Onkyo 818 sound seems real low

[reeseman98]

I purchased the Onkyo 818 about a month or so ago and have everything all set up now. Setup is:

Receiver - Onkyo 818
BluRay Player - Sony BDP-S580
Speakers - Polk TSI400 (Fronts) and CS20 (Center)

I have the Blu Ray set to PCM and have run the audyssey setup twice. However, after completing everything seems pretty low sound wise. I need to turn the receiver to level 55 to have it sound at a normal volume.

Now maybe this is how the receiver is and I am just misunderstanding, my previous was the Onkyo 606 and that thing was pretty loud at 32.

Is there something I am missing in a setting?

[Almadacr]

Did you try it at reference level ? in the receiver it will show -82 in red .

[reeseman98]

That I did not try, I can look at that tonight. Thanks

[Almadacr]

Originally Posted by reeseman98

That I did not try, I can look at that tonight. Thanks

I have the same speakers has you have and at -65 it's pretty loud .

How big is your room ?

Also after doing Audyssey you can also try to raise the trim levels for each speaker .

[Remo]

Originally Posted by reeseman98

I purchased the Onkyo 818 about a month or so ago and have everything all set up now. Setup is:

Receiver - Onkyo 818
BluRay Player - Sony BDP-S580
Speakers - Polk TSI400 (Fronts) and CS20 (Center)

I have the Blu Ray set to PCM and have run the audyssey setup twice. However, after completing everything seems pretty low sound wise. I need to turn the receiver to level 55 to have it sound at a normal volume.

Now maybe this is how the receiver is and I am just misunderstanding, my previous was the Onkyo 606 and that thing was pretty loud at 32.

Is there something I am missing in a setting?

Is the reading 55 or -55
Was your 606 reading at 32 or -32
The volume scale you use would be helpful. Absolute or Relative?
Either way you have a long ways to go volume wise , if its not loud enough , turn it up.

Sure there me be some differences between your 606 and 818 but that should be expected, technologies change and have probably changed a lot.
You shouldn't be concerned about perceived volume differences between the two AVRs. Just turn it up and enjoy. I really doubt that there is something wrong with the 818.

[solarrdadd]

Originally Posted by Almadacr

Did you try it at reference level ? in the receiver it will show -82 in red .

i think that's a feature under dynamic EQ. you may have to turn it on if it's not turned on after running the calibration. i think the default setting is 0db reference level.

i don't recommend running dynamic volume, i leave that off. best of luck. i have a 509 in my bedroom and the sound is incredibly loud if i want it to be; of course, i never want it to be!

if you can't get the volume to raise to a level to your liking or comparable to the 606 you upgraded from, then, perhaps there is either something wrong in the settings or there is something wrong with the receiver itself.

best of luck, keep us posted.

[Remo]

Originally Posted by solarrdadd

i think that's a feature under dynamic EQ. you may have to turn it on if it's not turned on after running the calibration. i think the default setting is 0db reference level.

i don't recommend running dynamic volume, i leave that off. best of luck. i have a 509 in my bedroom and the sound is incredibly loud if i want it to be; of course, i never want it to be!

if you can't get the volume to raise to a level to your liking or comparable to the 606 you upgraded from, then, perhaps there is either something wrong in the settings or there is something wrong with the receiver itself.

best of luck, keep us posted.

I think its a feature of the receiver not dynamic volume nor dynamic eq.

If the volume display is set to the Absolute scale (0 to 99) then when the volume reaches 82 a small red REF will be displayed next the the volume reading on the receiver display screen. This is to show you that you have reached reference volume.

When the volume display is set to the Relative scale(-82db to +18db) then reference volume is 0db.

[Almadacr]

Originally Posted by Remo

Its a feature of the receiver not dynamic volume nor dynamic eq.

If the volume display is set to the Absolute scale (0 to 99) then when the volume reaches 82 a small red REF will be displayed next the the volume reading on the receiver display screen. This is to show you that you have reached reference volume.

When the volume display is set to the Relative scale(-82db to +18db) then reference volume is 0db.

Yep that's the better explanation from it . I can't reach or play at that level it's way too loud for the size of my room .

[Remo]

Originally Posted by Almadacr

Yep that's the better explanation from it . I can't reach or play at that level it's way too loud for the size of my room .

Same here, that's why I employ Dynamic EQ. That way I get the impact of reference volume at lower volume levels.

[timcat4843]

Originally Posted by solarrdadd

i think that's a feature under dynamic EQ. you may have to turn it on if it's not turned on after running the calibration. i think the default setting is 0db reference level.

I have an Onkyo TX-NR3009 AVR with the volume set to relative (THX).
So 0dB being reference, I watch most movies with DTS-HD Master Audio at -30dB, which is very loud in my room.

However, most flicks with Dolby TrueHD I find that I have to increase the volume setting to -26 or -25dB.

I don't like the way Dynamic EQ pumps up the surround channels and the bass.
The bass sounds boomy.
So Dynamic EQ is always switched off.

The less digital manipulation of the original signal, the better the sound.

[reeseman98]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. My audio setup knowledge is lacking and I have been doing my best to to go through the manual and forum posts to get it to be correct. I have tweaked and changed a few different things, I was writing some done, but have not written all down, so I might need to factory reset it and start again.

The room is a 12x20 room and I sit about 12/13' away from the screen and front/center channels.

As for the sound, I believe I have it set to Absolute, but I will double check when I get home.

I really appreciate all the help.

[Remo]

Do you use all 8 calibration positions? If not , you should do so.

[Hillside Trece]

Here is something else to consider (for the OP):

Onkyo AVRs (and processors, if I'm not mistaken) have a feature called IntelliVolume (you can find a WHOLE gaggle of arguments pretty much all biased against this just by searching this site) which adjusts each input "trim" so they stay relatively even in output between one another -- however, many Onkyo enthusiasts/users, such as myself, use the IntelliVolume as a kind of workaround "input level trim booster," kind of what you would find on power amps from years ago (some may still have them). The "input trim level" control on amps would allow the adjustment of the amp's "sensitivity," so that if cranked up, the overall volume of a system would "seem" or "appear" to be much louder at a "lower" volume knob position; this is kind of how IntelliVolume fans use Onkyo's IntelliVolume feature.

For example, on my 605, I keep the IntelliVolume setting for the "DVD" input (which my Blu-ray player is connected to via HDMI) on "+10dB" (the setting goes from -12dB to +12dB) so when I watch Blu-rays or DVDs, the soundtracks begin to "heat up" (depending upon how they're mastered and at what level) around 40 on the volume scale (because I too can't STAND when a volume display readout makes you think you need to crank the unit to ridiculously high numbers to get any sound out of it; probably all mental). Depending on the time of night and other factors, such as if my wife is sleeping or not, etc., I can even drop that volume number to 35 or lower, believe it or not. But IntelliVolume controls all this...

Also -- in my two-channel setup, where I'm also running an Onkyo (the TX-8555 stereo receiver), I have all the inputs connected to that unit set to "+9dB" on IntelliVolume for the same reasons outlined above; you may have to play with these numbers awhile and see where your sound begins to distort or sound unnatural based on how high you have the IntelliVolume setting for a particular input -- and at what master volume number this begins to happen.

The IntelliVolume control can be found under your Onkyo setup menu's SOURCE submenu if I'm not mistaken...

Any further questions, let me know!