Onkyo TX-NR 686 owners thread.

Has this been updated to support earc yet?
 
How are you finding the 934? I’m looking at getting it tomorrow as I can get it for £295. Was also looking at the onkyo 696 2nd hand for £300.. hate makin decisions. Thanks
Hi M87ner I was in the same boat as you and extremly torn between the 686 and the 934. I went for the 934 after reading about issues which people were having with the 696. 295 is a great price I paid more. I havent got ceiling speakers or a blue ray layer yet so the 934 appealed to me because of the virtualisation support modes which it has it supports both dts virtual x and dts neural x so in my second room it will be ideal. im yet to hook it up but will comment once ive had a chance to play. Bare in mind virtualisation will never beat physical speakers its a compromise on my part but considering I initially was looking as a soundbar for my second room for a 100 quid more it was a no brainer to go for this instead.
 
The Yamaha is a good choice. I believe it has virtual surround backs as well so you can pick and choose
The Pioneer is also a good choice if it has the functions you need. Both below the 686 in SPECS but have the 2019 FEATURES so swings and roundabouts.
 
Yamaha receivers only use the virtual back speakers in instances where the incoming audio includes back surround channels. THe option isn't engaged if upmixing sources devoid of back surround channels.
 
Hi M87ner I was in the same boat as you and extremly torn between the 686 and the 934. I went for the 934 after reading about issues which people were having with the 696. 295 is a great price I paid more. I havent got ceiling speakers or a blue ray layer yet so the 934 appealed to me because of the virtualisation support modes which it has it supports both dts virtual x and dts neural x so in my second room it will be ideal. im yet to hook it up but will comment once ive had a chance to play. Bare in mind virtualisation will never beat physical speakers its a compromise on my part but considering I initially was looking as a soundbar for my second room for a 100 quid more it was a no brainer to go for this instead.
early days but very impressed with it so far. no rears plugged in yet but the soundstage is spacial and detailed. I turned the vocal up +1 after calibration and no muffled dialogue at all. turning on the virtualisation definitely improved the soundstage. you can cycle through them so the effects are immediately apparent. it also upscales video which is an added bonus. So glad I didnt go with the Sony soundbar now. this with my old Tannoy speakers is excellent. I cant see it staying in my bedroom too long it deserves to be connected to my 65 inch Sony in my main lounge :) :) btw one of the threads I had been following suggested that the calibration system is disengaged when you turn on the virtualisation modes, this doesnt appear to be the case the calibration system works out the distances and sets the crossover frequencies and those are maintained and used when virtualisation is engaged and processing the sound streams
 
Last edited:
Hi Gang,

Let me introduce myself. I have lurked on and off over the years, and recently bought the onkyo 686 to upgrade my 5.1 surround speakers. This was actually triggered by the purchase of a Samsung 75" QLED in the first place.

I have looked online for the answer to this question, and have not gotten anything definitive.
My setup is a cable box going to the TV HDMI input. The TV HDMI ARC port goes to the Onkyo, which then feeds the speakers. I listen mainly to cable TV or to Youtube with the app built into the Samsung TV. I also have a bluray dvd player hooked into the TV

My question: What sound mode do I use? Does the receiver switch automatically based on the signal being fed to it? Or do I have to change it manually, or change it until I like how it sounds?

Thanks for the help!
 
With digital signals it can switch automatically, digital audio data formats take this into consideration.
Analogue isn't that easy but an analogue input is unlikely to have to do this.
 
So you mean even if I have it set as "Mono" or as "all channel stereo", the decoding will change if the signal is otherwise? Not that I run it that way. I usually keep it on dolby surround or one of the more recent surround modes ...
 
I just got the NR-686 and am having display problems with the BenQ projector. My setup is basically Sony UBP-X700 -> Onkyo TX-NR686 -> BenQ HT3550. Showing display on the projector is hit and miss if I have the receiver in-between. Sometimes, it will show the start menu of the Sony player, sometimes just a blank screen but with audio. When it does show the menu and I tried to play a 4K HDR movie, the display goes down to 1080 HDR10 and the colors are way off where whites show as yellow. When I connect the player and projector directly, everything is ok. I am using a 10 meter RuiPro fiber optic HDMI cable to connect to the projector. The cable has a specific source and display end. Is it possible that the Onkyo HDMI is the culprit? Can it handle the active HDMI cable?

Any help is appreciated before I decide to call it quits with the receiver.
 
I just got the NR-686 and am having display problems with the BenQ projector. My setup is basically Sony UBP-X700 -> Onkyo TX-NR686 -> BenQ HT3550. Showing display on the projector is hit and miss if I have the receiver in-between. Sometimes, it will show the start menu of the Sony player, sometimes just a blank screen but with audio. When it does show the menu and I tried to play a 4K HDR movie, the display goes down to 1080 HDR10 and the colors are way off where whites show as yellow. When I connect the player and projector directly, everything is ok. I am using a 10 meter RuiPro fiber optic HDMI cable to connect to the projector. The cable has a specific source and display end. Is it possible that the Onkyo HDMI is the culprit? Can it handle the active HDMI cable?

Any help is appreciated before I decide to call it quits with the receiver.

Have you got HDMI switched to enhanced?

 
Update on this issue. It wasn't the receiver after all. I searched the BenQ thread and found other users with similar issue. Turned out that a reset of the color settings fixed the issue.

Anyway, thank you Beardy101 for pitching in.
 
Hi, I have just bought Onkyo NR 686. I had Onkyo TX-SR875 before. Everything works fine with it, except SACD setup. I am not able to setup with my Denon 3930 direct 5.1 multichannel analogue PCM input. Any idea?
 
Welcome to the Forum.

The 686 doesn't have multi channel audio in. You will have to use HDMI for multi channel SACD. Very few players, even those that are SACD capable now employ multi channel analogue out, only a few had stereo analogue out. I use a Pioneer LX500 for SACD multi channel which is HDMI, otherwise it's either a Denon or Marantz standalones that take the stereo analogue burden.
 
Hey guys.. I'm thinking about purchasing this receiver and have a quick question that I haven't been able to find a clear answer to.

I’m setting up a room with two 4k displays. I have 3 HDMI devices (apple TV, xbox one, and Nintendo switch) and a coax antenna that I want to hook up. I want to be able to put any of these inputs on either display (including different inputs on each display at the same time), and also be able to switch the audio between the two displays. Will this receiver allow me to do that?
 
Hey guys.. I'm thinking about purchasing this receiver and have a quick question that I haven't been able to find a clear answer to.

I’m setting up a room with two 4k displays. I have 3 HDMI devices (apple TV, xbox one, and Nintendo switch) and a coax antenna that I want to hook up. I want to be able to put any of these inputs on either display (including different inputs on each display at the same time), and also be able to switch the audio between the two displays. Will this receiver allow me to do that?

You cannot output 2 different sources to 2 different TVs at the same time. The 2 outputs simply mirror one another and are not independant of one another. They;re intended to facilitate the connection of both a TV and a PJ and are not intended to be used simulaneously to portray different sources.

Source switching will switch both the audio and the video unless using the receiver's second audio zone capabilities. If doing so then you can portray a different audio only source in another room while dealing with another source in the main room. The receiver has no second HDMI zone abilities though and as already said, the 2 HDMI outputs simply mirror one another and relate to whatever source is selected for the main room.

If wanting to passthrough an HDMI source independantly of the main room then you'd need an AV receiver with dedicated second HDMI zone capabilities. The TXNR686 has no such abilities.
 
You cannot output 2 different sources to 2 different TVs at the same time. The 2 outputs simply mirror one another and are not independant of ne another. THey inyended to fascilitate the connection of both a TV and a PJ and are not intended to be used simulaneously to portray different souurces.

Source switching will switch both the audio and the video ubless using the receiver's second audio zone capabilities. If doing so then you can portray a different audio only source in another room while dealing with another source in the main room. The receiver has no second HDMI zone abilities though and as already said, the 2 HDMI outputs simply mirror one another and relate to whatever source is selected for the main room.

If wanting to passthrough an HDMI source independantly of the main room then you'd need an AV receiver with dedicated second HDMI zone capabilities. The TXNR686 has no such abilities.

OK, thanks for the clarification. Any receiver suggestions with a dedicated second zone HDMI out? Or would I be better off with an HDMI matrix?
 
The cheapest option would be the Sony STRDN1080.
 
Hi guys. Newbie to avforums (longtime avsforums member). I went all-in last month when I found a TX-NR797 for several hundred under list. My experience with that vendor and the excruciating return process made me reassess my immediate and future needs. Right now, a 5.1.2 system is fine, so when I saw the 686 for $249.99 at Best Buy I had to grab one immediately. My apologies if I broke a no price talk rule. I didn't see one for this forum. I'm setting it up this morning and though I've read this entire forum, I have a feeling I may have a few questions for the experts later today.
 
My apologies if I broke a no price talk rule.
No rule in place as it will help other members. Linking such an offer is also allowed, again for the benefit of other members. The only caveat to that would be that this is a United Kingdom based Forum and so will only really matter to those members who live in the US. Welcome to the Forum.
 
Hi, from the US here and thinking about buying the 686,Since it’s 250 at Best Buy right now .How is the sound quality with movies and music I listen 50/50 to both music/movies . I’m coming from Denon 1712 about 8 years old, which gave good quality sound, very crisp and detailed receiver .I’m just a bit concerned I’m gonna be disappointed in the sound quality. Can someone chime in and tell me why I should buy it other then the good price lol. Thanks in advance
 
I've just ordered this amp, currently only going to be running 2.1 but I have the outrageous and possibly disgusting thought of combining some Logitech Z5500 sattelite speakers for the 5.0 part of the 7.1, 2.1 for music with the Wharfedales and Monolith, and using the sattelites for movies and maybe have a tinker with things like Atmos. Not sure if it's possible or will sound good.

Someone mentioned there is an issue with the HDMi board and these can fail, does Onkyo cover this in their warranty / give cashback for a new Onkyo device? I just wouldn't want to have a massive faff if it did fail.
 

The latest video from AVForums

Is 4K Blu-ray Worth It?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom