Dirac Live coming to Denon and Marantz receivers

This is exciting but they really dropped the ball on just what levels will cost what and when. AVS posters are in a complete swirl over whether this will include bass correction for 1, 2 or all 4 of the 3800 and 4800’s subwoofer outputs

Personally, I think the consequences of the purchase of the company are becoming clear. Drastic price increases, especially with Marantz, and the Dirac upgrade appears to be extremely expensive.

Dirac Live will be available as a firmware update in March and cost $250. The next update that will include Dirac Base control that will come a month or so later and I believe it's no additional charge for those who upgraded to Dirac Live.

Marantz just shipped the very first allocation of CINEMA 50 9.4, CINEMA 60 7.2 , and CINEMA 70 7.2 receivers and thankfully we were included in this first allotment!

Robert_Zohn said:

Dirac Live will be available as a firmware update in March and cost $250. The next update that will include Dirac Base control that will come a month or so later and I believe it's no additional charge for those who upgraded to Dirac Live.

Marantz just shipped the very first allocation of CINEMA 50 9.4, CINEMA 60 7.2 , and CINEMA 70 7.2 receivers and thankfully we were included in this first allotment!

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What about the AV10?

Marantz's new AV10 15.4 channel pre-pro processor is scheduled to launch by the end of December, 2022 along with Marantz’s new AMP 10 Reference 16-channel 200-watt-per-channel amplifier that pairs beautifully with the AV10 Pre-Pro.

I have amps, but am looking for an outstanding processor. I’m actually pretty much decided on the Anthem AVM 90, but want to explore my options.

Music reproduction is a major priority for me.

JohnRice said:

I have amps, but am looking for an outstanding processor. I’m actually pretty much decided on the Anthem AVM 90, but want to explore my options.

Music reproduction is a major priority for me.

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I wish i could have held out for the AVM 90 but I had to pull the trigger on the MRX 1140 in January 2021 (the rare time being Canadian helped on the electronics front). I just couldn't wait a then-indefinite amount of time.

I've since auditioned the AVM 90 and can confirm that music reproduction is better than the MRX 1140 (which makes sense because the 90 has a better DAC). At least to my ears. I couldn't detect any real difference in movie playback, however (I failed to guess which was the 90 in a blind A/B test), and my system does literally zero music playback, so I'm happy overall. The MRX 1140 is the last receiver I'll buy before before I move to the Trinnov when our new house is built.

All that to say I think you'll be quite happy with the music playback on the AVM 90. I thought it sounded wonderful (it was supported by some McIntosh amps but I didn't catch the model numbers).

I hope you enjoy whatever you decide to go with.

Josh Dial said:

I wish i could have held out for the AVM 90 but I had to pull the trigger on the MRX 1140 in January 2021 (the rare time being Canadian helped on the electronics front). I just couldn't wait a then-indefinite amount of time.

I've since auditioned the AVM 90 and can confirm that music reproduction is better than the MRX 1140 (which makes sense because the 90 has a better DAC). At least to my ears. I couldn't detect any real difference in movie playback, however (I failed to guess which was the 90 in a blind A/B test), and my system does literally zero music playback, so I'm happy overall. The MRX 1140 is the last receiver I'll buy before before I move to the Trinnov when our new house is built.

All that to say I think you'll be quite happy with the music playback on the AVM 90. I thought it sounded wonderful (it was supported by some McIntosh amps but I didn't catch the model numbers).

I hope you enjoy whatever you decide to go with.

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I’m pretty much ready to pull the trigger on the AVM 90, but what do prefer with Trinnov?

Though at 2.5x the price it really doesn’t matter. Not going that far…

Every direct comparison I've heard has concluded the Anthem AVM70 [and especially 90] to be discernably superior in overall sound quality [dynamics, separation, etc.] to the current crop of Marantz products. Based on my research I haven't found any mention of the DAC's or ADC's being upgraded with this new product line, so it's possible Marantz is still using the Texas Instruments PCM1502A or similar.

That along with their insistence on retaining their relationship with Audyssey and forcing users to pay the price, even if they opt for Dirac, pretty much rules Marantz out of my future plans.

JohnRice said:

I’m pretty much ready to pull the trigger on the AVM 90, but what do prefer with Trinnov?

Though at 2.5x the price it really doesn’t matter. Not going that far…

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A guy at my firm has a Trinnov 32 so I've had a little bit of a chance to "play" with it. The room treatment is better than anything I've used (ARC is second best). People like to say their system's speakers "disappear" into a seamless field of sound, but the Trinnov is the only rig where I've experienced it legitimately happen. The visualizer is beyond cool.

I'd like to go to an 11.x.8 setup in our new house so the path leads me there.

We just received Marantz's very first allocation/shipment of the new CINEMA 50 9.4 channel receiver and CINEMA 70 7.2 channel slim receiver. We are LOVING these new receivers and I'm setting up the CINEMA 50 in our store theater demo room with our 5.4.4 Dolby Atmos/DTS:X audio system and Sony's VPL-XW7000ES Native 4K HDR Laser projector.

I have a 4 year old Yamaha Aventage RX A880 receiver that does a great job with the surround setup including Dolby Atmos. It is however not 8K compatible for its inputs and HDMI outs. I perceive my best bet to maximize the data connection potential from the upcoming Panasonic UB9000 to the just acquired Sony Z9J world be to run the cable from the player directly to the 8K compliant HDMI 4 on the set and keep the existing Blu-ray player output as audio only to the receiver. I wouldn’t object to updating the Yamaha to an 8K compatible receiver and moving the 880 to a different room setup, but the ones I’ve looked at have seem to done away with all component inputs like from the laserdisc player connected. Are there any updated 8K receivers that still have legacy connections for older players like a vintage CD or laserdisc unit? Any advice would be welcome and appreciated.

uncledougie said:

I have a 4 year old Yamaha Aventage RX A880 receiver that does a great job with the surround setup including Dolby Atmos. It is however not 8K compatible for its inputs and HDMI outs. I perceive my best bet to maximize the data connection potential from the upcoming Panasonic UB9000 to the just acquired Sony Z9J world be to run the cable from the player directly to the 8K compliant HDMI 4 on the set and keep the existing Blu-ray player output as audio only to the receiver. I wouldn’t object to updating the Yamaha to an 8K compatible receiver and moving the 880 to a different room setup, but the ones I’ve looked at have seem to done away with all component inputs like from the laserdisc player connected. Are there any updated 8K receivers that still have legacy connections for older players like a vintage CD or laserdisc unit? Any advice would be welcome and appreciated.

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Yes, I just bought one, the Denon AVR-S960H and it's CI twin AVR-X2700H have component and composite video inputs. They do not convert to HDMI though, so the component video monitor output must be used. Not a big deal as my Denon AVR-2312ci couldn't upconvert analog audio to HDMI without the black level bug so I always used straight through connections when I was still using analog. I'm all digital now for video with some legacy equipment in storage.

The Denon AVR-X3700H also has component video inputs. These 2020 model receivers only have "ONE" 8K input but the purchase of a 8K HDMI Video switch box can change that.

Denon (and Marantz) has a box made to go with the S960H, X2700H, X3700H and X4700H receivers. That is the Denon AVS-3 that has three 8K inputs and one 8K output. It retails for $200 but can be found new for $150. It's special in being able to integrate with the Denon receivers so that it's inputs can be remapped into the receivers inputs and the receiver remote can be used for switching. I may purchase if the switch gets down to $100. To expensive otherwise for what it is.

If you don't integrate that Denon switch box into the receiver's input mapping, you'll actually gain an additional 2 HDMI inputs for the receiver. I already use 5 out of 6 HDMI inputs so having more to use is something that interests me. I have a Roku, a Fire TV, a DVD Recorder, a 4K BDP, and an Universal DVD-A/SACD Player hooked to the 5 HDMI inputs. I still have a Google Chromecast w/Google play I could hook up as well as a Notebook PC. The more HDMI inputs, the better!

Denon just shipped us their very first allocation of AVR-X4800H 9.4 Channel Receivers and the new flagship AVR-A1H 15.4 Channel Receivers.

How does the new Marantz Cinema 60 hold up against the Denon? It’s a bit less expensive but looks promising. Does either output component signals to an HDMI out?

Marantz's CINEMA 60 is 7.2 Channel 100 Watts Per Ch. AV Receiver is $1,699 and is comparable to
Denon's AVR-X2800H 7.2ch Receiver with 95W Power Amp, which sells for $1,199.

Neither output component signals to an HDMI out. Here's a picture of the back of Marantz's CINEMA 60 receiver:

Much appreciated, thanks. Are there any receivers that do output analog component to HDMI out that you know of?

No, but what is your application to need to output analog component to HDMI out?

I have a still working Pioneer laserdisc player that only has component out for RCA cables. Most current TV sets have forgone component connections. I think there are external converters that could be used for the connection to one of the set’s or the receiver’s HDMI inputs that would then be routed to the HDMI out.