The Official Onkyo TX-SR606 thread

[ArieS]

I recently replaced my old Sony receiver with an Onkyo 606 and I have questions about the sound mode.

When I look at the user manual, they talk about a Pure Audio mode accessed thru the remote by pressing Movie under the Listening Mode.
Hmmm, I do not have this option
As a matter of fact, I have maybe half of all the modes listed on page 60.

Also while watching a 5.1 DD or just Dolby Surround program, let's say on TV, I use AllChStereo because it seems it's the one which sounds the "best" but actually not quite so. My old Sony sounded better.

I don't have this problem when I watch a BD.
Only TV and DVD. Last night I was watching the new season of Prison Break on DVD and the surrounds were none existant

Am I using the wrong mode?
Which one are you guys using?



Onkyo TX-SR606

onkyo 606.jpg

[un4gvn94538]

if you look at page 60 again it has an *1. at the bottom of the page it states that n. american models dont have it. 705 and up do. i use direct and multich. depends on what im listening to. are you not getting 5.1 with dvds?

[ArieS]

I see it now

Regarding 5.1, DVDs seem really "quiet" and TV is even worse.

What is everyone using as far as listening mode?

[BluPayne4400]

Originally Posted by ArieS

I see it now

Regarding 5.1, DVDs seem really "quiet" and TV is even worse.

What is everyone using as far as listening mode?

I usind optical and mine seem more quieter for my tv but i want it that way i dont want my directv blasted like im watching an action packed movie and dont watch movies on sattelite tv because im blu-ray spoiled so it doesnt bother me.

[GeneD5]

I'm glad someone brought this up. I have dish network and the 606. I always end up using all channel stereo for cable broadcasts because I get no surround action any other way.

[owa]

Originally Posted by ArieS

I see it now

Regarding 5.1, DVDs seem really "quiet" and TV is even worse.

What is everyone using as far as listening mode?

I'm having a similiar issue with DVDs and blu-rays but TV has been fine for me (I use the optical for audio for the TV though). Since the 606 is fairly new to me, I figured I just don't have things configured correctly yet. On at least one blu-ray and one DVD so far, the sound is so quiet in a couple of the scenes that I thought the dialog was being cut-off or something. I had to replay the scene 5 or 6 times before I discovered it was just so low that I couldn't hear it, things I could easily hear when using a much cheaper HDMI receiver (or wireless headphones) I had been using as a stop-gap. I ended up turning off the audio calibration stuff on the 606 and then I could hear the sound a little better but the volume level was still way too low. Low enough I couldn't really understand it without being really close to the speaker.

So, I have the same question basically wanting to know what mode do you use when you just want it to pass the audio it receives directly to the speakers. Lately, I think it has been showing multich (multichannel, I guess) but in the manual, it seemed to indicate that was only for DVD. Manually changing them, I'm undecided on which mode sounds best. It varies so much so I'd prefer just to turn all of that stuff off.

Anyway, I've been playing with it for about a week now and still haven't gotten it to where I think the audio is acceptable. Last night I tried turning off all the 7.1 modes from the PS3 thinking that maybe that was messing up the 606 somehow since I only have a 5.1 system. It kind of seems like the sound is being directed to something I don't have since the volume level is ridiculously low for some of the background type dialog, sounds, etc. I still need to try the DVD and blu-ray where I noticed the issue to see if that helped (i.e. deselecting the 7.1 modes on the PS3 since I used auto-detect and it had them enabled). Also, I double-checked my setup to make sure I had the 606 configured correctly and double-checked my connections and all that seems good so I don't know what the issue is. I figured I needed to do more reading and searching but since you asked, thought I'd piggy-back on your thread. Thanks for bringing it up.

Oh, one more piece of info. When I went through the calibration, I initially thought it sounded okay (meaning average but not impressive) but I thought the center level was too low and the surrounds a little too loud (dominated the dialog). So, I manually raised the center channel level. Maybe the cranked up surrounds is the way it was trying to provide the sounds I'm now missing and by upping the center so that I don't have to have the main volume as loud, I messed that up. So, that could be the case but I have a hard time believing anyone would be happy with the first cal that it did. I could barely hear the dialog because of the surrounds. I don't know, maybe trying another cal is the easiest thing.

[Kryptron]

^That is weird. Are all your speakers the same impedance? What does it show on your audyssey settings?

[owa]

I'm currently using an inexpensive 5.1 boxset (Klipsch Quintet III 5.1 system with their 10 inch sub).

http://www.klipsch.com/products/deta...specifications

The specs say: Satellite: 120Hz-23kHz, Center: 125Hz-23kHz. After the cal, it had set the center and fronts to 120 and the surrounds to 150 (I think it was). Thought that was kind of strange since I expected the fronts and surrounds to be the same but I didn't change any of that. Of course, it also changed the levels and speaker distances. I did end up modifying the center channel level so that it was the dominant sound.

Is that what you're asking? I'm not familiar enough with it yet to know if I'm answering the question or not.

Also, I did just notice that the mode that was showing before the PS3 came on was Gam PLII Movie (I'm using the Game/TV selector for the PS3) but once the PS3 came on, it switched to Multich. Does that mean that when the PS3 is playing a game or a blu-ray that the default audio mode is directly passing the audio to the speakers and that the other modes are only used when manually selecting them? After trying the modes, I've been looking for a way to reset things and basically get back to a pure mode but it looks like it might do that automatically. Actually, now that I think about it, Multich might be the last mode that I selected and I think I have the 606 setup to use the last valid mode or whatever it was. So, that might be why it changed once the PS3 was turned on? I guess I'm not sure Multich means it's just passing the audio to the speakers either.

As you can probably tell, I'm lost. I need to read up on it more but at the moment, I'd just like a way to completely reset things to the way it was out of the box just to make sure I haven't messed up some setting. Is there a way to do that?

Edit: I haven't tried the DVD or blu-ray that I was having issues with yet but I've watched The Scorpion King 2, Prom Night, The Sarah Connor Chronicles and Transformers since playing with the PS3 settings and 606 settings and things seem fine now. I need to try the two discs that I had the issue with to be sure though or at least discs that I'm more familiar with. I could be missing stuff in the recent ones and not know since I'm not familiar enough with them. Also, sorry about the hijack of the thread ArieS.

[Kryptron]

Im not too sure. But if the source is only stereo the receiver lets you select different listening modes like All channel stereo etc. If the source is 5.1 then i believe you can only change it from Multichannel to Direct. Alot of cable/satellite programs are not multichannel only some movie channels and ppv channels broadcast DD 5.1/DTS 5.1. And for over the air channels if you use an optical cable to your receiver your going to notice that alot of tv programing is stereo only, hence why you don't hear your center channel or surrounds sometimes. Very few programs are broadcast in 5.1 and from my experience alot of tv's don't pass dolby prologic II 5.1 well, i had a tv that would only output dolby digital 2.0 no matter the source. If your using a PS3 as your bluray player make sure it's set to linear pcm and not bitstream, also within the movie menu itself make sure you select the correct sound track.

[ArieS]

It's all good owa, I'm learning stuff with your posts too.

It seems like the Audissey is messing up my sound.
Like my Center channel is at -9, my sub at -6. How do I turn Audissey off?

[un4gvn94538]

Originally Posted by ArieS

It's all good owa, I'm learning stuff with your posts too.

It seems like the Audissey is messing up my sound.
Like my Center channel is at -9, my sub at -6. How do I turn Audissey off?

if its anything like my 705, use the direct button. or go into set up. theres a setting to change from audessey

ive been second guessing audessey myself and looking to get a meter to calibrate my speakers

[Kryptron]

Originally Posted by un4gvn94538

if its anything like my 705, use the direct button. or go into set up. theres a setting to change from audessey

ive been second guessing audessey myself and looking to get a meter to calibrate my speakers

The Audessey set my speaker levels fine " all my levels were 0db with the center beeing +1db. But i didn't like the crossover settings so i changed those a bit. If you go into speaker settings and then equalizer you can select audessey or manuel eq or OFF i think OFF is the same as "Direct".

[owa]

Originally Posted by ArieS

It's all good owa, I'm learning stuff with your posts too.

It seems like the Audissey is messing up my sound.
Like my Center channel is at -9, my sub at -6. How do I turn Audissey off?

I think there is a setting for that with the default being manual and off being one of the choices. I initially set things to off after having issues but then went to manual but didn't change any of the settings. I need to double-check though to make sure I'm not confusing all of this with some other setting.

As for the cal, same here. All the speakers were set to negative db levels. I forgot to mention that and I thought that was kind of strange.

I'll probably try the auto cal again this weekend since I've changed things a little and I'll have more time to play with things if the sound seems too low.

[Skulltap]

I think my 606 is too loud sometimes...

My setup sounds phenomenal. I have my sources connected via HDMI. I went into the OSD setup and set my crossover to 80Hz high and low, adjusted the speaker distances to 10 feet for front, center and sub, and 5 feet for my surrounds. I seriously find myself turning things down more than up. I did not use the audessey (sp?) calibration at all and love my results.

Bad unit perhaps?

[problu]

after selling my blu-ray movies (which is really hard thing todo but have to sacrifice sometimes in order to get what you want)now im ready to pull a triger on onkyo 606 to replace my old reciever came with the HTiB (HT-SR600) that i bought before.is there anyone in here have a coupon for Circuit City that i can use? just to cut the cost a little bit or its better for me to buy it on Amazon?and is it true that it will degrade the PQ? because i'll be using my PS3 as a blu player.is there anything that i should be concern about this reciever before buying it?Thanks

[ZackL]

I have actually seen a few complaints from members here about the Onkyo 606. I don't really have time to dig them up but I know I was reading a thread a few days ago about people wishing they just got the 605. I think complaints were mostly regarding PQ.

Check it:

The bad: Poor video processing limits utility of HDMI upconversion for analog sources; sounds better on movies than with music; no phono input.
The bottom line: The Onkyo TX-SR606 offers tons of functionality for the price, but subpar video processing and improved competition means it's less of a standout receiver than last year's version.

[ZackL]

Disclaimer: I don't actually dislike the Onkyo 606 I have never heard nor seen one. Im only going from what ive heard in the wind. Im sure its still a great receiver with plenty of pros. Please refrain from following me with torches and pitchforks.

[problu]

but if i will use a PS3 as my blu player which is 1080P source will it still degrade the PQ?

[witheygull]

I'm using a PS3 going into an Onkyo 606 via HDMI and I have not noticed a difference in video quality between that and connecting the PS3 directly to the TV via HDMI.

[problu]

so it only degrades those components connecting with analog RCA cables but not HDMI?