gotta setup problem..... home theatre....

[Fulthrotl]

for you guys who do a bunch of A/V & home theatre installs, i have a
perplexing problem.... any advice would be helpful....

here's the hardware:
Reciever : Denon AVR-4308 Ci
Blu - Ray: Denon BT-2500Ci
Monitor : Sharp Aquos 46"
Console : Wii
speakers : magnaplaner fronts
klipsch center
klipsch sub
bose rears
5.1 configuration

here's the configuration:
hdmi from set top box and blu-ray player into reciever
analog from Wii into reciever
hdmi from reciever into monitor
pretty straightforward......

here's the problem....
video works fine on all peripherials, audio does not.
Wii always works. audio carried by hdmi sources sometimes
works, sometimes doesn't. done microprocessor reset doesn't
help.

sound works or doesn't depending on god knows what...
(and possibly one of you)

doing speaker setup, reciever sends test signal fine.... and does
eq fine.... just doesn't output sound on a regular basis.

when reciever not used, and hdmi outputs from periperials sent
directly to monitor, sound plays fine thru monitor speakers, no
glitches whatsoever.

what am i doing wrong setting up this amp? when it works, it's
fabulous, but just turning it off and then back on is the usual
cause of no sound output, or for that matter, the return of said
output.

any insight or suggestions above the level of a ball peen hammer
would be appreciated....

i already understand how to configure it with a hammer.....

thanks


randy

 

[cadpoint]

...
i already understand how to configure it with a hammer.....
...

Thats exactly it you hammering, or doppering to a piece or from a piece of equipment.

The amp is not smart per say to the input /output of today's TV's

Did I miss the daisy chain of it, well OK shoot a flair!

Never mind your said reciever, I thought Amp!
Wait you said reciever twice and Amp once! 2X on the flair, please

OK fine its Sunday and just a WAG!

 

[brantmacga]

could be an HDMI handshake problem between equipment.


have you tried component video instead. picture quality is equal to HDMI, you only need a separate audio cable; use the digital audio outputs of the components to get 5.1; either optical or coaxial.


edit to add---

if the customer insists on HDMI, you could possibly use the HDMI for video only and then separate digital audio cables. my system is actually setup this way because my receiver only allows HDMI pass-through switching, but you can configure different audio inputs to match video inputs.

i was actually thinking your receiver might only do switching as well, but you said the receiver sometimes plays wii audio through HDMI, so this couldn't be it.

 

[MJW]

I seem to remember the Denon receivers having a ton of set up options on them. It might think it is getting the video from HDMI and the audio from another source (RCA analog or digital). You could go into the set up menu and see if there are any set up options for this. Sorry I can't walk you through it, I havn't worked on one in a while.

From what I have heard a firmware update is highly recommended for the Denon receivers. This probably won't fix this problem but it might take care of some other bugs.

 

[SAC]

I'd second going with the component + digital audio instead of HDMI - at least to diagnose the problem. There have been loads of HDMI problems with all kinds of components. However, I think that blu-ray player only has hdmi output, so you can't really test that option. But it is Denon-to-Denon, so you'd think that should be ok. If they don't work together, call Denon.

 

[mxslick]

Randy, check your PMs for my contact info I can help you get thru this problem, it is simply a set-up issue with the Denon rcvr.

I'm not far from you and can also do a site visit if necessary.

 

[LarryFine]

I agree with MX, that it sounds like setup-menu options have not been set. It can take an hour or more to set up everything.

I also agree that you should use component for video and coax or optical for digital audio when possible.

For example, most DVD players have setup menus you can only access when there is no disc in the drawer. You'll find audio options there.

Hint: you want bitstream or raw data, not PCM. PCM only gives you two channels of audio.

PM me also if you want additional advice.

 

[Fulthrotl]

I agree with MX, that it sounds like setup-menu options have not been set. It can take an hour or more to set up everything.

I also agree that you should use component for video and coax or optical for digital audio when possible.

For example, most DVD players have setup menus you can only access when there is no disc in the drawer. You'll find audio options there.

Hint: you want bitstream or raw data, not PCM. PCM only gives you two channels of audio.

PM me also if you want additional advice.

thanks everyone for the input.... will look at it tomorrow.... mx, 'spect a
phone call.... thanks......

and the firmware is a click below current.... gotta update that as well....
i solved the subwoofer disorder... turns out the on board amp on the sub
was smoked...

a trip to fry's to the subwoofer bin solved that...


randy

 

[Speedskater]

"AVS Forum" is the place to go for Audio/Video problems. They have a HDMI sub-forum, because lots of people have problems with HDMI. HDMI has all kinds of hand shaking requirements and if the set-up isn't correct it just won't work.

By the way, that a strange selection of loudspeakers to be in one system.

 

[LarryFine]

By the way, that a strange selection of loudspeakers to be in one system.

I noticed that, too, but it's not nice to bash Bose.

Tempting, yes, but not nice.

 

[Len]

denon

denon

Did you try denon tech support, they are very good,
But is sounds like an hdmi switching issue, Possibly the receiver is problem.

 

[Fulthrotl]

"AVS Forum" is the place to go for Audio/Video problems. They have a HDMI sub-forum, because lots of people have problems with HDMI. HDMI has all kinds of hand shaking requirements and if the set-up isn't correct it just won't work.

By the way, that a strange selection of loudspeakers to be in one system.

isn't it, tho?

it's a hodgepodge. scrounged from the garage.

i like the magnaplaners, everything else speakerwise is trash.
but they are 20 years old, and it's time for upgrading.
that being said, the magnaplaners have jill's evil eye, and are
destined for the downstream food chain... too big, and not cute enough.

dynaudio makes some nice stuff, but the price isn't cute at all.....

i did upgrade the sub last night.... we'll see if it gets kept or goes back
to fry's lend lease department.... a polk mini cube.... 2000 series.

can't afford a carver ultimate sub..... :-(

 

[Pullnwire]

Randy,
Check to make sure that the receiver is set to use both analog and digital inputs. I had a sony receiver that drove me crazy because it was not set to decode the toslink (optical) with the RGB input. it took me 2 days and multiple passes thru the manual to figure that out.

 

[Fulthrotl]

Randy,
Check to make sure that the receiver is set to use both analog and digital inputs. I had a sony receiver that drove me crazy because it was not set to decode the toslink (optical) with the RGB input. it took me 2 days and multiple passes thru the manual to figure that out.

thanks... tony came down for diagnostics and lunch today, and after
some mutal head scratching, discovered a bug (undocumented feature)
in the relationship between the monitor, and the reciever....

if the monitor is turned of first, when the reciever is turned on and
does it's boot, it won't handshake with the monitor, and that hangs
all hdmi audio output from both hdmi sources.

if the reciever is turned on first, and allowed to boot, then the tv is
turned on, all works wonderfully.

we discovered this when i decided to unplug all the hdmi cables, and then
plug them back in, while powered up.

and thanks goes to tony on this one.....


randy

 

[mxslick]

You're welcome Randy and thanks again for the lunch.

Yep, this was a bizarre outcome, unique in my experience. As stated, it was an issue with HDMI "handshaking". As part of the HDMI protocol, there is a signal that must be exchanged between HDMI devices, which sets resolution, clock rate and does an anti-copy security check. If those exchanges fail, then either video or audio will be suppressed.

His Denon has an available software update which may correct that issue.

Be aware that ther is also two versions of HDMI protocol, and in Randy's case it is possible his TV was the early version, and that was why the particular start-up sequence has to be observed.

Oh, and I have found out that what we did, swapping HDMI cables "hot", is not a good idea. Certain components may not like it, with issues being from scrambled image/sound to possible damage to the components. In several installs I've done so far, I 've never had issues with hot swapping...sounds like a CYA from the tech I spoke to.

 

[LarryFine]

Yep. Once again, an example of why I prefer component-video cabling and separate digital-audio cabling.

That what my system has, and I'm happy. Not a digital-video cable in the stack, just analog. It just works.