Breath new life into your AVR if you need more HDMI inputs

[KEW]

It is nice to see products like this being introduced to solve obsolescence problems:

https://www.amazon.com/iArk-TOSLINK-Extractor-Splitter-Supports/dp/B01K7BZ1XC/ref=sr_1_6?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1530721322&sr=1-6&keywords=hdmi+audio+extractor

 

[rbdan]

I use and HDFury Vertex to extract Dolby Digital plus from a 4K HDR signal (HDMI 2.0) and send it to my old HDMI 1.4 receiver via HDMI.

https://www.hdfury.com/product/vertex-4k60-444-600mhz/

 

[KEW]

I use and HDFury Vertex to extract Dolby Digital plus from a 4K HDR signal (HDMI 2.0) and send it to my old HDMI 1.4 receiver via HDMI.

https://www.hdfury.com/product/vertex-4k60-444-600mhz/

View attachment 24822

Curious what you paid for this and what receiver?
At $350, it is a decent dent in the cost of a new receiver, so I'm guessing you either have a very nice receiver or have otherwise grown attached to it!

 

[rbdan]

Curious what you paid for this and what receiver?
At $350, it is a decent dent in the cost of a new receiver, so I'm guessing you either have a very nice receiver or have otherwise grown attached to it!

Hey Kurt,

Yes, I paid $350 for the Vertex.

I have a Denon 4520 and before I purchased the Vertex I picked up a Denon AVR-X3400H. Unfortunately it just sounded "weak/thin". Even my wife asked me "Why does it sound like satellite radio?".

I ran Audyssey multiple times without any real change in the sound. I was going to get an external amp to see if that helped but everyone over on AVSforum told me that unless I was pushing the internal amps to their limit an external amp would not change the sound. "All amps sound the same"

I originally had a Denon 4800 before my 4520, they are both very powerful sounding receivers but the 3400 just did not sound as good to me at all. I don't know if it is due to the internal amps or DACs or DSPs or AL32 Processing or ?.

I asked a "pro/reseller" over on another site "If it wasn't the difference in the internal amps, what technical feature is causing the difference, so I can know what to look for?" he replied "Your comparing a flagship model to a mid-level model, what did you expect?" Obviously that didn't help me.

I wish it was due to the amps because I would love to pick up a relatively cheap receiver and use a 3 or 5 channel external amp. That way it wouldn't be as painful upgrading in the future.

So I picked up the Vertex to be able to wait until HDMI 2.1 was built in to receivers and then I would get another "flagship" receiver.

I have a pretty simple setup compared to most here.

Denon 4520, B&W 685 (L/R), B&W HTM62 (Center), B&W M1(Surrounds x 2) and a Klipsch KSW 15 sub.

I would love some feedback from all you guys on what would cause such a significant sound difference.

Thanks
Dan

 

[KEW]

I agree that there generally should not be a significant difference between the sound of the 3400 and the 4520.
Your center and surrounds are a little power hungry, but your L&R are a pretty easy load (assuming B&W's specs are honest).
If the L&R are run as small and crossed to the sub at around 80Hz, I would not expect power to be the issue.

I would look for processing to be the culprit.
Did you compare in Direct or Pure direct?
If not were all settings the same? Stuff like DynamicEQ, DynamicVolume, a bad Audyssey run, etc could cause such a change in sound quality.

 

[rbdan]

I agree that there generally should not be a significant difference between the sound of the 3400 and the 4520.
Your center and surrounds are a little power hungry, but your L&R are a pretty easy load (assuming B&W's specs are honest).
If the L&R are run as small and crossed to the sub at around 80Hz, I would not expect power to be the issue.

I would look for processing to be the culprit.
Did you compare in Direct or Pure direct?
If not were all settings the same? Stuff like DynamicEQ, DynamicVolume, a bad Audyssey run, etc could cause such a change in sound quality.

Yes all settings were the same and crossed at 80Hz. Generally I listen to music with Audyssey flat and dynamic EQ on so that is what I set both receivers to when comparing.

I didn't compare Direct/Pure since I really love the dyn EQ function.

I don't know if this matters but I noticed the my 685s are rated at 8ohms with a minimum 3.7ohms and my center is rated at 8ohms with a minimum of 4.3ohms.

Dan

 

[KEW]

Yes all settings were the same and crossed at 80Hz. Generally I listen to music with Audyssey flat and dynamic EQ on so that is what I set both receivers to when comparing.

I didn't compare Direct/Pure since I really love the dyn EQ function.

I don't know if this matters but I noticed the my 685s are rated at 8ohms with a minimum 3.7ohms and my center is rated at 8ohms with a minimum of 4.3ohms.

Dan

The minimum impedances in the 3-4 ohm territory can be a problem. More so, if the lower impedances are at lower frequencies and have difficult phase values at the same places (frequencies)!
I would comb through all of the menus/settings to make sure all settings are the same.