Thanks for another eye opening and honest review Amir. Don't they test and measure their products at Harman during the development phase. While not the most expensive AVR at $1500, the performance, specially ftom the DAC, is pathetic.
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Arcam AVR390 AVR Review
- Thread starter amirm
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OP
- Thread Starter
- #82
My home theater is just for movies and is based on an older Lexicon processor. I have yet to upgrade it to 4K as our theater gets little use. My main music system uses Dirac from dedicated PC that runs it in software.
OP
- Thread Starter
- #83
There are still a lot of bugs it seems in the JBL processor (SDP-55). Had a member interested in getting one but backed off after hearing about software issues. For same reason, I have not looked at getting one for my own use.
tecnogadget
Addicted to Fun and Learning
Thanks for the clarification. I assume you use digital out of the PC to a good SINAD DAC
. In that case, a PC with Dirac works wonderfully as a music player. The hard time comes when you want to play Blu-Ray discs, I just don't know how to solve it in a way that makes is as convenient as just inserting the disc into an updated player.Have you managed to integrate Roon with the PC running Dirac?
This is what happens when a company is acquired for its brand notoriety and the acquiring company doesn't really care about all the hard work that went into building up the brand reputation over so many years. It's just shameful. Still, it must be painful for Mr. Dawson that the great company he built up with pride (his baby) doesn't always live up to the standards he set while he was at the helm.
thunderchicken
Active Member
No, but I sure can if Amir has space in his schedule and there's enough interest. I have two other items I'd also like to see tested though- a 1959 Scott 299 amplifier and some DIY speakers designed by Troels Gravesen.
Measurements for a Troels design would be great to see. I'm anxious to find out who among the diy kit designers will stand up to the tests here. Which speakers do you have?
OP
- Thread Starter
- #89
It just works. Dirac Live Windows software I run emulates a sound interface and then it drives the actual DAC. So in Roon, you just tell it Dirac is the "DAC" and it just works.
Note that I think the Dirac Live software I have is discontinued. At least this is what I have read.
What you have seems to be the ideal setup. As it stands right now, if I wanted Roon + Dirac, I suspect the only option is an Arcam or a MiniDSP SHD, since the NAD C658 had his head chopped off.
Is there anything else that’s an option?
amira
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I've owned both the AVR390 and the AVR550.
In 2016, my first AVR550 ($3400) was delivered DOA. The replacement had many issues as well. Lots of clicks/pops, wouldn't come out of standby, screen flashing and other HDMI issues, randomly losing all Dirac Live distance settings, to name a few. Looks like they're carrying on the tradition with the new models.
When I did blind testing in my room, I preferred the Anthem MRX720/1120 to either of the Arcam units.
In 2016, my first AVR550 ($3400) was delivered DOA. The replacement had many issues as well. Lots of clicks/pops, wouldn't come out of standby, screen flashing and other HDMI issues, randomly losing all Dirac Live distance settings, to name a few. Looks like they're carrying on the tradition with the new models.
When I did blind testing in my room, I preferred the Anthem MRX720/1120 to either of the Arcam units.
That is what I answered.
Hello everyone and a thank you to @amirm !!
Thank you for all these technically very informed reviews!
For protection mode complaining about excess DC on the output there is normally a solution. there is a soundspeaker sensitivity setting in the writing menu at the top of this page. this sensitivity is set by default to High (some have encountered the same protection problem in this position with complicated sounspeaker), it must be set to medium or low to avoid protection. Maybe that will change the measures?
Then I saw on an internet test (I can't find it anymore ...) more in depth than the others and with internal photos showing the presence of a DAC TI BURR BROWN stereo PCM51xx series near the 2 cirrus logic. I wonder when this dac comes in ...
I noticed while passing by the hdmi, that the music was systematically converted into PCM (even if I put the player in bitsream mode). while the behavior of this same player is different if I play a film (I can choose pcm or bitsream) and there, the arcam indicates the applied mode, pcm or bitstream).
the sound of this player is better through SPDIF than HDMI ...?
I conclude that the spdif does not pass through the same DAC ...?
I find it strange and wonder if the data "music" only by the dac burr brown instead of cirrus ?? which could partly explain the stereo measurements of hdmi in / out ?? because dac burr brown is not as good as cirrus.
I would like to be sure that the arcam does not use only the Burr brown in hdmi in stereo ... how to know?
Thank you again for your reviews!
PS: my english is bad because i'm french ... sorry .
OP
- Thread Starter
- #93
Thanks. It doesn't matter much in that measurement. I don't want to stress these amps anyway so the conservative setting is fine by me.
snickers
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Could you perform also a measurement of this unit? I have always an eye on the old Lexicon's, and would love to see how they compare to new Receivers and HT-Pre's.
If they measure really good, it would be a good option together with a HDFurry for 4k HDMI signals.
OP
- Thread Starter
- #95
Sure.
snickers
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Those AVR's are so bad, reading the reviews is a form of audio masochism.
And all of them are heavily advertised as HD-Audio when most can't even play CD audio properly. I don't remember any of them that would even barely qualify as HD Audio .. i.e. a minimum of 17-18bit (or ~105 SINAD) and >48khz sample rate.
Many thanks @amirm for tackling this industry-wide mess.
And if you are looking into such devices, there are a few other sites that publish AVR/PrePro measurements:
Hope someone can add more/better measurement sites ... something from Asia maybe?
And all of them are heavily advertised as HD-Audio when most can't even play CD audio properly. I don't remember any of them that would even barely qualify as HD Audio .. i.e. a minimum of 17-18bit (or ~105 SINAD) and >48khz sample rate.
Many thanks @amirm for tackling this industry-wide mess.
And if you are looking into such devices, there are a few other sites that publish AVR/PrePro measurements:
- https://www.audioholics.com/av-receiver-reviews: good test setup (AudioPrecision) and extensive measurements but they only measure few of the devices. And "surprise", most of the so called high-end stuff is not measured.
- https://hometheaterhifi.com/reviews/receiver-processor/: most of the reviews have measurements, including some "high end" devices like Datasat (which is actually quite decent) but the test setup/gear is not AudioPrecision quality. They do have an excellent series of articles on AVR build quality which clarifies why many of those are so low-fi.
- https://audio.com.pl/testy/kino-domowe/procesory-av and https://audio.com.pl/testy/kino-domowe/amplitunery-av: polish site, google translate works fine. Extensive set of reviews and all include measurements. However, it's a reduced set of measurements (e.g. only amp outputs for AVRs) and the test gear seems pretty low quality.
Hope someone can add more/better measurement sites ... something from Asia maybe?
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Thank you !
and your opinion on the presence of a stereo burr brown DAC? how to be sure that it does not intervene (in the HDMI in chain) for a stereo signal? how to be sure that the arcam does not disperse the signal according to its origin?
séréo = burr brown?
Multi ch = cirrus logic?
thanks again
audioBliss
Active Member
Does it matter? Most of this line of receivers are discontinued and no changes will ever be made. It is what it is.
Does Anything matter?
By this logic, we should only review and discuss products that are either “in development” or not yet started development. How do you propose we get access to those products to test them out?
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