Denon AVR Models with Best eARC

[Sharok]

In process of purchasing a Denon AVR and would like to know which Denon AVR Models have the best eARC functionality (trouble-free)?

Using an Apple TV 4K and a Zidoo Media Player.

 

[Dougey_Jones]

I think anything x3700 forward are pretty consistent in eARC performance as long as they have the latest firmware updates.

 

[kyuu]

Have Denons had issues with eARC in the past? I used ARC with an x1700 and never had an issue that I can recall. HDMI boards nowadays should generally be pretty problem free, even the annoying handshake, CEC, and HDCP issues have largely been resolved.

 

[Dougey_Jones]

Have Denons had issues with eARC in the past? I used ARC with an x1700 and never had an issue that I can recall. HDMI boards nowadays should generally be pretty problem free, even the annoying handshake, CEC, and HDCP issues have largely been resolved.

I still have PTSD from years of Onkyo mishandling of HDMI boards, and won’t buy another Onkyo product after selling my RZ50 and switching to an x3700.

The way I see it, Audyssey XT32 is comparable to Dirac for Home Theater, especially if you get the MultEQ-X app, but still fine with the iOS app. I use Dirac in my stereo signal chain and like it for that purpose. I’d use Dirac again for HT, but not without DLBC, and the cost of entry is currently unjustifiable.

 

[Sharok]

I still have PTSD from years of Onkyo mishandling of HDMI boards, and won’t buy another Onkyo product after selling my RZ50.

I've been told to avoid Onkyo. That is why I'm only interested in Denon.
But I read sometimes that people have issues with eARC. I just wanted to make sure that for a 5.1 setup using Apple TV and a media player (Zidoo) I won't have any issues. I don't use ATMOS, play station or anything like that.

Thanks again for the vote of confidence in Denon. Based on your opinion even an X3700H should be fine. As long as it can decode 18bits and have a reasonable SINAD, I'll be happy with it.
One more question for you. Can I use "Pure Direct" in multi-channel mode (5.1 surround)?

 

[Chrispy]

I rarely see issues with eARC reported, especially compared to ARC, which was an issue with quite a few older avrs (including myself). I'd say it's largely resolved but then I don't use eARC or ARC these days at all, my tv is only for display. For new Denons I'd look at 3800 and above models generally, tho. Hopefully Harman will do right by Denon at least....

 

[kyuu]

One more question for you. Can I use "Pure Direct" in multi-channel mode (5.1 surround)?

You can, I believe, but that disables all DSP. That includes room correction (Audyssey) as well as the crossover for the sub, so it won't be doing anything except for the LFE channel. Not advisable unless you have truly full-range mains and surrounds. I would also suggest it's totally not something to bother with, the marginal improvement in SINAD you get is not audible while the absence of DSP certainly is.

 

[Dougey_Jones]

You can, I believe, but that disables all DSP. That includes room correction (Audyssey) as well as the crossover for the sub, so it won't be doing anything except for the LFE channel. Not advisable unless you have truly full-range mains and surrounds. I would also suggest it's totally not something to bother with, the marginal improvement in SINAD you get is not audible while the absence of DSP certainly is.

Agree with all of this. Direct doesn’t accomplish much these days.

 

[Sharok]

To be honest with you, the only reason that I’d like to use eARC is because some people told me that I get a better picture going directly to TV than through AVR.
But I think since you use the system yourself, your opinion and experience matter the most.

Which route would give me a better picture, direct to TV or through AVR?

 

[kyuu]

To be honest with you, the only reason that I’d like to use eARC is because some people told me that I get a better picture going directly to TV than through AVR.
But I think since you use the system yourself, your opinion and experience matter the most.

Which route would give me a better picture, direct to TV or through AVR?

Unless the AVR doesn't support a recent enough version of HDMI to where a certain feature you require doesn't work (4K @ 120Hz, HDR, whatever) then it will make zero difference to picture quality. It's a digital signal, it doesn't get fuzzier or less saturated or whatever if you're losing bits somewhere. Issues will come in the form of the picture breaking up severely or just getting no picture at all.

Any new-ish AVR should support all the HDMI features you need.

 

[Chrispy]

To be honest with you, the only reason that I’d like to use eARC is because some people told me that I get a better picture going directly to TV than through AVR.
But I think since you use the system yourself, your opinion and experience matter the most.

Which route would give me a better picture, direct to TV or through AVR?

The direction of signal is odd in this comment. ARC is the return audio channel from a display, nothing to do with the picture, just the audio going back on the hdmi to the avr. eARC only allows higher codec audio channels back to the avr.

 

[Sharok]

Many thanks for clarification.
Since the picture quality is the same whether going through the AVR or directly to TV, why would I bother with eARC?
Does Denon receiver have a video pass though feature, so no upscaling or anything else will be done to the video signal?

 

[Chrispy]

Many thanks for clarification.
Since the picture quality is the same whether going through the AVR or directly to TV, why would I bother with eARC?
Does Denon receiver have a video pass though feature, so no upscaling or anything else will be done to the video signal?

To my mind only reason to use eARC is if the tv is the center of your distribution, which to me seems crazy. Nice to have the full codec, if your app does provide it, but why would I want my audio centered on that?

 

[kyuu]

Yep, only reason is if you are using your TV as the source, either because everything is going directly to the TV or because you are using streaming apps on the TV.

 

[dougi]

To my mind only reason to use eARC is if the tv is the center of your distribution, which to me seems crazy. Nice to have the full codec, if your app does provide it, but why would I want my audio centered on that?

That's how I do it, blueray player into TV, TV apps, e-ARC into my Yamaha AVR. Which does not work reliably with my Samsung TV so end up using ARC. It would be nice to know that a Samsung/Denon combo is more trouble-free!

 

[Chrispy]

That's how I do it, blueray player into TV, TV apps, e-ARC into my Yamaha AVR. Which does not work reliably with my Samsung TV so end up using ARC. It would be nice to know that a Samsung/Denon combo is more trouble-free!

I'd put the bluray into the avr, not the tv...why would you put it into the tv first?

 

[kyuu]

I'd put the bluray into the avr, not the tv...why would you put it into the tv first?

To be fair, I did have everything going to the TV with ARC to the AVR for a while. This was because I had a new TV and an older AVR which didn't support the HDMI features I wanted to take advantage of. Now that I have a newer AVR, I don't do that anymore.

Another reason I can think of is that some people might prefer handling switching between sources via the TV rather than the AVR. With eARC, as long as it's working properly and the TV is passing through bitstreams, that shouldn't cause any issues.

 

[Sharok]

I use external amp for my 5.1 system and only two sources.
This is a little confusing. Looking for a Denon for my 5.1 system, all the low channel AVRs have low SINAD, low number of decoding bits, and some don't even have a "pre-out" feature.
Do you know of any AVR or processor matching my system with a high bit decoding power (at least 18 bits) and good SINAD from any brand?
They all sell AVRs with low number of channels but the sound quality is low also, why is that?

 

[Chrispy]

To be fair, I did have everything going to the TV with ARC to the AVR for a while. This was because I had a new TV and an older AVR which didn't support the HDMI features I wanted to take advantage of. Now that I have a newer AVR, I don't do that anymore.

Another reason I can think of is that some people might prefer handling switching between sources via the TV rather than the AVR. With eARC, as long as it's working properly and the TV is passing through bitstreams, that shouldn't cause any issues.

I think the tv as switching center is an extremely poor choice.

 

[kyuu]

I use external amp for my 5.1 system and only two sources.
This is a little confusing. Looking for a Denon for my 5.1 system, all the low channel AVRs have low SINAD, low number of decoding bits, and some don't even have a "pre-out" feature.
Do you know of any AVR or processor matching my system with a high bit decoding power (at least 18 bits) and good SINAD from any brand?

I don't know what you mean by "decoding bits". Are you talking about the bit rate? Nothing over 16-bits is needed, but in any case the Denon X3800 (or the older X3600 or X3700) or above should do everything you want (I'm not aware of any AVRs with better performance than Denon). Yeah, you're getting more channels of amplification than you need but getting more channels is part of getting a higher-end AVR. You're also getting the best Audyssey, which you want, or the option to use a Dirac license.

You can get a refurb X3800 for a good price here, assuming you're in the U.S.