]

No, but they fight like an old married couple.

You make a good point.

[Rich-n-Texas]

Are you saying that you and Pix agree? :17:
No, I'm saying he agrees with me. The two aren't mutually inclusive.

[GMichael]

No, I'm saying he agrees with me. The two aren't mutually inclusive.

Don't try to wigged out of it now buddy. We all see what's going on here. You and Pix have been.... (these words have been deleted for being too gross for PG13 viewing)

[Rich-n-Texas]

Yeah? I saw what you and SVI were doing, so...

I suspect your picture will be his next wallpaper on his computer. :rolleyes:

[bobsticks]

Yeah? I saw what you and SVI were doing, so...

I suspect your picture will be his next wallpaper on his computer. :rolleyes:

...with a pair of your gloves on?

[Luvin Da Blues]

Yeah? I saw what you and SVI were doing, so...

I suspect your picture will be his next wallpaper on his computer. :rolleyes:


Let's hope that his new speakers aren't ported. :nonod:

[GMichael]

Yeah? I saw what you and SVI were doing, so...

I suspect your picture will be his next wallpaper on his computer. :rolleyes:

If I was ever going to swing that way, JM would get first crack at it (if he would have me).

Pun was absolutely intended.

[Rich-n-Texas]

Oh I get it. First crack at it. :lol:

STICKS!!! I can't see your responses with that bizzaro picture flashing at me. Can you tone it down a little? :eek:

[bobsticks]

RAWK!!!

[L.J.]

[QUOTE=L.J.]Well I see you finally got that quote thing figured out. Good for you!



oh NO THERE WASNT ANYTHING "WRONG", just a bad cap on the digital board.
When the prob first surfaced it was only with digital inputs






You havent figured it out YET, but dont worry, GM is just as clueless as you :1:

Well you had the quote thing figured out for sec at least :lol:

What is there to figure out exactly? Do you really think that your word is final? Do you even know what your talking about? You ramble on & on but man...it doesn't make any sense.

BTW, I was joking around about the Yammie thing. It's waaaay to easy to get you flared up. You gotta lighten up man.

[Rich-n-Texas]

Okay, let me try to get this back on track...

It was pointed out in another thread that you can load a s/w program on a PC/laptop that will allow you to control the receiver with "Receiver Manager".

If this is available for the 3800 it would solve my issue about turning on the TV to use the receiver's OSD. I checked Yamaha's website under Support ==> Utilities and Downloads but found nothing along those lines. Is that manager s/w a third party utility?

[L.J.]

Okay, let me try to get this back on track...

It was pointed out in another thread that you can load a s/w program on a PC/laptop that will allow you to control the receiver with "Receiver Manager".

If this is available for the 3800 it would solve my issue about turning on the TV to use the receiver's OSD. I checked Yamaha's website under Support ==> Utilities and Downloads but found nothing along those lines. Is that manager s/w a third party utility?

Rich, you should probably post this on the 3800 thread at AVS. The 2700 thread had all the info & links available. The thread may have a couple thousand posts but where else you gonna find 2K people who all own the same product as you.

Let me know what you find out.

[Rich-n-Texas]

True. Very true L.J. Can you tell that site is somewhat intimidating to me? (I avoid it cause the threads are sooooooooooo loooooooooooong...

[f0rge]

just googled the AVS forums and here you go rich:

http://www.yamahapab.com/stats/Access_Statistics.htm

or if you're too lazy to search through all those programs

rx-v3800: http://www.yamahapab.com/assets/downloads/exefiles/ReceiverManager3800_v103.zip (direct download link)

[Rich-n-Texas]

F0rge, I just found it also and sent the link to my home computer. Thanks. It's interesting that people can even access the Yamaha Product Advisory Board website let alone going deeper into it without being a retailer or sales rep.

[Rich-n-Texas]

Well, I have the software installed on my laptop, but I forgot to bring home a null-modem cable. :o In the meantime I'll go through the tabs and get acclimated to it, but it looks like it's just the thing to allow me to leave the TV off. Heck, NOW I can go buy an inexpensive LCD computer monitor, and I'll have accomplished what I originally intended to do.

Wonder what else they got on that site... :ihih:

[pixelthis]

[QUOTE=pixelthis]

Well you had the quote thing figured out for sec at least :lol:

What is there to figure out exactly? Do you really think that your word is final? Do you even know what your talking about? You ramble on & on but man...it doesn't make any sense.

BTW, I was joking around about the Yammie thing. It's waaaay to easy to get you flared up. You gotta lighten up man.


SORRY, I meant no offense.
But HT gear is expensive , and not taking care of it, well that is a major insult in my circle.
AND HAVE YOU THOUGHT THAT maybe its not "rambling" on my part but your train of thought taking a dirt road on YOUR part.
And what I say IS the last word, didn't you get the memo?:1:

[pixelthis]

Anyone who calls himself a true Audiophile would laugh his a$$ off at this statement.

Everybody on this site knows how clueless you are, you dont have to give any more evidence like this statement.
My first serious receiver had 35 wpc, was a yamaha, had a genuine brushed aluminum
faceplate and beautiful craftsmanship, including a woodgrain cabinet.
The FM tuner was a real tuner, the circuits were totally discrete and looked hand assembled, and the controls were silky smooth.
It was a true piece of audiophile gear, made in Japan.
And the power supply was as big as the one in my current seven channel rig
One by one audio companies have sold out to what is called "the mass market".
Even holdouts like CAMBRIDGE , NAD, ROTEL, etc have their stuff made in China,
mostly.
Most now sell stuff primarily geared to HT, and nothing wrong with that, they had to do it to surrive.
But the tech hasnt advanced THAT much, you can tell me that you can put seven amps
in a box with a shared power supply, all putting out 130 wpc with .05 % THD if you want to,
but truth is, this is a creation of the marketing dept, these new "receivers" are like whiskey, they are meant to be sold, not used.
Turn up the vollume with them under load, turn it ALL the way up and walk off,
see how long your new toy will stay in spec (or even keep from melting down).
I have never had to turn mine up much past halfway, and this is what they are counting on,
and they are good at what they do, but compare any new receiver with a "vintage"
piece of gear and most wont measure up.
You want a piece of true audiophile gear you have to find a true audio shop,
and pay a pretty price.
Most new receivers compromise on power supplies, some have IC CHIPS in their so called "discrete " amps(notice they never mention this word much anymore?) and the faceplates are cleverly crafted plastic, as is the switchgear.
Their is no such thing as a free lunch, the number one law of the universe.
A lot has been gained with these new receivers, and a lot has been lost:1:

[Rich-n-Texas]

F0rge, I just found it also and sent the link to my home computer. Thanks. It's interesting that people can even access the Yamaha Product Advisory Board website let alone going deeper into it without being a retailer or sales rep.
Not anymore. Looks like they took that site down. I think I got the s/w just in time. There wasn't a users manual for the 3800 available but I did get the 2700 manual and for the most part they seem to be about the same. :yesnod:

[GMichael]

Everybody on this site knows how clueless you are, you dont have to give any more evidence like this statement.
My first serious receiver had 35 wpc, was a yamaha, had a genuine brushed aluminum
faceplate and beautiful craftsmanship, including a woodgrain cabinet.
The FM tuner was a real tuner, the circuits were totally discrete and looked hand assembled, and the controls were silky smooth.
It was a true piece of audiophile gear, made in Japan.
And the power supply was as big as the one in my current seven channel rig
One by one audio companies have sold out to what is called "the mass market".
Even holdouts like CAMBRIDGE , NAD, ROTEL, etc have their stuff made in China,
mostly.
Most now sell stuff primarily geared to HT, and nothing wrong with that, they had to do it to surrive.
But the tech hasnt advanced THAT much, you can tell me that you can put seven amps
in a box with a shared power supply, all putting out 130 wpc with .05 % THD if you want to,
but truth is, this is a creation of the marketing dept, these new "receivers" are like whiskey, they are meant to be sold, not used.
Turn up the vollume with them under load, turn it ALL the way up and walk off,
see how long your new toy will stay in spec (or even keep from melting down).
I have never had to turn mine up much past halfway, and this is what they are counting on,
and they are good at what they do, but compare any new receiver with a "vintage"
piece of gear and most wont measure up.
You want a piece of true audiophile gear you have to find a true audio shop,
and pay a pretty price.
Most new receivers compromise on power supplies, some have IC CHIPS in their so called "discrete " amps(notice they never mention this word much anymore?) and the faceplates are cleverly crafted plastic, as is the switchgear.
Their is no such thing as a free lunch, the number one law of the universe.
A lot has been gained with these new receivers, and a lot has been lost:1:

You speak for everyone on this site now? I think not.
If you'd pay attention in the least you'd see that the people who call themselves true audiophiles would have nothing to do with a receiver. It's a good thing that I don't call myself any kind of audiophile. I like my receiver and have nothing against anyone else's. But audiophiles wouldn't buy a receiver. Pay attention to the world around you. You're missing it.

[Rich-n-Texas]

I tried one last time this weekend to get music from my PC over my home network to my receiver, but at this point I've given up. I just can't figure out where the receiver is looking on my hard drive when it finds files, and even when it lists artists, titles...etc, it doesn't always play the songs anyway. I get "connect error". I spent a fair amount of time on the AVS forum; some people do have a similar issue, but others have different issues relating to the PC/MusiCAST feature, so maybe at some point I'll contact Yamaha CS.

The Receiver Manager software tool seems to be working for me; so far I'm able to play around with settings using it with the TV off so that's an accomplishment. At some point I envision having a laptop sitting on a lower shelf of the coffee table with a small LCD monitor and wireless mouse on top.

Anyway, I got out the Simpson SPL meter yesterday and went into manual settings mode to check speaker levels. I used the receiver test tone and to my astonishment, the right front speaker level was nearly 5 dB down from the left front. To acheive a 70 dB reading on the meter for the right speaker, I have to set it with about a 5 dB increase over the left. Why is the difference so great? Is this another room acoustics issue? I haven't posted a diagram of the room layout yet, so to describe it: to the left of the left speaker there is a large loveseat and more square footage than to the right of the right speaker. The right side of the room has a wall about three feet away from the right speaker, no acoustic treatments yet except for a CD/DVD storage unit, a picture on the wall. a small artificial tree and a pole lamp. If it's not a room acoustics issue, what could it be? (Speaker polarity is correct)

[GMichael]

Sorry to see that your computer and receiver are still not talking nice. I'm sure you'll get them on the same page in time.

As far as the speaker levels, yeah, it could be the room. It's hard to tell from here. Did the auto-set up have the same result? How far off was it from what you found?

[Rich-n-Texas]

The YPAO light on the receiver was off, so those settings were gone. You'd probably smack me for this, but I do remember fiddling with the speaker levels using the "level" button on the remote, but I'm certain I kept the same ratio for each speaker. I'll run the auto EQ tonite to get back into the ballpark then check again with the meter.

The one question that always comes up in my mind though when I'm using a meter is where the heck does the master volume need to be set when I'm running test tones? When the meter reads 70 dB, should the volume indicator on the setup menu display read right around 0 dB for each speaker? The volume adjustment range for each one is -10 to +10. I mean, if I set the master volume to -20 dB, I'll never get the test tone to read 70 dB on the meter. Am I making any sense?

[f0rge]

rich what program do you use on your computer? itunes or something else?

if you're using itunes, go pick up an airport express and a correct toslink cable to use the optical out. give it a shot, after trying many products this is what i ended up with. just make sure you get the toslink cable, the airport express' DAC sucks.

[GMichael]

The YPAO light on the receiver was off, so those settings were gone. You'd probably smack me for this, but I do remember fiddling with the speaker levels using the "level" button on the remote, but I'm certain I kept the same ratio for each speaker. I'll run the auto EQ tonite to get back into the ballpark then check again with the meter.

The one question that always comes up in my mind though when I'm using a meter is where the heck does the master volume need to be set when I'm running test tones? When the meter reads 70 dB, should the volume indicator on the setup menu display read right around 0 dB for each speaker? The volume adjustment range for each one is -10 to +10. I mean, if I set the master volume to -20 dB, I'll never get the test tone to read 70 dB on the meter. Am I making any sense?

You didn't save the settings from the first run? What are all those memory settings for? No smacking though. It just means that you get to go through it again. You'll have to start over after you add room acustices anyhow.

[Rich-n-Texas]

Actually f0rge, I think the problem may have to do with the fact that I have WMP (the program I'm using), iTunes as well as my sound card's Media organizer s/w installed on my computer. I noticed with the latest spin of iTunes software there's a box you can check to allow media sharing over the network, but I didn't have any success with that, nor did I expect to. I'll have to Google "airport express" 'cause I don't know what that is, but again, a call to CS will be the first next step.

[Rich-n-Texas]

Well, getting the hang of using the memory feature as well as recalling the saved settings is taking some getting used to right now. :o

[GMichael]

On mine it's on the first level in. When you first turn on the settings display, go to the bottom. Should be a memory feature there. That's where you can choose to save or load. When you run the auto-set-up it should ask you if you want to save the settings. After making any manual changes, just back out of the menue to the first level and go back to the memory section. Save in whatever spot (1-6) you want. It will ask you if you are sure and you'll have to enter (or select) again.

You should be able to load memory settings 1 or 2 without even opening the settings screen. Check your remote. On mine, just below where you choose DTS or DD etc there are two buttoms labled memory 1 and memory 2. If you push one, it will ask you to push it again if you are sure. Then after you push again it will load whatever settings you have saved in the 1 or 2 slot. You'll want to keep your favorite settings saved there for easy access.

[f0rge]

Actually f0rge, I think the problem may have to do with the fact that I have WMP (the program I'm using), iTunes as well as my sound card's Media organizer s/w installed on my computer. I noticed with the latest spin of iTunes software there's a box you can check to allow media sharing over the network, but I didn't have any success with that, nor did I expect to. I'll have to Google "airport express" 'cause I don't know what that is, but again, a call to CS will be the first next step.

itunes sharing only shares your library to other computers on the network through itunes, itunes itself would be the only way to access the "shared" files.

the airport express is a little box you put beside your receiver, it hooks up to your wireless networks and lets you stream music wirelessly to your receiver directly from itunes. once an AE is detected by itunes it will give you the option of playing music through the computer speakers or sending it to the AE to play through your stereo.

nice part is that if you have other computers in the house, (ie kids, or destop and laptop) each computer has the ability to stream to the receiver.

the only weakness is that you have to control it all from a computer with itunes on it, so it can be a bit cumbersome if you dont have a computer in the stereo room or a laptop.

alternatively you could also look into getting an AppleTV, which will give you access to your whole itunes library (including videos) from your TV, output via HDMI to your receiver. it also allows you to rent movies via itunes.

if you have questions just ask, i've spent a lot of time figuring out how to get music from my PC to my stereo.

[L.J.]

I tried one last time this weekend to get music from my PC over my home network to my receiver, but at this point I've given up. I just can't figure out where the receiver is looking on my hard drive when it finds files, and even when it lists artists, titles...etc, it doesn't always play the songs anyway. I get "connect error". I spent a fair amount of time on the AVS forum; some people do have a similar issue, but others have different issues relating to the PC/MusiCAST feature, so maybe at some point I'll contact Yamaha CS.


I thought you had it working.

[Rich-n-Texas]

It was working L.J., but I wanted to understand why it would play some files but with others it'd give me a connect error. I completely re-vamped my entire file structure thinking things would change at the receiver, but it was still the same songs, artists and connect errors. I mean, I'm glad that I'd finally gotten all my music on my PC organized, but nothing changed at the receiver, and I just can't understand why. I went as far as moving an MP3 music folder to the "Documents and Settings" folder above the "My Music" folder; the receiver saw and played the songs, but when I moved a WMA music folder up to the same location, both folders had dissappeared the next time I looked at the receiver.

I'm not really one to throw good money after bad, but if I can't get a resolution through Yamaha CS, I'll just buy myself a little USB Flash drive and go that route.

[pixelthis]

You speak for everyone on this site now? I think not.
If you'd pay attention in the least you'd see that the people who call themselves true audiophiles would have nothing to do with a receiver. It's a good thing that I don't call myself any kind of audiophile. I like my receiver and have nothing against anyone else's. But audiophiles wouldn't buy a receiver. Pay attention to the world around you. You're missing it.

ACTUALLY there are quite a few "receivers" out there that are audiophile quality, but finding one can be difficult.
Which proves my point, the word "receiver" wasnt always a bad word in audiophile circles
But you are right, today most so called "audiophiles" wouldnt look twice at any receiver.
And by audiophile I am talking about one who looks for musical accuracy, not a
tube worshiper who thinks the 5 % DISTORTION OF even the best SET (single end triode)
is "warm".
BTW I am including integrated amps in this, because FM is such a joke these days that
the very concept of "receiver" has become somewhat archaic.
The FM tuner on most "receivers" is generally ignored and about as usefull as boobs on a boar hog.
IT MIGHT EVEN BE ARGUED that todays modern HT "receiver" is actually control center
for a video display system with a conveinence FM on a chip thrown in .:1:

[Rich-n-Texas]

FM? If I want to hear some jack-off attempt to deceive me into buying some crap during the every-other-minute commercial time, I'll watch in on TV. At least in some cases there's a good looking blonde with big boobs holding the junk in her hands.

[GMichael]

You know, I think my receiver DOES have FM. Something called AM too! Remember them? Can't recall the last time I used either.

[f0rge]

i dont even use FM in my car...with cds, mp3 cds, ipods and satellite radio, why would you ever listen to 20+ minutes of commercials every hour?

1987 called, they want their technology back

hell i barely even use my CD player anymore, it accounts for about 1% of my total listening.

[f0rge]

anyway, back on topic.

Rich did you ever get that computer setup program working?

[Rich-n-Texas]

Yes. I have a laptop at home that I installed the Receiver Manager s/w on, and am having some fun with it. Only problem is the serial cable is pretty short. IIRC, RS-232 comm. specs list a maximum length for cables, but I'd have to look it up. Guys told me here at work that a "Port Extender" can be purchased which will convert RS-232 to ethernet. This would allow me (since I already have a CAT5 cable run to my PC in the other room) to use my main rig to hold the RMS. That's okay in some cases but in others I'd need to be in the same room as the receiver when tweaking. After I finish with room furnishings/treatments, I'm going to price out a 15" - 17" LCD PC monitor which I'll put on the table right next to my Cosmo Kramer Coffee Table book. :thumbsup:

[L.J.]

It was working L.J., but I wanted to understand why it would play some files but with others it'd give me a connect error. I completely re-vamped my entire file structure thinking things would change at the receiver, but it was still the same songs, artists and connect errors. I mean, I'm glad that I'd finally gotten all my music on my PC organized, but nothing changed at the receiver, and I just can't understand why. I went as far as moving an MP3 music folder to the "Documents and Settings" folder above the "My Music" folder; the receiver saw and played the songs, but when I moved a WMA music folder up to the same location, both folders had dissappeared the next time I looked at the receiver.

I'm not really one to throw good money after bad, but if I can't get a resolution through Yamaha CS, I'll just buy myself a little USB Flash drive and go that route.

I hooked mine up again yesterday for the heck of it with some Netgear powerline adapters I had laying around. Everything popped on and is working great. Somethings up with the WMA files. Most of my downloaded music is MP3 and works fine. I can't get the WMA to work on my yammie or PS3.

I don't have alot ofWMA files so I'm not trippin'. Net radio is working fine so it's all good. I told you the networking interface on the yammie SUCK. You should be able to go into your hard drive and play specific folders like the PS3.If you have a couple thousand songs downloaded like I do, good luck finding anything. I guess you can create playlists on WMP and go that route. The PS3 is soo much easier though.

And why are you trying to avoid turning your TV on to stream music?

[GMichael]

I

And why are you trying to avoid turning your TV on to stream music?

It has a lamp life. Turning them on and off for short periods will screw-up it's lifespan.

But don't remind Pixy. "See? I told you that LCD was the only way to go. Everything else is dead. Why don't any of the idiots on this stupid site ever listen to me?" :mad2: :1:

[Rich-n-Texas]

GM is correct on both counts. And to answer your question G... it's because we're all oxymorons.

I swear, I'm going to go buy a PS3 just to get him to... Leave Me Alone :cryin:

[L.J.]

I swear, I'm going to go buy a PS3 just to get him to... Leave Me Alone :cryin:

Well it would take care of both your BR & streaming needs. Sounds like a no brainer to me :idea:

The networking abilities of your 3800 wouldn't go to waste since you would still have access to the net radio. I was listening to some nice smooth jazz earlier. Good stuff.

[L.J.]

It has a lamp life. Turning them on and off for short periods will screw-up it's lifespan.



Really, I didn't know that. Shorten by how much, a few months, a year?

Why not just by another lamp....stop being so cheap people?

I have a 5 year warranty that includes lamp replacement so I guess I'll worry 'bout that later.

[GMichael]

I was listening to some nice smooth jazz earlier. Good stuff.
That's my new favorite channel.:15:

[GMichael]

Really, I didn't know that. Shorten by how much, a few months, a year?

Why not just by another lamp....stop being so cheap people?

I have a 5 year warranty that includes lamp replacement so I guess I'll worry 'bout that later.


The manual just says not to do it.

[Rich-n-Texas]

I was listening to some smooth jazz the other day myself. It was the local Dallas station as a matter of fact. There sure are plenty of stations out there; way more than I ever expected. Bookmarking is a nice feature too.

[Rich-n-Texas]

A new lamp costs almost as much as a PS3 L.J. :eek:

[L.J.]

I was listening to some smooth jazz the other day myself. It was the local Dallas station as a matter of fact. There sure are plenty of stations out there; way more than I ever expected. Bookmarking is a nice feature too.

Ooww, I haven't tried that yet. Man I love this Yammie. I haven't even fully explored all it's features yet :yikes:

I still gotta go in and set my memory, not to mention run my YPAO eventually.

[Rich-n-Texas]

I love mine too, but keep in mind, it's a "Mass Marketed" receiver; wasn't built with "hand picked" components so it's not very good quality. :nonod:

[GMichael]

I love mine too, but keep in mind, it's a "Mass Marketed" receiver; wasn't built with "hand picked" components so it's not very good quality. :nonod:

Your hand was too busy picking your nose.

[Rich-n-Texas]

BTW and to get off topic for a bit, I watched a concert on HD NET the other night featuring Macie Grey(sp?). Her songs weren't rock/pop, not Hip-Hop/R&B, not blues, so the conclusion I came to was jazz music. Am I correct? Whatever, I liked it!

There's a Sammy Hagar concert this weekend and I've got the DVR set to go.

[Rich-n-Texas]

Your hand was too busy picking your nose.
No GM, I don't pick components out of my nose! :rolleyes:

[f0rge]

i just assumed internet radio was going to suck, is it good?

commercial free?

maybe i should set that up

[Rich-n-Texas]

Some stations are commercial free, some aren't. I was listening over the weekend to a Philly radio station I grew up with, 94 WYSP and it was regular commercial programming, but I also have "Pink Floyd Rock-O-Roma" bookmarked which I listen to A LOT and is commercial free. Sound quality for the stations I've listened so far are just okay.

[pixelthis]

Really, I didn't know that. Shorten by how much, a few months, a year?

Why not just by another lamp....stop being so cheap people?

I have a 5 year warranty that includes lamp replacement so I guess I'll worry 'bout that later.


"ANOTHER LAMP", sure, no problem, another 200-300 bucks.
Oh, and dont forget, the last six months or so the output really degrades, you need a new one for optimal pic quality.
When you turn one on you have to leave it on for at least 15 min, its warming up-cooling down repeatly that shortens its life.
But no matter how many precautions you take you will still need a new one after at least 2 to 3 years.
Theres a reason these sets are dying on the vine.
AND RICH, WHY COMPLICATE THINGS?
Get a USB dac , something like a FUBAR, it will output high q sound directly to your receiver, no fuss, no muss:1:

[Rich-n-Texas]

Reviving this dead thread in an attempt to keep my ramblings centrally located. Too bad it follows pixies usual DLP rant comments. :rolleyes:

Here's a question that might not easily be answered... Some of you are aware that I'm bi-amping my mains using the receiver's Surround Back speaker outs. I connected each set of terminals per the drawing in the manual, which shows the top set (HF crossover) connected to the Front L & R, and the bottom set (LF crossover) connected to Surround Back. Okay, that's fine BUT, how does YPAO treat the LF connection? When I check the results, the Surround Back data and graphs are greyed out (yes I have "BI-AMP" turned on in the setup menu), so that tells me it's ignoring anything connected to those terminals. If this is so, how will I be able to make equalizer changes to the base & midrange speakers? In fact, I can't make level adjustments or distance (although the reason for that is obvious) to the LF speakers.

I want to, as was discussed by GM & L.J.(whose input I value highly FYI), run the room EQ, go into the manual setup and change all results to flat, and then try making frequency adjustments (which will be another topic altogether... :rolleyes: ), at each channel.

This has been bugging me since the first time I ran the auto-EQ, and hopefully my questions are clear. I haven't at this point found anything in the manuel that clearly addresses this equation.

[GMichael]

Reviving this dead thread in an attempt to keep my ramblings centrally located. Too bad it follows pixies usual DLP rant comments. :rolleyes:

Here's a question that might not easily be answered... Some of you are aware that I'm bi-amping my mains using the receiver's Surround Back speaker outs. I connected each set of terminals per the drawing in the manual, which shows the top set (HF crossover) connected to the Front L & R, and the bottom set (LF crossover) connected to Surround Back. Okay, that's fine BUT, how does YPAO treat the LF connection? When I check the results, the Surround Back data and graphs are greyed out (yes I have "BI-AMP" turned on in the setup menu), so that tells me it's ignoring anything connected to those terminals. If this is so, how will I be able to make equalizer changes to the base & midrange speakers? In fact, I can't make level adjustments or distance (although the reason for that is obvious) to the LF speakers.

I want to, as was discussed by GM & L.J.(whose input I value highly FYI), run the room EQ, go into the manual setup and change all results to flat, and then try making frequency adjustments (which will be another topic altogether... :rolleyes: ), at each channel.

This has been bugging me since the first time I ran the auto-EQ, and hopefully my questions are clear. I haven't at this point found anything in the manuel that clearly addresses this equation.

Hmmmm... Seems like turn on the Bi-amp and make sure A and B speakers are both on should do it. I'd have to check the manual to be sure though.

[Rich-n-Texas]

Maybe I spoke too soon :smilewinkgrin:

As mentioned, in the Advanced Setup menu, I set the BI-AMP on/off setting to on. And, when you say "make sure A & B speakers are both on", what do you mean? Zones two and three don't come into play here.

[GMichael]

Here's the manual. http://www2.yamaha.co.jp/manual/pdf/av/english/re/RX-V3800_U.pdf

I wouldn't use the EQ settings that the YPAO gives though. I'd re-set to flat and then test the room manually with a test CD and Db meter. Then cut the major peeks from the mains and leave the rest alone.

Hah! I love how the manual says that the following are not included with this receiver. Speakers (fronts, center etc....) sub, cables, wires, DVD player, monitor, etc. Must be for the fools who thought it was a HTIB.

Page 126 just says to turn "bi-amp" to "on".

[GMichael]

Maybe I spoke too soon :smilewinkgrin:

As mentioned, in the Advanced Setup menu, I set the BI-AMP on/off setting to on. And, when you say "make sure A & B speakers are both on", what do you mean? Zones two and three don't come into play here.

On my 2500 the manual says to bi-amp hook the mains up to the A and B speaker outputs.
Seems like you have yours right by what I read. Not sure why it won't let you make adjustements.

[L.J.]

I wouldn't use the EQ settings that the YPAO gives though. I'd re-set to flat and then test the room manually with a test CD and Db meter. Then cut the major peeks from the mains and leave the rest alone.


Man I still gotta do that. One of these days. I've been too busy enjoying movies lately :)

So you didn't like the EQ results after running it on the "flat" setting?

[GMichael]

Man I still gotta do that. One of these days. I've been too busy enjoying movies lately :)

So you didn't like the EQ results after running it on the "flat" setting?

Like them? Sure, they were OK. But a little too aggressive for me. I don't like using the EQ to boost low points. I just use it to cut the peeks. Manual testing gave me a flatter response.

[L.J.]

Like them? Sure, they were OK. But a little too aggressive for me. I don't like using the EQ to boost low points. I just use it to cut the peeks. Manual testing gave me a flatter response.

Oh boy.....I can see that your gonna be meticulous with your BFD settings :lol:

Your wife is gonna be like "honey, can we just watch the movie".....and your gonna be like "hold on babe, I just wanna run these test tones one more time.....I'm off by .5db....I can get this flatter, I know I can" :lol: :lol:

[Rich-n-Texas]

I wouldn't use the EQ settings that the YPAO gives though. I'd re-set to flat and then test the room manually with a test CD and Db meter. Then cut the major peeks from the mains and leave the rest alone.
I agree. Test CD? As opposed to the receiver's test tone? And how do I "cut the major peaks"?

Here's the deal... I haven't run the room EQ (just to get a baseline) since moving the recently acquired sofa and loveseat into the room and moving the old loveseat against the wall close to the right speaker. I mentioned before that to get identical levels from the left and right speakers as read on the SPL meter, I had to increase the right channel volume much higher than the left, so now I want to start over again just to see what the results look like from an EQ & speaker level standpoint. Good idea?:idea:

Hah! I love how the manual says that the following are not included with this receiver. Speakers (fronts, center etc....) sub, cables, wires, DVD player, monitor, etc. Must be for the fools who thought it was a HTIB.
I saw that in the manual but didn't really understand why it was mentioned. (Batteries WERE included though)

[GMichael]

Oh boy.....I can see that your gonna be meticulous with your BFD settings :lol:

Your wife is gonna be like "honey, can we just watch the movie".....and your gonna be like "hold on babe, I just wanna run these test tones one more time.....I'm off by .5db....I can get this flatter, I know I can" :lol: :lol:

I'd have to wait until wifey was out of the house. She doesn't know that I dug the test CD out of the garbage yet. She tossed it in after I blew the tweeters out on my brand new Mini's.

[Rich-n-Texas]

Oh boy.....I can see that your gonna be meticulous with your BFD settings :lol:

Your wife is gonna be like "honey, can we just watch the movie".....and your gonna be like "hold on babe, I just wanna run these test tones one more time.....I'm off by .5db....I can get this flatter, I know I can" :lol: :lol:
He's liable to get smacked upside the head if tells her that.

[Rich-n-Texas]

I'd have to wait until wifey was out of the house. She doesn't know that I dug the test CD out of the garbage yet. She tossed it in after I blew the tweeters out on my brand new Mini's.
DAM! I forgot all about that. Thanks for bringing that back up. :ihih:

[GMichael]

DAM! I forgot all about that. Thanks for bringing that back up. :ihih:

It's all good now. But be sure not to go over 70 db while testing your system.

[Rich-n-Texas]

It's all good now. But be sure not to go over 70 db while testing your system.
I'll be sure to keep that in mind. So tell me why you used a test CD instead of the supplied test tone?

[L.J.]

I agree. Test CD? As opposed to the receiver's test tone? And how do I "cut the major peaks"?

Here's the deal... I haven't run the room EQ (just to get a baseline) since moving the recently acquired sofa and loveseat into the room and moving the old loveseat against the wall close to the right speaker. I mentioned before that to get identical levels from the left and right speakers as read on the SPL meter, I had to increase the right channel volume much higher than the left, so now I want to start over again just to see what the results look like from an EQ & speaker level standpoint. Good idea?:idea:

I saw that in the manual but didn't really understand why it was mentioned. (Batteries WERE included though)

What, you think we just know this stuff off the top of our heads :cornut:

Go to page 85/86 in the manual and it explains how to make manual sound adjustments.

[GMichael]

I'll be sure to keep that in mind. So tell me why you used a test CD instead of the supplied test tone?

The supplied test tone is a sweep on all frequencies. Great for level testing. Not so good for manual EQ setting. The CD gives me test tones at a bunch of individual frequencies. I can then keep tract of the level at each frequency and plot a curve. Then I go into the EQ and cut at the frequencies I have peeks at.

[L.J.]

The supplied test tone is a sweep on all frequencies. Great for level testing. Not so good for manual EQ setting. The CD gives me test tones at a bunch of individual frequencies. I can then keep tract of the level at each frequency and plot a curve. Then I go into the EQ and cut at the frequencies I have peeks at.

What CD are you using?

[GMichael]

What CD are you using?

Rives. I think it's the one Kex recomended in the Titanic thread.

[L.J.]

Rives. I think it's the one Kex recomended in the Titanic thread.

OK, that's what I use as well :thumbsup:

Not for the BFD though.....the downloadable tones are provided at the BFD guide website.

[GMichael]

OK, that's what I use as well :thumbsup:

Not for the BFD though.....the downloadable tones are provided at the BFD guide website.
Are those better for the BFD? Why?

[L.J.]

Are those better for the BFD? Why?

The tones are 1/6 octave. They give a looooooong detailed explaination why to use those tones. It's very interesting reading. You may well get started on it now anyways, right.

It starts to make sense after reading it a few times.
http://www.hometheatershack.com/forums/bfdmeasure/

Not bad once you actually start working with it.

[GMichael]

The tones are 1/6 octave. They give a looooooong detailed explaination why to use those tones. It's very interesting reading. You may well get started on it now anyways, right.

It starts to make sense after reading it a few times.
http://www.hometheatershack.com/forums/bfdmeasure/

Not bad once you actually start working with it.

That's a lot of reading to go threw "a few" times. Maybe I don't need a BFD.

I see that the test tones go down to 16 htz. That's one plus.

[L.J.]

That's a lot of reading to go threw "a few" times. Maybe I don't need a BFD.

I see that the test tones go down to 16 htz. That's one plus.

Actually you'd start with this.
http://www.hometheatershack.com/forums/bfdguide/

Then you'd go on to the manual guide I posted above.

It's not bad once you get it hooked up and start working with it though. Run the tones, input the numbers in the chart which produces a graph. Tweak, tweak, tweak. Trust me, if I could do it.........

[GMichael]

Trust me, if I could do it.........

I don't know. Seems a few people around here think I'm about as dumb as a stump. Maybe I won't be able to read all those big words like "graph."

[kexodusc]

I don't know. Seems a few people around here think I'm about as dumb as a stump. Maybe I won't be able to read all those big words like "graph."
Who said that? Want fer I should ruff'em up? :incazzato:
I'll vouch for your savvy...

Bah - GM, these wonderful dudes have taken a lot of time to make the process as quick and painless as possible. It's interesting reading and you'll learn something about your system, room, etc. Start saving your pennies...

You can get big improvements fairly quick and easy with the BFD if you cut even one more peak. It's unreal what it does for music. At least in my acoustic nightmare of a room.

The more you do, the more complex it gets, but what's the rush? You don't have to master it the first day!

[GMichael]

Hey Tex, or Rich, or whoever you are,

Had a thought. Maybe Yamaha is just trying to make it easy on you. I bet that the EQ being displayed for the front mains will control the mids and lows for you.

[GMichael]

Who said that? Want fer I should ruff'em up? :incazzato:
I'll vouch for your savvy...

Bah - GM, these wonderful dudes have taken a lot of time to make the process as quick and painless as possible. It's interesting reading and you'll learn something about your system, room, etc. Start saving your pennies...

You can get big improvements fairly quick and easy with the BFD if you cut even one more peak. It's unreal what it does for music. At least in my acoustic nightmare of a room.

The more you do, the more complex it gets, but what's the rush? You don't have to master it the first day!

Thanks Kex,

I might just muddle through with everyone's help here.

[L.J.]

Thanks Kex,

I might just muddle through with everyone's help here.

Yeah I agree with Kex. Once I started reading it, I got so much into it that I was done before I knew it. It's laid out step by step all the way.

I'm not even done calibrating yet and I've made huge improvements. I've been very lazy lately. Kinda been kicking back and just enjoying my setup lately. Listening to SACD, DVDA, watching movies...all that good stuff :)

Once I get off my butt and finish tweaking, I have another step up in SQ to look foward to.

[kexodusc]

Thanks Kex,

I might just muddle through with everyone's help here.

Pffft...the stuff you've been helping me with is every bit as complicated if not more...piece of cake for ya!

[Rich-n-Texas]

Let's have a bake sale! 50% of all profits go to the GM BFD fund! :thumbsup:

The rest go to ME!

[GMichael]

Thanks guys.

Tex, you've got a deal on that bake sale. I've been getting into baking the last couple of years. Even got good with that tart Bernd showed us how to make.

Did you see my comment on why I think your EQ is greyed out for the surrounds?

[Rich-n-Texas]

Yes, and that's the same conclusion I reluctantly came to as well. I suppose it has to do with the way the surround back amp is connected in the bi-amp mode. Yamaha knows way better than I do so...

[GMichael]

I think it makes it user friendly. Why have to adjust two EQ's for one speaker, just because it's using two amps?

[Rich-n-Texas]

Good point.

You'rs and L.J.'s talk about test CD's reminded me of something. When I subscribed to S&V magazine, I let them talk me into buying their "Home Theater Tune-up" test CD; I played around with the video setup but not the audio tests which I think include the test tones for individual frequencies, so I now have an excuse not to do yardwork today! :ihih:

[GMichael]

It's raining here. Maybe I should switch those video cables.

[Rich-n-Texas]

I spent some time this weekend repositioning my left & right surround speakers, adjusted the distances and levels and I'm resonably comfortable now that I can move past that tweak.

But here comes what I think I may have discovered about my receiver's ability to drive my speakers when all 6 channels are lit. I wanted to see if I had improved the imaging and overall sound quality in the room any so I loaded a Genesis multi-channel CD (A Trick of the Tail) and set it to play in Dolby Digital. There was some imaging improvement, even though I'm not done with room treatments, but the heartbreaker was, and I was warned about this (I think), when lower frequency instruments came into the field, the loudness (volume?) of Phil's voice became lower. The volume in general fluctuated and it was very noticeable. Is this what some of you were talking about when you mentioned the Yamaha will struggle to drive B&W's, and why I need a "high current" amp? Also, could the fact that I'm running about 40' of 12 gauge speaker to connect the left & right surrounds be contributing to this? When I changed the output to 2 channel stereo, all frequency elements of the songs sounded well balanced, but neither 2 channel "straight" mode nor "Pure Direct" mode eliminated the fluctuating volume output. Help?

[GMichael]

An external amp will help with that.
This one would be killer. http://www.emotiva.com/xpa5.html

[bobsticks]

An external amp will help with that.

What Mike said. I thought we talked 'bout this?

Has anyone actually heard the Emotiva?

[Rich-n-Texas]

Well we did, but I've finally heard what the effect of a lack of "high current" sounds like up close and personal. I'm none too happy with what I heard over the weekend.

Don't know if anyone has heard Emotiva amps, I certainly haven't but GM's going to be offering discounts to the first what, 10 who purchase one?

[pixelthis]

I spent some time this weekend repositioning my left & right surround speakers, adjusted the distances and levels and I'm resonably comfortable now that I can move past that tweak.

But here comes what I think I may have discovered about my receiver's ability to drive my speakers when all 6 channels are lit. I wanted to see if I had improved the imaging and overall sound quality in the room any so I loaded a Genesis multi-channel CD (A Trick of the Tail) and set it to play in Dolby Digital. There was some imaging improvement, even though I'm not done with room treatments, but the heartbreaker was, and I was warned about this (I think), when lower frequency instruments came into the field, the loudness (volume?) of Phil's voice became lower. The volume in general fluctuated and it was very noticeable. Is this what some of you were talking about when you mentioned the Yamaha will struggle to drive B&W's, and why I need a "high current" amp? Also, could the fact that I'm running about 40' of 12 gauge speaker to connect the left & right surrounds be contributing to this? When I changed the output to 2 channel stereo, all frequency elements of the songs sounded well balanced, but neither 2 channel "straight" mode nor "Pure Direct" mode eliminated the fluctuating volume output. Help?

Its the law of thermodynamics (the 2nd I beleive) that states
"There aint no such thing as a free lunch"
In the mid eighties I bought a 600 buck top of the line denon, after inflation thats about 1800-2400 bucks.
TWO CHANNELS AT 75 WPC
Now do you really think amp tech has advanced to the point that you can pack seven
channels of over 100 watts each into a small box?
TRUTH is for a lot of the speakers on sale now they will do fine, but for demanding
speakers , well, the one lung power supply that is driving all of them will begin to show its weaknesses.
Your system will do fine for movies and casual listening, for more discerning listening
you need a more stable amp with a more stable power supply.
The problem is that as a newbie you bought an exelent set of speakers, its just as a newbie you didnt know that B&W speakers are notorious power hogs that require nice amps.
This is why I told you you needed better when I first came to this board and
discovered your setup.
I have a similar if smaller problem, really. I bought my Integra brcause it was a "high current" design and while the damping factor, like most receivers, is pathetic,
at least it can hold its own at moderate vollume levels.
But like you I need MORE POWER.
BUT ITS HEARTENING to discover that you are growing in this hobby, and can tell
the shortcomings of certain pieces, which are harder to discern than the best parts sometimes.
And it goes to show that matching speakers to receivers (or amps) which gets paid little attention to these days, [I]isI] still very important.
You can do one of two things, get a better amp and make the yammy a prepro,
probably something like a lowline outlaw seven channel, or (gasp) sell the beemers,
get a more efficent speaker set.
One path will require more cash, one will probably get you to break even.
I wouldnt return the Yammy, it sounds like an exelent pro-pro, I would add amps
(unless theres something wrong with the yammy)
If you do return it, receivers known for their relative high current output are
1.) Harmon
2.) Integra or Onkyo
3.)Nad
4.)rotel.
And congrats on discovering [I]why] this hobby is so expensive (and frustrating) sometimes.
Congrats on moving up the food chain a peg .
OH, and get the ol checkbook out :1:

[burt_burto]

Folks

I hope someone can help.

I can't get the remote for the RX-V3800. To turn on my TV. I have had no trouble programming it for my DVD and CD. But I just can't make it turn on the TV.

Here is what I have done (which may be wrong). Gone to page 107 of the manual and followed these steps;
1. Set the operation mode selector to
SOURCE and then press an input selector
button (1) to select the input area you want
to set up. in this case DTV/CBL

2 Press and hold LEARN for about 3
seconds using a ballpoint pen or similar
object.

3 Press ENTER.
The four-digit code set for the selected component
appears in the display window

4 Press the numeric buttons (6) to enter the
four-digit remote control code for the
component you want to use. (I have a Samsung TV and have tried all of the codes)

5 Press ENTER to set the number.
“OK” appears in the display window (B) on the
remote control if setting was successful. (and this is what happens)

6 Press LEARN again to exit from the setup
mode.

[Rich-n-Texas]

Valuable input pix. And thanks for the encouragement. A couple of corrections are necessary. I didn't buy the B&W's, I inherited them when an audio development lab here at work was cleaned out. I learned through indirect comments here as well as input from you, Bert and a few others that my speakers were inefficient. As always, I appreciate everyone's input, advice and helpful criticism, and now that I know EXACTLY what is meant by a "one lung", or struggling amp section, and what the actual effects are, I can plot my next strategy. I guess I'm one of those who needs to hear it for myself before I can believe it. or before it finally sinks in.

Mr. Peabody and others have suggested from the beginning that I should go with separates, but the price for the small measure of future-proofing I wanted built in made that route cost prohibitive, simple as that. I got a great deal on the 3800, and no, I have no intention of returning it. Ain't gonna happen. A Rotel or Outlaw or maybe one of them Emotiva amps GM's pushing (waiting for word on the discount buddy) is in the future. Yes, my setup does just fine for movies and that's half the battle, so for everybody's benefit I'm not even going to talk about the next audio purchase until the time comes.

Now, about that PS3... :biggrin5:

[GMichael]

Sorry,
Don't mean to be an Emotiva pusher. They just seem to get great reviews and have great specs for their cost. (Now I feel like SVI). But the general idea of an external amp is sound. And if you do go with an Emotiva, I'll be able to pick your brain for a review.

[pixelthis]

Folks

I hope someone can help.

I can't get the remote for the RX-V3800. To turn on my TV. I have had no trouble programming it for my DVD and CD. But I just can't make it turn on the TV.

Here is what I have done (which may be wrong). Gone to page 107 of the manual and followed these steps;
1. Set the operation mode selector to
SOURCE and then press an input selector
button (1) to select the input area you want
to set up. in this case DTV/CBL

2 Press and hold LEARN for about 3
seconds using a ballpoint pen or similar
object.

3 Press ENTER.
The four-digit code set for the selected component
appears in the display window

4 Press the numeric buttons (6) to enter the
four-digit remote control code for the
component you want to use. (I have a Samsung TV and have tried all of the codes)

5 Press ENTER to set the number.
“OK” appears in the display window (B) on the
remote control if setting was successful. (and this is what happens)

6 Press LEARN again to exit from the setup
mode.


OKAY SON,
listen carefully, OK ?
Set the remote DOWN, and quietly walk away.
I am a universal remote "pusher".
This is because the single best improvement in your systen that you can make
is a universal remote.
Most OEM remotes are, to put it gently, CRAP.
the pressure to pack more and more into a receiver, for example, means that the remote
gets shortchanged, not to mention that a decent remote wouldn't be cost effective.
I PAID FIVE HUNDRED BUCKS FORE MY REMOTE five years ago, still have it,
havent even changed the rechargable battery, when theres a change I PLUG IT INTO MY COMPUTER AND update it to match my system.
You dont need to pay that much for a remote, a harmony or somesuch will probably suffice,
but beleive me, as a former yammy owner I can attest that their remotes SUCK,
are a cross between a medivial torture device and a leftover from the moon race.
Get a decent remote, save your sanity, before its too late :1:

[f0rge]

Rich, why not grab a decent 2 channel amp to power just the 804's? something like a Rotel RMB-1080 or similar with 200wpc should free up the yammer to power the rest of your speakers.

or go 5ch (RMB-1075 5 x 130wpc) and bi-amp the mains and use the 5th channel for the center and the yammer for the rears.

both the 1075 and 1080 are roughly the same price at $700ish on audiogon.

a word of advice, since you're keeping the yamaha i'd stay away from Adcom, i found that combination to be extremely "bright" to the point where i had to turn my treble knob down to compensate. it might have been my speakers too, but i'm still warning you about it anyway.

[f0rge]

actually before you even try that, isnt your receiver 7ch? cant you use the rear surrounds to bi-amp the mains if you're not using rear surrounds?

i'd try that before you start spending more money

[GMichael]

actually before you even try that, isnt your receiver 7ch? cant you use the rear surrounds to bi-amp the mains if you're not using rear surrounds?

i'd try that before you start spending more money

He's doing that now. I think it's the restriction of only having one power supply that is limiting his enjoyment.

[Rich-n-Texas]

f0rge, yes, I am bi-amping my mains currently, and the RMB-1080 does look inviting. I agree that I don't really need a 5 channel amp, and I'm thinking about ways to shorten the length of the wire running up the wall, through the attic and back down the opposite wall that connects the surrounds. I could cut 2/3's of that distance by running the wire under the rug, but the next time I lift the rug I'll most likely be replacing it (I've tried snaking the wire under the rug with unsatisfactory results).

Thanks for the ideas and thanks for giving me something to talk about this afternoon. (This place is like the morgue :rolleyes: )

[Rich-n-Texas]

...so for everybody's benefit I'm not even going to talk about the next audio purchase until the time comes...
Oh. Did I say that? :o

[kexodusc]

He's doing that now. I think it's the restriction of only having one power supply that is limiting his enjoyment.
That's probably part of it.
The other part is just the fact the built in amps in receivers are a great value, but only get you so far in terms of sound quality.
Channel separation, woofer control, noise, and distortion from clipping (which happens a lot more than you'd think even at moderate levels) would all be a bit worse in a receiver. By themselves, some of the traits might not be terribly noticeable with many types of speakers and sources, but I think when you add it all up the cumulative effect is siginificant.

[kexodusc]

Hey Rich, 40 ft of 12 gauge wire is a pretty long run, especially for B&W's, which usually have impedance minimums approaching 4 ohms for significant ranges. As the impedance gets lower the impact of the cable impedance gets relatively more concerning.

I don't want to say shortening the wire will solve your problems but your adding some resistance in series is changing the FR of your speakers, and introducing some reactance as well. Noticeable? Dunno. It'd only be with the surround speakers, and shouldn't have any effect on your front mains. Speakers connected to 40 ft runs would probably show some effect of that on a FR plot though. I don't think it's going to solve the volume loss you described earlier. But if you can cut the length with any amount of ease, it's a good idea. Every bit counts....

[GMichael]

That's probably part of it.
The other part is just the fact the built in amps in receivers are a great value, but only get you so far in terms of sound quality.
Channel separation, woofer control, noise, and distortion from clipping (which happens a lot more than you'd think even at moderate levels) would all be a bit worse in a receiver. By themselves, some of the traits might not be terribly noticeable with many types of speakers and sources, but I think when you add it all up the cumulative effect is siginificant.

Shouldn't you be writing a review of your new amp for us?

[kexodusc]

Shouldn't you be writing a review of your new amp for us?
Patience my friend...

I want to be 100% sure I'm not imagining things, and A/B ing 4 different amps takes some time..

[GMichael]

Patience my friend...

I want to be 100% sure I'm not imagining things, and A/B ing 4 different amps takes some time..

Patience may be a virtue, but I want to know now.

Oh, OK. I'll stick a pin in it.

[kexodusc]

Patience may be a virtue, but I want to know now.

Oh, OK. I'll stick a pin in it.
LOL. You can PM me for my current, unaudited, unofficial early impressions. Or you can wait for a more thorough, possibly more reliable set of findings in the near future.

Any time I get a new toy I have to resist the urge to publically disclose my initial thoughts. I could have written a scathing review blasting the shoddy quality of the product the other night - and I was already thinking about how to diplomatically word my disappointment. I had given up on it, and if not for a break in between games I wouldn't have tried tinkering with the interconnects. That would have been unfair!

[GMichael]

LOL. You can PM me for my current, unaudited, unofficial early impressions. Or you can wait for a more thorough, possibly more reliable set of findings in the near future.

Any time I get a new toy I have to resist the urge to publically disclose my initial thoughts. I could have written a scathing review blasting the shoddy quality of the product the other night - and I was already thinking about how to diplomatically word my disappointment. I had given up on it, and if not for a break in between games I wouldn't have tried tinkering with the interconnects. That would have been unfair!
Take your time. I'd rather have the correct information tomorrow than the wrong information today. But we won't wait much longer than that without at least an outline.

[Rich-n-Texas]

Hey Rich, 40 ft of 12 gauge wire is a pretty long run, especially for B&W's, which usually have impedance minimums approaching 4 ohms for significant ranges. As the impedance gets lower the impact of the cable impedance gets relatively more concerning.

I don't want to say shortening the wire will solve your problems but your adding some resistance in series is changing the FR of your speakers, and introducing some reactance as well. Noticeable? Dunno. It'd only be with the surround speakers, and shouldn't have any effect on your front mains. Speakers connected to 40 ft runs would probably show some effect of that on a FR plot though. I don't think it's going to solve the volume loss you described earlier. But if you can cut the length with any amount of ease, it's a good idea. Every bit counts....
I agree Kex. I'm concerned now though with what I highlighted in your post. The drop in volume was clearly noticable with the CC, which is where the bulk of Phil's vocals eminated from, but instruments coming from the left and right mains were effected also. Maybe I'll put together some test cables that are long enough to reach the rears from across the floor just to see if there's any change at all. It's something I can do right now as opposed to trying to *check out* an amp from the higher end audio stores.

[Rich-n-Texas]

Oh, OK. I'll stick a pin in it.
I had something a bit.... wider..... in mind. :rolleyes:

[GMichael]

I had something a bit.... wider..... in mind. :rolleyes:

Just a bit? So sorry dude. So very sorry.

[pixelthis]

I agree Kex. I'm concerned now though with what I highlighted in your post. The drop in volume was clearly noticable with the CC, which is where the bulk of Phil's vocals eminated from, but instruments coming from the left and right mains were effected also. Maybe I'll put together some test cables that are long enough to reach the rears from across the floor just to see if there's any change at all. It's something I can do right now as opposed to trying to *check out* an amp from the higher end audio stores.

Heres one thing you can try.
I liked DDII music mode for awhile but now use pure audio only.
THE WEAKNESS OF A LOT OF MODERN RECEIVERS COMES FROM
the lack of a decent power supply.
They give you the V8, but not the fuel injection.
SO PLAY IN 2 CHANNEL FOR MUSIC ONLY.
This will give you only two channels to draw from the power supply, giving you more real power.
This is why in the specs the power for two channel is higher than for all channels driven, this is always the case.
Biamping, using the B speakers for the woofers and the mains for the tweeters,
will give you a lot more power, but is cumbersome.
Also you dont need a bunch of amps, two, maybe three.
Like an adcom 3 channel, the surrounds can be handled quite handily by the amps in the receiver.
That is until you start with multichannel PCM, which is full freak, ask MR P :1:

[kexodusc]

I agree Kex. I'm concerned now though with what I highlighted in your post. The drop in volume was clearly noticable with the CC, which is where the bulk of Phil's vocals eminated from, but instruments coming from the left and right mains were effected also. Maybe I'll put together some test cables that are long enough to reach the rears from across the floor just to see if there's any change at all. It's something I can do right now as opposed to trying to *check out* an amp from the higher end audio stores.
Rich, does the volume suckout happen at any volume level or just really loud volumes? Do you have an SPL meter? How loud are we talking here?

Do you have your speakers set to "small" on the receiver?

[Rich-n-Texas]

Kex, I observed all this at about 90 dB in the room. No problems with "2 channel stereo" or "7 channel stereo". I used an SPL meter to setup each speaker's level, but never thought to observe the readings when I heard these effects in any "surround decode" mode or in "pure direct" mode by placing the meter right in front of the CC speaker. All speakers are set to large, and I experimented a little with the sub's crossover settings. In fact, I think I tried all settings that the receiver gives ranging from 40hz to... what is it... 250hz with no difference. I don't recall whether or not I set the speakers to small when I was going up the xover frequency range, but I did try sending all LF to the sub only. I was making my brain key off the low, low frequency passages in the song to see if they coinsided with the midrange frequency's volume level drops, but it was hard to tell.

What I remember from the old days is that when my Pioneer SX-450's tuner display light was blinking in time with the music, it meant I was using speaker wire that was too thin. What I knew back then was that if my receiver put out 45 watts, and my speakers were 50 watts, then I had a good match, and I shouldn't have to worry about clipping, so to solve the blinking light problem I used heavier gauge wire. I'm equating these two experiences as one in the same.

[Rich-n-Texas]

pix, my receiver model no longer uses the A/B speaker scheme, but instead uses zones.

And I think someone mentioned that in their experience Adcom amps created too much brightness in the signature. I'm leaning towards something with a bit more warmth just because of the listening environment and the five tweeters, but that's yet to be determined.

[f0rge]

the adcom comment was me, nice amps, but not a great match for yamaha

[kexodusc]

Kex, I observed all this at about 90 dB in the room. No problems with "2 channel stereo" or "7 channel stereo". I used an SPL meter to setup each speaker's level, but never thought to observe the readings when I heard these effects in any "surround decode" mode or in "pure direct" mode by placing the meter right in front of the CC speaker. All speakers are set to large, and I experimented a little with the sub's crossover settings. In fact, I think I tried all settings that the receiver gives ranging from 40hz to... what is it... 250hz with no difference. I don't recall whether or not I set the speakers to small when I was going up the xover frequency range, but I did try sending all LF to the sub only. I was making my brain key off the low, low frequency passages in the song to see if they coinsided with the midrange frequency's volume level drops, but it was hard to tell.

What I remember from the old days is that when my Pioneer SX-450's tuner display light was blinking in time with the music, it meant I was using speaker wire that was too thin. What I knew back then was that if my receiver put out 45 watts, and my speakers were 50 watts, then I had a good match, and I shouldn't have to worry about clipping, so to solve the blinking light problem I used heavier gauge wire. I'm equating these two experiences as one in the same.

Cool...last question - how big is your room and how far are your speakers from your seating position? (I gotta hunch...)

[Rich-n-Texas]

I knew I should've spent time this weekend updating my room layout then posting up the diagram...

The effective dimensions of the room are 18' x 18.5'. The listening position is about 10' in front of the CC, and the distance between the two mains is, IIRC, about 12'.

[kexodusc]

I knew I should've spent time this weekend updating my room layout then posting up the diagram...

The effective dimensions of the room are 18' x 18.5'. The listening position is about 10' in front of the CC, and the distance between the two mains is, IIRC, about 12'.
I think those spekaers have minimum impedances close to 3 ohms IIRC. So not easy to drive.

What your describing sounds to me like your Yamaha's voltage limiters are kicking in, If the current gets to high, the system cuts back the voltage some. It's a dynamic process that protects your amp and speakers, but would produce the volume suckout you're describing.

Rich, is the 8 ohm switch selected, or 6 ohm?

[Luvin Da Blues]

and the distance between the two mains is, IIRC, about 12'.

Alright Rich, someone was paying attention in class, should be EXACTLY 12' tho. :thumbsup:

BTW, 'bout your speaker cable lengths, if you remove your baseboards, there is usually a gap where the drywall doesn't quite meet the floor that could be used to run wire. Just be a little careful when you reinstall the baseboards so you don't puncture the wire with the nails. If you have doorways this little distance could easily be fished.

Hope this helps,

LDB

[Rich-n-Texas]

8 ohms Kex. This gets selected when you run the initial setup by pressing the zone 1 power on button and the........ I forget now :o button simultaneously. That was the first setting I made before I even connected the speakers.

I appreciate your sticking with me on this Kex. :thumbsup:

[Rich-n-Texas]

Alright Rich, someone was paying attention in class, should be EXACTLY 12' tho. :thumbsup:
I did Melvin proud didn't I? :biggrin5:


BTW, 'bout your speaker cable lengths, if you remove your baseboards, there is usually a gap where the drywall doesn't quite meet the floor that could be used to run wire. Just be a little careful when you reinstall the baseboards so you don't puncture the wire with the nails. If you have doorways this little distance could easily be fished.

Hope this helps,

LDB
Well, my luck I'd end up marring the walls and the new paint I put on them late last year when trying to get the molding detached. I have areas in the room where wire theoretically could be fished, but on the left channel path to the back wall I have a fireplace with a brick pad in front of it that's plastered right to the floor slab.

Someone needs to quickly perfect wireless speakers for the home theater. :yesnod:

[kexodusc]

8 ohms Kex. This gets selected when you run the initial setup by pressing the zone 1 power on button and the........ I forget now :o button simultaneously. That was the first setting I made before I even connected the speakers.

I appreciate your sticking with me on this Kex. :thumbsup:

Yeah, then chances are it's just the voltage limiting device "choking" the peak power to prevent clipping and all sorts of nasties from happening. It's happening during some busy passages of music in multi-channel mode.

Setting your speakers to small and letting the sub do all the work could help solve this. Pick a crossover of 80 Hz (I wouldn't go lower) and then fiddle with getting your subs level to match with your speakers. This will reduce the power requirements quite a bit and should provide a bit more headroom. Enough? Won't know until you try.

[Rich-n-Texas]

I wonder what the effect might be if I connect the multi-channel out from my DVD changer to the multi-in at the receiver then repeated the experiment? I'll also try it using Internet Radio as a source.

And I'll try your suggestions above.

[kexodusc]

I wonder what the effect might be if I connect the multi-channel out from my DVD changer to the multi-in at the receiver then repeated the experiment? I'll also try it using Internet Radio as a source.

And I'll try your suggestions above.

I'd be shocked if using the MC outs changed anything but that would point to a very different problem. Try it out.

When setting speakers to small, be sure to adjust the sub level to your liking, then try Phil's voice again. At least 80 Hz for the crossover. This might not even solve the problem if it's not freeing up enough power but it's about as far as you can get without subtracting speakers from the receiver.

[Rich-n-Texas]

I remember you told me before that you use the sub's amp to make the xover adjustments; I used what the receiver manual instructs where I turn the xover frequency to maximum then use the receiver to adjust. I also set the sub amp's volume to a notch past half way, FWIW.

[kexodusc]

I remember you told me before that you use the sub's amp to make the xover adjustments; I used what the receiver manual instructs where I turn the xover frequency to maximum then use the receiver to adjust. I also set the sub amp's volume to a notch past half way, FWIW.
With my receiver I use the receiver's XO. That's how you should do it. My 2 channel system is a bit different.

[f0rge]

Rich i tell you what, how bout i just come down there and take those speakers off your hands, problem solved.

[GMichael]

Rich i tell you what, how bout i just come down there and take those speakers off your hands, problem solved.

Good point. He could pick up some JBL's to replace them. They'll play plenty loud with the amps he has.