Marantz SR5010 - issues playing via Bluetooth and USB

[chapelhaudio]

Hello, folks.

I am in a bit of a quandary on my new Marantz SR5010.

1) Can't connect Android Smartphone via USB. The receiver simply says "No Connection." On the other hand, the device can read/play music from a USB memory stick. Is this due to the Marantz not being "compatible" with Androids, or some other issue?

The manual was silent on the subject of Android and USB cables (it only references Apple devices via Airplay). I noticed that the Crutchfield sales site says the SR5010 "allows you to enjoy a variety of music files from a USB mass storage class memory device; such as your Android smartphone (Froyo/Gingerbread OS only), digital audio player, or USB thumbdrive".

In the absence of a 3.5 mm jack option, I have no way to establish a wired connection between my Android smartphone (or any non-Apple device).

2) Bluetooth: I can connect via Bluetooth and sometimes it runs perfectly. Often, however, the Bluetooth connection drops repeatedly during playback, and I have to re-establish the connection, often having to pair the devices again as if they've never connected before (in the truest since of the word "re-pair"). This takes place even I place the phone close to the receiver, and the issue has been present whether using a Galaxy Note 2, Note 3, or an iPhone using the Airplay connection.

Again, sometimes the Bluetooth connection is great, and other times I just can't get the issue to go away. Without fall-back option of a USB connection, I'm in a quandary in those moment. What could be the cause of this issue?

If anyone is familiar enough with the Marantz SR5010 or these general issues I could use some insight. I have until Fri 1/15 to return it to Best Buy...

 

[TLS Guy]

Hello, folks.

I am in a bit of a quandary on my new Marantz SR5010.

1) Can't connect Android Smartphone via USB. The receiver simply says "No Connection." On the other hand, the device can read/play music from a USB memory stick. Is this due to the Marantz not being "compatible" with Androids, or some other issue?

The manual was silent on the subject of Android and USB cables (it only references Apple devices via Airplay). I noticed that the Crutchfield sales site says the SR5010 "allows you to enjoy a variety of music files from a USB mass storage class memory device; such as your Android smartphone (Froyo/Gingerbread OS only), digital audio player, or USB thumbdrive".

In the absence of a 3.5 mm jack option, I have no way to establish a wired connection between my Android smartphone (or any non-Apple device).

2) Bluetooth: I can connect via Bluetooth and sometimes it runs perfectly. Often, however, the Bluetooth connection drops repeatedly during playback, and I have to re-establish the connection, often having to pair the devices again as if they've never connected before (in the truest since of the word "re-pair"). This takes place even I place the phone close to the receiver, and the issue has been present whether using a Galaxy Note 2, Note 3, or an iPhone using the Airplay connection.

Again, sometimes the Bluetooth connection is great, and other times I just can't get the issue to go away. Without fall-back option of a USB connection, I'm in a quandary in those moment. What could be the cause of this issue?

If anyone is familiar enough with the Marantz SR5010 or these general issues I could use some insight. I have until Fri 1/15 to return it to Best Buy...

Likely that is the way it is. Incompatibilities abound these days, most related to DRM issues.

I think just about every receiver you touch will have some issues with incompatibility with something, and or software glitches.

Does the receiver have the latest firmware? Even though the device is new, they almost always seem to come with the out of date first issue firmware.

I would check you have the latest firmware, and if not update it.

If that does not work you can phone Marantz customer support and see what they know about the issue. However good luck with that!

In my main system I only catch what I want with my HTPC. Life is simpler that way.

 

[chapelhaudio]

Thanks, as always, TLS Guy. Guess I'll have to put up with the headaches until I find a work-around with customer support or elsewhere. I'll have to read up on HTPC's. Is that typically a custom-build system? I would think the data storage alone would be one of the more complicated aspects of it. I'm curious how much a modest HTPC costs to buy/build (I know..."It depends...").

 

[SnipeStar]

i had the same issue, and now i cant even get my phone to bluetooth with it anymore. seems the receiver is stuck in being visible only to the device it was connected with (my phone) and since ive removed the pairing from my phone to re-connect it, it won't show up again and now i cant use it with any device.

when it was working, i did have that issue as well though, with the sporadic quality. unbelievable. this fucking thing costs 900 dollars, it shouldn't have a problem playing or pairing with any bluetooth device.

 

[BMXTRIX]

While I understand the A/V receiver isn't doing exactly what you want natively, why not go for another solution?

You can get Chromecast and connect your phone wirelessly to that.
You can get a dedicated bluetooth receiver of better quality and connect your phone to that.
You can get a 3.5mm to RCA cable and connect your phone via hard-wire to that.

I use Apple and instead of the integrated AirPlay on my receiver I typically use my Airport Express. It has shown itself to be more reliable than the integrated connection.

Of course, always make sure your firmware on the A/V receiver is completely up to date.

 

[chapelhaudio]

Those are good suggestions BMXTRIX.

I ended up replacing mine within the first 30 days, which solved the issues for a while. Now, however, I can't any sort of Bluetooth connectivity, and can't connect it to Wifi except through my Roku. I will call Marantz soon to figure out what's going on. If its a firmware issue, I'm in a quandary because I can't update it without an internet connection, and I can't run a wire all the way to my router/modem. Or I certainly don't feel like it...

You mentioned a dedicated bluetooth receiver. Does that connect to the AV receiver as a separate input?

The options you mentioned may become necessary, but there is still the problem of basic functionality of the receiver such as its built-in internet radio,firmware updates, etc. One thing I liked was casting music from my laptop over Wifi to the receiver.

 

[BMXTRIX]

I'm not sure why you are running into issues at all, but Marantz and Denon will likely have the same issues across the board as they tend to unify their firmware and have very similar functionality. You would have to go Yamaha, Onkyo, or Pioneer to get something else.

Anyway, yes, there are separate streaming and bluetooth devices out there you can plug into your A/V receiver that are built by companies whose sole job is to make that product. Roku, by example, for streaming Netflix/Amazon/etc. instead of asking your Blu-ray player to do it.

For Bluetooth:
http://www.amazon.com/HomeSpot-NFC-Enabled-Bluetooth-Receiver-System/dp/B009OBCAW2/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1458745046&sr=8-7&keywords=bluetooth+receiver

There are a bunch of options on Amazon.

If you have an Android phone, or most pcs... - you can use a Miracast
http://www.amazon.com/ERISAN-EZM2-Wireless-Streaming-Miracast/dp/B00TO99QEO/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1458745128&sr=8-2&keywords=miracast

I would go ahead and run a wired connection over to your router to do a firmware update to see if that helps things. Wireless can always be a question mark in a home and really isn't the same as using a cordless phone. If you have wi-fi issues where the receiver is, you will need to do some research and correct that issue. If it's just a A/V receiver compatibility issue, then you may need to address that separately.

 

[SnipeStar]

Those are good suggestions BMXTRIX.

I ended up replacing mine within the first 30 days, which solved the issues for a while. Now, however, I can't any sort of Bluetooth connectivity, and can't connect it to Wifi

i'm having the same fucking problem! my bluetooth stopped working with my phone again, and now it won't connect wirelessly to my network (i don't have a roku to try, i just used a spare ethernet cable).

this is just unbelievable. i cant believe i'm dealing with this.

While I understand the A/V receiver isn't doing exactly what you want natively, why not go for another solution?

You can get Chromecast and connect your phone wirelessly to that.
You can get a dedicated bluetooth receiver of better quality and connect your phone to that.
You can get a 3.5mm to RCA cable and connect your phone via hard-wire to that.

yeah i know i can do all of those things, but here's the point: i shouldn't have to buy, or do, a damn thing to get around broken functionality of the unit. i paid a lot of money for a product that is advertised as having built-in bluetooth and wifi capabilities-- and i don't have a product capable of bluetooth and wifi capabilities. when i see features of a product advertised on a box, to me- and i assume most rational people- that insinuates that those features actually work. now maybe to a company like marantz, maybe when they advertise features for their products- they just mean that the features are physically there regardless of whether they actually work or not.

ill probably give chromecast a try, as i do not have apple anything, but honest i'm not expecting it to work. im preparing to deal with marantz customer service- i can only imagine how awesome that is going to be. and i know this isn't the biggest deal in the world, but its more principle than anything. these things cost a lot of money. i wouldn't be tripping out about it if it didnt cost almost a thousand dollars. and i cant imagine how the people who have the $2000+ units feel when they discover they've been fucked.

i needed this particular unit because it was replacing a super old unit that had very outdated hdmi/tech specs, and this unit had 7.1 multi-channel analog inputs, which are insanely hard to find on modern receivers now without going into the $2000+ range. and outside of the bt/wifi issues, i do like the receiver, it seems like its very nice quality- but to have issues with such basic tech like bluetooth and wifi.. its kinda shameful, and disgusting. how can i believe your product can handle dolby atmos or 4k/60hz passthrough when it can't even connect to my router or handle a bluetooth connection?

 

[SnipeStar]

for the record, doing a reset by holding in your two Zone 2 buttons (on/off & source) for several seconds until the display resets and displays 'clear' will have allow you to re-connect using WiFi and BT both. however, i don't want to have to do this every few days, as its annoying going through the stupid setup menu every time you do this (i have to or else it wont detect my rear speakers)

 

[BMXTRIX]

...i shouldn't have to buy, or do, a damn thing to get around broken functionality of the unit.

Yes, I agree completely. I know this is tough for some to accept, but Marantz isn't an IT company, they are an audio company. Bluetooth and wireless networking simply aren't their specialties. IMO, they shouldn't include those features if they can't do them brilliantly, and they most certainly can't and don't. They are buying someone else's wireless and Bluetooth, and just sticking them inside, hoping they will work, then consumers pay the price when they turn out to be completely weak to useless.

I don't LIKE this, but I do expect this. I don't expect my Blu-ray player to be a Roku box. I don't expect my AppleTV to be a network media player. I don't expect my TV to be my web browser. But, this is the type of baseline functionality many of these products include, and they do it terribly. Then they get a ton of so-so reviews on Amazon because people expected more.

I come back to (like it or not) - My A/V receiver should process audio properly and deliver video to my display. That's its job. I expect my Blu-ray player to play Blu-ray Discs, that's its job. I expect my media players to play media, and my media streamers to stream media. I hard wire my components to my network because it's more reliable, and I don't use Bluetooth, because I like to walk around with my phone in my pocket.

I think things would be a lot better for everyone if manufacturers would stop trying to include so much, and instead actually delivered the product which was their entire specialty in spades.

 

[SnipeStar]

I agree with alot of what you are saying, but the problem I'm having with this bluetooth issue is not whether or not marantz made the receivers or not- the problem exists from a complete lack of quality control. These issues with the shitty, sporadic bluetooth playback, and the wifi thing-- they happened within the first day or so of being used. The slightest bit of quality control testing would have encountered these issues. There is no excuse for the products being shipped out in this condition.

Before I actually made the purchase, I was looking around on other AVS message boards and I had discovered a long-going thread about bricking issues with the SR5009 that our SR5010 is based on, where a lot of people's units were freezing constantly and some completely bricking up, a lot were within the first few days or weeks of use- again, a shocking lack of quality control. By the time I stumbled upon the thread, marantz had already resolved the issue via firmware, but it was still disturbing to read.

I just want to throw out there that beyond this bluetooth issue, I like the unit. Its got a great look, a solid, sturdy build/feel to it, and for what I mainly use it for (high end gaming/media pc attached to a 7.1 home theater setup) its great, I have no complaints. But when I am at work (I work remotely at home) where I can't use the inputs from my PC, my only alternative is the bluetooth, and for it to constantly be shitty/useless for long stretches of time- I can't overlook it.

Again, this all comes down to what I stated above- Yes, they make high quality audio equipment, but Marantz is still the kind of company that advertises features on a box based on them physically being there, without testing to see if they actually work or not. To justify this or rationalize it in any way is anti-consumer to the core- I understand they didn't make the receivers, but the product has their name on it, and at the end of the day, they are the ones responsible for ensuring their product does what they advertise it does. I agree with you-- if you can't do something right, don't do it-- but Marantz is more interested in finding a reason to make their products more expensive so they can squeeze more money out of the consumers. They need to drop the broken/wifi units and drop the prices on them to account for it. Some of their receivers are 2000 dollars and can't play bluetooth properly? That is crazy!

I am going to keep the receiver, but as soon as I even think its going bad or that something else is wrong with it, I will replace it without hesitation. I will never buy one of their products in the future, however, and if Denon is made by the same people I will never buy one of those either. I don't mean to sound like an asshole, but if marantz doesn't even care about their products, why should I?

 

[SnipeStar]

I am curious if the topic creator actually did call their customer support about this issue, and what the outcome of it was. I called their customer support a couple of times but I was on hold for a real long time without ever hearing from someone and just hung up myself. I remember it being pretty late at night too, I was wondering who the hell else could be calling in a random audio company at that time.

 

[lovinthehd]

With the Marantz and Android devices you might try the app bubbleupnp and stream via dlna. Works well with my Denon and Onkyo avrs and Sony bluray players.

 

[SnipeStar]

With the Marantz and Android devices you might try the app bubbleupnp and stream via dlna. Works well with my Denon and Onkyo avrs and Sony bluray players.

yeah i installed it and ... i have no idea how to set it all up, and im not really interesting in learning how to configure a bunch of networking nonsense just to get this fucking thing to stream music properly-- not to mention it has problems with my network anyway.

plus, as soon as i installed that app, it bothered me to buy the unlocked version, to remove ads, and provide 100% functionality of the app-- yeah, no thanks. get fucked app.

basically i'm fucked until i replace this piece of sh¡t.

 

[lovinthehd]

yeah i installed it and ... i have no idea how to set it all up, and im not really interesting in learning how to configure a bunch of networking nonsense just to get this fucking thing to stream music properly-- not to mention it has problems with my network anyway.

plus, as soon as i installed that app, it bothered me to buy the unlocked version, to remove ads, and provide 100% functionality of the app-- yeah, no thanks. get fucked app.

basically i'm fucked until i replace this piece of sh¡t.

RTFM?

 

[chapelhaudio]

A few months later and I finally have this fixed, at least for the moment. I finally dug the 50' ethernet cable out of my garage and ran to to the receiver to check for any firmware updates. There were no updates needed (assuming it didn't automatically run the updates before I manually checked...and I don't think it did). After making the wired connection successfully, I unplugged the ethernet cable. I am now able to connect the device to wifi, play from my tablet using Bluetooth, stream Internet radio via the receiver, cast from my laptop (I still use Windows Media Player), etc.

Disclaimer--this wasn't a controlled experiment because I was in a hurry and didn't try connect to the wireless network prior to connecting the ethernet. I didn't have any reason to think it would connect to my wifi after so many unsuccessful attempts this winter. Not sure if the ethernet cable had something to do with it, or it was a coincidence that had been resolved without my knowledge.

The sound of the receiver for music and movies with the speakers I have is simply amazing--I hope the network issues don't resume. I returned the item once after talking with customer support while it was still under warranty. Those issues resolved for a time before I initiated this post.

Thanks, TLS Guy, BMXTrix and Snipe Star.

 

[chapelhaudio]

With the Marantz and Android devices you might try the app bubbleupnp and stream via dlna. Works well with my Denon and Onkyo avrs and Sony bluray players.

Maybe a dumb question, but is this app only for tablets and smartphones? I cast via DLNA using Windows Media Player but it's probably not the most elegant option. And WMP's days may be numbered.

 

[lovinthehd]

Maybe a dumb question, but is this app only for tablets and smartphones? I cast via DLNA using Windows Media Player but it's probably not the most elegant option. And WMP's days may be numbered.

I use bubbleupnp in conjunction with foobar2000 on both my smartphone and pc. I find the bubbleupnp app a better way to control what foobar2000 can also do....

ps Check it out here http://www.bubblesoftapps.com/bubbleupnpserver/

 

[frashr]

Hi everyone,

I too have been less than impressed with my Marantz SR-5009, unit locking up, Bluetooth issues, etc. I have thought at times to throw it out the window, or use it as a boat anchor - but thought it might somehow miserably fail at that too lol. On the other hand, when the SR-5009 is firing on all cylinders, so to speak, it is a great sounding AVR - so, I press on.

On the subject of failed Bluetooth connections, I wanted to let you know what works for me. When this happens, I CANCEL the pairing function on my SR-5009. On my iPhone, I FORGET the Marantz SR5009 connection, and turn OFF the Bluetooth function. After a few seconds, I turn the pairing function on my Marantz back ON, then turn ON the Bluetooth function on my iPhone. "Marantz SR5009" will appear in the "Other Devices" section down at the bottom of the iPhone screen, and when I select that, it seems to connect virtually 100% of the time!!

I do not know why or how this happens, but I'd be curious if it works for you. Good luck -

Cheers

 

[chapelhaudio]

Thanks, Frashr!

A year later and I have only occasional Bluetooth and wifi challenges. Running the ethernet cable to the receiver (as described in one of my previous posts) resolved the issue and I then I went back to wifi for several months. As another precaution, when I was changing cable providers a few months back, I had them run cable to the wall behind where my Marantz eceiver sits so I that I could run a wired ethernet connection to the receiver, my Blu Ray, etc.

Regarding my post about USB cables and Android...I did call Marantz about that: Customer Service confirmed that the receiver's USB input is only compatible with USB storage devices (which would not include external hard drives, for example) or an iPhone (using Airplay).

Generally, when playing from a tablet or phone, I connect via the stereo input into the RCA plug-ins (for novices, this looks like a headphone input on one end, and is split into two red/white cables on the other end) into the Aux 1 input on the front of the receiver. I don't have to deal with bluetooth and the quality is probably a little better as well. (Side note: Sometimes this method results in sound out coming of only 2 of 3 speakers via the tablet and Aux 1 input...I have a center and front left/right channels. I think this must be something with the audio files, because the issue doesn't affect other sources).