I looked around google a bit and dind't find anything that was really clear so I thought I'd ask the friendly folks around these parts even though tis is mor a receiver question than a speaker question.

Before I bought my HT setup, I used to play drums in freemode with my XBox and rock band. For those who dont know about it, this kind of emulate an electronic drumkit. When I hit a note, it takes maybe half-a-second to get heard, causing a very anoying delay when I want to play a beat.

I have a Denon AVR-889 and I output to TV and input from Xbox 360 with HDMI. Do you know of any option that could reduce, even eliminate that lag?

There is a system set up in the options screen of Rock Band 2 I would hope RB has the same. It allows you to set up the sync between what you see and what you hear. This set up allows for delays going through an HT system.

Hello jappy,

When my xbox 360 starts to run sluggish (slow loading, sound lagging etc) I clear the cache in the dashboard and it has solved my issues. I have never played rock band so I am not sure if it will solve that issue with that game. Here is a link on how to clear the cache on your xbox 360.

http://vgstrategies.about.com/od/xbox360faqs/a/ClearX360Cache.htm

Good luck!

See if the TV has a "Game" mode, if it is doing processing on the signal and telling the AVR of it's delay time this could cause what you are seeing. The game mode is designed to reduce processing and thus making timing easier in games.

My 360 has the RROD again.... Second time.

I mention this both because I'm looking for sympathy and am an expert at hijacking.

You have my sypmathies Mark.

Mine went dead in December and just got sent in for service this past week.

Being in Canada, they wanted me to print my own label and supply my own box. The short version of my ugly story is that two months after I created the first of three service requests (#2 and 3 at their request),they finally sent me a box with some foam, tape, and a return label.

The mostly box arrived damaged. The irony was not lost on me.

Hope you get back soon and don't need to send it back one day.

It's killing me. I got GOW and GOW 2 for Xmas and haven't played them yet.

If mine would ever get the RROD I don't think I would be covered under the extended 3 year warranty anymore. I purchased it in 2005. The key to 360 longevity is to keep the 360 and power brick (yes it gets very hot) well ventilated and NOT tucking it into an enclosed space in the home theatre center.

consider yourself lucky! I am on my 4th 360 now.

Also, I have had my 360 and power brick open on all sides and didn't seem to help. If something isn't designed right in the first place no amount of ventilation will help.

I bought mine in dec 2005 (1 month from launch) and am not covered under warranty anymore.... maybe. I am not sure because I bought 2 years of extended warranties (now expired), so does that mean that you get 5 years of warranty against RROD?

I agree terzaghi, the design is flawed. Odds are you are going to get RROD with the older consoles keeping it well ventilated or not. Since the main cause of RROD is because of the console not being able to dissipate heat properly, keeping the console and brick ventilated does help extend the life a bit. I also try to limit how long I play for.

Not only does the console and brick run hot, they also run loud. I was shocked how loud the power brick was when I put my ear up to it.

Thanks for the answers guys. I did, and can "sync" the whole system within the game but basically, all it does is play the song and lets me hit "late". However, there is no way to actually make the sound go faster from the xbox to the speakers. What happens is if I hit the drum in FREE PLAYING MODE, I hear the sound a coming from the speakers a little late. I will try clearing the cache and so on, but I did work just fine before installing the HT (I was going through the TV to my old dumb amp using rca stereo connexions and components for video.

Also, Got my console for 3 years now and no RROD yet (fingers crossed).

Jappy, have you tried setting your receiver to a different setting (maybe an All-Channel Stereo or Stereo)?

A faux-surround mode will add a delay during the processing.

Bren R.

Yeah, I guess I should have said that ventilation will help, but will likely only delay the RROD...

I THINK the newer units are having far less RROD issues... problem is if you send in your old one they just do some generic patch job and send it back to you... They never sent me a newer, better designed model... just the same crappy one with some rigged up fix on it I guess.

I'll try running it in direct stereo mode. I dont know if that game outputs in 5.1 or not (most games do, but a music game in stereo would make sense).

If you send in your xbox under the 3 year RROD warranty they will give you someone elses refurbished model and will re-register the new serial number for you.

The newest of the modifications/xbox 360 models is said to have totally solved the RROD issue (proper heatsinks, better components etc) and has also cut down on the noise issue.

Mine is on RROD #2 and is sitting vertically on the top shelf of my rack (well above heat producers). Outside of putting an external fan on it or keeping it in a little fridge, it's all that can be done.

It's used ~ 1 hour at a time maybe twice a week on average.

I have one of the new Jasper unit (make sure the batch number is > 0942) and the voltage is 12.1 on the power supply..


The machine alone is quieter as long as you're not using the dvd drive in it. When I copy a game disc to the local hard drive, I don't hear my console. If I play a game directly from the game disc, it's not better.

the new one consume less power.

My 360 usage isn't much different than Mark's. It is in my cabinet, but I keep the glass door open when playing.

On a related note, I just checked my email and this morning around 8:30 received the confirmation that MS had received the console. By 11:45 they'd sent another message saying that the repair is complete and that it's on its way back, along with the tracking number. Nice!!

GOW weekend ahead.

Jappy - did direct stereo work for you? You never mentioned.

Also, in the freeplay mode, with 4 pads, what do you get:
Snare - HiHat - Ride - Crash ?

No toms?

Bren R.

I got a text message from the Deaf Monk from on top of the volcano and he suggested I levitate the xbox 360 power brick from off the carpet for optimal cooling.

I think the Deaf Monk should stick to his own area of expertise. Even he's no match for Microsoft's poor hardware designs.

Haven't got time to try it out yet. As for the colors, I got me one of those drumrocker drumsets (based a real Alesis drumpads). So I get red-yellow-blue-green pads = snare-high tom-mid tom-low tom and yellow cymbal - green cymbal = hi-hat and crash cymbal (with possibility of adding a blue cymbal for ride); all of this is in freeplay, in game mode same color pad/cymbal have the same effect.

I'll post my resuslts when I get to try it out with direct stereo .

How's the cymbal placement as a hi-hat? It's not awkwardly high and forward?

Bren R.

Nah, it's actually pretty far back.

Here's a picture:


I actually keep mine closer to the snare, and the arm is mounted on the other side of the snare, but you get the idea.

Ok, so I managed to bring the lag down to a managable level. Here's how I did it:

1-In the games's options menue, turn OFF the dolby 5.1 setting (main improvement is this)
2-On the AVR, run it in pure direct mode (helps a little, but it might be my imagination)

Now I can play those free parts in the middle of a song and get back in the song on the right tempo!

Hey, I'm glad you figured something out, though it kind of sucks that you have to take those measures.

Well, since it's really a MUSIC game, stereo is not all that bad, although it was cool to hear the effects and the crowd in 5.1