Crackling on loud dialouge with Sony STRDA777ES Input level? (1 Viewer)

[Paul Campbell]

I own a Sony STRDA777ES. It is a beefy thing and I have always been pleased with it's sound quality and especially it's ability to handle anything I throw at it. But lately I have been noticing a bit of a crackle surrounding dialouge (most obvious during loud dialouge), and sometimes during things such as explosions and gunshots.
I haved tried some troubleshooting. It comes through no matter what source I am using and whether I use optical or coax digital cables. I hear it when using my Pioneer laserdisk, my toshiba DVD and my toshiba VCR. I hear it when listening through my front mains in stereo mode or my center in surround mode (my speakers by the way are home-made using Vifa components and Madisound crossovers.) My AC is cleaned up (assumably) by a Monster Power 2000 Line conditioner/surge protecter.
I know from limited experience that excessive input levels can cause this kind of effect to occur(probably has it's roots from my turntable experience) but I can't imagine how that could be an issue.
Does anyone have any ideas or any suggestions for more troubleshooting I could do? I have in the neighborhood of a 10 year warranty on the thing so if I need to send it in I will. But I don't think I need to explain to any of you why I want to avoid that at all costs
Thanks for any help
Paul Campbell

 

[JackS]

Sounds like a bad speaker Paul. This is where I'd start. Also it could be a bad wire or connection. May as well start with the simple things, before turning any suspicion to the receiver. I have this same receiver, and have had a simular experience with the right rear. I elevated the crossovers for the rears by 10 and this seems to have solved my particular problem. Re-check your crossover settings, Good Luck, Jack

 

[Paul Campbell]

Thanks for the reply, but I think I have already ruled out those possibilities. It can't be a bad speaker because like I said it did it in both stereo and surround modes, which means both my fronts AND my center were doing it. And I'm sure it's not a bad connection or wire because it has done it with three different sources, each with their own connections. I have to rule out the crossover thing also because A: I can't see how a bad crossover point would cause static and B: Madisound would have caught that problem long ago. Oh, and C: It still does it when I hook up my Klipsch center channel I have packed away.

Thanks anyway, though.

 

[Michael Cucka]

This problem comes up from time to time on HTF and there never seems to be a general concensus as to what causes it. It almost seems as if some listeners ears are more sensitive to picking it up than others and it certainly seems to have something to do with hardware more than software. A search of this forum should pick up a few threads from the past.
As for me, I experienced this thru many incarnations along the upgrade path - in fact, it was probably the driving force behind upgrading for some time.
I noticed it with Sony, Yamaha, and Denon receivers - various speakers, including Boston Acoustics and Monitor Audio - various interconnnects, including high-end bi-wired MIT's. Also, I changed out several players - but since I noticed it from all sources (LD's, DVD's, tapes, etc.), it always seems more of a post-processing issue.
Currently, I use a Marantz 9200 thru a full set of Monitor Audio speakers and haven't noticed this crackling once. :b
So, for me at least, it's not a simple issue and it took some time. Good Luck!

 

[Brandon_T]

I think that you will find that it is more than likely the mastering of the audio source. Many DVD's, even high quality ones seem to have that problem. One suggestion I have would be to see what ones in particular you really notice it on, what chapter and scene, then post back here. If I have that movie I will test it out on my system. I am running seperate Anthem equipment, and Paradigm speakers. I am willing to bet that I will hear the same thing, and I know that all of my stuff is in fine working condition. Just a suggestion,

Brandon

 

[Paul Campbell]

Ok, I will do that. I actually thought of that but it seemed hard to beleive that so many movies did it. I'll try to think of a few right now and you can check any that you might have: Jurassic Park: I don't remember the exact words but when they are about to get into the Jeeps the young girl goes over to the guy and says something like "She said I should ride with you, cause it would be good for you" At the loudest part of that phrase you can hear it a bit. (this is one I have noticed on multiple systems that you might try, might certainly be software)

Last of the Mohicans Laserdisk:during most explosions/gunshots (harder to pick out during explosions rather that diolouge) Spies Like Us DVD :especially during the test taking scene, really bad here. I'll find some more specific ones here asap.

Thanks.

 

[Alexis]

Does it happen regardless of your master volume level? I have a similar problem with the F-16 track on Telarc's Big Picture CD. At first I thought I had it too loud, but the crackling was also present when the volume was lowered, leading me to believe that the fault could be in the recording. I was using it in DTS mode through digital inputs, so I shouldn't have the proble, with excess voltage on my inputs. Telarc must have just recorded that part really loud.

 

[Jim_F]

I tried playing "She said I should ride with you, cuz it'd be good for you." on my system. I tried both the DPL and the "corrected" DTS tracks on my JP disc. It didn't break up, but I can see where it would push the high frequency limits of a system.

My front end includes a Sony TA-E9000ES (v2.01), so my processing is not radically different from yours. If you have not already done so, you might also look into installing the latest firmware. It might not help with this issue, but then again it might.

Hey Brandon, how did the HT meet go? It looks like Chris has a dream system there. Sorry I missed it.

 

[Paul Campbell]

Whoa, what is this firmware stuff? Are you telling me I can do a software upgrade on my receiver? Whether it fixes the problem or not, I would be all over that. What do I have to do?

As for the original topic, I will check whether it happens regargless of volume level right now.....

Yes, it does it regardless of volume. If any of you happen to have the "Spies Like us" DVD, go to the "Creative Cheating" scene and starting from the "Oh the Pressure!" line it gets really bad. Now I know this disk isn't exactly the model of a high quality transfer, but the effect that I hear on so many high quality disks is very apparent during this scene.

I am going to try a few more things and see if I can narrow it down to anything inparticular...

 

[Jim_F]

Crutchfield sells a kit which includes the update on CD as well as a simple remote and null modem cable. If you don't want to go this (~$125, pricey for what you get) route, just the firmware can be downloaded from a fellow user. The cable can be had pretty cheaply at Radio Shack or any computer shop.
Link Removed looks like a good resource for your receiver, just as the related board is for the 9000ES.
One of the members has the firmware available for download, and the CD key is posted on the board as well.
There are reportedly a number of bugs fixed with the firmware. A number of soundfields are added, most notably Virtual 6.1 Matrix, which is pretty cool for EX and ES soundtracks.
Hope this helps.

 

[Paul Campbell]

Some other things I have been advised to do that I have just done to no avail:

1. Do not allow any components to share inputs if one is optical and one is coax

2. make sure all digital inputs are properly assaigned in the receiver's setup menu

I am now going to mess with my ac connections and see if that does anything, so please feel free to feed me with more suggestions.

Thanks

Paul

 

[Paul Campbell]

Still does it. No luck.

 

[JackS]

Paul- I realise you may have already tried this and if you have , please ignore. It seems to me to be something simple and I can't help but think it may be a bad speaker. Weather one bad speaker would cause this effect through all your speakers, I don't know. My idea was to temporarly operate your system in stereo mode by disconnecting the center and rears. If the problem still exists, disconnect the mains, and connect the rears as the mains. I realise this is a hope and a prayer, but it is something easy to try. It could be possible that there is a very slight short inside one of the cabinets. Best of luck, Jack

 

[Bob Saylor]

Paul go here. You should find out what you need to know about the upgrades.
http://www.cronus.spaceports.com/~mo...TRDA777ES.htm:)

 

[Bob Saylor]

Oops! There's a smiley at the end of that address. Use this instead.
http://www.cronus.spaceports.com/~mo...STRDA777ES.htm

 

[Bob Saylor]

BTW, I had somthing like this happen to me a while back and it turned out to be the wire nut on the back of the center speaker had vibrated loose. I can only hope the fix is as simple for you. Good luck.

 

[CoreyH]

Hey Paul,
Just wanted to let you know that you aren't alone with this problem.
I have the exact same problem as you. I'm using a Yamaha receiver though.
I have tried all the simple fixes: rewiring everything, checking all my connections, etc. None of that worked.
I then bought a new center channel, to see if it was a speaker problem. No Dice.
I then went through and replaced all my cables with higher end ones. Again, no luck.
And now I've added a separate 3 channel amplifier, in order to make sure it wasn't a "running out of energy" noise. Wouldn't you know it, did'nt change a damn thing. (Made my system in general sound much better, though
I can only think the last thing to do would be to replace the receiver/processor. But that's just not in the budget right now.
I don't think this is a problem most people have, though. I find it very annoying, and if everyone was in the same situation as us, these forums would be full of threads like this.
Oh well, just thought I would share my experience. If you find a solution to the problem, please let me know. For now I'll just deal with the annoyance.

 

[Will Gatlin Jr]

Paul...

I run the SONY STR-555ES in my bedroom with all spks set as large (centre-rears 50hz/mains-30hz). I tried the "Jurassic Park" (DVD & LD) scene at THX levels without any (sound) problems at all. Good luck!!

 

[Patrick TX]

I have a DA777ES, but no problems like that.I ugraded the firmware to V2.02 myself via a serial cable from my Laptop (any PC with a serial port will do). SUPER SIMPLE, a 5 minute process. You will lose ALL your preferences though. It corrected my "Audio Split" problem, as well as added the Virtual Matrix 6.1 sounfield. If you can't find the firmware for download, I will send you a CD that I made. I am selling my 777 soon, and it has 4 years left of warranty. I bought it at Tweeter. The 777 forum, as well as Monette's board are incredible sources of information for this beautiful piece of equipment. Good Luck!

 

[Paul Campbell]

Hmmmm, I am just now thinking of some other things I might try. i might actually do a full reset on the entire system and see if it is some kind of crossover deal or something within the receiver. This receiver does so many things that I might have done somethuing a long time ago that caused this problem and I don't remember it now. I am pretty sure it's not the speakers cause all three of my fronts do it, but I will mess around a bit more and see what happens. i also have probably 6 or seven years of warranty on mine, but when I sent it in to be fixed, it was gone for like 2 months and after one month some guy with a southern accent called me and said " I have been running full frequency tests on your unit and I can't recreate the problem", and i said "it only does it during diolouge of movies, nothing else, put in a dvd and you will hear it" to this the cooperative dimwit replied, "Nope. I just do frequency sweeps, if i can't hear it with that, it's got no problem and it comes back to you." As you can imagine I was overcome with joy at this point. If he didn't have my receiver open in front of him at that moment I would have told him where he can shove a well-charged 1 farad capacitor.