Home Theater/Game Room Thread

Palum · Oct 18, 2023

Also, I should note certain services are way worse than others (Hulu). Back in the old days when we had a stereo rack with EQ, amp and comp in it we could fix this manually for a specific movie, but I really just want a software adjustable one now that defeats the terrible audio cliffs from bad streaming services.

BrutulTM · Oct 18, 2023

TheNozz said:
So I’ve been frustrated for a long time by how whenever I watch a film, often times the music is significantly louder than the dialogue.

Would hooking up a sound/speaker system help alleviate this? In other words is the problem caused by the limitations of simple television speakers vs the dynamic sound mix of modern media?

I had this problem once because I upgraded my left and right towers without upgrading the center channel speaker at the same time. Got a better center channel that was on par with my other speakers and it sounded a lot better. Your problem could be crappy speakers or the way that the crappy speakers are interacting with your room, but getting a surround system with an AV receiver that can automatically adjust the levels for your position in the room would almost certainly help in either situation. I've had good luck with the automatic adjustment. I have a Yamaha receiver and had an Onkyo before that. I'm definitely not an audiophile though.

Burns · Oct 19, 2023

BrutulTM said:
... getting a surround system with an AV receiver that can automatically adjust the levels for your position in the room would almost certainly help in either situation. I've had good luck with the automatic adjustment. I have a Yamaha receiver and had an Onkyo before that. I'm definitely not an audiophile though.

Wonder how different the tech is for each company. The Denon auto volume leveler and positional set up still does terrible with Hulu live. Some channels seem to have huge dB changes, that Denon cant take the peak off.

Hulu may still have the problem of broadcasting in stereo on some shows, and some devices, like Chromecast, which, as of a couple years ago, were 100% stereo.

Tom Scott recently did a video on how we perceive loudness, which could be part of the problem too:

BrutulTM · Oct 19, 2023

Burns said:
Wonder how different the tech is for each company. The Denon auto volume leveler and positional set up still does terrible with Hulu live. Some channels seem to have huge dB changes, that Denon cant take the peak off.

Hulu may still have the problem of broadcasting in stereo on some shows, and some devices, like Chromecast, which, as of a couple years ago, were 100% stereo.

Tom Scott recently did a video on how we perceive loudness, which could be part of the problem too:

I'm guessing you're paying a lot more attention to your sound than I am. You may not agree that mine is configured correctly.

Ossoi · Oct 28, 2023

TheNozz said:
So I’ve been frustrated for a long time by how whenever I watch a film, often times the music is significantly louder than the dialogue.

Would hooking up a sound/speaker system help alleviate this? In other words is the problem caused by the limitations of simple television speakers vs the dynamic sound mix of modern media?

An avr with l, r and centre speaker would allow you to manually set levels for each channel, thus making the centre dialogue channel as loud as necessary

BrutulTM · Feb 28, 2024

So I decided that I am not ready to totally give up on physical media and bought a 4k bluray player and got Planet Earth 2 and 3 and a couple others on 4k bluray. Then it occurred to me, can my 2012 Yamaha A/V receiver actually pass through 4k? Is it just connecting one HDMI stream to another or do I actually have to get a newer receiver or bypass it and connect directly to the TV?

This is what I have now. Kind of surprised to realize it's 12 years old now.

YAMAHA RX-V671 7.1- Channel Network AV Receiver

Ossoi · Mar 2, 2024

BrutulTM said:
So I decided that I am not ready to totally give up on physical media and bought a 4k bluray player and got Planet Earth 2 and 3 and a couple others on 4k bluray. Then it occurred to me, can my 2012 Yamaha A/V receiver actually pass through 4k? Is it just connecting one HDMI stream to another or do I actually have to get a newer receiver or bypass it and connect directly to the TV?

This is what I have now. Kind of surprised to realize it's 12 years old now.

YAMAHA RX-V671 7.1- Channel Network AV Receiver

Doubtful it's 4k compatible

Attog · Mar 5, 2024

I spent around 3k to upgrade my "old" 1080p Onkyo 7.2 receiver to a 4k Atmos Anthem processor and I have to say, even on a 10' wide screen, the 1080p looked awesome. Yes the 4k HDR is sharper but is it worth thousands of dollars more? Not really.

Ossoi · Mar 5, 2024

Attog said:
I spent around 3k to upgrade my "old" 1080p Onkyo 7.2 receiver to a 4k Atmos Anthem processor and I have to say, even on a 10' wide screen, the 1080p looked awesome. Yes the 4k HDR is sharper but is it worth thousands of dollars more? Not really.

Well you would have been paying for better sound, more speakers and ideally better quality sound from the anthem.

And I saw a noticeable jump going from a 2015 4k oled to a 2023 oled, so it's odd that you've been underwhelmed. What TV do you have? Admittedly on my 2015 model a good high quality Blu-ray 1080p rip looked very similar to a 4k stream. Picture quality depends a lot on what you feed in as well as the TV itself

BrutulTM · Mar 5, 2024

I'm not going to buy a $3000 receiver in any case. The one I had before was like $500 and I would probably go for a similar price point. I think for now though I'm just going to connect my blu-ray player directly to the TV and send the sound back to the receiver via an optical cable. I already have that set up for when I use the built in streaming stick in the TV. Probably get a new receiver eventually but I think this will work for now.

Ossoi · Mar 5, 2024

BrutulTM said:
I'm not going to buy a $3000 receiver in any case. The one I had before was like $500 and I would probably go for a similar price point. I think for now though I'm just going to connect my blu-ray player directly to the TV and send the sound back to the receiver via an optical cable. I already have that set up for when I use the built in streaming stick in the TV. Probably get a new receiver eventually but I think this will work for now.

Well yeah, whilst I would like an Anthem level receiver I can't justify it over my current Denon. Especially as for music it would probably be a downgrade from my lyngdorf streaming amp which powers left/right. And yeah a better quality amp is almost entirely about sound

Attog · Mar 5, 2024

Ossoi said:
Well you would have been paying for better sound, more speakers and ideally better quality sound from the anthem.

And I saw a noticeable jump going from a 2015 4k oled to a 2023 oled, so it's odd that you've been underwhelmed. What TV do you have? Admittedly on my 2015 model a good high quality Blu-ray 1080p rip looked very similar to a 4k stream. Picture quality depends a lot on what you feed in as well as the TV itself

All true, and the Anthem is great, but I feel I'm at the point of diminishing returns, also my eyes keep getting shittier every year so I bought a pair of distance glasses and keep them in the theater room. Current projector is an Epson LS12000 and because it is laser instead of bulb based I'll probably be keeping it for a long time.

Nija · Mar 12, 2024

Attog said:
All true, and the Anthem is great, but I feel I'm at the point of diminishing returns, also my eyes keep getting shittier every year so I bought a pair of distance glasses and keep them in the theater room. Current projector is an Epson LS12000 and because it is laser instead of bulb based I'll probably be keeping it for a long time.

Tangent, but use a timer and start doing the 20/20/20 pattern. Every 20 minutes, without glasses, focus on a detail of an object about 20 ft away for 20 seconds. Helps work some eye muscle/goop stuff.

Utnayan · Apr 3, 2024

Anyone running a Denon X1800H?

Denon AVR-X1800H

7.2-channel home theater receiver with Wi-Fi®, Bluetooth®, Apple AirPlay® 2, and Amazon Alexa compatibility

www.crutchfield.com

Looking at my HDMI 2.1 upgrade and has what I need. Looks like my front upward firing Atmos speakers would be able to be configured using the configurable Surround back channel - Also states it supports ALLR, QFT, and VRR. Seems to hit all the buttons. 80w however.

Ossoi · Apr 3, 2024

Utnayan said:
Anyone running a Denon X1800H?

Denon AVR-X1800H

7.2-channel home theater receiver with Wi-Fi®, Bluetooth®, Apple AirPlay® 2, and Amazon Alexa compatibility

www.crutchfield.com

Looking at my HDMI 2.1 upgrade and has what I need. Looks like my front upward firing Atmos speakers would be able to be configured using the configurable Surround back channel - Also states it supports ALLR, QFT, and VRR. Seems to hit all the buttons. 80w however.

It's at or adjacent too the lowest model in the Denon range. But if all you want is the next-gen gaming features, and you don't have greater than a 5.1.2 setup then it should be fine.

Don't forget the 80wpc is only in stereo, so the available power drops when running more channels.

How big is your room? Are you using it mostly for games or for movies/TV too?

The increased availability of Atmos content on streaming sites justifies a decent AVR and speaker set up more than ever. Personally I saw a big improvement in Atmos audibility going from two on ceiling speakers to four when I upgraded from a Denon 3200 to a Denon 6500 which took me to 7.1.4

I believe the Denon 1800 has two preouts, so you could in future extend to two additional channels if you wanted by adding a separate power amp or a stereo amp in HT bypass mode. Or shell out a bit more now for a beefier amp further up the Denon line

Utnayan · Apr 3, 2024

Ossoi said:
It's at or adjacent too the lowest model in the Denon range. But if all you want is the next-gen gaming features, and you don't have greater than a 5.1.2 setup then it should be fine.

Don't forget the 80wpc is only in stereo, so the available power drops when running more channels.

How big is your room? Are you using it mostly for games or for movies/TV too?

The increased availability of Atmos content on streaming sites justifies a decent AVR and speaker set up more than ever. Personally I saw a big improvement in Atmos audibility going from two on ceiling speakers to four when I upgraded from a Denon 3200 to a Denon 6500 which took me to 7.1.4

I believe the Denon 1800 has two preouts, so you could in future extend to two additional channels if you wanted by adding a separate power amp or a stereo amp in HT bypass mode. Or shell out a bit more now for a beefier amp further up the Denon line

Yep so both games and movies. HDMI 2.1 for passthrough for Series X and PS5. Right now I have a Klipsch system with 4 ceiling mounted front and back surrounds, with center channel and Sub. I bought two of the R-40SA's which are front ceiling firing. You make a good point though for 5.1.4/7.1.4. And I may want more power.

Ossoi · Apr 3, 2024

Utnayan said:
Right now I have a Klipsch system with 4 ceiling mounted front and back surrounds I bought two of the R-40SA's which are front ceiling firing.

What?

your front L/R and rear surround speakers are meant to be on the floor. That's the point of Atmos - to introduce height channels.
If your surround speakers are on the ceiling then you will never hear your atmos up-firing speakers because your ceiling speakers will drown them out.

so your FL/FR, SL/SR speakers are in the FH and RH positions in this pic?

.............................

It's been said about me that I'm a sociopath who only comes to these forums to dunk on people and to exude my superiority over them.

Even if the above were true - even when I'm being "helpful" on a topic I'm passionate about, you guys don't make it easy to not get dunked on, lol

Credit where credit is due though - you basically invented reverse atmos lol

Utnayan · Apr 3, 2024

Well it sure sounds good

Dolby doesn't recommend it but when I did the Atmos addition for ceiling firing speakers in this set up it worked wonders.

My major upgrade plan is to do what is posted however in your pic. Would be a larger project though.

Ossoi · Apr 3, 2024

Utnayan said:
Well it sure sounds good Dolby doesn't recommend it but when I did the Atmos addition for ceiling firing speakers in this set up it worked wonders.

My major upgrade plan is to do what is posted however in your pic. Would be a larger project though.

Lol this is the kind of stuff that gets you on my "remember to nominate him for asshat" list but You're not being obvious about it so I'll let it slide

I'm fortunate as my lounge is a decent size and rectangle shaped. I'm semi considering moving house and so many UK houses have fireplaces in center of wall. First thing I do is look at floorplans to assess speaker locations

Attog · Apr 5, 2024

Ossoi said:
First thing I do is look at floorplans to assess speaker locations

I'm guessing you aren't married.

Home Theater/Game Room Thread

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