Onkyo TX-SR702 / no digital audio from some cd's

[a5300]

Hi all.
I have an Onkyo tx sr702 connected via toslink to a sony cd player and to a zenith dvd player (don't laugh) via digital coax. the onkyo set up is fairly easy to follow but the manual does not give great detail for the novice user like myself. my problem is i have some cd's (about 12 out of a few hundred) that will not play at an audible level using the digital output. i can switch to analog and they play fine. i talked to onkyo tech support and they had me check my basic setup to insure i had assigned my digital inputs correctly and set them to "auto". has anyone else heard of this? i was considering taking some of the disks by my dealer to see if they play well for them before i unplug my entire setup and have the receiver checked.
thanks in advance

 

[MDS]

Never had that kind of problem, but a few questions that might help with troubleshooting:

1. Does it happen with both the cd player and the dvd player or just the dvd player? If its the dvd player only it might have to do with the player's settings and not the receiver.

2. When you say not at an audible level, do you mean the output is extremely low no matter how high you turn up the volume or just that some cds are much lower than others (that's normal)?

3. What does the display say when you press the 'disp' button on the remote or front panel when this happens?

 

[a5300]

if i turn the volume up to "max" i can hear the cd (barely).
the cd plays the same way in the cd player and the dvd player which has led me to believe the receiver is at fault.
the display shows "pcm fs : 44.1K"
my temporary fix to this was to run my analog cables to the tape input and use it when i came across a cd that wouldn't play using the digital.
none of my cd's are "copies". all are store bought and have the standard digital or hdcd logo's.

 

[MDS]

my temporary fix to this was to run my analog cables to the tape input and use it when i came across a cd that wouldn't play using the digital.

Why the tape input? So you could just press Tape to play in analog instead of changing the digital input assignments (menu 1-1) or digital format (menu 6-5) for the cd or dvd inputs? That's a good workaround but doesn't really help with determining whether or not there is a setup issue or if the receiver is really defective.

A couple of things to verify before we conclude the receiver is defective:

Make sure the digital input assignments in menu 1-1 are correct and that none of the inputs have the same assignment.

- If the cd player is connected to Opt1, make sure Opt1 is assigned to CD (by default it is assigned to DVD).
- If the dvd player is connected to Coax1, make sure Coax1 is assigned to DVD (be default it is assigned to CD).
- If those are the only two devices using digital inputs, make sure all of the other inputs are assigned to "---".

Make sure the digital format for the CD and DVD in menu 6-5 are set to Auto.

If all of that is already correct, then try this:
- Change the digital format for those inputs from Auto to PCM. If it then plays properly, maybe there is a problem with the Auto detection.

 

[a5300]

I appreciate the help with this.
Well i used the tape function simply because my wife refused to have to menu anything to listen to a cd. She can push tape and listen to all of them.
I verified my digital assignments are correct.
I have the dvd player on coax2 and the cd player on opt2.
They both were originally on '1', but got moved to '2' during troubleshooting.
The digital format is set to auto for both items, and video 4 which is on the front panel.
I set both digital inputs to pcm, dts, and back to auto with no change in the audio.
I even did the 'reset' feature to wipe out all memory and start over as suggested by onkyo. No luck. I only set up the cd player and nothing else but had the same results.
I assume the 'auto detection' feature monitors all the digital inputs and adjusts accordingly. I wonder if that has anything to do with another problem I've seen recently while starting a movie in the dvd player. The dvd plays fine when first loaded and the receiver 'clicks' as the format changes, such as just after the previews, or when you press 'play movie', and sometimes the audio goes away when the movie format has begun and I have to power down the onkyo before I can get sound again, does that sound related?
Thanks again.

 

[MDS]

The auto-detect tries to determine what type of bitstream it is receiving to know how to decode the signal. The PCM and DTS settings are a way to override the auto detect and tell it to always consider the format to be the one specified. I've never had to use anything other than auto.

The loud clicks when you power on/off or switch inputs are normal. Neither of my Onkyos make a noise when it switches from analog to digital or between digital formats, at least not that I've ever noticed. There is sometimes a slight delay switching from analog to digital while it figures out what type the digital signal is, but its never more than 1 second. If you totally lose all sound and have to power-down to get it back, that sounds like a real problem.

The only real 'problem' I've ever had was with the 502 and DD Mono soundtracks. In some cases it does click and the display says V2 Main (cable box connected to Video 2), but no sound. I doubt that is your issue because CDs are not mono.

Sorry I can't be of more help. It is starting to sound like the receiver is in need of service. Is there any way you can try a different cd/dvd player to rule out the possibility that it is the player itself causing a problem?

 

[TRUCKGUYGMC23]

I had the same problem with my Onkyo 602. There was a bad batch of receivers that went out with bad circuit boards and it sounds like you have one of them. Do a search on here for the onkyo 602 and you will find all the info you need. I ended up returning mine and getting a Denon and I have never had any problems.

 

[hrtbeat2]

I have the 702 myself and I had to play around with it for awhile to, I found I had to go into my setting go under I believe hardware and adjust the inputs to 1 or 2 or 3, then makesure you have them set for coaxial or opti and so on. The worse part of owning a ONKYO is their tech support hold time is anywhere from 45mins up. I know I'm getting close when you hear the Led Zipplin song being played

 

[corysmith01]

Same here

Has anyone found a definitive answer for this? I ask b/c I'm having the same problem now with my sr602. I've been using it for about a month and had no problems. I have a Sony DVD/CD changer connected. Up until today, it's played both audio cd's and dvd's flawlessly. It has correctly switched to dolby/dts when it's detected a dvd, and then back to stereo mode with normal cd's. No problems whatsover. All digital assignments are correct.

However, today, I put in a Beck cd and heard nothing. I removed it, put it back in and still nothing. I switched to disc 4, another audio disc and everything was fine...audio came through (in stereo mode, as it should). I swapped cd's in tray 5 (where Beck was) and no problems again..audio was present. Then, as I put back the Beck cd, again, no sound.

Is it the receiver, or could it be a certain formatting on certain discs? Like I said, I've played upwards of 50 to 75 audio cd's with no problem, then all of the sudden, this one produces no sound. BTW, I put it in my computer and it played there so it's not the disc. Hopefully someone will have some advice as I've sat on the phone with onkyo for over 30 minutes before...it's not pretty. They take entirely too long to get a hold of. Anyone...anyone?!

Thanks.

 

[TRUCKGUYGMC23]

Once again,

I had the same problem with my Onkyo 602. There was a bad batch of receivers that went out with bad circuit boards and it sounds like you have one of them. Do a search on here for the onkyo 602 and you will find all the info you need. Onkyo DOES NOT, I repeat DOES NOT have a fix for this...I heard it out of their mouth, they know there is a problem and there is nothing they are/will do about it right now.

 

[corysmith01]

I called Onkyo to see what I could do. They actually told me it's a problem with the player...well, not actually a problem. What they said was that I need to check the PCM setting on the player. They said some discs are "true digital" while others are not. Those that are not are not playing due to my PCM setting. They said that I probably have the PCM out set at 48Khz when it needs to be set at the higher setting of 96Khz (?). Does this make any sense to anyone. I'm not a complete newbie, but these numbers in relation to PCM are confusing to me and I'm not sure if this would have any effect, or if they were just feeding me some b.s. to get me off the phone. Can anyone verify this?

 

[MDS]

I called Onkyo to see what I could do. They actually told me it's a problem with the player...well, not actually a problem. What they said was that I need to check the PCM setting on the player. They said some discs are "true digital" while others are not. Those that are not are not playing due to my PCM setting. They said that I probably have the PCM out set at 48Khz when it needs to be set at the higher setting of 96Khz (?). Does this make any sense to anyone. I'm not a complete newbie, but these numbers in relation to PCM are confusing to me and I'm not sure if this would have any effect, or if they were just feeding me some b.s. to get me off the phone. Can anyone verify this?

The Onkyo rep that said that some discs are 'true digital' and others are not has no idea what he is talking about. If we are talking about your normal Redbook audio CDs they are 'true digital' - 44.1/16 PCM to be exact.

What he meant by suggesting that the PCM out might be at the wrong sampling rate could be a problem but is not likely for playback of CDs unless the player is upsampling to a much higher sampling rate that exceeds the capabilities of the receiver's DACS. The 702 has 192 kHz DACS so I doubt that is the issue.

The rep may have been thinking about Onkyo DVD players that have a setting for Downsampling that is switchable between 96 kHz and 48 kHz. If the receiver you connect to doesn't have 96 kHz capable DACS then you would want to set this to 48 kHz. These players also have a setting for LPCM that can be set to PCM or OFF. Setting it to PCM enables the digital out for passing PCM to the receiver. If OFF, there will be no sound from the digital out - only the analog outs (the player does the DA conversion). Naturally if that setting is OFF and you don't have analog cables hooked up as well, there will be no sound.

Most cd/dvd players that have digital outs have similar menu items in the setup, although maybe labeled differently. You might want to verify those settings.

 

[corysmith01]

Don't know if this helps discern what's going on, but it's actually not an Onkyo DVD/CD player. It's a Sony, model DVP-NC655P. It's a 5 disc DVD/CD changer. Don't know if that will help. Now, I did have to go in and set it up to output digital as opposed to analog, but I don't recall it asking or even giving a choice for sampling rates.

At the same time, does this make sense? Why would I not have trouble with ~90% of my cd's, but the rare few don't play? Just seems weird.

 

[corysmith01]

So I just got home and my suspicions were correct. My DVD/CD player only allows you to select analog output (as it states, for receiver without a dolby decoder) or digital (for receivers with a digital decoder). There is no selection for sampling rate. So, that's going to lead me to beleive there's a problem with the receiver.

Any thoughts, or suggestions on something I might have overlooked?

Thanks.

 

[a5300]

I'm glad to see i am not the only person with this problem.
I have not spoken with onkyo again since before i started this thread. i haven't had enough free hold time. i did take one of my cd's by a circuit city who has the 702 on display and i connected it optically to one of their dvd players and it produced the same results. no sound in digital, but played fine in analog.
i appreciate the response to this and if anyone comes up with a resolution other than moving into a denon i'd like to know about it. until then i'm going to search for the 602 thread and see how that went.
thanks
j

 

[Sqwayi]

After having the same problem I figured it is caused by High definition Compatible Digital (HDCD) encoded CDs. The simply fails to decode them, but the 601, which this amp replaced, decoded them with no problems. I solved the problem by connecting the DVD player using both digital and analog connections to the CD inputs. This is not desirable if you like good sound (and have spent serious money on the digital cable) but at least you get to listen to music. Also, you have to go to the menu everytime you switch input assignment from digital to analog.

What I would like to know is whether this happens when the DVD player is HDCD compatible (because the one I have is not, but it worked well with my previous amp).

 

[MDS]

HDCDs will play in any CD/DVD player.

If you do have an HDCD compatible cd player or receiver then it will 'decode' them and you will get the supposed benefit of HDCD over CD, but HDCD or not should not have anything to do with this problem.

 

[hrtbeat2]

My 702 when I start a movie pops threw the speakers, they said it was the digital chip and to return it, I did 4 times and it still does it.

 

[alfster]

Onkyo SR602 and 702

I'm glad to see i am not the only person with this problem.
I have not spoken with onkyo again since before i started this thread. i haven't had enough free hold time. i did take one of my cd's by a circuit city who has the 702 on display and i connected it optically to one of their dvd players and it produced the same results. no sound in digital, but played fine in analog.
i appreciate the response to this and if anyone comes up with a resolution other than moving into a denon i'd like to know about it. until then i'm going to search for the 602 thread and see how that went.
thanks
j

The Problem is in the way the CD was bruned, if you put that CD in a WinXP computer and open it in Windows Media player. It will ask you if you want to remove CD protection. If you answer yes, then reburn the CD it will play on your Onkyo reciever.

 

[nioo7]

tx-sr702 problem

what! onkyo dont tell you to perform a reset? JOKE! i got a 702 with no speaker distance and no dts matrix i`m shure when you are lucky you got a good one with no problem but i wait to see it! i got a 797 before with so many problem i decide to give it to the garbage man! if someone know about bad batch tell me!