Jump to content

Direct?


Diggs

Recommended Posts

I have a couple questions that have been nagging me for awhile:

1) What is the "Direct" setting on my Denon receiver for? I looked in the manual and I can't find anyhing about it.

2) If I cycle from A to B to A+B speakers a couple times, my receiver sets my trebble all the way up to +12. Why is that?

3) Is there a way to change the bass or trebble from the remote?

4) When I play my Smashing Pumpkins DVD (non-DD or DTS) I can't switch to 5ch stereo. Why?

5) Why is the bass during movies (i.e. when the plane is blowing up in Fight Club or the cabin exploding in Cast Away) SOOOOO much louder and deeper than any music source?

------------------

My hodge-podge of equipment

Denon AVR-2800

KG-4 mains (too bad the rest of my speakers aren't this good)

Polk C-175 center (it's ok)

Infinity RS-10 Surrounds (suck)

Audiosource SW-15 subwoofer (excellent sub for it's price)

Pioneer DV333 DVD

Sony 5 disc CD player

All in a 12x12 apartment bedroom.

"What?! I can't hear you!"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

digg, i think i can handle 1 & 5 w/ the caveat that i'm not a denon owner, just researched them real heavily & from what other denon guys have told me.

direct mode usually bypasses the dsp (digital signal processor) so you don't get the tone controls or effects like delay or reverb added. but w/ most denons you still get the dsp doing some bass mgmt, ie it'll also run your sub w/ low bass from the front channels even if fronts are set large (though maybe not if you have your bass control on "lfe only").

the reason you get those big db bursts from the sub is that's LFE. LFE is a seperate channel (the .1 in 5.1).

it was created so the mixers could put like +10db in those explosions from a sub & not have to worry about overloading the other channels/speakers.

------------------

My Home Systems Page

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Diggs-

I have the Denon AVR 4800, so I'll take a shot at some of your questions.

1. Boa is correct here. Direct basically lets the signal run from the source, through the receiver, and on to the speakers. Some folks claim this is the best way to listen to CDs and vinyl, vs 2-ch or 5-ch stereo. I have done some modest testing and can't tell much difference, so I go ahead and run 5-ch (7-ch actually with POA-5200) stereo and love it.

2. Never tried that on my unit, as I don't have a "B" set of speakers.

3. Nope, you gotta get up off the couch to change them, at least on my unit.

4. My guess here is that you have the receiver set to "DVD" and, while I don't have my manual at work, I don't think the DVD setting has a 5-ch stereo mode. I could be wrong here, since I only use my DVD for movies, not CDs.

5. Same as Boa said.

If you are interested in upgrading your center and surrounds, look at the KV-3 for the center and KG 1.2/1.5 or 2.2/2.5 for the surrounds. I have Forte IIs as mains and had a KV-3 for about 8 years and it did quite well, but that speaker was actually designed for the KG series. The smaller 1.2/1.5 is outstanding as a surround speaker and the 2.2, while I've never heard them, should be slightly better as they have a 2nd woofer, slightly more sensitive, 93dB vs 90dB, and have slightly higher power handling, 75W/375W(peak), vs 50/250W(peak).

Ebay has the 1.2/1.5s on every now and then, and there is usually at least one KV-3 a week. I do have a pair of KG 1.5s in light oak that are in a box, ready for someone to use if you are interested.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I also have the 4800 and as far as the bass output, you need to check the channel levels on all of your input modes:

DD5.1/DTS

THX

DIRECT

STEREO

ANALOG

EXT-IN

5CH/7CH STEREO

DSP SIMULATION (Jazz, Rock, etc) I don't use these at all

All of the modes have channel level settings (in Setup) for the speakers (LF,C,RF,LS,RS,SW). Direct and Stereo will only have LF, RF and SW. You need to set these using either the internal tones from your Denon (also in Setup) or from the Avia or Video Essentials DVD.

BTW, I can play any CD in 5-channel mode (5CH/7CH STEREO) as long as I am using (monitoring) the Digital COAX cable from my DVD player...

Mike

------------------

My Music Systems

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks guys. I also can't hear a difference between Direct and stereo. I just wanted to know if there was anything special about it. I can play all my other DVD's in 5ch stereo but this Smashing Pumpkins one won't allow me to.

Jhawk92: I'll keep you in mind when I upgrade in the near future. I graduate in May, so I'm currently lacking funding.

------------------

My hodge-podge of equipment

Denon AVR-2800

KG-4 mains (too bad the rest of my speakers aren't this good)

Polk C-175 center (it's ok)

Infinity RS-10 Surrounds (suck)

Audiosource SW-15 subwoofer (excellent sub for it's price)

Pioneer DV333 DVD

Sony 5 disc CD player

All in a 12x12 apartment bedroom.

"What?! I can't hear you!"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Diggs,

#3 you can change the tones with the remote,button marked "surround parameter"under the door on the remote.Page 39.Can't change it in Direct because it is by-passed.

#2,I switch between my A and B sometimes,but that has never happened to me.

I Direct you can turn the sub off and in stereo you can't.

Direct turns off the DSPs like boa says,kills the chance for any noise the DSP chips let get by.

I hear a bit of hiss from my K-Horns when in anything other than Direct when I had the 2800 in the living room,still does the same thing with the 3801

This message has been edited by Steve P on 03-01-2002 at 08:26 PM

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...