Denon 4308 set up problems.....help!

[camdxr]

I've read the other 4308 threads and can find no answers, I know you reviewed this amp before (pretty much why I bought it) and I am in desperate need of some set up advice, I seem to have tried everything.

My problems are these:

Sky HD will only register with the amp as stereo, I have it connected with a 1.3 HDMI and optical lead, the settings for the sky output are set to stereo and dolby digital (at the set up stage I'm only offered stereo or mono at the top, dolby digital lower down. For the input to the amp it's set to HDMI and optical. I've played a HD channel which purports to play DD when I press info but the amp is still only showing a stereo input.

Toshiba EP-30, when playing a HD-DVD I'm not getting the Dolby true HD registering (played Blade Runner last night as a test because it says Dolby true HD on the box), this is connected again via 1.3 HDMI.

Am I doing something fundamentally wrong during set-up?

What would be really useful would be a list of settings to follow for both of these inputs. I still have problems with my 3910 freezing but I've left that for now and will return to it once these other two are sorted. 3910 connected via 1.3 HDMI too. Saying that a list of settings for this may save another long post later!

As for the deteriation of picture quality it's definately down to overheating, the amp is only 10mm below a glass shelf on my currys special rack, once pulled out and sat on a box all is well. So it seems I'm in the market for a decent corner av rack as well now to house the following:

Denon 4308, Denon 3910, Toshiba EP-30, Sky HD and possibly the new Denon Blu ray.

Please help, this is driving me mad, the whole point of me upgrading from my 3805 and mission set-up was to take advantage of the new sound from HD.

Oh I have the following speaker set up:

Monitor Audio Silver RS8's, RSCLR, 4x RSFX and RSW-12.

Many thanks

Camdxr

 

[Anonymous]

Hi. I use an AVR-4308 in my home system, so I'll do my best to help. That said, I'll admit I'm baffled by the first part of your query. The most likely issue is that the relevant optical digital input on the receiver hasn't been correctly assigned to the corresponding HDMI input: in all other aspects, your set-up looks correct.
The EP-30 issue is more clear-cut. Unless Toshiba introduced a late firmware upgrade that we missed, your player simply doesn't provide a bitstream output for Dolby TrueHD and the like. It decodes said content onboard, outputting it as multichannel PCM (except for DTS-HD Master Audio, which, from memory, it won't decode at all).
Would I be downhearted by that? Not necessarily. True, the more expensive Toshiba EP-35 is capable of a native bitstream output of content like this to an external decoder, such as that fitted to your Denon. But in theory, you're not losing out on a great dealÿ- some would argue, on anythingÿ- by decoding your content on board your player and outputting it as PCM. The DTS-HD MA issue isn't much to get too steamed up about, by the way: it's one of the less-used soundtrack options on HD DVD.
Could you fill me in on the DVD-3910 issues? Sorry if I missed that. I'll try to help, or get someone at Denon to advise.
As for overheating - well, yes, it can be an issue with any big AV receiver, especially if it's a cabinet. Have you considered an Antec A/V cooler? We reviewed one on the site not so long ago. I use one at home on my '4308, and it's been as good as gold (and it's in a cabinet with doors, no less!). That said, the Antec might not squeeze into the 10mm space you've got available. One to check out, all the same.

 

[camdxr]

Thanks Andy

I'll double and triple check the optical digital assignment on the sky-hd but I'm sure it's right (famous last words)

The 3910 is connected via 1.3HDMI to the 4308. If the 4308 is switched off the 3910 will play all functions as normal (obviously no picture or sound but the display counter runs and all the functions play, stop, eject all work) as soon as I switch on the 4308 the 3910 freezes, it stops playing, the counter stops on whatecer number it's on and I cannot operate any of it's functions I mentioned above. Not even manually from the front fascia. It will only un-freeze after switching off both the 3910 and the 4308. If I switch the 4308 on first then try to play the 3910 it does not respond at all.

Weird.

The 3910 was previously connected to a 3805 amp via digital coax with HDMI to the monitor. Is it something to do with disabling/enabling the coax or HDMI function on the 3910? I had lost the manual, I've since downloaded and printed one and will read it when I get the chance, but for now after just having wired up all my speakers I was desperate to experience the True HD audio experience.

Seeing as I have a 7.1 set up what is the best surround mode to listen to a PCM input? My surround speakers are set directly perpendicular to ear level and about 300mm above and the two rears are again about 300mm above ear height at a distance of 3.00m. Listening to audio in 5.1 is good but I miss the rear channel effects I used to get from DTS 6.1 Discrete with the 3805. Does the 4308 have any good 7.1 effects that can be used with 5.1 PCM? I just assumed that Dolby True HD would finally be a 7.1 effects sound field that seperated the back left and right channels for a more involved experience.

Many thanks

Camdxr

 

[Anonymous]

If all your connections are correct and output settings bitstream then try this to see if it helps.
Hit the 'std' button on the remote till you get to correct stream from the receiver e.g dts or dolby, if you hit this button on a 2 channel source it will give you 2 different surround modes. The input speaker lights on the left hand side should give you info on what is being received by the receiver. Sorry is I am covering common ground, just a thought.

 

[camdxr]

Thanks for those suggestions and clarifications Guys, Sky-HD is now sorted, it seems that I had to set the input mode to digital and not HDMI, now listening to glorious Dolby Digital finally!

Andy thanks for the explanation on the Tosh, that all makes perfect sense now, trying to see that elusive DD True HD symbol on the front of the amp was never going to happen and as you say there's no real difference via PCM then that's sorted.

The 3910 DVD player freezing when the 4308 is switched on remains and is very frustrating. So Andy any suggestions would be gratefully recieved. Like I said before it's last installation was via HDMI to the monitor and digital coax to the amp (3805). There must be some setting on the DVD player that I need to alter but seeing as it's now fed to the TV through the 4308 it's impossible to access the set up menu! I suppose I'm going to have to pull it all out and HDMI it direct to the TV just to access the menu's, I really don't want to do all this if there's an easier fix.

Help!

Camdxr

 

[camdxr]

I e.mailed Denon this morning and got this reply

Dear Sir

Thank you for your email.

We are going to send you a firmware update on a CD via the post.

Once you have done the update, you will need to connect the DVD3910 to your display via scart, go to the setup page on the DVD and change the output setting to HDMI.

We hope this information is of assistance.

Best regards,

Product Support

Just wanted to share that with anybody with similar problems and to highlight how refreshing it is to get good customer service. Well done Denon!

Camdxr

 

[Gerrardasnails]

Told you that Denon are good when you contact them - pleased that you will have it sorted soon.

 

[Anonymous]

Glad to hear things are getting sorted out. I'd like to think it had something to do with me talking to the product manager over there the other day (following our initial exchange) but obviously, your response has come too fast for that to be the case. So, as others have stated - well done Denon.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Andy - was hoping if you could help me with a strange problem i am having .

I have the Denon 4308 connected vis HDMI 1.3 Cables to my Denon Dvd 1740 DVD player and another HDMI cable connected to my Sony PS-3 . I have connected the 4308 to my Pioneer 508 Plasma television from the 4308's monitor out 1 HDMI connector . I am not using the 4308 to power or drive any other zone in the house . Finally i have connected the 4308 to B&W 683 ( bi-amped with the 4308 as the front ) the LCR 61 for the centre and the 685 for the rears as a 5 channel setup .

My problem is that while everything is working great , i.e - the sound is output to the speakers absolutely correctly - As Long as my Pioneer Plasma Tv is also turned on . The moment i turn off my Plasma TV the sound goes off . So lets say i just want to listen to a CD via my Denon dvd player - do i have to keep the TV on ???

Also when i switch to listening to the FM tuner which is inbuilt into the 4308 it works as long as the Plasma monitor is on the moment i switch that off the radio starts going on and off and the Monitor Icon on the display of the 4308 starts to flash .

What am i doing wrong ?

Basically all i want to do is that in case i want to listen to a CD or the tuner i dont want to have to turn on my Pioneer Plasma .

Thanks in advance . Regards - Vishal.