Denon 2311 best setting for blu rays?

KingSoz

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Hi there

I just bought the Denon 2311 and have it all connected up. I am just a little confused about all the surround modes that are available for Blu Ray. I have it connected via HDMI (obviously) and I've been through the Audyssey Setup so that the speakers levels and distances are correct. However which surround mode will sound the best in your opinion?

I assume Audyssey should be on? Which is better; Standard, Direct or Pure?

At the moment my amp is displaying 'Multi Ch In', how come it doesn't display DTS-HD or the actual audio that is on the blu ray, like it used to on my old Onkyo.

Sorry for all the questions, but I just want to make sure I am using my amp to it's max potential :)

Thanks in advance

Sotiris
 
Hi there

I just bought the Denon 2311 and have it all connected up. I am just a little confused about all the surround modes that are available for Blu Ray. I have it connected via HDMI (obviously) and I've been through the Audyssey Setup so that the speakers levels and distances are correct. However which surround mode will sound the best in your opinion? The one that sounds best in your opinion

I assume Audyssey should be on? Which is better; Standard, Direct or Pure?

Audyssey questions - LINK
Stereo Audio - differences between Standard, Direct & Pure Direct - LINK


At the moment my amp is displaying 'Multi Ch In', how come it doesn't display DTS-HD or the actual audio that is on the blu ray, like it used to on my old Onkyo. Your player is obviously not sending out a raw undecoded bitstream signal and is outputting LPCM. You will need to check the player settings. There will be a thread in the bluray players forum no doubt but obviously post back here with your settings and I'm sure someone will spot the incorrect setting

Sorry for all the questions, but I just want to make sure I am using my amp to it's max potential :)

Thanks in advance

Sotiris

Enjoy your new receiver. Batpig's guide should help you out with any questions you have and is obviously a good addition to the manual.

Fixed Links!!
 
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Do we have a comedian?


Hi there

I just bought the Denon 2311 and have it all connected up. I am just a little confused about all the surround modes that are available for Blu Ray. I have it connected via HDMI (obviously) and I've been through the Audyssey Setup so that the speakers levels and distances are correct. However which surround mode will sound the best in your opinion?

Do you mean which formats sound best? All the lossless formats (DTS-HD MA, Dolby TrueHD, PCM) are much of a muchness, as they are just that - lossless. If a Blu-ray also has an older surround format, such as Dolby Digital or DTS, then you should avoid these over the newer HD formats if both types are on disk.

I assume Audyssey should be on? Which is better; Standard, Direct or Pure??
You don't have to leave Audyssey on, but I do. Audyssey MultEQ and Dynamic EQ will correct the sound for your particular setup based on the measurements it took with the microphone. I personally find it sounds richer with MultEQ and Dynamic EQ switched on.

Direct and Pure Direct switches off all tone controls and bass management, and you should be aware that Audyssey will also be switched off in these modes. Whether you think it sounds better depends on your setup and your ears. You need to be aware that as bass management/crossover settings are ignored, all your speakers are treated as large, so you would need to make sure that either all your speakers are capable of generating a full range signal (not many are), or use the LFE+Main setting to double-up the bass from the main channels to the subwoofer.

Personally, I would set surround mode to STD and leave Audyssey MultEQ and Dynamic EQ switched on.

At the moment my amp is displaying 'Multi Ch In', how come it doesn't display DTS-HD or the actual audio that is on the blu ray, like it used to on my old Onkyo.
You need to set your Blu-ray player so that it bitstreams audio formats (see your player's manual). At the moment the Blu-ray player is doing the decoding and sending it to the 2311 as Multi Channel PCM.
 
Do we have a comedian?

Apologies :blush: I was conversing with a mate this am via email re. this weekend's football. Sorry copy and pasting c**k up. I will fix the link!
 
Hi there

I just bought the Denon 2311 and have it all connected up. I am just a little confused about all the surround modes that are available for Blu Ray. I have it connected via HDMI (obviously) and I've been through the Audyssey Setup so that the speakers levels and distances are correct. However which surround mode will sound the best in your opinion?

I assume Audyssey should be on? Which is better; Standard, Direct or Pure?

At the moment my amp is displaying 'Multi Ch In', how come it doesn't display DTS-HD or the actual audio that is on the blu ray, like it used to on my old Onkyo.

Sorry for all the questions, but I just want to make sure I am using my amp to it's max potential :)

Thanks in advance

Sotiris

What player are using to play Blu ray?
 
Hi

thanks for all the replies so far! My blu ray player is a Sony BDP-S350 Blu-ray Player. Ok, I'll check when I go home that I am exporting as bitstream and not PCM. And yes, when I meant 'best audio' i didn't mean nicer to my ears, I just mean correct so I am making use of the audyssey and not accidentally listening to stereo or something silly like that. My room is acoustically rubbish (very echoey due to no absorbant materials, laminate floor, stud partition walls, no carpet) so are there any EQ settings I could play with that will make the sound basier? At the moment it sounds very tinny. I do not have a subwoofer, but I do have KEF iQ90 floorstanders, set to Large so I would still expect nice base from these?
 
And yes, when I meant 'best audio' i didn't mean nicer to my ears, I just mean correct so I am making use of the audyssey and not accidentally listening to stereo or something silly like that. My room is acoustically rubbish (very echoey due to no absorbant materials, laminate floor, stud partition walls, no carpet) so are there any EQ settings I could play with that will make the sound basier? At the moment it sounds very tinny. I do not have a subwoofer, but I do have KEF iQ90 floorstanders, set to Large so I would still expect nice base from these?
If you don't have a sub, forget about Direct or Pure Direct, unless all your speakers are capable of producing full range and are all set to large. If you select Direct or Pure Direct, all your speakers would effectively be treated as large, but you wouldn't be able to double-up the bass to the sub, so any bass below what your center and rear speakers can handle would be lost.

Audyssey should help you to an extent, as it will adjust EQ as much as possible to take account of your room acoustics. There is a manual EQ option, but if you use it you can't use Audyssey MultiEQ and Dynamic EQ, which may kind of defeat any adjustments you made yourself manually, as Dynamic EQ won't kick in at volumes below 0dB.

Make sure you have MultEQ and Dynamic EQ switched on. I don't have the 2311, but the 2310 has a red light displaying when Dynamic EQ is on, plus it should also show on the front display as "Audyssey MultiEQ Dyn EQ".

Did you go through the entire auto-setup process and measure all six listening positions?
 
yes i went through the entire audyssey process, but i might run it again as my mic was sat on top of a pile of polystyrene from the Denon box! I'll see if I can get hold of a mic stand. As the Auto EQ tutorial on this site says "garbage in equals garbage out!". I only ran up to 3 listening positions, should I go through to all 6?
Isn't dynamic EQ just the late listening mode? I'll turn these 2 on when I get home, I do recall having them off as I thought it would just add a EQ like you get in itunes for rock, jazz...and i just wanted untouched audio, but as with most things I probably misread them.

I went in and put the base to +6db on the tone setup as I wanted to boost the base, but I can't hear a difference.
 
yes i went through the entire audyssey process, but i might run it again as my mic was sat on top of a pile of polystyrene from the Denon box! I'll see if I can get hold of a mic stand. As the Auto EQ tutorial on this site says "garbage in equals garbage out!". I only ran up to 3 listening positions, should I go through to all 6?
Isn't dynamic EQ just the late listening mode? I'll turn these 2 on when I get home, I do recall having them off as I thought it would just add a EQ like you get in itunes for rock, jazz...and i just wanted untouched audio, but as with most things I probably misread them.

I went in and put the base to +6db on the tone setup as I wanted to boost the base, but I can't hear a difference.
Yes, definitely do all six positions. They don't even have to be genuine seating positions. I did three different positions on our sofa at ear height, then three more a few feet in front, again at ear height.

Dynamic Volume is for late night listening, as it reduces the dynamic range. We use it at night when our son is asleep. It does a good job of keeping loud sound effects and speech at similar volumes. Dynamic EQ will boost the bass output and surround speakers at lower volumes to adjust for human hearing perception. You should hopefully find it boosts the bass to your liking. I find the sound a bit too flat with it switched off. Its purpose isn't to provide an EQ preset, such as Jazz or Rock, it is there primarily to compensate for diminishing sound quality at volumes below 0dB reference. Its purpose is to bring perceived EQ levels back to what they should be.
 
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Hi

thanks for all the replies so far! My blu ray player is a Sony BDP-S350 Blu-ray Player. Ok, I'll check when I go home that I am exporting as bitstream and not PCM. And yes, when I meant 'best audio' i didn't mean nicer to my ears, I just mean correct so I am making use of the audyssey and not accidentally listening to stereo or something silly like that. My room is acoustically rubbish (very echoey due to no absorbant materials, laminate floor, stud partition walls, no carpet) so are there any EQ settings I could play with that will make the sound basier? At the moment it sounds very tinny. I do not have a subwoofer, but I do have KEF iQ90 floorstanders, set to Large so I would still expect nice base from these?

I also have a Sony BDP350 linked to a Denon 2310. I find the sound from DVD's and Blurays rather bright and metallic, which might be down to the Sony. However most reviews rate it highly. I would be interested to know whether changing the player output to allow the amp to do the processing alters that. I note there is a Cinema setting on the amp which does seem to reduce the edge off the sound. The Sony instruction manual is very basic and is no help in changing the settings.
 
Metalex, you could have copied and pasted replies from the 2309/2310 threads.:laugh::smashin:
 
I also have a Sony BDP350 linked to a Denon 2310. I find the sound from DVD's and Blurays rather bright and metallic, which might be down to the Sony. However most reviews rate it highly. I would be interested to know whether changing the player output to allow the amp to do the processing alters that. I note there is a Cinema setting on the amp which does seem to reduce the edge off the sound. The Sony instruction manual is very basic and is no help in changing the settings.
HD audio should sound identical, whether processed by the amp or by the Blu-ray player. It's a lossless format, so if the Sony is doing its job properly, it should be doing a straight conversion to PCM and sending it out to the amp without any additional processing.

I'd suggest you will hear no difference, whether sending as PCM or bitstreaming.

What is this Cinema setting? Which buttons are you pressing to access this?
 
Metalex,
In my case the tone from my previous Sony DVD player seemed less harsh.

In my manual, it's on page 46 -Adjusting the Sound and Picture Quality.

“Cinema EQ – Soften the treble range of movie sound tracks for better understanding”


Getting to the setting is more complex as it's buried 3 deep !

On Screen Menu = Menu - Audio/Video Adjust - Audio Adjust - Surround Parameter -

Let me know what you think. It does seem to take the edge off.
 
Anyway, last night I changed the BD player to output 'direct', not mix. So direct means bitstream and mix means the BD player mixes it itself. I know some of you say it's exactly the same thing, but it is nice to see the audio format being displayed on the amp, just is! ;)

I turned on MultiEQ, Dynamic EQ and Dynamic Volume, and wow what a difference! It completely fills the room and the base is way up now. I tested the scene from Iron Man where he is in the cave and the mark 1 suit is walking through the tunner, without the EQ's on there is no base on the footsteps, with it on, the whole ceiling was shaking, but a nice quality base! I will definetely re-calibrate when I sort out a mic stand but wow what a difference just turning these on made. thanks guys so far!

Whilst I'm here, what is more 'correct' for music? I know probably stereo as it's mixed in stereo, however to make use of the amp's full potential what would you lot recommend? I currently have it on Multi Channel Stereo as it fills the room.
 
Kingsoz,
Where do I find the direct option on the BD 350. I can only see BD Audio Mix Setting on or off in the menu ?
 
Anyway, last night I changed the BD player to output 'direct', not mix. So direct means bitstream and mix means the BD player mixes it itself. I know some of you say it's exactly the same thing, but it is nice to see the audio format being displayed on the amp, just is! ;)

I turned on MultiEQ, Dynamic EQ and Dynamic Volume, and wow what a difference! It completely fills the room and the base is way up now. I tested the scene from Iron Man where he is in the cave and the mark 1 suit is walking through the tunner, without the EQ's on there is no base on the footsteps, with it on, the whole ceiling was shaking, but a nice quality base! I will definetely re-calibrate when I sort out a mic stand but wow what a difference just turning these on made. thanks guys so far!

Whilst I'm here, what is more 'correct' for music? I know probably stereo as it's mixed in stereo, however to make use of the amp's full potential what would you lot recommend? I currently have it on Multi Channel Stereo as it fills the room.

Told you it would help! :smashin:

With music I tend to stick to Stereo, as I find it sounds more natural and punchy, unless of course I'm listening to a dedicated 5.1 music soundtrack.

It's recommended to set the Dynamic EQ offset to 15dB for music, as it can sound too overblown bass-wise at the 0dB default.
 
Oh that's strange, on mine the 2 options are mix or direct, not on and off. I've done a firmware update in the past week so maybe this changes the options. Have u tried a firmware update?
 
Kingsoz,

Apologies. I managed to find my instruction leaflet, and it appears that I have a BDP S370 player. Which accounts or the missing option. The instructions are not clear but it appears that in order to get direct output with no player processing you have to select BD Audio Mix "Off". Says nothing about direct output or no internal processing or bitsteam.

Not sure about the Audio DRC setting where some recommend setting it also to "Wide" ?
 
metalex,

my setup still sounds very tinny when playing music. I dont' know what I could be doing wrong. I am playing music as apple lossless audio (ALAC), and streaming it via an apple airport express from my laptop as to not need to put the cd in. You said that the music by default would sound '...overblown bass-wise at the 0dB default', but mine is very tinny, even when playing an eminem song which is supposed to be basey. I have Audyssey on, Multi EQ on and Dynamic Volume set to Day, with the Multi Channel Stereo simulation mode on. It sounds no better on stereo as it's all flat!

Maybe I just need to get a subwoofer, but I was hoping the iQ90's would be capable of pretty deep base. In fact I know they can achieve this it's just telling the amp to use their full potential!

thanks in advance
 
metalex,

my setup still sounds very tinny when playing music. I dont' know what I could be doing wrong. I am playing music as apple lossless audio (ALAC), and streaming it via an apple airport express from my laptop as to not need to put the cd in. You said that the music by default would sound '...overblown bass-wise at the 0dB default', but mine is very tinny, even when playing an eminem song which is supposed to be basey. I have Audyssey on, Multi EQ on and Dynamic Volume set to Day, with the Multi Channel Stereo simulation mode on. It sounds no better on stereo as it's all flat!

Maybe I just need to get a subwoofer, but I was hoping the iQ90's would be capable of pretty deep base. In fact I know they can achieve this it's just telling the amp to use their full potential!

thanks in advance
Those speakers should be perfectly good enough to give you decent bass with music. The frequency response goes down to 33Hz, which is pretty good.

You should turn off Dynamic Volume for a start, as that will kill the Dynamic range. Just use MultEQ and Dynamic EQ.

If that doesn't help, try a CD if you can from a standard CD player or DVD player to see if that sounds any better.

How does the Apple device connect to the 2311?
 
it connects via optical. ok, i'll turn off the Dynamic Volume, is this the case for movies also? or just music?

yes you're right, i expected some decent base, i'm not talking rude boy car subwoofer rubbish but just a nice thump.
 
it connects via optical. ok, i'll turn off the Dynamic Volume, is this the case for movies also? or just music?

yes you're right, i expected some decent base, i'm not talking rude boy car subwoofer rubbish but just a nice thump.
Just so you are aware, if you aren't already... when Dynamic Volume is on, then Dynamic EQ and MultEQ are automatically on too and when Dynamic EQ is on, then MultEQ is on too. MultEQ > Dynamic EQ > Dynamic Volume.

You only really need Dynamic Volume on if you want to listen at a lower volume at night. It reduces the dynamic range, so the quiet bits and louder bits are closer together in volume. Day, Evening and Night settings adjusts how far Dynamic Volume will go. We only ever use it at night when our son is asleep, as it makes it easier to hear speech and it ensures the house isn't shaken during loud bits. I tend to use the Evening setting.

I don't ever use it for music, as the dynamic range is fairly narrow with modern albums. I suppose if you listen to classical music with a mixture of ultra quiet parts and loud dramatic parts, then Dymamic Volume might be useful.
 
so in the day do you have dynamic volume set to OFF or to DAY? It makes a huge difference, where DAY the dialogue is so much louder.
 
so in the day do you have dynamic volume set to OFF or to DAY? It makes a huge difference, where DAY the dialogue is so much louder.

I personally have Dynamic Volume switched off in the day. Even when set to Day mode Dynamic Volume is still applying a certain level of compression to the audio, which is why dialog seems louder. Unless you're worried about upsetting neighbours or small children, turn off Dynamic Volume to hear a soundtrack how it was meant to be heard.
 

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