MuneebM
Supporting Actor
- Joined
- Jan 12, 2004
- Messages
- 621
I started a thread here about an issue I discovered with the Yamaha RX-V2400. I spoke to Yamaha Canada about it and ran some more experiments that have led to more conclusive results, which is why I am starting a new thread to inform people who own these receivers. This is not a critical or even major problem, but more of an annoying anomaly; I still think the RX-V2400 is an awesome receiver.
Set up and calibration:
I have a 6.1 set up, I've set the AVR to "6 spkrs" and surround back to "SMLx1". I used the 75 dB Dolby Digital EX test tones found on Digital Video Essentials to calibrate each speaker to 75 dB at my primary listening position with the AVR set to "STRAIGHT" (Cinema DSP off, native multichannel signal used). My resulting reference volume level is -2.0 dB, and although it doesn't matter much, here are the resulting levels of my speakers:
Front Left: 0.0 dB
Front Center: -2.5 dB
Front Right: +1.0 dB
Surround Right: +1.5 dB
Surround Back: +3.5 dB
Surround Left: +2.5 dB
Cinema DSP experiments:
My system sounds much better in STRAIGHT mode ever since I calibrated it to reference level. However, when I enable the Cinema DSP (e.g.: "Surround Enhanced", "Adventure", "General", "Spectacle", "Sci-Fi", etc.) I always feel like the surround field is imbalanced: louder on the left side than on the right side. After finally coming to terms that there wasn't something wrong with my right-side hearing, I decided to measure the SPL levels of the DVE test tones with the Cinema DSP enabled. I was not paying any attention to the actual numerical reading on the SPL meter when measuring the test tones, because I didn't expect them to be 75 dB anymore since the Cinema DSP "enhances" the surround field, so when the meter was reading as high as 80-85 dB, I wasn't surprised. I was actually taking into account the delta (difference) between the readings of the right surround speaker vs. the left surround speaker. I ignored and bypassed testing the surround back speaker, because when the surround back test tone is played, there is a "residual" test tone in both the surround left and surround right speakers, which I assume is to broaden the back surround field. On the other hand, when the surround left and surround right test tones are played, there is no "residual" test tone in the surround back speaker, so it was easier to measure those speakers. Well, with any of the Cinema DSP modes enabled, I discovered that the surround left speaker had a 1-2 dB higher reading on the SPL meter than the surround right speaker. I had to increase the surround right speaker's level by 1.0 on the AVR to match the surround left speaker. With the Cinema DSP off (STRAIGHT mode), this new level (as expected from the STRAIGHT mode calibration results above), results in the surround right speaker being louder than the surround left speaker. So, with any of the Cinema DSP modes enabled, I have the following speaker levels (note that only the surround right speaker's level changed when compared to the native/STRAIGHT mode levels above):
Front Left: 0.0 dB
Front Center: -2.5 dB
Front Right: +1.0 dB
Surround Right: +2.5 dB (+1.5 in STRAIGHT mode)
Surround Back: +3.5 dB
Surround Left: +2.5 dB
Yamaha Canada told me that some of the Cinema DSP modes are imbalanced since they are based on real venues, however I SPL measured all the Cinema DSP modes that I care for ("Surround Standard", "Surround Enhanced", "Adventure", "General", "Sci-Fi" and "Spectacle") and they all had the same imbalanced results. The service manager also told me that I could send my receiver in to have it verified, but I truly don't think there is something wrong with my particular receiver, but rather with the Cinema DSP on the RX-V1400/RX-V2400.
Can owners of either of these receivers please try my experiment above and post their results? If more and more of us discover this issue, then maybe Yamaha will agree that there is something wrong and perhaps provide a firmware upgrade.
Thanks!
Set up and calibration:
I have a 6.1 set up, I've set the AVR to "6 spkrs" and surround back to "SMLx1". I used the 75 dB Dolby Digital EX test tones found on Digital Video Essentials to calibrate each speaker to 75 dB at my primary listening position with the AVR set to "STRAIGHT" (Cinema DSP off, native multichannel signal used). My resulting reference volume level is -2.0 dB, and although it doesn't matter much, here are the resulting levels of my speakers:
Front Left: 0.0 dB
Front Center: -2.5 dB
Front Right: +1.0 dB
Surround Right: +1.5 dB
Surround Back: +3.5 dB
Surround Left: +2.5 dB
Cinema DSP experiments:
My system sounds much better in STRAIGHT mode ever since I calibrated it to reference level. However, when I enable the Cinema DSP (e.g.: "Surround Enhanced", "Adventure", "General", "Spectacle", "Sci-Fi", etc.) I always feel like the surround field is imbalanced: louder on the left side than on the right side. After finally coming to terms that there wasn't something wrong with my right-side hearing, I decided to measure the SPL levels of the DVE test tones with the Cinema DSP enabled. I was not paying any attention to the actual numerical reading on the SPL meter when measuring the test tones, because I didn't expect them to be 75 dB anymore since the Cinema DSP "enhances" the surround field, so when the meter was reading as high as 80-85 dB, I wasn't surprised. I was actually taking into account the delta (difference) between the readings of the right surround speaker vs. the left surround speaker. I ignored and bypassed testing the surround back speaker, because when the surround back test tone is played, there is a "residual" test tone in both the surround left and surround right speakers, which I assume is to broaden the back surround field. On the other hand, when the surround left and surround right test tones are played, there is no "residual" test tone in the surround back speaker, so it was easier to measure those speakers. Well, with any of the Cinema DSP modes enabled, I discovered that the surround left speaker had a 1-2 dB higher reading on the SPL meter than the surround right speaker. I had to increase the surround right speaker's level by 1.0 on the AVR to match the surround left speaker. With the Cinema DSP off (STRAIGHT mode), this new level (as expected from the STRAIGHT mode calibration results above), results in the surround right speaker being louder than the surround left speaker. So, with any of the Cinema DSP modes enabled, I have the following speaker levels (note that only the surround right speaker's level changed when compared to the native/STRAIGHT mode levels above):
Front Left: 0.0 dB
Front Center: -2.5 dB
Front Right: +1.0 dB
Surround Right: +2.5 dB (+1.5 in STRAIGHT mode)
Surround Back: +3.5 dB
Surround Left: +2.5 dB
Yamaha Canada told me that some of the Cinema DSP modes are imbalanced since they are based on real venues, however I SPL measured all the Cinema DSP modes that I care for ("Surround Standard", "Surround Enhanced", "Adventure", "General", "Sci-Fi" and "Spectacle") and they all had the same imbalanced results. The service manager also told me that I could send my receiver in to have it verified, but I truly don't think there is something wrong with my particular receiver, but rather with the Cinema DSP on the RX-V1400/RX-V2400.
Can owners of either of these receivers please try my experiment above and post their results? If more and more of us discover this issue, then maybe Yamaha will agree that there is something wrong and perhaps provide a firmware upgrade.
Thanks!