Dolby Surround & DTS Neural:X "Upmixers" on New Denon X2800 in a 5.1 System

[lovinthehd]

Can't agree more with your assessment of the 5.1 channel situation. As for using a flagship with just five channels, yeah, I thought about this, but beyond the most advanced room correction system and higher power, what would be the benefit of using such an AVR in that scenario? I realize that by not using those extra amp channels you theoretically are easing the headroom loads for the channels you DO use, but in my case, because I wouldn't be using, say, the most advanced type of Dirac or taking advantage of 20 channels, I don't suspect it would be of benefit.

That's one of the roadblocks I faced when I was considering the RZ50 -- I liked the PRODUCT itself in terms of its appearance, size and power, but didn't need what most people buy the model for: Dirac and high channel support.



No, it's not particularly relevant or important (I even mentioned in a previous post that this initially was "no big deal"), but it does make me wonder if something is wrong with the unit. It may just be an early symptom of something. Of course, right now, the codecs seem to be working correctly when discs play, but I'd like to know why this is suddenly occurring.

I guess I can run it past my Denon contact.



Yes; but I normally select the main soundtrack from the setup menu, as it's the "best" audio presentation. No matter what track I choose, though, the Denon is doing this weirdness with the mixed codec/upmixer combos.


Oh, I won't prefer the way the new ones do things -- I already know that, which is why I haven't purchased one. I prefer the Onkyo brand over all else, but there's nothing drawing me to one of the new models; they still don't show the sound mode/codec in use alongside the input name on the front panel and they still don't include the IntelliVolume feature (which we talked about ad nauseum in the other thread).Additionally, I'd be right back to the upmixer problem in my situation (trying to figure out how I can get Dolby Surround and DTS Neural to kick in automatically when 2.0 tracks are detected).

It's coming back to putting my old TX-SR605 back into the system and just dealing with the failing onscreen menus until the unit eventually dies altogether.

Not just advanced room correction and higher power, but video/hdmi/hdcp stuff comes into play too. I find more the mid-range below flagship but still full featured avrs (particularly with a full set of pre-outs) to be best value myself. Didn't realize the RZ50 had no Dirac, that somewhat surprises me but I'm still somewhat Onkyo-shy after their problems with the 2009-12 era avrs (which mine is and was repaired under extended warranty and works great plus runs cooler) plus their financial problems and new owner.

It is curious about the display thing....does a soft reset or a full reset change that?

What is a Denon contact?

I generally use the codec/channel setup on the blurays as-is, but tend to expand dvd to 7ch but don't watch many dvds these days either.

As to auto playback of 2.0 content into either DS or DTS Neural, that's almost always music and don't think my Denons have done but what's expected based on my last use of the particular input/codec. Even the youtube 2ch movies seem to remember my preference fine....will perhaps double check that next time.

I do still like a fairly full functional panel, but seeing what codec indicators are on needs a close look and I usually prefer to just call up the info screen for details rather than crawl over to the avr . Some panels have adjustments as to what is displayed, tho. The only thing I use adjustable source level for is my tt, which is only in my main system, just not an issue otherwise....but nice to have as an option.

I had an old Pioneer that died slowly, starting just after warranty expired. I used it until it went up in blue smoke I bought the used Denon 3808 on the classifieds here after that ($200) and its worked like a champ since (and has one of the better amp sections Denon has put out over the years)....its primarily for music in my workshop where it's setup and is up to snuff with the old 720p display in any case.

 

[John Lohmann]

It is curious about the display thing....does a soft reset or a full reset change that?

What do you mean -- on the DENON or are you referring to the ONKYOS?

What is a Denon contact?

The contact I made at the company -- the Denon/Marantz Tier 2 engineer I have been emailing back and forth with.

 

[John Lohmann]

I'll get back to your other comments shortly....

 

[lovinthehd]

What do you mean -- on the DENON or are you referring to the ONKYOS?



The contact I made at the company -- the Denon/Marantz Tier 2 engineer I have been emailing back and forth with.

I meant the Denon.

Nice but I still would put only so much faith into customer service from the brand....depending what tier 2 even means . I got elevated from basic customer service with a problem once with a Denon update to someone in technical section and he was no help.

 

[John Lohmann]

I meant the Denon.

I didn't try a factory reset; I can do that, I suppose. I just liked my Onkyo so much better; I have a bite on someone who wants to purchase the Denon in this forum, but we're working on logistics concerning location and shipping.

Nice but I still would put only so much faith into customer service from the brand....depending what tier 2 even means . I got elevated from basic customer service with a problem once with a Denon update to someone in technical section and he was no help.

Tier 2 is a designation for the level of expertise the engineer has -- I don't doubt his credentials just based on things he said to me. My requests were boosted from general consumer level to the engineering department because I had specific queries about how the upmixers work.

He's actually been a help in confirming what Treb said in this thread -- that the upmixers don't activate when there are no additional channels to "matrix" to -- as well as with regard to other technical bits I asked him about. It truly didn't sound like a consumer level runaround.