Anyone buy the featire pack for the Denon 3803/4808? (1 Viewer)

[Adam_R]

I am VERY interested in the Dynamic EQ since I do a lot of listening at lower levels.

$100 is steep for me if it isn't amazing.

 

[Jeff O.]

I did. The main thing that I noticed is that there is a lot more bass after calibration than before. I had to turn the sub level down a notch.

I haven't tried the dynamic volume yet.

 

[RAF]

I already had Dynamic Equalization for my bedroom 3808CI as part of my Audyssey Pro upgrade (I'm a certified Audyssey Pro installer in my spare time) so that part of the "upgrade" did nothing for me. But I wanted Audyssey Volume for this bedroom unit (which levels out those darn commercial volumes on TV content) so I did the upgrade for that aspect alone. If you are upgrading from a "standard" 3808/4308 to the version that contains Dynamic EQ and Volume then I think it's really worth it. (The other parts of the package such as Rhapsody don't interest me at all but it might interest some others.) In my opinion Dynamic EQ does what it promises and I like it a lot. I just wish that Denon had offered an ala carte menu for those of us who already purchased Dynamic EQ as part of the Audyssey Pro upgrade. It doesn't seem fair that I paid for Dynamic EQ twice on my 3808.

Incidentally, I use the remarkable Denon AVP-A1HDci pre/pro in my main HT. It has all the bells and whistles of the Audyssey offerings and sounds absolutely stunning (with Audyssey Pro applied for more than 8 points of equalization). At least the "upgrade" to Audyssey Volume was "free" on that unit. It better have been at the price for that component.

 

[Adam_R]

Thanks guys. The dynamic volume doesn't interest me since I don't use my HT for regular TV viewing often.

Robert - How much do you charge for the Pro upgrade? It's a different mic right? What else comes with the pro upgrade other than what's in the feature pack and a more precise set of room measurements?

Thanks again.

 

[TonyTone]

LOL--I posted a thread about this back in October (Denon 3808/4808 Feature Pack Upgrade)...362 views and not even one response...what's up with that?

 

[Adam_R]

it's my avatar

people respond to it

 

[RAF]

The "pro" version of Audyssey costs the customer $300 for the license (limited to a single device) + whatever the installer charges per hour for labor which then unlocks all the features of the "pro" version of Audyssey equalization. This feature set is built into every Denon AVR from the 3808ci on up, just waiting for activation. And yes, it uses a much more sensitive mic and pre-amp which are factory calibrated by Audyssey and software run on a PC to perform a much more detailed, customizable equalization curve. The results are much more tweakable when run on the PC and the settings can be stored on the PC (actually several settings for different situations) and easily interchanged without having to remeasure everything.

You can measure up to at least 32 different points in a room if the room has "unusual" acoustics and the algorithms, as compared to the "standard" Audyssey calibration included in the Denon units (and others), appears to be a little more complex. I would estimate that the average cost of such a "pro" calibration would cost in the $500-600 range (which would include recovering the settings in the event of any equipment issues.)

That said, while I don't doubt that the "pro" calibration is more thorough than the "normal" user calibration it might be that most people are fine with the included Audyssey. I liken this to the difference of a person doing their own video adjustments rather than spending a similar amount on an ISF calibration. I don't doubt that ISF calibration yields superior results - but at what cost? Is it that much better than a user calibration? This is one of those things that can be argued for a long time and there might not be one answer to satisfy everyone. I would say that out of the box adjustments - both Audio and Video - can get you to at least 90% of your goal if you know what you are doing, maybe even more. Most users have home theaters or listening areas that are rather straight forward. For those who have unusual acoustic environments a professional calibration might yield better results with more measurement points and customization. You have to weigh whether the money spent is worth the final 10% (or less) of additional resolution of picture or sound.

Let me tell you how I fell into this Audyssey Calibration arena. I first became aware of Audyssey a couple of years ago at CEDIA and attended a couple of classes covering the basic theory and calibration techniques. The demonstrations were impressive and the calibration seemed to be rather straight forward. I was surprised to learn, at the conclusion of the workshops, that attendees were being given an offer of getting a free installer's kit ($400 value) which included a calibrated microphone, pre-amp, stand and the PC software among other things. All we had to do was to purchase our first license. Since I had just purchased a Denon 3808ci at the time I figured that it was worth the investment - especially since Dynamic EQ at the time was only part of the "pro" package and I was impressed by what it did. (This was before Dynamic Volume was available). It worked out nicely, because I now own the equipment and software to do Audyssey calibrations. When I purchased my Denon AVP-A1HDci pre/pro all I needed to do was to purchase another license for the new unit and I was all set. I've also done a couple of calibrations for friends as an accommodation for only the cost of a license but, as a retired person, really have no desire to get back in the field - although it would be a very lucrative one. In retirement my calendar is always full (who would have thought that!) and fitting in calibrations is too much like work for my personal taste. But I keep up with the technology and can always "tweak" my calibrations as conditions require (new furniture in the room, new components, etc.)

I would think that at this point Audyssey "pro" calibrations can be found at a lot of the dealers who carry products with that capability so it shouldn't be too hard to hook up with one if desired. I would always suggest performing the basic Audyssey calibration that comes with your unit (using the included microphone) first and running an A/B demo with it on and off to see what improvements you get that way. I suspect that a large number of individuals would find that Audyssey right out of the box is a very nice enhancement to your listening pleasure.

Finally, now that some of the most important (to me) features (dynamic EQ and Volume) are being included in new products within the Denon line (and those from other manufacturers) I wonder how Denon and others will respond to the pricing of the Audyssey "pro" licenses? While the real advantage of Audyssey Pro calibration is the greater number of points measured and a much more robust equalization and tweaking process (PC based) it seems a little redundant to have a "one price fits all" policy. I don't have to go any further than the current discussion of the 3808/4308 "upgrade" to provide an example. If one already purchased a 3808ci license for Audyssey Pro (which included Dynamic EQ) why should that person have to pay the full $100 for the Dynamic EQ/Dynamic Volume, etc. package? There should be some ala carte options for current users. I realize that this would make the price structure a little more complicated but it would also make it a little more fair.

I hope that somewhere in the above discussion you got an answer or two to your question.

 

[Keller Ag 94]

I bought the upgrade for my 3808cI and I am using the Dynamic Volume feature, but so far, it seems to have made the loud commercials worse. :frowning:

Any suggestions?

 

[RAF]

If your loud commercials sound "worse" (I assume you mean "louder") then something is not right.

Which setting are you using ("day," "evening" or "midnight") for the Audyssey Dynamic Volume? Each setting increases the effect of levelling the volume differences between the loudest and softest sound, with "midnight" being the closest, of course. The trade off, in my estimation, is a little bit of clipping of the sound as you increase the effect of this control. I don't use it on any sources except those coming from TV.

A much more basic comment is - I assume that Audyssey Dynamic Volume is turned ON in the setup menu right? The default setting is OFF. Additionally, the setting can be customized for each input source. Therefore if, for example, you turned it on for a DVD source (not something I generally recommend) then it is NOT automatically turned on for the TV source. In other words it is not a universal (across the board) setting but input dependent. That's actually a good thing because it provides much greater flexibility.

 

[Keller Ag 94]

I changed the setting to "midnight" and it is better, but the commercials are still louder than the program. Perhaps my expectations were too high for this feature.

Thanks for your help!