Denon AVR x1600 issue

as107

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Posted another thread about what to buy and ended up with this along with q7000i 5.1 speakers.

Sounds great but a couple of issues I’d like to resolve whilst I’m still in my 28 day return/exchange period.

1 - biggest issue is the sky q signal dropping out completely on system switch on, so I get no sound or video. TV is connected via arc with a semi decent hdmi cable. The only way to get it working again is to reboot my sky q box which isn’t ideal.

Done some research on this and appears to be a fairly common issue, but no idea if there is a fix or if it’s limited to just denon etc.

Peter Tyson are more than happy to exchange the unit, but also suggested trying a different hdmi cable. Any thoughts?

2 - second issue not really an issue as such, but I need to crank volume to 80% + to get a decent level of sound out the speakers. Even then it’s still only around -10db.

Is this just a simple case of the amp not being powerful enough? I still have the opportunity to swap it for a x2700 or something more powerful. I’d rather have an amp that can output a decent level of volume without needing to be at almost 100% capacity.

Some people say that apart from bit more power, there isn’t a big difference between 1600 and 2700, so it’s almost not worth making the step up and advise jumping straight to the 3700 or so. Again any thoughts?
 
Hi, here are a few things I would do / try:

1. Get a Premium Certified HDMI cable (actually 2) and replace Sky to AVR and AVR to TV.
2. Try to use the HDMI input nearest to the Output on the AVR - this may help with issue #1. Some Denon's had this issue.
3. Make sure you turn on the TV, then AVR and then Sky Q - see if that solves #1.
4. Your 2nd issue sounds more serious - did you run Audyssey and do you have Dynamic EQ turned on? What about Dynamic Volume? Try both on and off.
5. The X1600 with 80w should be adeuate for your speakers but the X2700 will be better with 95w. I think the X3700 is overkill with Q7000i but it will give you the option to add an integrated amp to drive the Front L&R speakers, if you later wish to do so. (I have found that once you start getting a better AVR then you want better speakers and then better music = stereo amp, etc.).
 
Posted another thread about what to buy and ended up with this along with q7000i 5.1 speakers.

Sounds great but a couple of issues I’d like to resolve whilst I’m still in my 28 day return/exchange period.

1 - biggest issue is the sky q signal dropping out completely on system switch on, so I get no sound or video. TV is connected via arc with a semi decent hdmi cable. The only way to get it working again is to reboot my sky q box which isn’t ideal.

Done some research on this and appears to be a fairly common issue, but no idea if there is a fix or if it’s limited to just denon etc.

Peter Tyson are more than happy to exchange the unit, but also suggested trying a different hdmi cable. Any thoughts?

2 - second issue not really an issue as such, but I need to crank volume to 80% + to get a decent level of sound out the speakers. Even then it’s still only around -10db.

Is this just a simple case of the amp not being powerful enough? I still have the opportunity to swap it for a x2700 or something more powerful. I’d rather have an amp that can output a decent level of volume without needing to be at almost 100% capacity.

Some people say that apart from bit more power, there isn’t a big difference between 1600 and 2700, so it’s almost not worth making the step up and advise jumping straight to the 3700 or so. Again any thoughts?
Have you tried connecting Sky Q to the AVR instead of TV? It could be an HDMI CEC / Handshake issue, but definitely worth trying a different HDMI cable - make sure it is a high speed cable and less than 5M.

With regard to the volume, assuming you have set up properly via Audyssey, it does sound like a potential power deficit. Using the relative db scale the volume requirements will vary greatly between sources and between TV channels - mine varies between -30db to -9db depending on what I am watching/listening to.
 
Hi, here are a few things I would do / try:

1. Get a Premium Certified HDMI cable (actually 2) and replace Sky to AVR and AVR to TV.
2. Try to use the HDMI input nearest to the Output on the AVR - this may help with issue #1. Some Denon's had this issue.
3. Make sure you turn on the TV, then AVR and then Sky Q - see if that solves #1.
4. Your 2nd issue sounds more serious - did you run Audyssey and do you have Dynamic EQ turned on? What about Dynamic Volume? Try both on and off.
5. The X1600 with 80w should be adeuate for your speakers but the X2700 will be better with 95w. I think the X3700 is overkill with Q7000i but it will give you the option to add an integrated amp to drive the Front L&R speakers, if you later wish to do so. (I have found that once you start getting a better AVR then you want better speakers and then better music = stereo amp, etc.).

Thanks, I want to give the hdmi cables a try just to take that out the equation. The ones I got on Amazon were about £10 each, it said it was 4K and high speed etc, but may try some better quality.

Point 3, I’ve read about this on other forums. Pressing one button to turn everything on/off is a major benefit, I definitely don’t want to do it all separately in a specific order (and even if I did, I know the kids and wife won’t!). So even if it solves the problem, it’s not a feasible solution.

I ran audesey and turned off things like dynamic volume. Can’t remember about dynamic eq but I’m certain it’s off. I don’t think this part is a fault as such. I remember from my car audio days that less powerful amp means the volume level has to be cranked much higher to achieve the same dB output.

Don’t get me wrong, at around 80% (which is around -10db) it’s more then loud enough and I wouldn’t want it higher. My only concern is having to dial it up so high to get to that level.
 
Have you tried connecting Sky Q to the AVR instead of TV? It could be an HDMI CEC / Handshake issue, but definitely worth trying a different HDMI cable - make sure it is a high speed cable and less than 5M.

With regard to the volume, assuming you have set up properly via Audyssey, it does sound like a potential power deficit. Using the relative db scale the volume requirements will vary greatly between sources and between TV channels - mine varies between -30db to -9db depending on what I am watching/listening to.

hi sorry not sure what you mean by connecting sky q to AVR instead of tv? the sky q connected to the AVR, and then AVR to tv via arc.

Previous to this, I had a Samsung soundbar connected in exactly the same way via arc and never had this issue.

PS what you said about volume makes sense, I was watching iron man yesterday and to achieve around -10db the volume scale was at over 80%. I just think that if I’m already hitting 80%+ then I’m getting close to the limit of what this amp can do, and would maybe rather have an amp that has much more spare ‘capacity’ to go higher if needed.
 
hi sorry not sure what you mean by connecting sky q to AVR instead of tv? the sky q connected to the AVR, and then AVR to tv via arc.

Previous to this, I had a Samsung soundbar connected in exactly the same way via arc and never had this issue.

PS what you said about volume makes sense, I was watching iron man yesterday and to achieve around -10db the volume scale was at over 80%. I just think that if I’m already hitting 80%+ then I’m getting close to the limit of what this amp can do, and would maybe rather have an amp that has much more spare ‘capacity’ to go higher if needed.
So are you saying that you do have the Sky box connected directly to the AVR ? In which case, why are you trying to use ARC? If the Sky box is going straight into the AVR, the AVR will strip the audio out to process and amplify, while forwarding the video signal to the TV.

As far as a one touch switch on/off etc is concerned, HDMI CEC is a rather blunt tool, and is probably at least partly responsible for your issues. A far smarter solution is to use a Harmony remote.
 
So are you saying that you do have the Sky box connected directly to the AVR ? In which case, why are you trying to use ARC? If the Sky box is going straight into the AVR, the AVR will strip the audio out to process and amplify, while forwarding the video signal to the TV.

As far as a one touch switch on/off etc is concerned, HDMI CEC is a rather blunt tool, and is probably at least partly responsible for your issues. A far smarter solution is to use a Harmony remote.
Hi, I need arc for sound when using native tv apps. Also unless I’m mistaken, the only output to tv is arc anyway so I don’t have a choice but to use arc?

I never had this issue when going through my Samsung soundbar in exactly the same way.

I’ll look into the harmony solution.
 
Hi, I need arc for sound when using native tv apps. Also unless I’m mistaken, the only output to tv is arc anyway so I don’t have a choice but to use arc?

I never had this issue when going through my Samsung soundbar in exactly the same way.

I’ll look into the harmony solution.
Yes, but you don't need to use ARC for Sky if it's connected to the AVR. Just need to set it up as a separate input.
 
Yes, but you don't need to use ARC for Sky if it's connected to the AVR. Just need to set it up as a separate input.
Hi, I understand that arc isn’t needed for sky but I’m not ‘actively’ trying to use it, that’s the part I don’t get. The only connection from AVR to tv is arc enabled.

Am I missing something? Should I be actively disabling arc and if so, will that potentially solve the issues and how do I do it?
 
The answer to that is "it depends". Some TV's do not play nice with Denon AVRs - on some the setting for HDMI CEC (called different names on Sony/Panasonic etc) needs to be On for ARC to work. On some it can be Off and ARC is still On.
 
Assuming I switch it off as I don’t need arc, will disabling the hdmi cec also mean I can’t use 1 power button to turn everything on or off?
 
Yes, it will. That is why most use Harmony (which also lets you set-up the power on sequence).
 
I looked at the harmony remotes, apart from the most expensive one, the others seem to be IR? This wouldn’t work for me as both my sky box and AVR are not in direct sight.
 
Also another reason why it seems a bit of a waste of money, is I’d end up using my phone app for it, and I can already do that via the denon and LG tv apps.

One solution is to use Alexa to power on both tv and AVR, but this feature is so buggy on the LG tv.
 
Hi, I understand that arc isn’t needed for sky but I’m not ‘actively’ trying to use it, that’s the part I don’t get. The only connection from AVR to tv is arc enabled.

Am I missing something? Should I be actively disabling arc and if so, will that potentially solve the issues and how do I do it?
How is the audio set up on the TV for your Sky box ? I don't know the LG terminology, but it will be something like TV if you are using ARC, and home cinema if you are not.
 
God this technology business is frustrating!

So I disabled hdmi cec and setup Alexa routine/commands to turn tv and AVR on/off to avoid having to use 2 separate remotes to do it.

The switch on/off part works perfectly apart from a stupid problem. The denon connects to Alexa via HEOS and upon switch on, it defaults to the HEOS music source instead of sky! Why can’t it just default to the last source like it would do if you turned it on using the remote!
 
Edit - changed input source on the HEOS app to sky and think it’s working now.
 
Edit - changed input source on the HEOS app to sky and think it’s working now.

HDMI CEC - spawn of the devil.
 
Tried disabling all the HDMI CEC settings on amp and TV, but weirdly upon turning avr on the CEC automatically gets enabled again (on the tv)!

Never got it to stay off long enough to see if it resolved the issues.

Anyway I went back to my old HMRC lead for the sky to AVR connection and so far not had any issues with CEC on. The cable isn't certified, its about 10 years old but very thick so I assume good quality.
 
Tried disabling all the HDMI CEC settings on amp and TV, but weirdly upon turning avr on the CEC automatically gets enabled again (on the tv)!

Never got it to stay off long enough to see if it resolved the issues.

Anyway I went back to my old HMRC lead for the sky to AVR connection and so far not had any issues with CEC on. The cable isn't certified, its about 10 years old but very thick so I assume good quality.

I didn't realise that HMRC had started selling cables in between collecting all those taxes.
 
Well it didn't last long, had the same error again but after about 1 week, whereas with the older cable it was happening almost every day.

I have now changed to a certified HDMI cable so will see if that makes any difference.
 
Update and advice needed.

Returned the 1600 just in case it was faulty, decided to go for the 3700 so big swing from my starting point.

Anyway appears this has a different fault - the audio cut out 3 times whilst watching a movie (for about a second each time, the movie was still playing fine).

So I’m going to return it but wondering whether I stick with the 3700 or go back to the 1600.

Reason is I didn’t really notice any difference in sound quality to justify the extra £620. In fact the base sounded worse then on the 1600.

Maybe my 7000i speakers simply aren’t good enough to go with such a good amp and in a weird way the 1600 might be better suited?
 
Hi yes I replaced both hdmi leads with certified ones. It massively reduced the number of times my sky feed was freezing up, so definitely helped.

The problem with the 3700 is different however and not one I ever had with the 1600 using the same cables.
 

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