Yamaha RX-V3900 speaker crack/pop

[ee4hire]

I installed an RX-V3900 last month and have been very happy with the sound quality, control and extra features. It is a great improvement over my quite old Sony.

I have one problem that I'm trying to figure out if it is a defect or characteristic of the receiver. I have several av sources (DVD, DVR, Buffalo Link theatre) all connected via optical audio and component video (don't have and HDMI TV yet).

When ever I stop playback, with either a pause or fast forward, as expected the audio goes silent. Problem is when I restart from pause or end my fast forward and go back to play, I usually get a small pop/crack in a speaker (it seems to vary between the front left, right and center.

Yamaha suggests I take this in for repair, but before I loose my entertainment system for what could be two weeks, I'd like to hear that others indeed don't have this problem with the unit, i.e., playback from a source starts silently until the source has some sound output.

 

[greggp2]

I had this unit for 30 days and ended up returning mine (not for this reason). Mine did this too, until I installed the firmware update. Have you tried that yet?

 

[ee4hire]

Do you recall which firmware update you applied that fixed it? I have version 1.05 which is the latest (anxiously awaiting the promised March update that promises net access to Sirius).

Out of curiosity, why did you decide to return?

 

[lsiberian]

Do you recall which firmware update you applied that fixed it? I have version 1.05 which is the latest (anxiously awaiting the promised March update that promises net access to Sirius).

Out of curiosity, why did you decide to return?

Just send it back. No point in risking damaging your speakers.

It could be the sign of an issue.

 

[Nomo]

Just send it back. No point in risking damaging your speakers.

It could be the sign of an issue.

I agree. I've had 2 Yamahas, a 1500 and an 1800. I never had that issue.
There is something wrong with that one. Send it in.

 

[greggp2]

Do you recall which firmware update you applied that fixed it? I have version 1.05 which is the latest (anxiously awaiting the promised March update that promises net access to Sirius).

Out of curiosity, why did you decide to return?

It was version 1.05. It took care of the popping on mine for the most part. Although it would still do it on occasion, not sure why, but it was when I was switching sources, modes, or when I would pause my DVR and then play again.

I returned mine because I decided to buy an Arcam unit. I felt the Yamaha lacked some of the refinement in sound. The sound field it produced was very good, but it seemed to be all on one plane to me. Also, it sounded very bright to me when paired with my speakers. I would experience listening fatigue and that was something that rarely ever would happen with my Rotel.

Overall verdict though on that unit is very good, but if you are still popping, that couldn't be good for your speakers...

 

[ee4hire]

Thanks for the feed back. After e-mail and telecon's with Yamaha, I'm taking back to the dealer. I've had it 6 weeks, so not yet confirmed if I will get a new replacement unit or have to wait for repairs.

Based on Greggp2's comments, I'm not sure this isn't a design flaw, since the pop occurs as he describes, when switching sources or pausing DVR.

It'll probably be a while, but I'll post my results here when I get the unit back.

Glad I kept my old receiver so my system won't be completely down.

 

[ee4hire]

Good news is dealer swapped out the unit for a new one. Brought it home, installed and upgraded the firmware to the latest (1.05).
Bad news is the pops are still there most every time I resume play on the DVR or change channels on DVR tuner or TV tuner. Since similar pops occur from different sources, it can't really be the sources, it must be the receiver.
Pops are not terribly loud, so I don't think they should hurt the speakers. They are just very annoying, especially with quiet, low volume content.
Only hope is a future firmware update fixes this, though I'm doubtful that will happen. Yamah support believed this was a defect in my unit, so apparently not everyone sees this problem. I really can't understand what would be unique for my setup. I know that these same sources did not have this problem with my previous receiver, a Sony STR-DE945.

 

[Warlan]

As reported in the Z7 thread, the v3900 and Z7 new 1.07 firmware is out now.

 

[ee4hire]

Wow, it wasn't there just yesterday afternoon, downloading it now. Thanks.

 

[Adam]

I must say that I'm curious if this fixes the problem. Please let us know if the new firmware clears things up for you. Thanks!

 

[ee4hire]

So I now have 1.07 loaded. Only documented change is the addition of Sirius Internet (which I was anxious to have). It works fine.

Pops are still there, guess I'm going to have to live with them.

Suprised I've not found others with this problem.

 

[ee4hire]

Solved! Over the last few weeks I've looked all through the settings and manual for something that might help this, finally I found it.

First a little about my system:
1. No HDMI, all video is component video, I have four, three switched by the Receiver and fourth tied goes directly to TV.
2. Audio input is either optical or coax digital, except for the redundant analog audio from TV for analog channels.

The default setting for GUI Menu: Input select -> Audio Select was set to "Auto". Solution is to change to "Coax/Opt" for all channels (except TV).

My DVR was apparently dropping the digital audio feed during pause (or FF) and so the Yamaha had to hunt for an input in the auto mode. With the specific setting, the pops no long occur when resuming from pause or FF.

This fixes everything but the TV as a source. Since my TV only outputs optical digital audio for digital TV and analog L/R for analog channels, I have to maintain the Auto mode to be able to get sound from both types of channels. Perhaps after June this will become moot, if the analog really stops.

In rare situations on my DVD, I've not received digital audio out and in the past always also hooked up analog r/l in, but I'll wait til I see that again and if necessary, change the setting for the duration of the DVD.

It's been frustrating finding this problem, very sorry I had to go through replacing the unit before I finally figured it out. My e-mails and telephone conversations with Yamaha indicated I had a bad unit, so there was no help from them but to repair or replace. Sure glad I didn't send this off for the two week repair. I'll send another e-mail to Yamaha, hopefully they'll get this in their knowledge base.

Now I can finally enjoy this unit and fine tune the sound fields.

Thanks for all the replies on this thread, kept me focused on the problem.

 

[ee4hire]

Epilogue

IMHO, this is a flaw in the RX-V3900 that Yamaha should really fix. I found a "work around the problem" for most of my use, but not completely. Acquiring lock on the digital audio stream or switching between sources should not output an unwanted noise to a speaker (it usually occurs in a different speaker each time).

My only other AVR experience is a Sony that with the same set of sources connected to optical in, this problem never occurred, even though it would auto switch between the analog r/l and coax/optical.

 

[chrispre]

Noises

Hi I have exactly the same problem with my HDPVR. I am using HDMI for video and Optical for sound. For some strange reason our satelite provider in SA does not transport the digital audio signals on the HDMI interface. I can not find the default setting that you refer to. Under input select I only have the inputs not a default setting. Software is 1.07

 

[chrispre]

I found the setting but sadly it does not fix the problem. I still get the crack/pop when I fast forward or rewind on the PVR. It also emits a high pitch sound when I pause the PVR. This is too high for me to hear but my kids can hear it.