Denon AVR-X3800H Problems

[AParsh]

Hi Forum,
Wondering if you guys might be able to give me some suggestions.
I'm having a few different issues with my Denon AVR-X3800H Receiver.

Problem #1
Trigger not working with my Audiolab 6000A.
I was previously using a Denon AVR-X4500H and with the exact same trigger cable, the trigger was working correctly with my 6000A - meaning when i'd power on my setup the 6000A would power on with the X4500H. The 6000A is only driving my Front L & R right now (Focal 936).
I read online that the X3800H wants a monaural cable and i do believe the cable i was using with my X4500H was just a standard stereo 3.5mm, so i figure that is my issue and ordered one today on amazon that will arrive in 2 days. However, one thing im still wondering about is do you think that the monaural cable won't solve the issue? Is it possible for some devices to be compatible for trigger with both a stereo 3.5mm and a monaural cable? If the 6000A worked with the stereo cable before, am i going to need something that is basically stereo on the side with the 6000A and monaural on the side with the X3800H?

Problem #2
This one is much bigger and more annoying.
When everything is turned off (TV, nvidia shield, playstation 5, receiver, 6000A) and i pick up my shield remote and press power to start watching TV, the X3800H seems to want to fire up the PS5 first for some reason. Even worse, it will go into this weird cycle where it will turn the PS5 off, then turn the Reciever on, then turn the TV on, then turn the reciver off, then turn the TV off. So im sitting here with a PS5 on by itself. My only solution right now is to pull the power cable out of the PS5 and that way everything will work normally to watch TV on my nvidia shield. Worth noting, this is my second X3800H. The first one i bought on ebay and i had similar problems with PS5/Shield/Nintendo Switch etc and i guess you could call it handshake issues. Sometimes i would try to turn on the PS5 and the screen would just go black and couldnt get any picture. Then the PS5 would come on and the reciever would go off. Would try to turn the receiver back on and then it would turn off the TV or somethign else, and it was a neverending battle of wack-a-mole with wrong devices going on and off. I spent hours wrestling the issues and finally figured it was defective. I tried different HDMI cables that were rated HDMI 2.1/HDCP 2.3 4k/8K ready 4k/120hz ready etc. I ended up returning it determining it was defective. I bought the X3800H from bestbuy months ago and wanted to return it right away too but got lazy and forgot. I've also had issues with the newer one turning on Zone 2, so that when we turn everything off using the shield remote the X3800H stays on in Zone 2, which can cause some annoyances with turning everything back on correctly.

Any suggestions on this? Things just get so complicated with so many smart devices with so many options.

Here is a breakdown of connections

TV: LG 86QNED85, latest firmware/updates, audio/video options are in eARC modes and Game modes. I was able to verify the PS5 went over 60hz live in game.
TV Port from X3800H: HDMI 3 which is eARC and 4k/120hz
HDMI Cable: 4k/120hz HDMI 2.1/HDCP 2.3
X3800H Port from TV: HDMI eARC
X3800 Port to Nvidia Shield: Media Player
X3800H port to PS5: Game
X3800H Trigger Out to 6000A (again this does not work)

Speakers configured for X3800H
Center
Rear L&R
Rear Top L&R (atmos)
Front Top L&R (atmos)

 

[lovinthehd]

As to the first problem, afaik triggers generally work with mono cable, not stereo....hopefully the new cable solves the problem.

As to the second problem, it sounds like typical HDMI-CEC (hdmi control) issues. If so, a true universal remote might be a better way to go.

 

[AParsh]

Mono cable arrived today - no luck. I saw a guy saying that some devices want a stereo trigger while others want mono. I suppose i can try ordering a Stereo L/R splitter and plug the stereo cable into it. If that doesnt work I can only assume that feature on my X4500H is defective.

 

[PENG]

Mono cable arrived today - no luck. I saw a guy saying that some devices want a stereo trigger while others want mono. I suppose i can try ordering a Stereo L/R splitter and plug the stereo cable into it. If that doesnt work I can only assume that feature on my X4500H is defective.

I highly doubt the X4500H is the problem, though anything is possible. Such triggers usually just work or doesn't work. The issues you seem to be describing is more likely related to what HD suggested, that is HDMI/CEC related. I believe the 4500 has two trigger outputs and my 4400 has, so have you tried both?

Denon does say "use mono...", though there is nothing wrong with using a stereo cable as well if you know how to make it to work.

Use a monaural mini-plug cable for connecting the TRIGGER OUT jacks. Do not use a stereo mini-plug cable.

 

[everettT]

Hi Forum,
Wondering if you guys might be able to give me some suggestions.
I'm having a few different issues with my Denon AVR-X3800H Receiver.

Problem #1
Trigger not working with my Audiolab 6000A.
I was previously using a Denon AVR-X4500H and with the exact same trigger cable, the trigger was working correctly with my 6000A - meaning when i'd power on my setup the 6000A would power on with the X4500H. The 6000A is only driving my Front L & R right now (Focal 936).
I read online that the X3800H wants a monaural cable and i do believe the cable i was using with my X4500H was just a standard stereo 3.5mm, so i figure that is my issue and ordered one today on amazon that will arrive in 2 days. However, one thing im still wondering about is do you think that the monaural cable won't solve the issue? Is it possible for some devices to be compatible for trigger with both a stereo 3.5mm and a monaural cable? If the 6000A worked with the stereo cable before, am i going to need something that is basically stereo on the side with the 6000A and monaural on the side with the X3800H?

Problem #2
This one is much bigger and more annoying.
When everything is turned off (TV, nvidia shield, playstation 5, receiver, 6000A) and i pick up my shield remote and press power to start watching TV, the X3800H seems to want to fire up the PS5 first for some reason. Even worse, it will go into this weird cycle where it will turn the PS5 off, then turn the Reciever on, then turn the TV on, then turn the reciver off, then turn the TV off. So im sitting here with a PS5 on by itself. My only solution right now is to pull the power cable out of the PS5 and that way everything will work normally to watch TV on my nvidia shield. Worth noting, this is my second X3800H. The first one i bought on ebay and i had similar problems with PS5/Shield/Nintendo Switch etc and i guess you could call it handshake issues. Sometimes i would try to turn on the PS5 and the screen would just go black and couldnt get any picture. Then the PS5 would come on and the reciever would go off. Would try to turn the receiver back on and then it would turn off the TV or somethign else, and it was a neverending battle of wack-a-mole with wrong devices going on and off. I spent hours wrestling the issues and finally figured it was defective. I tried different HDMI cables that were rated HDMI 2.1/HDCP 2.3 4k/8K ready 4k/120hz ready etc. I ended up returning it determining it was defective. I bought the X3800H from bestbuy months ago and wanted to return it right away too but got lazy and forgot. I've also had issues with the newer one turning on Zone 2, so that when we turn everything off using the shield remote the X3800H stays on in Zone 2, which can cause some annoyances with turning everything back on correctly.

Any suggestions on this? Things just get so complicated with so many smart devices with so many options.

Here is a breakdown of connections

TV: LG 86QNED85, latest firmware/updates, audio/video options are in eARC modes and Game modes. I was able to verify the PS5 went over 60hz live in game.
TV Port from X3800H: HDMI 3 which is eARC and 4k/120hz
HDMI Cable: 4k/120hz HDMI 2.1/HDCP 2.3
X3800H Port from TV: HDMI eARC
X3800 Port to Nvidia Shield: Media Player
X3800H port to PS5: Game
X3800H Trigger Out to 6000A (again this does not work)

Speakers configured for X3800H
Center
Rear L&R
Rear Top L&R (atmos)
Front Top L&R (atmos)

Did you confirm that the trigger is set for the main zone and not another zone by accident?

 

[AParsh]

I highly doubt the X4500H is the problem, though anything is possible. Such triggers usually just work or doesn't work. The issues you seem to be describing is more likely related to what HD suggested, that is HDMI/CEC related. I believe the 4500 has two trigger outputs and my 4400 has, so have you tried both?

Denon does say "use mono...", though there is nothing wrong with using a stereo cable as well if you know how to make it to work.

Use a monaural mini-plug cable for connecting the TRIGGER OUT jacks. Do not use a stereo mini-plug cable.

I think you may have misread the OP. My X4500H was working fine but i upgraded to the X3800H which was having the trigger problems. But your post here is what lead me to the solution! I saw you said something about 2 triggers and I was thinking - "There aren't 2 triggers...right?!" And so i pulled up a picture online of the back up the X3800H to verify. Man oh man! I had been plugging into the remote out the whole time! The trigger is by itself and has a red ring on it, and i was missing it this whole time. I literally just got up and plugged my cable into it and instantly worked correctly. Thank you!

This solved my Problem #1. Unfortunately my only solution for problem #2 right now is to keep my PS5 unplugged from the power cable so it can't turn on.

 

[Wardog555]

Turn on your PS5, then select the Settings cog from the top-right corner. From there, go to Settings > System > HDMI. If you don't want to use this feature at all, disable HDMI Device Link.

Once you do this you'll need to turn on ps5 manually.

 

[BBHT]

Turn on your PS5, then select the Settings cog from the top-right corner. From there, go to Settings > System > HDMI. If you don't want to use this feature at all, disable HDMI Device Link.

Once you do this you'll need to turn on ps5 manually.

Can confirm. That is how I set it up as well.

 

[PENG]

I think you may have misread the OP. My X4500H was working fine but i upgraded to the X3800H which was having the trigger problems. But your post here is what lead me to the solution! I saw you said something about 2 triggers and I was thinking - "There aren't 2 triggers...right?!" And so i pulled up a picture online of the back up the X3800H to verify. Man oh man! I had been plugging into the remote out the whole time! The trigger is by itself and has a red ring on it, and i was missing it this whole time. I literally just got up and plugged my cable into it and instantly worked correctly. Thank you!

This solved my Problem #1. Unfortunately my only solution for problem #2 right now is to keep my PS5 unplugged from the power cable so it can't turn on.

I did not misread him, as I referred to his post#3. He did say in his first post it was the 3800 that he had issue, so he probably made a typo in his follow up post#3.

Good to know your 3800's trigger is working, the lower models have only 1 trigger out, the higher ones such as the 4800 have at least two.