Receivers
| Denon AVR-689 7.1 A/V Receiver |
| Written by Gabriel Lowe |
| Sunday, 09 November 2008 17:00 |
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Page 7 of 7
Conclusions So how does the AVR 689 stack up? On the one hand, I am happy to report that the Denon quality is still there. It may not sound as good as the AVR-4308, but we are talking a completely different class of device! For the market segment it plays in, the AVR-689 is one heck of a bargain. It offers more features and quality than I would expect at this price point. On the other hand, I think I made it pretty clear early on that the lack of audio capability over HDMI makes this a deal-breaker for me. So, here’s what I would say. If HDMI audio is not important to you, then by all means, make it a point to give this receiver a spin when weighing your options. Otherwise, and unfortunately, this receiver is not the right choice. Hopefully in the future we will see every receiver that incorporates HDMI include both video and audio capability. It just makes sense as we move further into the era of Blu-ray and digital audio/video. Comments (14)
Audyssey
written by Rick Brown , November 10, 2008 I think you have misrepresented the differences between the "Audyssey" and "Flat" choices - both of these settings use the results of the calibration. The "Audyssey" choice is optimized for movies and the "Flat" choice is optimized for music.
Reply to Comment on the Audyssey system
written by Gabriel Lowe , November 10, 2008 I thought I was clear that you can only use the Audyssey settings (flat, Audyssey, or L/R bypass) if you DO calibrate using the Audyssey system. As for the flat and Audyssey target curves, your assessment of what these are optimized for is not exactly correct. Optimizations are for room correction overall, not the type of media playing. Taken directly from Audyssey's website: What target curves does MultEQ use? Contrary to popular belief, a target curve that is flat from 20 Hz to 20 kHz is not always the one that will produce the correct sound. There are several reasons for this including the fact that loudspeakers are much more directional at high frequencies than they are at low frequencies. This means that the balance of direct and room sound is very different at the high and low ends of the frequency spectrum. The Audyssey target curve setting makes the appropriate correction at high frequencies to alleviate this problem. A slight roll-off is introduced that restores the balance between direct and reflected sound. The Flat setting uses the MultEQ filters in the same way as the Audyssey curve, but it does not apply a high frequency roll-off. This setting is appropriate for very small or highly treated rooms in which the listener is seated quite close to the loudspeakers. It is also recommended for all rooms when the receiver is in THX processing mode. This allows THX re-equalization to operate exactly as it was intended. The Front setting uses the MultEQ filters that were calculated for the entire listening area, but it does not apply any filtering to the front left and right loudspeakers. The average measured response from the front left and right loudspeakers is used as the target curve for the remaining loudspeakers in the system. The subwoofer in this case is equalized to flat as is the case for all the settings described above. In some products, there is a Manual setting. This is a traditional parametric equalizer that does not use the MultEQ filters or measurement process at all.
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written by JEJ , November 10, 2008 In the Audyssey menu, with Audyssey enabled and no other options selected, there is a high frequency rolloff to eliminate some of the harshness in movie soundtracks. When you select "Flat" from the Audyssey menu, the high frequency rolloff is eliminated. This is why it is generally recommended that when you play music through a receiver or SSP with Audyssey, you select the Flat option. Frankly, I see the rolloff in the Audyssey as a duplication of Cinema EQ, which also rolls off the harsh sound track high frequencies.
HDMI Clarification
written by Dillon , November 15, 2008 Can you clarify the terminology that Denon uses for the receivers that do HDMI audio, as the website is very vague.
Response to HDMI Clarification
written by Gabriel Lowe , November 16, 2008 Dillon- that is a fair point about their site. It is not the easiest thing to find. If you go to the specifications for a given receiver, and then look under the "connectivity" section, you can see whether it supports HDMI audio.
Different Receiver
written by IQ , December 30, 2008 Could you please suggest on a comparable receiver in the same class & price range that does decode the HDMI audio? Thanks
Audio Input
written by IQ , January 02, 2009 In addition to my previous question, I also wanted to find out how much difference is there in sound between optical / digital coax and HDMI. How noticeable is the difference?
Digital Connections
written by Gabriel Lowe , January 31, 2009 IQ- Sorry I haven't done a lot of research on the first question, so checking with the manufacturers will be a good start. As for your second question, theoretically, since the bitstream or PCM data passed along the cables are 1's and 0's, there should be zero difference in those transports. Obviously HDMI has more bandwidth, and thus can carry more information, but for the good old Dolby Digital, DTS, and stereo PCM signals, they should all sound the same.
HDMI Audio
written by Michael Manolakas , February 22, 2009 Unfortunately I did not know about the HDMI audio problem before I bought this at Circuit City close out sale - so I am screwed. For my PS3, I ran the optical audio out of my Sony TV to the reciever. I hear sound out of thh TV, Front right & left speakers, center channel, and subwoofer; but not our of my rear surround sound. Any ideas how I can get it to work out of the rear surround sound speakers? Thank you
Hang at "storing"
written by Joshua , February 23, 2009 Hi I ran the Audessy EQ autosetup on my denon avr-689 and its hanging at "storing" Kind of scary, quite a bit of money to be simply lost. :|
Audio workaround
written by Gabriel Lowe , March 08, 2009 Michael- Why not run the optical audio directly from the PS3 to the receiver? That should give you Dolby Digital and DTS out of the PS3.
No Sound
written by Bruce West , October 30, 2009 Help!! I have spent hours trying to set this receiver up. Missed the HDMI problem initially, but not have optical audio set up. Still no audio. Any suggestions? Write comment
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