I'd like to set up some macros for my Onkyo. For example, I'd like to be able to turn off and on the center channel at will. This was relatively trivial with the H/K, but the only way I've found to do it on the Onk is to dig into the main menu, go down a few levels, and then adjust the crossover on the center until it's set to none. This is probably about 10 button clicks, and turning it back on would be as many. Anyone with a 709, 809, 1009, that sort of generation know a better way to do this? Video settings are quickly accessible, but not so much the audio.

Even better would be if I could set up a particular set of speakers (ie, fronts, sub, surround) for music, with a different set (fronts, sub, center, and surrounds) for video. Any tips?

Ken, I'm NO expert on receivers and have never owned an Onkyo... But could a "Direct" mode be modified with a subset of speaker configurations?

Probably not, because Direct will only take what is input--and I'd like to use DPL2 or DTS: Neo, unless I'm sitting down for a serious listening session, at which point I would just use stereo anyway.

I think my only hope is winning the amp contest and parlaying that into a new center.

My Dad is still in and out of hospitals in RI (currently "in") and I STILL haven't had time to finish my HT revision, but I can say with the very limited testing I've done that I like the tonality of the VP160 so much more than my 150 that any music that is put on in the living room is always in multi-channel mode now.

EDIT: Sorry I'm not much help. I WANT to be for all the help you've given me over the years!

I agree with you Mark regarding the use of multi channel for all of our music listening since having the VP180, as on old die-hard two channel stereo listener I can't tell you now how long it has been since I've listened to anything in stereo.

Best wishes for your dad Mark!

Edit: Ken sorry, that is about as much help as I can provide you with.

Ken, I don't don't do that, but my immediate impression is that you'd have to set the center speaker to none in the main menu or set it to the minimum in the "Home" menu. No one-step process comes to mind now.

It appears that what you want is no center speaker when playing music, so my thought would be to set the DPLII Center Width to the widest setting, which would send nothing to the center speaker. Since that applies only to 2-channel source material, this wouldn't have any effect on the center speaker for 5.1 movie material.

Hmm. The question then is will the wide stick to only the DPL2 Music, or will it also apply to DPL2 Movie, which I use for my TV watching. Will need to expirimentate!

I don't(I'll say it just once this time)use DPLII Movie, but I believe that the adjustable parameters are only for the Music mode.

JohnK is still waiting for the TechnoRave DPLII setting.

As am I!

John is correct, the parameters are only adjustable for music mode.

Parfecto. Will try it tonight.

Yup, that did the trick.

Also ran the Audyssey MultiXT calibration this morning, with 5 listening spots. Sounds pretty good on first blush, but it did set my VP100 to 40 Hz, which confuses me. Or is that the one that the receiver manufacturer does?

So I was listening to music last night, and I was thinking the bass was a titch anemic. So I stuck my ear up against the sub, and it was working--a little.

Then I decided, screw Audyssey, I don't have this big sub so it can make little whisper farts of bass. Turned up the bass by 10dB on the receiver, and I'm much happier.

in my experience and lots of others too, Audyssey sets the sub too weak for a flat perception; try boosting the sub level - in the avr - by 3 db. and make sure you use Dynamic EQ. and the right offsets for different sources.
this should give you a flat-to-the-ear perception of freq. resp.

if it still does not sound right, then you should review your Audyssey calibration and then see if there is a problem somewhere.

if you already do all this, then just delete my post. :-)

Audyssey checks for the -3dB point for all the speakers and then tells your avr; in this case the -3dB was measured at 40 Hz.
it often is different from the manufacturer's specs as it depends on speaker placement.

my rear speakers are R.S. Minimus 7; they're supposed to go down to around 100Hz (-3dB), but the way they are positioned, Audyssey reports a cutoff freq. of 40 Hz.
in this case, i just changed the x-over freq. to 100 Hz.

also, i don't know how many mic positions your version of Audyssey has, but you should always use all of them; this way, Audyssey collects the max. amount of data to make the best possible corrections.

The first (and only) time I've run Audyssey with my new Denon avr, it seemed the sub was a bit low also. I just turned it up a bit on the back of the sub. The next time, I'm turning the sub down a little more before I start the Audyssey program. Then I'll try the +3 for the sub. I had to do a +4 for the center.

Funny, because I never had to do any of these special adjustments with MCACC and it always sounded good to my ears, without any further adjustments, other than setting L/C/R to small.

I haven't been using the Audyssey EQ or Dynamic anything, just using it for auto calibration. Maybe that's the issue, but I really didn't like what the EQ did in my room.

It seems maybe MCACC is a one size fits all, that does a fairly good job at what it does, and the Audyssey program may be a tweaker's paradise, that will require a fair amount of tweaking to make it sound good. That's my first impression of it.

Edit: So, far, it has cut the bass and center, and seems to have extended the highs too much. I used the 6 position mic position.

have you read and followed the detailed instructions for audyssey on the avs forum?
it's not complicated to do, and after calibration is done, you have a few things to check and adjust if necessary in the avr.

I haven't. Maybe someday, but I'm waiting to get all of my speakers installed first. (When I find the time and am not too tired).

Atta boy, Ken C., Screw Audyssey!

No way the VP100 EVER produces 40 Hz, no matter where you put it. Like I've always said, Audyssey is error-prone.

Regards,
Alan

LOL

Even if it's sitting flat on the entertainment center behind my TV?

I need to re-run the calibration, I know; I was just wondering if anyone else had the experience of the sub being way too low. I remember from way back that it was advised to calibrate the sub 10dB higher than anything else.

i think there's a very good way to check the sub's level.

run the LOTR's first movie and go to around 19 mins, when the ring drops on the floor.
run the scene over and over and increase level in the avr until you see/hear that the sound is right for what you see on the screen.

that's the easy way i could judge with certainty the level i should use on the sub: 3 db more than what Audyssey told my avr.

i can think of only one reason some say to up the sub's level by 10 dB:
that must be for bass-heads.

I was listening to "Desert Rose" by Sting, which usually has some pretty good bass.

Hi Ken,

All joking aside, the VP100 measured in Axiom's anechoic chamber at 40 Hz is -20 dB "down" from its upper bass and midrange output levels. Even allowing for bass reinforcement from adjacent surfaces like your entertainment center, that would add 6 dB or perhaps a little more to its output at 40 Hz, leaving it -14 dB down. You might see the cones of the woofers move at 40 Hz, but I doubt you'd hear anything. More likely you'd hear the 2nd harmonic at 80 Hz and the VP100 would have significant audible output there.

As to subwoofer levels, it's also dictated by not just personal taste on the part of the mixing of the source material, but a matter of what is considered "realistic". If you were a devotee of disco-era music, the bass is usually mixed at a very loud level. I used to like some disco, on disc and in clubs, where the bass was incredibly loud. The latter was fundamental to the driving dance rhythms. In that sense, hugely powerful bass from disco music would be realistic.

In good concert halls, the reverberations of a big bass drum are certainly present, but they aren't overwhelming -- at Carnegie Hall and the Metropolitan Opera House, it's thrilling to hear them but they are not ultra-loud. When I play back well-recorded classical and opera works with bass drum, I tend to increase the subwoofer level, knowing full well that I'm playing it somewhat larger than life. I enjoy the surprise of a big drum hit in my living room. Am I a bass-head? Sometimes.

Regards,
Alan

On the avsforum site, concerning Audyssey, I see about 99,999,999 messages on Audyssey that, so far, had nothing to do about how to properly perform the job. I'm definitely not going to weed through all that.

Here's some isolated threads concerning Audyssey on avsforum that I've found.

"Official" Audyssey thread (FAQ in post #1) - Page 191

"Official" Audyssey thread (FAQ in post #1) - Page 1727

It looks like I need to buy a mic stand with a boom arm and an adapter to fit the mic to keep it pointed at the ceiling. Currently, I'm using a rather large tripod, that's rather hard to place in the correct positions. A boom arm would solve that problem.

those 2 links should be all you need.

the mic stand with arm and adapter will cost you around $30.

Yup, I see what I did wrong. Easy enough to fix, if I ever manage to get the time and quiet to run it again.

...and I have my new sig.

for a quiet time, i do it usually around 5 AM. (this is called a hint).

heh. Knowing my kids, they'd be up at 5.

Yes, the links Brian provided to the FAQ section of the "Official" AVS Audyssey thread have been suggested here and certainly should be studied.

There are some hidden gems of information in that thread however, and rather than spending time on stuff like work or school, those seeking to expand their knowledge should consider making an effort to take it all in. It's disappointing that some of our members(Alex?)aren't showing the proper enthusiasm for this. Although I have some advantage in this regard, since I took one of those speed-reading courses and was able to read "War and Peace" in an hour and a half(it had something to do with Russia), anyone can give it a try. Don't worry that you'll have nothing to do at some point, since there are now over 1800 pages in the thread and it's expanding at a rate sufficient to guarantee that you'll never run out of posts to read.

Oh, John... Don't worry... I am just laying low in this thread, i didn't really have anything to contribute... Just wait until i get a new processor.... i know how the resident expert is. However, i think your safe until i get a job.....

Just re-ran the calibration. We'll see how it sounds this time. The real trick is what racing sounds like. Last time, I couldn't hear the commentators over the engine noise.

Music sounds pretty good, but I don't really know this song well.

I'm now picturing Ken singing and making up his own lyrics....

We can dance
We can dance
Everybody look at your pants

Here's some Oink, Oink help.



You're welcome.

Makes me wanna send off some Angry Birds!

Well, ignoring all you yahoos, it does seem to sound better now that I've listened to more stuff.
And no, John, it doesn't seem to have extra reverb.

Haven't tried any racing yet. After all, I'm working. From home.

Keep in mind though that the source could be the problem. For example, in my area, Yankee baseballs are usually show in YES Network (Yankee's own sports network) And the sound is great. But once a week, a local station MY9 carries the games. When that happens, the commentary is very hard to hear. It's not the box, it's not the receiver, it's just the source that's screwed up!

I like it with music, but not with racing. Will have to try with regular TV.

Just wear big, funny looking headphones like they do at the track and wire them into just the the center channel for the dialogue. Crank the rest of the speakers way too loud and viola.. Realism and you get to annoy your neighbours. Win Win.