The Official Yamaha RX V663 Owners Thread

[erict]

Originally Posted by eazyz

I have read a few other posts on here, but nothing answers my question and it seems to me that a most of you users have a pretty good handle on this system. So hopefully someone can help me out....

I have a Sony BDP-S350 Blu Ray Player and ofcourse a Yamaha RX-V663 Receiver. When I play a Blu-Ray the receiver displays a PCM light instead of a True-HD or DTS-HD light. My first question is, is this normal?? Am I still getting the benefit of "lossless" sound?

The second question is, what should I use for a program when playing Blu-Ray's, DVD's, or Radio/Ipod Playback?? I have been using 7 Channel Stereo (I only have a 5.1 Setup), but on here I have read some of you prefer Straight or Surround Decoder. Please share your thoughts, any help/recommendations would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance for your replies!!!

I am not familiar with the Sony blu-ray player but I know on my Panny I had to make sure both my bitstream choices were set to "ON". Not sure if that is how the Sony needs to be set.

[sfric]

Here's how I have my settings on the Sony:

Audio Output Priority: HDMI
Audio HDMI: Auto
BD Audio Setting: Direct
Audio ATT: Off
Audio DRC: Wide Range

This allows the receiver to do the processing.

[manufan]

Originally Posted by eazyz

I have read a few other posts on here, but nothing answers my question and it seems to me that a most of you users have a pretty good handle on this system. So hopefully someone can help me out....

I have a Sony BDP-S350 Blu Ray Player and ofcourse a Yamaha RX-V663 Receiver. When I play a Blu-Ray the receiver displays a PCM light instead of a True-HD or DTS-HD light. My first question is, is this normal?? Am I still getting the benefit of "lossless" sound?

The second question is, what should I use for a program when playing Blu-Ray's, DVD's, or Radio/Ipod Playback?? I have been using 7 Channel Stereo (I only have a 5.1 Setup), but on here I have read some of you prefer Straight or Surround Decoder. Please share your thoughts, any help/recommendations would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance for your replies!!!

Moefiz posted an answer to this same question... that I asked a year+ ago. Here's the answer - and it worked for me. IMO, the sound of Blu-ray (dts master) is just as amazing as the picture. Good luck!

Audio Output Priority HDMI
Audio (HDMI) Auto
BD Audio Setting Direct
Audio ATT Off
Dolby Digital Dolby Digital
DTS DTS
48kHz/96kHz PCM 96kHz/24bit
Audio DRC Wide Range
Downmix Dolby Surround

[Yeha-Noha]

Originally Posted by eazyz

I have a Sony BDP-S350 Blu Ray Player and ofcourse a Yamaha RX-V663 Receiver. When I play a Blu-Ray the receiver displays a PCM light instead of a True-HD or DTS-HD light. My first question is, is this normal?? Am I still getting the benefit of "lossless" sound?

It sounds like you have the BD Audio Setting = Secondary Audio. You will get lossless audio from PCM and Dolby TrueHD. This setting tells the player to do the decoding. However, the Sony S350 does not decode dts:HD MA. You'll get the lossy core instead. As you found out, this setting outputs PCM. The PCM indicator light came on in your V663

BD Audio Setting = Direct will fix that. This tells your player to bitstream the compressed audio formats to your V663 to do the decoding. This is the setting you want, if you want to hear lossless dts:HD MA sound.

The second question is, what should I use for a program when playing Blu-Ray's, DVD's, or Radio/Ipod Playback?? I have been using 7 Channel Stereo (I only have a 5.1 Setup), but on here I have read some of you prefer Straight or Surround Decoder. Please share your thoughts, any help/recommendations would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance for your replies!!!

If you do set BD Audio Setting = Direct, the V663 automatically selects STRAIGHT whenever it is decoding Dolby TrueHD or dts:HD MA. You can't change that or defeat it or select Sur. Decoder. So, in that cse you have no choice. However, if the source is PCM 2.0 - 7.1, lossy DD 5.1, or lossy dts 5.1 - 6.1, you can choose whatever DSP Mode or decoder (like DD PLxII Movie) you want.

If the source is PCM or lossy DD or DTS from BD movies, DVDs, or HD cable TV in 5.1 surround, I usually select Sur. Decoder. The decoder selected is usually PLxII Movie. I have a 7.1 system, and I like to hear sound coming from the back channels too. HTH!

[azereus]

Can anyone tell me if this receiver has a 12V trigger to use with an emo amp? I checked in the manual but didn't see any mention of it.

I actually have the HTR6160 but I think they're pretty much the same.

[DrasticPlastic]

Yes, it does have a 12v trigger.

[DaleDark]

Don't know if any of you can answer me this, but we just got a new Samsung 3D HD monitor/BD player and we already have the RX-V663. In order to get the HD audio and still view 3D, do I have to run the video direct to the TV and run the audio through the reciever via the 7.1 analog inputs, or can I still run everything through the reciever (or am I S.O.L.)? Thanks.

[M3Tyler]

Originally Posted by DaleDark

Don't know if any of you can answer me this, but we just got a new Samsung 3D HD monitor/BD player and we already have the RX-V663. In order to get the HD audio and still view 3D, do I have to run the video direct to the TV and run the audio through the reciever via the 7.1 analog inputs, or can I still run everything through the reciever (or am I S.O.L.)? Thanks.

I'm actually curious about this very thing myself, considering I also own the V663 and will be upgrading to the Sammy C8000 3D set shortly.

From what I understand, HDMI 1.3a can be used if all components, including cables and HDMI switching devices (such as A/V receivers) are "High Speed HDMI.

Unfortunately I cannot find anywhere on Yamaha's site or elsewhere that would indicate whether or not the V663 supports "High Speed HDMI" sadly, if it doesn't, you'll have to use analog 5.1/7.1 or S/PDIF - Optical for audio decoding.

Can anyone shed some more light on this subject for us?

[Underworld54]

What volume level do you guys go to on your 663 that you would consider reference???

[erict]

Originally Posted by Underworld54

What volume level do you guys go to on your 663 that you would consider reference???

I never really looked at mine, but would guess around -15db to -10db area on my setup.

[Chris Beveridge]

Can you set the receiver to just pass the audio through to the TV, i.e. no speakers set up?

[erict]

Originally Posted by Chris Beveridge

Can you set the receiver to just pass the audio through to the TV, i.e. no speakers set up?

No it wont pass through audio.

[erict]

Does anyone know when using "Pure Direct" does it change your fronts to large? Or does it still keep your sub active?

[PS3-Playb3yond]

Originally Posted by erict

Does anyone know when using "Pure Direct" does it change your fronts to large? Or does it still keep your sub active?

I think Pure Direct only allows the front speakers to be active, the sub is not active when using PD but I could be wrong since I don't have a sub yet lol.

Why not try it?

[arrt vandelay]

Originally Posted by erict

Does anyone know when using "Pure Direct" does it change your fronts to large? Or does it still keep your sub active?

when in pure direct mode all bass management processing is turned off, and the full band 2 channel signal will be going to your fronts, so in essence yes it will be as if the fronts were set to large for that particular setting...

[Yeha-Noha]

Is there a way to get YPAO to run PEQ on the presence speakers? Plus, how do I get the V663 to display the GEQ gui for the presence speakers?

I have recently added presence speakers to my HT system. I am using a two year old Yamaha RX V663.

After running YPAO, it did set the distances and the levels for the presence speakers. Strangely though, YPAO didn't display the EQ results. I mounted the presence speakers exactly as recommended by Yamaha. I am using Energy C-R100 speakers mounted on the front wall 6 ft above the floor above each L/R tower.

The V663 allows setting the distances and channel levels manually. However, GEQ doesn't display the presence speakers at all, only the front L/R, C, and Surround L/R.

[erict]

Anyone looking for a mint RX-V663? Just a feeler.

[Spurrier Sucks]

Originally Posted by erict

Anyone looking for a mint RX-V663? Just a feeler.

How much?

[erict]

Originally Posted by Spurrier Sucks

How much?

I'm thinking $270

[DrMARK]

Very interesting thread on the new Yamaha Aventage Receivers!

I recently purchased the Yamaha RX-A800 to replace my Yamaha RX-V1. Being lightweight at 25 pounds, I am running the RX-A800 as a pre/pro and use a SONY TA-N9000ES 5-channel power amplifier to drive my 5 Paradigm speakers. However, I let the RX-A800 built-in amps drive my height speakers as well as my center back surround speaker. And I love the result. I can't believe that for $308 (the price I paid Amazon for a brand-new RX-A800 last October 2011), my audio system which is now able to decode and playback DTS-HD Master Audio and Dolby TrueHD, is back in the big league.

I have a question though. Whenever I play a blu-ray disc with a DTS-HD MA and choose Straight/Decoder Off, the front panel display shows DTS-HD MSTR. But, when I engage the receiver's DSP (eg, Spectacle, Adventure, etc.) which activates the presence/height or surround back channels, the front panel display only shows DTS. Does this mean, the RX-A800 is playing back the legacy or lossy DTS instead of the lossless DTS-HD Master Audio?

BTW, this is not the case with Dolby TrueHD. The front panel display shows Dolby TrueHD, whether I choose Straight or any DSP mode (eg, Spectacle, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Drama, etc). Please advise. Thank you.