Onkyo TX-SR605E AV/Reciever glowing reviews

[Fat_Bob]

Thanks for the info Dazzyman. I guess i was more interested in the overall price which seems to be in line with what i was expecting. Think i might take a trip down to RicherSounds one lunchtime. Cheers

[Dazzyman]

As I keep saying I know that m8 but Im not even getting bog standard 5.1 DD or DTS via HDMI Im getting 2channel PCM thats it (no DTS 1.5 either which is the most where going to get currently out of 360). I have to use optical to get 5.1

I watched Planet Earth on BR last night desert episode. Watched this a few times before but it sounded so much clearer on new reciever. Im getting a beautifull acoustic effect from the BBCHD logo from the off. I think summing the machine up it just reminds me of sitting at home with an old telly with 2 speakers built in then popping off to the cinema to listen to THX, clairity is no comparison to me with old reciever.

Fat_Bob - Look on ebay for Richer Sound Ireland (just do a search say for gale speakers) he is doing them for up to half the price (the floor standing of same series Ive just bought is half price). He also has some very fancy ones for few hundred each

[Crisp_Rapper]

oh dazzyman, don't make me go and buy a new amp....

[Dazzyman]

Just been posting about this on another site (Onkyo do feedback on their). Their is a firmware fix coming for popping sound on PS3 (allegdly PS3 end it pops on dashboard once when going into a film, its something Ive heard before on other reciever but I thought it was to do with HDMI handshaking) anyway..

Ive found something odd regarding the Elite, Ive tried using another HDMI (gold plated 1m) isntead of default and I switched the 360 on first then the Reciever and lo and behold I got 5.1 dd thru HDMI. Weird thing is one of my friends logged in and it killed the signal to 2channel PCM permantly (even launching a game). I then switched the reciever to standby and back on and yep 5.1 again, yet again moment I get a alert message it kills it to PCM 2channel, very odd indeed!

Oh Warhawk sounds incredible on PCM 5.1 cant wait to get it to 7.1 next week!

[sj33]

Not strictly on topic, but I read somewhere that The Darkness on PS3 has 7.1 uncompressed sound - your in a position to confirm that, if you feel like downloading the demo

[Keith]

Right Dazzy, I took delivery of my (gorgeous) 705 today.

I've got a couple of problems which I'm hoping you can sort for me though, since you seem to be in the know. Firstly, it just flat out refuses to send any signal to my subwoofer. Did you have this problem? If so how did you fix it?

Secondly, I'm not 100% sure on which boxes I should tick on the PS3's list (when you change audio to HDMI and then choose manual you get a big list of things). And then once I've ticked the boxes (that I'm expecting you to tell me to tick...) what should I be doing with my PS3/amp to ensure that I get the best possible sound?

Thirdly, watching a bit of TMNT on Blu-Ray and setting the sound to Linear PCM, the sound effects and background music were noticably quieter than they were in DD 5.1. Is this just how it's meant to be? Or have I done something wrong somewhere?

[Dazzyman]

Sorry Im going thru a bad spell at moment with my eyes so if text is off and spelling appolgise (taths why Im off Warhawk)

Do a install with the mic then check speaker setttings as some might be way off for db levels (mine I up em to 10+ and sub and back 2 central to 12+) it can take 2-3 attempts to get it right (its better to use it for the distance really as it uses HZ range sometimes abit off). If your sub cant be heard turn it up also make sure its plugged in the right area. You also might want to test full band for fronts and enable double bass see if you like it or not as it can be abit flat by EQ setup default. I use full for front 2 left and right as they can take it rest I use 80hz (THX recoomends 80hz across the board) this for me stops it flat for bass. I have a seperate subwoofer but I turn it almost off as its too powerfull for rest of household with double bass this way it doesnt aaaanyo anyone.

PS3 tick everything for sound settings up to and incllluding all 5.1 PCM or all if you have 7 speakers connected. Go to Blueray seettings and change HDMI to PCM for BR films (change it to bitstream if watching dvds). In film choose the full PCM 5.1 tracks and it should be much louder if its not your speakes are out of whack or you might be choosing bitstream track and its just converting that to PCM and thats still the same lower bitstream 5.1 track NOT lossless PCM multichannel. If you have a Truehd track that has to be PCM mode, its just PCM multichannel compressed and decompressed on the fly, it is softer for me though (as it goes thru the volume control) so I use PCM all the time. You want direct for this modes or multichannel. Press display to check its using it. Havent got turtles so dunno what channels it has but if its TrueHD then thats why it will be quieter than PCM on PS3 as it goes thru a db level thingy what reduces it slightly what PCM doesnt (its same source as PCM though) as I said for me it wrecks abit of the bass db settings etc.. as well thats why on 300 I prefer PCM as I dont have to faff about because of one film.

[Keith]

You're a star mate, thanks. It turned out that there were two Subwoofer in bits on my amp and I had mine in the wrong one. Heh...

I'll get to work on the rest of it - it just seemed strange on TMNT as having it on Bitstream it sounded fine but on Linear PCM the vocals were beautiful but all the sound effects/music were very quiet. I'm sure it's nothing a bit of fiddling can't fix though, like you say.

[Keith]

Also, is it just me or is this amp very noisy? :S Never noticed any noise from my old Yamaha but this one makes tonnes of noise.

[Dazzyman]

Id test some other PCM discs m8 what do full 5.1 PCM as Dobly TrueHD is abit weird currently (can only be sent thru PS3 via PCM) as the only TrueHD one Ive got is 300 and I was underwhelmed by it when I tested it. As I said it goes thru a process where it gets tagged and the db reduced slightly which doesnt touch PCM thats why it ends up quieter. If you want a true test try something like Casino Royal or even better something like Black Hawk Down as they have cracking tracks.

Mine swtiches alot when its detecting a source as Ive got so many consoles and players going in and out but I guess part of it is switching the video souce and other audio. My marantz used to do it sometimes but not like this. Doesnt actually make any noise other than that though. Id heard some peeps saying it gets hot even at standby but mine gets hot when on, standby its fine.

Im glad its setup at moment for this bad spell though as watching loads of telly. Also 7.1 for me is making a massive difference, didnt think it would but its more immersive for me even if it is just a mono track split from back speakers. Watched LOTR 1 last night on DTS ES and that was some spooky pap

[Keith]

Turns out that my subwoofer just won't do anything any more, not matter which input it's in.

Do you have your surrounds and your rears very far apart? I'd like 7.1 but there seems very little point if the speakers are all so close together surely?

[CrispyXUK]

Id test some other PCM discs m8 what do full 5.1 PCM as Dobly TrueHD is abit weird currently (can only be sent thru PS3 via PCM) as the only TrueHD one Ive got is 300 and I was underwhelmed by it when I tested it.

May as well got the PS3 to send it as LPCM, doesn't make any difference which device decodes the TrueHD track.

[Dazzyman]

From various sites regarding TrueHD
"
If you set the PS3 to output as bitstream... the Uncompressed PCM tracks will by default be sent as PCM signal...but if you select Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD Master track, it will simply send the bitstream "core" to the reciever and then the reciever will decode and process, and will display the native codec on your receiver display (DD5.1,DTS5.1 etc)."

Basically only way at moment to get a TrueHD feed is via Linear PCM. If you choose TrueHD via bitstream it just sends you the bog standard 5.1 track NOT TrueHD (whether the film is telling you that you have selected TrueHD their is a root 5.1 track built in and it sends that via bitstream). Theirs rumours of an update coming for PS3 to fix this and DTS MA

[CrispyXUK]

Which is what I just said

[Number45]

Right, this is doing my head in. I've just been out and bought this amp. That's all good, it's sitting in my boot waiting for me to install it.

Now, I have my PS3 at the moment connected direct to my TV with audio carried to me existing/old amp via optical. Obviously, I'm now going to be carrying that signal through HDMI to the new amp. Now, I argued the toss with the guy at Richer Sounds about me needing a £100 HDMI cable so I came out empty handed - which again is fine.

My question is - do I need anything specific to get the HD audio through the cable? Reading up on the standard it suggests you need a 1.3 compliant cable to carry most of the HD audio signals, but everything I've read suggests that if the cable is less than 5m then it'll be able to cope.

Long story short. What is everyone else using to carry their HD audio signals from the source to their amps? And why didn't I just ask that at the beginning without the waffle?