Denon AVR-X4400H 9.2 Channel AV Receiver Review & Comments

::EDIT::

Post removed to keep things on topic. Thanks for the info though guys, much appreciated :)
 
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Nice review Phil. Can someone tell me if the HDMI ports are v2.1 compatible?

When HDMI versions are upgraded is the actual port physically upgraded or is it just a firmware upgrade that brings it up to the latest spec?
 
Nice review Phil. Can someone tell me if the HDMI ports are v2.1 compatible?

When HDMI versions are upgraded is the actual port physically upgraded or is it just a firmware upgrade that brings it up to the latest spec?


Whether or not the receiver would be able to accommodate the standards associated with HDMI version 2.1 will be an unknown up until those standards are finalised.

The receiver will be getting eARC abilities via a firmware update, but this is the only known ability associated with HDMI version 2.1 that has been announced for this receiver.

All in all it depends upon which aspects and abilities associated with HDMI version 2.1 you are talking about?

I'd personally think it doubtful that this or any other current AV receiver will be fully compliant with what is expected from HDMI 2.1?

If the receiver could already fully accomplish what is required or expected of HDMI version 2.1 then Denon would have sold it using this within their advertising literature. They don't so I'd not hold your breath awaiting such abilities.
 
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All in all it depends upon which aspects and abilities associated with HDMI version 2.1 you are talking about?

Thanks for the reply Dante.

I’m particularly interested in the dynamic HDR and Game Mode VRR abilities. I’ll be watching for future product announcements keenly.
 
Do you think this would pair well with my LG 55" OLED C6V TV?

I've never owned an AVR, so I really don't know what I'm getting into, but since I've spent so much time and money getting this awesome tv, I figured maybe now is also the time to think about something to control all my devices in one place.

I'd love to set up an atmos system too.

My room is not huge though, maybe 11' x11'.

I'm currently just plugging everything direct to the TV and using one of 3 options for audio....

1 - Sony MDR-HW700DS wireless headphones support 4K passthrough and 9.1 Channel Audio

which I enjoy, and use at night so that I don't wake everyone up, so Ideally I'd want to option to still connect these as an audio ONLY output (but this can remain direct to my blu ray player if they won't play with the avr).

2 - LG SH2 soundbar

which I use for general tv viewing etc during the day.

3 - Logitech Z5500 5.1 speakers

which I use when I have guests to watch movies and stuff.


If i bought an AVR, can I just wire up my existing speakers to it, or do I need some other equipment or totally new set of speakers?

My plan, if it's possible, was to start off just buying the receiver, wire up my existing speakers to the avr for a normal 5.1 setup....then buy 6 spare matching speakers and just add them in to the avr for the full 9.1/atmos

In such a relatively small room, do you think it's worth the extra speakers? and is it easy to still get a decent surround and atmos effect even with the volume turned down?

Sorry for all the questions, I'm totally new to AVR setups.
If you were going to invest in an X4400, I'd suggest selling the soundbar and Logitech speakers and buying a good Atmos speaker package instead. You could then use the AVR for most TV/movie watching and still use Sony headphones at night.
 
Nice review Phil. Can someone tell me if the HDMI ports are v2.1 compatible?

When HDMI versions are upgraded is the actual port physically upgraded or is it just a firmware upgrade that brings it up to the latest spec?
It wasn't Phil that did the review but the HDMI inputs and outputs are not 2.1, they are 2.0 but as Dante has pointed out, certain features promoted under HDMI 2.1 can be supported using HDMI 2.0 depending on the chipset that the manufacturers have used. I believe eARC, dynamic metadata and VRR can all be delivered via HDMI 2.0 in certain circumstances but we'll have to wait and see.
 
If you were going to invest in an X4400, I'd suggest selling the soundbar and Logitech speakers and buying a good Atmos speaker package instead. You could then use the AVR for most TV/movie watching and still use Sony headphones at night.
ok, thanks for the tip.
 
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Do you think this would pair well with my LG 55" OLED C6V TV?

I've never owned an AVR, so I really don't know what I'm getting into, but since I've spent so much time and money getting this awesome tv, I figured maybe now is also the time to think about something to control all my devices in one place.

I'd love to set up an atmos system too.

My room is not huge though, maybe 11' x11'.

I'm currently just plugging everything direct to the TV and using one of 3 options for audio....

1 - Sony MDR-HW700DS wireless headphones support 4K passthrough and 9.1 Channel Audio

which I enjoy, and use at night so that I don't wake everyone up, so Ideally I'd want to option to still connect these as an audio ONLY output (but this can remain direct to my blu ray player if they won't play with the avr).

2 - LG SH2 soundbar

which I use for general tv viewing etc during the day.

3 - Logitech Z5500 5.1 speakers

which I use when I have guests to watch movies and stuff.


If i bought an AVR, can I just wire up my existing speakers to it, or do I need some other equipment or totally new set of speakers?

My plan, if it's possible, was to start off just buying the receiver, wire up my existing speakers to the avr for a normal 5.1 setup....then buy 6 spare matching speakers and just add them in to the avr for the full 9.1/atmos

In such a relatively small room, do you think it's worth the extra speakers? and is it easy to still get a decent surround and atmos effect even with the volume turned down?

Sorry for all the questions, I'm totally new to AVR setups.
You may wish to start a seperate thread on this, i know for certain you won't be able to use your existing sub for the denon and afaik you won't be able to use your existing speakers (wrong ohms) 11'x11' is quite a small room this amp will either give you a 5.1.4 or a 7.1.2 set up, if you can accommodate this then fine or look for a smaller amp that will give you a 5.1.2 seven channel output.
 
You may wish to start a seperate thread on this, i know for certain you won't be able to use your existing sub for the denon and afaik you won't be able to use your existing speakers (wrong ohms) 11'x11' is quite a small room this amp will either give you a 5.1.4 or a 7.1.2 set up, if you can accommodate this then fine or look for a smaller amp that will give you a 5.1.2 seven channel output.
ok, thanks...I'll have a look at other options
 
Thanks for the review Steve.

Out of interest what power or integrated amp did you add to this AVR to extend it to 7.1.4? I'm considering an upgrade next year and wondering how this amp + a 2ch amp would compare against the X6400H for 7.1.4 given the price difference.
 
It wasn't Phil that did the review but the HDMI inputs and outputs are not 2.1, they are 2.0 but as Dante has pointed out, certain features promoted under HDMI 2.1 can be supported using HDMI 2.0 depending on the chipset that the manufacturers have used. I believe eARC, dynamic metadata and VRR can all be delivered via HDMI 2.0 in certain circumstances but we'll have to wait and see.
Oops..my bad! Apologies Steve.
 
Had this AV for several weeks now and I love it.

I upgraded from the AVRX-4100 because of the need for HDCP 2.2 support but there is definitely a leap in overall quality. Very easy to navigate around the menus. After running Audyssey's MultEQ XT32 calibration I did some manual adjustments and it just sounds spectacular.
 

Hi Steve,

Any chance you can start measuring and publishing actual power output when doing these reviews? As companies often claim 9x200w and so on but these can be misleading and us users don't have the means to measure before we buy.

:thumbsup:
 
Thanks for the review Steve.

Out of interest what power or integrated amp did you add to this AVR to extend it to 7.1.4? I'm considering an upgrade next year and wondering how this amp + a 2ch amp would compare against the X6400H for 7.1.4 given the price difference.
I paired it with a Cambridge Audio Azur 651 power amp that I normally use with my X7200.
 
Delivering 9 x 200W whilst only consuming a maximum of 710W is very clever indeed.

Denon have sure created something magical ;)

Or alternatively... if you read the specs... it can deliver ONE channel of 200W with a massive 1% distortion.

Why do they quote these utter bulls... figures? It’s insulting if nothing else.

Two channels driven at acceptable distiortion numbers, it’s actually 125W per channel. Funnily enough, they don’t quote an ‘all channels driven’ figure. But it’s going to be in the 50-80W range.

Steve, this jibe isn’t aimed at you by the way, it’s aimed at the nonsense spewing manufacturers...
 
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Delivering 9 x 200W whilst only consuming a maximum of 710W is very clever indeed.

Denon have sure created something magical ;)

Or alternatively... if you read the specs... it can deliver ONE channel of 200W with a massive 1% distortion.

Why do they quote these utter bulls... figures? It’s insulting if nothing else.

Two channels driven at acceptable distiortion numbers, it’s actually 125W per channel. Funnily enough, they don’t quote an ‘all channels driven’ figure. But it’s going to be in the 50-80W range.

Steve, this jibe isn’t aimed at you by the way, it’s aimed at the nonsense spewing manufacturers...
Real world RMS output is much more likely to be in the 20-40W range, maybe a bit more for the front channels depending how the amp is designed. You also have to factor in that no device is 100% efficient, some of the power is simply turned to heat and evaporates, and the processing etc all takes some power too.

The thing is, for the kind of system that this level of AVR will typically go into, that 40 watts or so is about all the power you need anyway. Satellite speakers use very little power in real world terms (you can thank subwoofers for that), and its actually only because of this that something as complete as an AVR is available all in one box at affordable prices. The marketing is more a result of consumers and a lack of understanding (thats where we come in :)), bigger numbers look better and manufacturers have to make their products look the best they can. If 2 AVRs with actual real world output that was roughly equal, were marketed as one having 9 x 200 watts, and the other as 9 x 40 watts, people would make decisions based on those figures, and those decisions would be unfair in real terms.
 
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is 4400 has dolby vision passthrough capability?


Yes plus HLG too. All of Denon's models going back to the x200 2015 models will have these abilities. Some are still awaiting the firmware update that enables this though:

All AVR-Xx400H models are supporting Dolby Vision passthrough out of the box. HLG passthrough was added by a firmware update.

HDR FORMAT COMPATIBILITY
 
My old AVR-3808 is starting to fail on it's digital inputs. So I'm thinking to replace it with the AVR-X4400H. But I'm wondering if the monolithic design of the X6400H would be worth the extra money. I'm not gonna use the 2 extra amplified outputs.

What's your idea on this?
 
My old AVR-3808 is starting to fail on it's digital inputs. So I'm thinking to replace it with the AVR-X4400H. But I'm wondering if the monolithic design of the X6400H would be worth the extra money. I'm not gonna use the 2 extra amplified outputs.

What's your idea on this?
Not using a couple of channels simply means more available power for the channels you do use, and the 6400H is certainly a lot of product for the money so a much more worthy upgrade than stepping across to the 4400 in our view. We currently have a discount on the 6400 as well which you can see here.
 
Does anyone know if the three HDMI outputs - Do they output the same HDMI INPUT or is there switching where each HDMI output can display a different HDMI input?
 
Does anyone know if the three HDMI outputs - Do they output the same HDMI INPUT or is there switching where each HDMI output can display a different HDMI input?

Monitor 1 and 2 are mirrored and output the same source for use in the main room. The third output is a dedicated second HDMI zone output that allows you to select any HDMI source connected to the eceiver independently of what is selected for the main room. The associated HDMI signal is passed through the receiver in its entirety for output via the second zone output. The receiver plays no part in processing either the audio or the video associated with the second zone output.
 
A neighbour of mine is happy to have my current amp, for almost what I paid for it as long I help him set his system up, would the Denon fit my system.

I am very happy with my current amp. It gives me plenty at levels I listen to.

Many thanks in advance.

M
 

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