Will Probably Need to Replace the SR605 at This Point...Can Someone Help Choose a New AVR Based on Specific Needs?

[William Lemmerhirt]

When they dropped the Preset Settings exactly, I’m not sure. Dolby Atmos and DTS:X kinda’ screwed things up there. You cannot cross up mix them with few exeptions. I remember being able to apply DTS Neo:6 Cinema to Atmos tracks using the Yamaha. But, that is an older mode that doesn’t deal in height or virtual height speakers. The Yamaha also allowed for Center Spread to be turned on with atmos tracks while the Onkyo and Denon did not allow for it.

Regarding the Onkyo TX-NR6050, DTS Neural:X and Virtual:X cannot be applied to Dolby Atmos tracks. But, you can get around this if height/virtual height speakers are turned off. The metadata is not flagged and the track, in the case of a blu-ray disc, is simply recognized as a Dolby TrueHD track rather than a Dolby Atmos/TrueHD track. Without the metadata flagged and Atmos displayed as the input, DTS modes are now selectable.

DTS:X tracks work a bit differently. Turning off height or virtual height speakers does not prevent metadata from being flagged as it does with Dolby Atmos tracks. The receiver still recognizes and displays DTS:X as the input codec and Dolby Surround mode cannot be selected for processing like it can for DTS HD Master Audio tracks.

Atmos tracks using an Apple TV 4K are different, still. They are delivered using Dolby MAT. Basically, Dolby Digital Plus lossy core is converted to PCM and metadata is still attached to it. Some receivers briefly confuse it with lossless TrueHD and then sort it out. The Yamaha and Denon displayed Atmos/PCM as the input while the Onkyo simply displays Atmos. As with Atmos/Dolby TrueHD on disc, DTS modes cannot be selected with Atmos/PCM tracks.

Turning height or virtual heights speakers off while playing an Atmos track on the Apple TV 4K does not result in loss of the Atmos flag like it does with discs. If one wants to use DTS sound modes with these tracks, they must go into the audio settings of the Apple TV 4K and turn Atmos off. DTS sound modes will now be available with the PCM track.

Streaming in DTS is practically a non issue until Disney+ applies it to their IMAX Enhanced titles using some form of DTS that nobody has identified for sure, yet. Sony Bravia Core service is, I believe, the only service using some form of DTS. I’ve yet to hear from anybody who has used the service. Most streaming devices and new TVs do not support DTS at all.

Hey treb. I’m curious about something you referenced wrt dtsx in the above. You mentioned that turning off the heights does not prevent the metadata from being flagged. While it’s possible for dtsX tracks to use audio objects, I always thought that all dtsX tracks to date were channel based, without any objects and therefore no metadata(XYZ coordinates) to flag.
Am I sniffing old news print?

 

[lovinthehd]

@Trebdp83 not sure what you mean by presets in terms of the memory thing....can you expand a bit?

 

[Trebdp83]

I was referring to the old Onkyo Preset Mode. As for DTS:X, it is object based but not like Atmos and I shouldn’t have compared them in that way concerning metadata. There is object placement information but DTS:X is designed to work with or without height or virtual height speakers. So, it will always come over as DTS:X on a disc regardless of the speaker configuration. So, no Dolby processing can be applied to it. Dolby Atmos will come over as Atmos/TrueHD on disc if there are height or virtual height speakers. Without them, Dolby TrueHD is recognized and DTS modes can be applied to it.

 

[Kaskade89052]

Alright, before I get into all the questions I have regarding the functionality of these new receivers (specifically the way they deal with matrixing two-channel/one-channel signals), let me provide an update from over the weekend...

So as I reported some time back, it seems jiggling the HDMI cable around in the 605's HDMI OUT port seems to have brought the OSD back -- but knowing I was going to check my system's settings over the weekend (it ended up being yesterday), I ensured, once more, that the cable was as secure as possible at the back of the AVR (even, at one point, sliding a 9V battery under it to wedge it solidly in the little cutout in my entertainment center where the cables pipe in; I decided against that after I considered that the receiver puts out a lot of heat and could do something terrible to that battery back there).

When I began checking my 605's settings via the OSD, the menus came up in the beginning -- but after a few moments, I began to get that slight twitching on the screen, which eventually lead to those weird green lines flashing through the menus. It didn't render the OSD unviewable, but it was annoying trying to see the settings while the screen twitched and flashed with that weird interference/distortion every couple of seconds.

Obviously, something still isn't right with the Onkyo's HDMI OUT port (or the cable that's connecting it to the TV), but what does it sound like? Does this weird "flickering" on the screen with green-colored distortions indicate the PORT itself is going dead, or the cable is bad? Or is it related to the "tugging" on the port because the cable is so heavy, as I thought it was?

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Have you tried a different cable?

 

[Kaskade89052]

Have you tried a different cable?

I have not yet, William; I suppose that could be my last resort. I have been hesitant because it's SO difficult to get back there the way the AVR is installed in the entertainment center.

Does this sound like a bad cable or is it the port going bad over time?

As I mentioned some time back, there was one moment when I couldn't get the OSD to come up AT ALL when I pressed the SETUP menu on the AVR's remote -- and, oddly, there were times when the remote wouldn't let me go back a step or two in the menus via the RETURN button (it would lock up and force me to either start over or power off the receiver and then power back on).

It's just the WEIRDEST thing.

 

[lovinthehd]

I'd take the time to try a different cable myself..... and make it easier to access/make changes if possible

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

I have not yet, William; I suppose that could be my last resort. I have been hesitant because it's SO difficult to get back there the way the AVR is installed in the entertainment center.

Does this sound like a bad cable or is it the port going bad over time?

As I mentioned some time back, there was one moment when I couldn't get the OSD to come up AT ALL when I pressed the SETUP menu on the AVR's remote -- and, oddly, there were times when the remote wouldn't let me go back a step or two in the menus via the RETURN button (it would lock up and force me to either start over or power off the receiver and then power back on).

It's just the WEIRDEST thing.

The remote thing definitely sounds weird. Can’t say I’ve ever had that. As far as the cable thing, my best guess is it’s a bad cable. They’re much more susceptible to failure than a port, although either can fail. Cables are cheap too relatively speaking. When I’ve had bad cables I get little “stars” or dots on the screen. The green streaks could easily be from a cable. But without a way to test I can’t say.

 

[Kaskade89052]

I'd take the time to try a different cable myself

I'll try.

and make it easier to access/make changes if possible

Not possible based on the room I have to work with in the area of the cabinet the unit is installed in, but I appreciate the suggestion.

I am trying to get some pics of our exact entertainment center to give you a better idea of what I'm dealing with, but in a nutshell, the AVR is installed in one of the piers of a glass-and-wood wall unit, behind a glass door (we leave the door open when using the receiver/watching films), and the depth of the shelf it's on leaves just enough room for the cables and wires in the back (we actually had to cut some additional space out so all the wires could comfortably pass through).

This is going to be an issue, no doubt, with a new AVR because most of them that I am looking at are going to be somewhat deeper than the 605 I'm using now (unless I am totally mistaken; I know the RZ50, if we can ever afford it, is significantly deeper).

 

[Kaskade89052]

The remote thing definitely sounds weird. Can’t say I’ve ever had that. As far as the cable thing, my best guess is it’s a bad cable. They’re much more susceptible to failure than a port, although either can fail. Cables are cheap too relatively speaking. When I’ve had bad cables I get little “stars” or dots on the screen. The green streaks could easily be from a cable. But without a way to test I can’t say.

Understood; thank you.

Yeah, the issue isn't the expense of a cable -- we would just need the cheapest, most basic one for this connection anyway (just to check AVR settings from time to time). I may even have a cheap one lying around from an additional cable box or something...

Sounds like it is indeed the cable, based on what you're describing, as well, with the distortions; I just can't explain why, if it was a cable or port, the setup menu itself wouldn't let me return a page or why the remote seemed to lock up at one point in the past.

At this point I am considering just moving on from this receiver, even if the new models won't allow me to watch discs with less-than-multichannel surround tracks properly...