Disappointments with new AVR

[sterling shoote]

OP,
Since the receiver has Airplay, that could cover pretty much every on demand stereo music need you'd ever have. You can download iTunes for free and try out Apple Music for free too for awhile. I believe you would then appreciate the receiver's ergonomics, as well as responsiveness using its supplied remote. BTW, if you are using an iPhone as source component for iTunes, expect about 3 hours of entertainment before your battery needs charging.

 

[snakeeyes]

The menu is far lower resolution than 480p, I meant the screen I look at all day long when a song is playing. The screen that shows the album art and song title. Here's how today went:
Went through all the actions to get the first song playing. Before the song intro was done playing, a scammer called my phone and the Denon playback stopped. After ignoring the call I had to go back and press play again on the phone. The speaker burst to life again for less than a second, then the Denon stopped and said "Unable to play media". I pressed select on the Denon remote, and the speakers burst to life again for a split second, then stopped. I noticed the phone was still streaming, so I toggled back to the phone speakers. The song played on the phone. So I toggled back to the airPlay speakers. After a long 10 second delay, the song started playing on the Denon again.
Yesterday I was listening to MP3 music on the USB flash drive. It's encoded in 320kbps CBR. In the 2 hours I listened to the flash drive, the denon froze mid-song 6 times and 2 times required my intervention to resume playback. Now I played a movie without issue yesterday. At least I think the sound was without issue. Only put the movie on because I expected the Denon to let me down again.
I don't want wiz-bang, I want reliability in a nice package.
Sorry for not covering the playback issues in the initial post, I was distracted while writing it.

The phone interruption is annoying on iPhone which is a major reason I use built in Pandora on my Yamaha. Perhaps that is an option on Denon you could try.

 

[Johnny2Bad]

You bought something sight-unseen and complain about it's appearance? I'm not sure why we're supposed to sympathize with you on that one. If appearance and physical size were important to you and your wife you should have taken a few minutes of your time to see one in person.

I'm not even going to start with "what happened to listening to the tool whose sole purpose (aside from looking "good" apparently) is to play music" before you commit to buy?

 

[joshk03]

Boy, if everyone on this thread dogpiled on Denon like you dog-piled on me these babies would be pimpin'.
I'm talking to you guys because manufacturers don't built things the way they want to, they build the way the buyer wants it built. This IS the right place to discuss this.
As for the research preaching, I have been on this forum for 1 month discussing this system. It was an Audioholics recommendation. I have read all the specs multiple times and compared it to others. NOW, how many of you knew this about me and my Denon from their research, and how many are just reading it now?

 

[CB22]

Boy, if everyone on this thread dogpiled on Denon like you dog-piled on me these babies would be pimpin'.
I'm talking to you guys because manufacturers don't built things the way they want to, they build the way the buyer wants it built. This IS the right place to discuss this.
As for the research preaching, I have been on this forum for 1 month discussing this system. It was an Audioholics recommendation. I have read all the specs multiple times and compared it to others. NOW, how many of you knew this about me and my Denon from their research, and how many are just reading it now?

We'll think about it like this. You got a free home trial of the Dennon and now's it time to return it. Question for you @joshk03 , what percentage would you be using this for, stereo music or surround home theater?

PS: I feel your on the design of the interface/ overall. I agree it's an heavy ugly looking box.

 

[lovinthehd]

We should dogpile on Denon because you don't like its appearance and you've got perhaps iPhone issues?

Ps have had issues with Denon refurbs twice, not a fan of whoever does that for them and D+M's quality control....that I'll dogpile for Lol.

 

[sholling]

It is a refurbished, but I get the feeling these issues are firmware related. I need a little more time to find repeatability in the problems.

If you have the receiver hooked up to your network and internet access then it should install the latest firmware. Have you tried using HEOS to play Spotify? You should be able to setup a HEOS account on your phone and then sign into Spotify from the HEOS app. Once you've done that you should be able to hit the HEOS button on your remote, sign into HEOS, and look for Spotify in your Favorites. I don't use Spotify, I use Amazon Music Unlimited and it works great. That said, I still prefer to access local music, streaming music, and streaming video using an appliance such as NVIDIA's Shield TV or a Roku.

 

[KEW]

Still on the free version, the few ads don't bother me. Does plus bring higher bitrate now?

They claim Higher Quality Audio with Pandora Plus:
https://www.pandora.com/upgrade

 

[snakeeyes]

They claim Higher Quality Audio with Pandora Plus:
https://www.pandora.com/upgrade

It just shows up as MP3 on the Yamahas. They don’t say what the quality is. Maybe Denons display more information.

 

[lovinthehd]

It just shows up as MP3 on the Yamahas. They don’t say what the quality is. Maybe Denons display more information.

In general my experience with apps and the on-board "info" is that no info is provided...wonder why? LOL

 

[snakeeyes]

In general my experience with apps and the on-board "info" is that no info is provided...wonder why? LOL

My Sony x800 uhd player probably has Pandora so if so,I can test it there. That thing gives me the data rates for everything.

 

[lovinthehd]

My Sony x800 uhd player probably has Pandora so if so,I can test it there. That thing gives me the data rates for everything.

Meant the on-board Denon info....but if he plugs into the bluray he might find more info or even better streaming?

 

[lovinthehd]

They claim Higher Quality Audio with Pandora Plus:
https://www.pandora.com/upgrade

But on what apps/devices?

 

[snakeeyes]

Meant the on-board Denon info....but if he plugs into the bluray he might find more info or even better streaming?

Oh just to see what data rate improvement Pandora Plus is vs regular Pandora on the Sony, because the link Kew had, mentioned higher quality. But ya even if Sony shows a difference, it may not translate to the receiver internal app being similiar...

 

[snakeeyes]

Oh just to see what data rate improvement Pandora Plus is vs regular Pandora on the Sony, because the link Kew had, mentioned higher quality. But ya even if Sony shows a difference, it may not translate to the receiver internal app being similiar...

Well this was a bust. On the Sony when using Pandora, it doesn’t display the data rate.

 

[3db]

Boy, if everyone on this thread dogpiled on Denon like you dog-piled on me these babies would be pimpin'.
I'm talking to you guys because manufacturers don't built things the way they want to, they build the way the buyer wants it built. This IS the right place to discuss this.
As for the research preaching, I have been on this forum for 1 month discussing this system. It was an Audioholics recommendation. I have read all the specs multiple times and compared it to others. NOW, how many of you knew this about me and my Denon from their research, and how many are just reading it now?

If you did your research, why are you so surprised about its size?

 

[PENG]

Boy, if everyone on this thread dogpiled on Denon like you dog-piled on me these babies would be pimpin'.
I'm talking to you guys because manufacturers don't built things the way they want to, they build the way the buyer wants it built. This IS the right place to discuss this.
As for the research preaching, I have been on this forum for 1 month discussing this system. It was an Audioholics recommendation. I have read all the specs multiple times and compared it to others. NOW, how many of you knew this about me and my Denon from their research, and how many are just reading it now?

You made some valid points, ideally all advertised features and functionality should work consistently. To be fair though, the AVR-X1400H is a lower end model that sells for $399 brand new, and since you bought a refurbished unit you probably paid $299.99 (current AC4L price),that's a lot of value for the $ regardless. That thing gives you a very honest 80 watts per channel, 2 channel driven and even 5 channel driven simultaneously, comes with 6 HDMI inputs and would pass 4K. To me that does represent some benefits of technological advance when you think about what we were getting only a few years ago for the same dollars. I paid 10X that about 3 years ago for just an AVP, and it's less capable than your $300 unit in several ways.

Like a lot of things, if you buy a lower/lowest end product from whatever brand, whether it is a simple router, mobile phone, smart TV etc., you will be lucky if all the advertised features would work perfectly/consistently. My flagship (ex) Marantz AVP would freeze occasionally too, though rarely. You can pay >$1,000 for an iPhone and it may still freeze on you occasionally, or at least wouldn't boot up normally.

If you are still within the return window, you probably should send it back for a replacement in kind or try another model/brand that offers the features you need, and hope for the best.

 

[joshk03]

Denon discontinued this X1400H receiver today. It's been replaced with the X1500H on their website.

I have initiated a return for the following reasons:
1) Bluetooth will not discover on new 1 year old HP computer running Windows10. It's incompatible.
2) Screen-casting to a Roku (in AVR's MediaPlayer HDMI) yields very loud screechy audio... with static for silence. Same Roku screen-casts flawless in my bedroom TV.
3) AVR queue permanently jams up when an incoming call interupts AirPlay. Using latest iPhone and OS.
4) AVR will not reliably play MP3 from a thumb drive. Playback stops at random intervals, never is same place. Sometimes it resumes on it's own... sometimes not.
5) AVR is slow to respond to user no matter what interface is used.
6) Denon AVR Remote slow to respond and disconnects if you change the volume too fast, or do anything too fast.

 

[lovinthehd]

Denon discontinued this X1400H receiver today. It's been replaced with the X1500H on their website.

I have initiated a return for the following reasons:
1) Bluetooth will not discover on new 1 year old HP computer running Windows10. It's incompatible.
2) Screen-casting to a Roku (in AVR's MediaPlayer HDMI) yields very loud screechy audio... with static for silence. Same Roku screen-casts flawless in my bedroom TV.
3) AVR queue permanently jams up when an incoming call interupts AirPlay. Using latest iPhone and OS.
4) AVR will not reliably play MP3 from a thumb drive. Playback stops at random intervals, never is same place. Sometimes it resumes on it's own... sometimes not.
5) AVR is slow to respond to user no matter what interface is used.
6) Denon AVR Remote slow to respond and disconnects if you change the volume too fast, or do anything too fast.

What will you replace it with?

 

[joshk03]

I've grown tired of this conversation. Like my toddler says "bu-bye".

I'm amazed you didn't do your homework before laying out a considerable amount of cold hard cash for hardware you weren't the slightest bit familiar with. These are sophisticated electronic devices and not some toy by Sonic or Bose stuff that's more about looks than sound.

You may not be ready for this yet. Maybe a Soundbar is more in your wheelhouse.

I cant speak for the UI but if you really did your homework as you say, you would have looked at the dimensions publicized on Denon's web page. That would have given you a real idea about the size of the unit.

You bought something sight-unseen and complain about it's appearance? I'm not sure why we're supposed to sympathize with you on that one. If appearance and physical size were important to you and your wife you should have taken a few minutes of your time to see one in person.

I'm not even going to start with "what happened to listening to the tool whose sole purpose (aside from looking "good" apparently) is to play music" before you commit to buy?

We should dogpile on Denon because you don't like its appearance and you've got perhaps iPhone issues?

Ps have had issues with Denon refurbs twice, not a fan of whoever does that for them and D+M's quality control....that I'll dogpile for Lol.

If you did your research, why are you so surprised about its size?