Modern AVRs Combining 7.1-Ch. Analog Input w/Room Correction?

[J. PUPSTER]

I have no comment as I do not own it, however everything built in.
https://www.mcintoshlabs.com/products/home-theater-processors/MX180

Ha, would love to try that one out, but at what... ~$17,000, it's just a little too rich for me.

 

[JediJoker]

Also, until you get into the stratosphere price wise, nearly all of these devices have a limited internal processing sample rate. For the DDRC-88A, it is 48kHz. I cant determine what it is for the Dayton unit, but it might well be something less. Dirac itself can only process 48kHz

I've already accepted the fact that room correction will be limited in bandwidth. The Audyssey built into my Marantz also runs at 48kHz. The practical, tangible, audible benefits of correction far outweigh any theoretical advantages of higher sample rates. And especially in this case, I'm looking to room-correct audio coming off of 3.75 to 7.5 IPS 1/4" tape, which is bandwidth-limited to 16kHz at best.

 

[mandrix]

I have no comment as I do not own it, however everything built in.
https://www.mcintoshlabs.com/products/home-theater-processors/MX180

That's like second mortgage priced. Wowsa!

 

[Owen Smith]

I've been looking for a full featured AVR in order to upgrade to full Atmos and found this Denon, any knowledgeable folks here have more info on this one?
360RA included.

I'm guessing it won't be on the market till 2023; and a pricy little...

https://www.denon.com/en-us/product/av-receivers/avr-a1h

Only does Dolby Surround, not Pro Logic II. That's a non starter surely! I use Pro Logic II more than any other, largely for watching TV broadcast in stereo.

 

[ar surround]

I've already accepted the fact that room correction will be limited in bandwidth. The Audyssey built into my Marantz also runs at 48kHz. The practical, tangible, audible benefits of correction far outweigh any theoretical advantages of higher sample rates. And especially in this case, I'm looking to room-correct audio coming off of 3.75 to 7.5 IPS 1/4" tape, which is bandwidth-limited to 16kHz at best.

I cut off Audyssey room correction at 500 Hz. The old Lexicon units cut off at 250 Hz. Some who have run full bandwidth Audyssey room correction have noticed a bit of an 'artificial sound'...whatever the heck that is supposed to mean.

BTW, I was playing some home-made quad files via HDMI through the Media Player input on my Marantz AVR. I had forgotten to insert silent center and LFE channels in the mix, so the file was actually four channels instead of six. The AVR routed the channels properly to the front and surround speakers and did not downmix them to stereo. I understand that can be an issue with certain AVRs when no Center and LFE channels are present in the digital file.

 

[JediJoker]

Only does Dolby Surround, not Pro Logic II. That's a non starter surely! I use Pro Logic II more than any other, largely for watching TV broadcast in stereo.

Pro Logic was dropped many years ago. The current generation of upmixing technology from Dolby is simply called "Dolby Surround." Unfortunately, it doesn't properly decode the old Dolby Surround matrix encoding, and by extension related matrix encodes.

 

[Owen Smith]

Pro Logic was dropped many years ago. The current generation of upmixing technology from Dolby is simply called "Dolby Surround." Unfortunately, it doesn't properly decode the old Dolby Surround matrix encoding, and by extension related matrix encodes.

So when they call it "Dolby Surround" which decoding is it actually doing? Dolby Surround, Dolby Pro Logic or Pro Logic II? The decode of them all is different. I find Pro Logic II Movie works best on most material, but music broadcasts on TV are usually better with Pro Logic II Music. Also Roger Taylor's "The Outsider Live" tour CD sounds so dead in stereo that I play it in Pro Logic II Music which works well for it.

Has the distinction between Movie and Music modes gone? On my AVR I can even adjust the width in Music mode, though I never do.

Given much of my source material is in stereo, if Dolby have degraded the Pro Logic II options I'm probably never going to be interested in a new AVR. Which means I'll never have HDMI audio in to my AVR. Which makes it particularly annoying I missed out on an Oppo 205 to add the HDMI audio ins.

 

[Sal1950]

So when they call it "Dolby Surround" which decoding is it actually doing? Dolby Surround, Dolby Pro Logic or Pro Logic II?

Dolby Surround is the full enchilada! It will upsample a stereo or whatever sound source to one that uses the full compliment of speakers that are in your system.

 

[JediJoker]

Dolby Surround is the full enchilada! It will upsample a stereo or whatever sound source to one that uses the full compliment of speakers that are in your system.

Yep! It just doesn't properly decode OG "Dolby Surround"/Pro Logic/Pro Logic II matrix-encoded content like the old Pro Logic decoders/upmixers did.

 

[Owen Smith]

Yep! It just doesn't properly decode OG "Dolby Surround"/Pro Logic/Pro Logic II matrix-encoded content like the old Pro Logic decoders/upmixers did.

So it's a new scheme and no means of properly decoding the matrixes. Does the new scheme have separate Movie or Music options?

 

[Sal1950]

Does the new scheme have separate Movie or Music options?

Good question. The "Mode" buttons brings up separate menu headers for the various sound modes, (Music, Movies, Games). But whether choosing Dolby Surround under the Music header or the Movie header supplies a different coding logarithms I have no idea?

 

[MidiMagic]

More of forcing a change on us and obsoleting everything we already have. Just like Windows, a bad taste in the mouth.

 

[hafquark]

Expensive, but way less than a McIntosh. User manual states: "Source inputs supporting Dirac processing include analog, digital, and HDMI audio."

https://hometheaterhifi.com/reviews...1580mkii-surround-amplified-processor-review/

 

[LuvMyQuad]

Expensive, but way less than a McIntosh. User manual states: "Source inputs supporting Dirac processing include analog, digital, and HDMI audio."

https://hometheaterhifi.com/reviews...1580mkii-surround-amplified-processor-review/

Yes, but are the supported analog inputs multichannel? Almost all of them will digitize and do room correction on stereo analog inputs.

 

[hafquark]

Yes, but are the supported analog inputs multichannel? Almost all of them will digitize and do room correction on stereo analog inputs.

I don't own the Rotel (can only dream) but the manual seems to indicate that it does support Dirac across the multichannel inputs. You can find the PDF manual on Rotel's site; page 23 gives Dirac details.

 

[DuncanS]

Expensive, but way less than a McIntosh. User manual states: "Source inputs supporting Dirac processing include analog, digital, and HDMI audio."

https://hometheaterhifi.com/reviews...1580mkii-surround-amplified-processor-review/

I've looked at that one as it has surround inputs & Atmos, but it has a catch it can only do 5.1.2 Atmos, not 7.1.4.

 

[Owen Smith]

Expensive, but way less than a McIntosh. User manual states: "Source inputs supporting Dirac processing include analog, digital, and HDMI audio."

https://hometheaterhifi.com/reviews...1580mkii-surround-amplified-processor-review/

More interesting than most modern AV amps but a) it's enormous and b) no line level outputs either analogue or digital.

 

[perzon57]

More interesting than most modern AV amps but a) it's enormous and b) no line level outputs either analogue or digital.

It has pre out for all decoded channels.

 

[Owen Smith]

It has pre out for all decoded channels.

Pre out is to go to power amps and will be subject to the volume control. Line level is fixed, I currently use a tape loop output but those are a thing of the past. My Dynaudio Xeo3 remote wireless speakers have their own remote control including volume, and in the kitchen with the extractor fan on they often need to be turned up a bit. Going up and down with the AVR volume control is no use for that.

 

[hafquark]

I've looked at that one as it has surround inputs & Atmos, but it has a catch it can only do 5.1.2 Atmos, not 7.1.4.

It can handle up to 11 channels but requires added amps through the pre-outs for Dolby Atmos.