Official Yamaha RX-Z7 Receiver Review Thread

L

lmijnen

Audiophyte
Hello Gorman,

Maybe I understand you wrong, but to use the presence speakers, you must add 2 small extra front speakers. So you will have a total of 7 speakers, plus a sub. The receiver only uses the presence speakers in a couple of cinema DSP modes.

I don't have any heat problems with the Z7, just give it enough room to breath.

Cheers,

Louis
 
Lordoftherings

Lordoftherings

Banned
Hi Guys,
first post here so go easy on the nubie.
I have been following the thread for a while now & finally bought a Z7 around two months ago. Have enjoyed the unit so far although I did get the "blue lines" problem, gone now thanks to the firmware update.
I am using mine in bi-amp mode to run my Krix neuphonix fronts (I am a bit of a Krix speaker fan: Neuphonix fronts, Euphonix rears, Epicentix centre, Seismix 7 sub) which seems to be working nicely.
One question I have about the unit is can you watch video from one source & listen to another source at the same time. I did see brief mention of this gripe earlier in the discussion but no real answer. I often like to watch sports & listen to the radio at the same time. So far I can't work it out, screen just goes blank once I switch to the radio.
Might be an obvious answer staring me right in the face, but if anyone could help it would be greatly appreciated.
Hi,

First, select the Video source (TV/SAT) that you would like to watch from the Input selector.
The picture appears on your TV screen, duh.

Now, select the Audio source (TUNER) that you would like to listen to, again from the Input selector.

The picture of the sports channel from your Sat/Cable should be playing on your TV, and the Radio playing from your speakers.

If not, flip the door open from the front panel, and press "Rec out/zone2" selector button (you want the REC OUT function).
Then turn the knob till it shows "Source" in the front display. It should work.
But always select first the Video source, then the Audio source.

If it still doesn't work, press again the "rec out/zone2" selector button (again the REC OUT function) and turn the knob till TUNER is selected.

Somewhere in these just few words, you'll get it. Remember, Video first and then Audio.

Let me know,

Bob
 
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Lordoftherings

Lordoftherings

Banned
Rectification

Hi Neuphonix,

The "Rec Out" selector (from the front panel) is to choose the Audio source (Tuner, CD, Phono, Tape...) that you would like to listen.

And the Input Selector (from your remote) is to choose the Video source (Cbl/Sat, Game/TV, DVD, VCR...) that you would like to watch.

Sorry my time had expired before I can make it clearer on my above post.

Bob

Note: Check in your manual, in the section of the REC OUT/ZONE 2 selector.
It is explained there in black in white what to do exactly.
Yep, always check your manual.
And go easy too on old timers, by reading that manual...
 
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I

i3bargon

Audiophyte
Firmware 1.07 and HDMI Processing Issues

Hi, This is my first post. So hello to all of you. I recently bought an Z7 from the audioholics store. My unit came with firmware 1.03. I was having issues with my Cox Cable Scientific Atlanta HD DVR box when connecting via HDMI to the receiver. Basically the picture would flash on the flash off. The same thing happened to the sound. So I then upgraded the firmware to 1.07 to try to fix this error. After the upgrade the issue still existed so I have now switched to using component which works just fine. As a side not before I had this receiver I connected the DVR box directly to my TV (Mits 62825G) via HDMI and everything worked fine.

My main concern has to do with screen artifacts that I see when HDMI processing is enabled. They look like red lines and they are usually diagonal and can be scattered in different parts of the screen. I have read through all of the posts form this thread and Im trying to figure out if what I'm seeing is the HDMI issue that everyone else had. I'm really concerend becasue I'm using the latest firmware and I'm having this issue. The process that I used to upgrade the firmware was downloading the firmware onto a USB stick then I followed the instructions from the included PDF file. Do the Z7 owners believe the issue that I'm describing is this HDMI that was discussed on the other posts and if so should I still be having these issues using the 1.07 firmware.

One more thing, a couple of the post recommened to ruin "Initialize All" to fix some other issues after the firmware upgrade. Do any of you believe this would help for the HDMI processing issue that I'm observing.

Thanks.
 
N

Neuphonix

Audiophyte
Hi Neuphonix,

The "Rec Out" selector (from the front panel) is to choose the Audio source (Tuner, CD, Phono, Tape...) that you would like to listen.

And the Input Selector (from your remote) is to choose the Video source (Cbl/Sat, Game/TV, DVD, VCR...) that you would like to watch.

Sorry my time had expired before I can make it clearer on my above post.

Bob

Note: Check in your manual, in the section of the REC OUT/ZONE 2 selector.
It is explained there in black in white what to do exactly.
Yep, always check your manual.
And go easy too on old timers, by reading that manual...
Hi Bob,
thanks very much for you reply, unfortunately I couldn't get the solution to work :(

I went back through the thread & found the posts I was looking at.
#349 by cdub basically asks the same question
#351 by quenthal suggest that this is not an option on the 3900 or the z7 #357/362 by tcfish does give a limited work around although you would need to make left/right analogue connections via multi-zone to make it work & in this case I want to use the internal tuner so this won't work.

I did look back through the manual (as wisely suggested!:)) but I can't see any specific reference to a way to solve this problem. Page 54 "selecting the recording source" does show how to use the "rec out" button but this does not allow you to watch one souce & listen to another.

Have I totally misunderstood your suggestion? :confused:

I have all components hooked up via HDMI except for my 360 which is on component/optical, my projector is run via HDMI. I am running 5.1 with the fronts bi-amped (no presence or rear surrounds). I have no speaker/component zone connections of any sort.
 
T

tcfish19

Enthusiast
Neuphonix, give this a try. If you aren't using the zone out video, connect the zone out component cables to your display. Set the receiver to the audio input that you want, which would be zone one, then switch your display over to the component input and turn on the zone out, page 124 of manual is where zones are explained. This should give you the ability to watch anything you want while you listen to anything you want. I didn't cover all the details but if you get the idea you should be able to figure it out.
 
Lordoftherings

Lordoftherings

Banned
The New World!

Hi Bob,
thanks very much for you reply, unfortunately I couldn't get the solution to work :(

I went back through the thread & found the posts I was looking at.
#349 by cdub basically asks the same question
#351 by quenthal suggest that this is not an option on the 3900 or the z7 #357/362 by tcfish does give a limited work around although you would need to make left/right analogue connections via multi-zone to make it work & in this case I want to use the internal tuner so this won't work.

I did look back through the manual (as wisely suggested!:)) but I can't see any specific reference to a way to solve this problem. Page 54 "selecting the recording source" does show how to use the "rec out" button but this does not allow you to watch one souce & listen to another.

Have I totally misunderstood your suggestion? :confused:

I have all components hooked up via HDMI except for my 360 which is on component/optical, my projector is run via HDMI. I am running 5.1 with the fronts bi-amped (no presence or rear surrounds). I have no speaker/component zone connections of any sort.
No, you did not misunderstood my suggestion. I spend a considerable amount of time to explain very precisely how to proceed. I went to my old Yamaha RX-V2092 owner's manual, and try to remember exactly from memory too how I was doing that. Now my last post about it, is the exact method for my Yammy 2092, because on mine, it is possible to watch a video source while listening to another audio source. It's not an essential feature, but it is nice nonetheless when you feel to do so. I had that same feature available also with my Denon AVR-3805.

Now, I am quite surprise to see that Yamaha has abandon that cool feature.
I still feel that it is feasible, but I am not sure.
I sign in at Yamaha web site to download their RX-Z7 manual, but they will not allow me, because I don't live in the USA!
I am quite disappointed by this. Now Canadians cannot download their manuals! Yamaha is loosing a big point here in my book.

But from what you are saying, and the discoveries that was made by some other members from this thread, I have to take your word for it. But how disappointing indeed. I thought this was one of their cool feature in the past...

The way I see things, receivers are becoming less receivers and more video processors. How ironic!
For me, a receiver is a multichannel power amplifier with a good preamp section and a good tuner. Having the newest audio decoders and a good digital section is also an essential in this world of digital technology.

The TV now, should be your video processor and also your video switcher with video adjustments for each individual inputs (HDMI and Components at least).
The Blu-ray player should also have a good video processor, of course, and also a good audio analog section, for Legacy receivers, and also with the newest decoders for these same Legacy receivers.

With HDMI, it's a total new world, because both multichannel high res. audio and HD video are transmitted through this only one cable.
But this change the entire equation now.
So, the receiver has to perform all these tasks now.
So, no wonder that the amp section is disappearing. Why bother now to even put an amp section into the receiver? And might is well remove the preamp section too! Now, you got only the tuner left, which can create noise into the video section, so, heck with the tuner, lets remove it. And lets just cram that new toy now (I don't know what to call it anymore now) with more interactivity with your computer, your cell phone, your lap top, your i-pod, your MP-3, your lightening system, your micro-wave oven, your Wide Web World, your cooler fridge and lets call it a day!

A receiver used to be more of an audio product, now it's more of a video and computer interface product. And people are wondering why the weight is decreasing!
Remember the computers of 10 years ago? Now you got computers in your cell phones!
Eveything is shrinking, even our lifes!
We live in a new world, it's called energy savings by miniaturization.
We are going back to the origin of our ancestors, just look at today new discovery of "The Missing Link" from 47 million years ago!

Food for thoughts.

Bob
 
Lordoftherings

Lordoftherings

Banned
Neuphonix, give this a try. If you aren't using the zone out video, connect the zone out component cables to your display. Set the receiver to the audio input that you want, which would be zone one, then switch your display over to the component input and turn on the zone out, page 124 of manual is where zones are explained. This should give you the ability to watch anything you want while you listen to anything you want. I didn't cover all the details but if you get the idea you should be able to figure it out.
I knew that there was a way around! Good catch, indeed. :)
It's nice to see people reading this thread and coming up with solutions to help others. Thank you.

Cheers,

Bob
 
N

Neuphonix

Audiophyte
Neuphonix, give this a try. If you aren't using the zone out video, connect the zone out component cables to your display. Set the receiver to the audio input that you want, which would be zone one, then switch your display over to the component input and turn on the zone out, page 124 of manual is where zones are explained. This should give you the ability to watch anything you want while you listen to anything you want. I didn't cover all the details but if you get the idea you should be able to figure it out.
Thanks mate,
sounds like a solution, I will give it a go & post my results.:D

I know I'm probably getting picky here but I use a projector as my monitor & I was really hoping to avoid having to run more cables all that way.:p

I have just got used to looking at the back of my new amp & freaking out about the apparent lack of cables behind it! It was quite a cathartic experience removing all those redundant cables when I was moving over to the Z7. My old set-up used to look like a cable jungle, for all it's failings, HDMI has certainly tidied up my set-up.

Pretty unimpressed with Yamaha I must say, surely would seem like the easiest of things to do for a AV receiver in this price range (my old Harman Kardon did it no worries). Especially if they go to all the trouble of including a tuner in the first place.

& Bob you are right about less amplifier features more video processing. One of my motivations for buying the Z7 was to move away from separates & over to a more streamlined/consolidated solution, probably more HT orientated less music listening. This has certainly worked nicely, but I still get tempted to go back & buy a couple of nice PAs again.

Thanks again for your assistance, really appreciate your time.:)
 
Lordoftherings

Lordoftherings

Banned
Yo mate,
between two Blu-Ray movies or two SACDs, we try to entertain ourselves by learning and helping. This is the least than we can do. :)

Cheers & Good luck,

Bob
 
EvanescoZ7

EvanescoZ7

Audioholic Intern
in case you guys didn't know, and for newcomers.
the receiver manager for Z7 can be downloaded here.

hxxp://www.yamahapab.com/assets/downloads/exefiles/ReceiverManagerZ7.zip

enjoy
 
L

lmijnen

Audiophyte
Z7 + PS3: blu-ray, only PCM decoding

Hi Guys,

I am enjoying my Z7 very much. It is quite a job to learn and understand the machine, fortunately, the manual has a lot of answers.

However, one thing I find strange. I use a PS3 connected via HDMI as blu-ray player. When playing Blu-Ray discs (with Dolby True HD), I would expect to see the "Dolby True HD" logo on the front display. BUT; when I use the Surr Decode button, the front display says "Surr. Decode PCM". I have selected the Dolby True HD in the BD menu.

I am not able to select another decoder, I can only select PCM. I can use all the other buttons (classical, live/club, entertain, and so on) but I want to use the original Dolby True HD codec! What is wrong?

Same with playing SACD, only PCM can be selected.

In the PS3 audio menu options, I selected all the sound formats, furthermore I can choose for "bitstream" or "PCM". The PS3 suggests to use the PCM format for full playback capability.

What am I doing wrong? Any advise? All help is welcome!!

Thanks!!
Regards,

Louis
 
Lordoftherings

Lordoftherings

Banned
What PS3 do you have, the 40, 60 or 80gb?

The PS3 does send Dolby TrueHD directly through it's HDMI output, right? That was with one of the firmware upgrade, right? Or is it?
And it sends DTS-HD MA converted to LPCM from the same output, right?

And only the PS3 60gb can send the DSD bitstream from SACD discs through it's HDMI output, right? And you knew that, right?

And if you follow the recommendation in the manual from your PS3 to the letter, you'll end up with PCM, right?

So, what's the problem?

LOTR
 
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L

lmijnen

Audiophyte
Hello LOTR,

-I have the 60GB version, fully up-to-date with the newest PS3-firmware

-My version of the PS3 is able to send the DSD bitstream from SACD through, and Dobly True HD

I think I found the problem, the PS3 itself and the "manual" recommends to select "PCM" instead of "bitstream". I just found in a corner of the vague manual when set to "PCM", the PS3 converts the formats internally to PCM and sets the output to multi-channel PCM. Thus the Z7 won't using its DAC's and is just a simple pass through. When I get home, i'll try switching back to "bitstream". I guess this will solve it and the Z7 will be getting the original undecoded formats.

Thanks for the help,

Cheers,

Louis
 
Lordoftherings

Lordoftherings

Banned
Hello LOTR,

-I have the 60GB version, fully up-to-date with the newest PS3-firmware

-My version of the PS3 is able to send the DSD bitstream from SACD through, and Dobly True HD

I think I found the problem, the PS3 itself and the "manual" recommends to select "PCM" instead of "bitstream". I just found in a corner of the vague manual when set to "PCM", the PS3 converts the formats internally to PCM and sets the output to multi-channel PCM. Thus the Z7 won't using its DAC's and is just a simple pass through. When I get home, i'll try switching back to "bitstream". I guess this will solve it and the Z7 will be getting the original undecoded formats.

Thanks for the help,

Cheers,

Louis
Hi Louis,

You exactly got it. Your PS3 60GB will output Dolby TrueHD and DSD bitstream in it's pure natural form from it's HDMI output.

Your PS3 has a multitude of various selections for the audio output.
You are just worry, because you don't see in the front panel display from your Z7 the magic names of Dolby TrueHD or DSD.
But you are in fact getting it.

I'm glad that you finally understand.

Cheers,

Bob
 
B

bwillcox

Audioholic Intern
Hi Louis,

You exactly got it. Your PS3 60GB will output Dolby TrueHD and DSD bitstream in it's pure natural form from it's HDMI output.

Your PS3 has a multitude of various selections for the audio output.
You are just worry, because you don't see in the front panel display from your Z7 the magic names of Dolby TrueHD or DSD.
But you are in fact getting it.

I'm glad that you finally understand.

Cheers,

Bob
I don't think this is correct. I own three different PS3s (40GB, 60GB, and an 80GB models, though they all have 320GB disks in them now) and none of them will output high resolution audio as a bitstream over HDMI. They all convert it to LPCM (at varying bitrates, depending on source, for example SACDs DSD signal is converted to 176.4 Kb/s) for transmission over the link. My understanding has been that the PS3 lacks the hardware necessary to bitstream any of the high resolution codes.

Anyone with better info on this feel free to correct me (and please tell me how to setup my PS3s to bitstream the high res audio since I can find nothing to enable that).
 
Lordoftherings

Lordoftherings

Banned
I don't think this is correct. I own three different PS3s (40GB, 60GB, and an 80GB models, though they all have 320GB disks in them now) and none of them will output high resolution audio as a bitstream over HDMI. They all convert it to LPCM (at varying bitrates, depending on source, for example SACDs DSD signal is converted to 176.4 Kb/s) for transmission over the link. My understanding has been that the PS3 lacks the hardware necessary to bitstream any of the high resolution codes.

Anyone with better info on this feel free to correct me (and please tell me how to setup my PS3s to bitstream the high res audio since I can find nothing to enable that).

No, you're right. But LPCM is no loss of resolution, it's only Sony with the PS3 how they proceed (convert to LPCM). But I thought that the 60GB did output DSD direct, I guess not, but LPCM is fine as well. So now, I guess that your RX-Z7 cannot display Dolby TrueHD and DSD, but only mutichannel PCM.

On your PS3s audio menu setup, you set the digital optical output to Bitstream and the digital HDMI output to Bitstream also, right?
So it will automatically convert the TrueHD and DTS-HD MA to LPCM multichannel, and same for DSD (sorry, NO DTS-HD MA, or is it?). And for Dolby Digital and DTS, it will output it as is, bitstream. And for CDs, it will output it as PCM.
Dam, these PS3 are so much complicated, no wonder that I never bother...

So, that's where you set your PS3(s) from the digital audio HDMI output from the menu audio setup, at "AUTO BITSTREAM". Or BITSTREAM, if there is no AUTO.

It should be clear from your PS3 instruction manual, no? ;)

Man, you should know better than me, you got three of these freakin' Sony PS3 game console blu-ray players and web surfers, and I got none! (Not much consolation for me. :( )
Click here: -> http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=931796

And if you will like to see the Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD MA and DSD logos appear in the front panel display of your Yamaha RX-Z7 A/V Receiver, just get the Oppo BDP-83 Blu-Ray Universal player and the Oppo DV-980 DVD Universal player(for direct DSD bitstream). Right? :)
And why do you need three PS3 in the first place???
Do like I do, get one from each manufacturer, not all from the same freakin' Sony!
How many games or movies are you watching at the same time???
Maybe you need to get your life in order, don't you think?

Anyway, gotta go now, I got some more serious cats to throw out the window by their tails.

Bob
 
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B

bwillcox

Audioholic Intern
The main difference between my three PS3s is that the 60GB and 80GB models are the "old" hardware and support playing SACDs. My 40GB model is one of the newer, cost reduced, versions and they removed the SACD support from them. So, as far as I know, all new PS3s no longer play SACDs (a real shame as I have lots of them). Of course, I have other ways to play my SACDs, but it is nice being able to play them on the PS3 as well.

BTW, I never read the user's manual for any of my PS3s. You know the old saying, "When all else fails, read the manual". I guess all else hasn't failed for me yet with them. :)
 
Lordoftherings

Lordoftherings

Banned
The main difference between my three PS3s is that the 60GB and 80GB models are the "old" hardware and support playing SACDs. My 40GB model is one of the newer, cost reduced, versions and they removed the SACD support from them. So, as far as I know, all new PS3s no longer play SACDs (a real shame as I have lots of them). Of course, I have other ways to play my SACDs, but it is nice being able to play them on the PS3 as well.

BTW, I never read the user's manual for any of my PS3s. You know the old saying, "When all else fails, read the manual". I guess all else hasn't failed for me yet with them. :)

LOL. Anyway I believe I am on the right track now with my latest explanations, and if not, that's why I give you a useful link.

You are right about the 80GB also suppoting SACD, I remember now, I almost bought that version. but when Sony run out of that model, they replaced it with the 40GB model but adding more GB to make it the newer 80GB, but without SACD support. Still following? The 20GB and 40GB models had never supported SACD right from the beginning. Only the 60GB and the first batch of 80GB supported SACD.
And now, like you said, the biggest supporter of SACD in the World, Sony, is not supporting anymore SACD from it's biggest seller, the PS3! :eek:
Quite a downturn.

And I understand exactly what you're saying.

But now, do you feel more advanced in your own understanding on the interraction between two of your PS3s (SACD) and your receiver RX-Z7?

From my point of view, your PS3 are sending all audio signals through their HDMI outputs in the LPCM multichannel audio format.

And to obtain in fact the DSD and Dolby TrueHD, you have to set the audio output (HDMI) at .........?

That's right; LPCM.

Cheers & enjoy life,

Bob
 
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