Denon AVR-X3800H Review

[G-Can]

Im not sure how I feel about this AVR, or to say, not sure how to set it up to sound good at lower volumes. I cant hear center speaker nearly enough compared to surround effects, or I dont have any bass, or if I have bass then its way too much. In general my surrounds are allways very present, and lacking fronts

Could someone please post their Speaker 1 and speaker 2 presets in Audyseyy options.

 

[Dovydas]

Im not sure how I feel about this AVR, or to say, not sure how to set it up to sound good at lower volumes. I cant hear center speaker nearly enough compared to surround effects, or I dont have any bass, or if I have bass then its way too much. In general my surrounds are allways very present, and lacking fronts

Could someone please post their Speaker 1 and speaker 2 presets in Audyseyy options.

Increase you center channel by +3 db. I do it myself with x6700h and from what I understood, I'm not the only one. Do you use Dynamic EQ? It increases back channels level quite significantly. Usually I listen at -30db or -35db and setting Dynamic EQ at -5 or -10, made surrounds very loud, so I decreased back surrounds and atmos by -3 db and it sounds okay for my ears.

 

[EWL5]

Im not sure how I feel about this AVR, or to say, not sure how to set it up to sound good at lower volumes. I cant hear center speaker nearly enough compared to surround effects, or I dont have any bass, or if I have bass then its way too much. In general my surrounds are allways very present, and lacking fronts

Could someone please post their Speaker 1 and speaker 2 presets in Audyseyy options.

I had the same issue when I bought this as my first Denon AVR. You have to buy the $20 Audyssey app and get rid of MRC (Mid-Range Compensation) as a starter. The results are much better after using the app!

After everything is dialed in, you can enable Dynamic EQ so you can still have decent sound at lower volumes. Hope this helps!

 

[appix]

Im not sure how I feel about this AVR, or to say, not sure how to set it up to sound good at lower volumes. I cant hear center speaker nearly enough compared to surround effects, or I dont have any bass, or if I have bass then its way too much. In general my surrounds are allways very present, and lacking fronts

Could someone please post their Speaker 1 and speaker 2 presets in Audyseyy options.

The Dynamic Volume is great for improving intelligibility of speech and increases the volume of the central speaker.

 

[G-Can]

so Ive concluded that I definitely don't like Dynamic EQ, not sure how can this be recommended to anyone.
pumped up bass galore, and rear surrounds are blasting like crazy, its like literally I'm watching a movie just with surround speakers.

but what about those options called Cinema EQ, dynamic bass, or whatever, also, If i go and manually change db levels per speaker, doesn't that delete audyseyy calibration, at least that's how it worked on my previous marantz.

 

[peng]

so Ive concluded that I definitely don't like Dynamic EQ, not sure how can this be recommended to anyone.
pumped up bass galore, and rear surrounds are blasting like crazy, its like literally I'm watching a movie just with surround speakers.

but what about those options called Cinema EQ, dynamic bass, or whatever, also, If i go and manually change db levels per speaker, doesn't that delete audyseyy calibration, at least that's how it worked on my previous marantz.

Many people like DEQ but some don't. You can select offset 15 to lessen the effect. Can also lower the surround channel level a few dB to suit your taste. None of such adjustments will delete Audyssey, but obviously will change its effects accordingly when you change the levels, and that should be expected. If that doesn't work for you, then just don't enable it. Other brands don't have DEQ anyway.

I also don't like the surround channel to dominate either, unfortunately my Anthem seems to do that too, and it doesn't have DEQ. I wonder if it has to do with a trend in mastering nowadays, hope not though.

 

[Abajams]

so Ive concluded that I definitely don't like Dynamic EQ, not sure how can this be recommended to anyone.
pumped up bass galore, and rear surrounds are blasting like crazy, its like literally I'm watching a movie just with surround speakers.

but what about those options called Cinema EQ, dynamic bass, or whatever, also, If i go and manually change db levels per speaker, doesn't that delete audyseyy calibration, at least that's how it worked on my previous marantz.

have you tried sound pressure SP meter app to measure speaker levels at your sitting ear level? just to see how it was leveled out.
normally surround are lower db on mine
2nd one is good question i wonders too

 

[G-Can]

Many people like DEQ but some don't. You can select offset 15 to lessen the effect. Can also lower the surround channel level a few dB to suit your taste. None of such adjustments will delete Audyssey, but obviously will change its effects accordingly when you change the levels, and that should be expected. If that doesn't work for you, then just don't enable it. Other brands don't have DEQ anyway.

I also don't like the surround channel to dominate either, unfortunately my Anthem seems to do that too, and it doesn't have DEQ. I wonder if it has to do with a trend in mastering nowadays, hope not though.

have you tried sound pressure SP meter app to measure speaker levels at your sitting ear level? just to see how it was leveled out.
normally surround are lower db on mine
2nd one is good question i wonders too

I haven't tried SP meter.

What I definitely noticed, when I run those Dolby Atmos demo files, that my front stage is noticeably more dull/flat then my surrounds and top atmos. Theres no life in them, no punch, while surrounds/tops sound amazing.
Fronts are Kef Q300+Q600 center, surround left/right is Kef Q100, surround back are some small Polks T15 bookshelfs which sound surprisingly nice on their own, and top 4 are Micca 8C in their own enclosures I built, that also sound actually incredible (I tried them on my desk once I finished their boxes and couldnt believe the sound)
All speakers are similar sensitivity and power requirements.

Why in a gods name is front stage lifeless is beyond me, its like theres a blanket over them. I do run front left/right with Fosi V3 with 48V supply, but center channel is direct from receiver so at least center should sound the same. Speaker layout is close to perfect as per all recomendations for 7.1.4.

I definitely have some tinkering to do to figure out wtheck is going on.

 

[Abajams]

i would do 5.1.4 using denon alone and if every thing fine add fosi to surrounds or ceilings, may work

 

[peng]

I haven't tried SP meter.

What I definitely noticed, when I run those Dolby Atmos demo files, that my front stage is noticeably more dull/flat then my surrounds and top atmos. Theres no life in them, no punch, while surrounds/tops sound amazing.
Fronts are Kef Q300+Q600 center, surround left/right is Kef Q100, surround back are some small Polks T15 bookshelfs which sound surprisingly nice on their own, and top 4 are Micca 8C in their own enclosures I built, that also sound actually incredible (I tried them on my desk once I finished their boxes and couldnt believe the sound)
All speakers are similar sensitivity and power requirements.

Why in a gods name is front stage lifeless is beyond me, its like theres a blanket over them. I do run front left/right with Fosi V3 with 48V supply, but center channel is direct from receiver so at least center should sound the same. Speaker layout is close to perfect as per all recomendations for 7.1.4.

I definitely have some tinkering to do to figure out wtheck is going on.

I think there will be less tinkering to get the front channels more lively if you use the Denon amps yo drive the front channels, and use the less powerful V3 for the q100 or the T15. Use it on the q100 only if their are closer to your ears than tbe T15s.

The V3's gain is a good bit lower than the Denon's, and that's with the volume knob at maximim. So, be sure to set the volume knob to maximim.

You should re-run Audyssey if you make such rearrangement. Try it, and you maybe surprised by the results.

 

[Matt34]

I haven't needed to boost center channel levels with dynamic EQ / Ref /0 db, and dynamic Volume / light. I do turn the surround channels down 2 DB. It helps that I have a Revel C208 that is superior to my previous center channels.
Another side effect to these settings is I run the subs with no boost, just a small bump from 100-25hz, 1-3db using the app. MRC is turned off.

 

[G-Can]

I think there will be less tinkering to get the front channels more lively if you use the Denon amps yo drive the front channels, and use the less powerful V3 for the q100 or the T15. Use it on the q100 only if their are closer to your ears than tbe T15s.

The V3's gain is a good bit lower than the Denon's, and that's with the volume knob at maximim. So, be sure to set the volume knob to maximim.

You should re-run Audyssey if you make such rearrangement. Try it, and you maybe surprised by the results.

you might be onto something there, as I saw that AVR added +5.5db to the fronts, meaning Fosi doesn't have enough power.
What kind of amp and what power should I look into getting, as not many stereo amps are over 70-80W (if I would get some used budget nad amp or something for front LR)

I really dont want/cant spend another 800-1000 on 3ch amp ffs

I will still try to determine is it Fosi, or is it something else. Those Dolby atmos files are great for testing tbh, short clips, high quality and high dynamic range. I would recommend to everyone.

 

[peng]

you might be onto something there, as I saw that AVR added +5.5db to the fronts, meaning Fosi doesn't have enough power.
What kind of amp and what power should I look into getting, as not many stereo amps are over 70-80W (if I would get some used budget nad amp or something for front LR)

I really dont want/cant spend another 800-1000 on 3ch amp ffs

I will still try to determine is it Fosi, or is it something else. Those Dolby atmos files are great for testing tbh, short clips, high quality and high dynamic range. I would recommend to everyone.

Adding 5.5 dB to the trim level has nothing to do with the amp lacking "power". It is to compensate for the difference in speaker sensitivity, loss of spl due to distance, and in this case, the lower gain of the V3 amp.

You can use a 1000 W amp, if the gain is low like the V3, Audyssey would still add 5.5 dB, more if it has even lower gain.

For 600 to 800, try looking for a Hypex module based amp such as those from buckeyeamp, vtv amp, Audiophonics, and a few others. The typically have gain a few dB lower than Denon's but Audyssey will add to the trim level as it did to the V3, no no worry there.

 

[EWL5]

Those Dolby atmos files are great for testing tbh, short clips, high quality and high dynamic range. I would recommend to everyone.

Where can I find those Dolby Atmos demo files? Youtube?

 

[G-Can]

Where can I find those Dolby Atmos demo files? Youtube?

No, demolandia
Here

Dolby Atmos Download — Audiosphere, Unfold, Horizon and Silent

Dolby Atmos download files — Audiosphere, Unfold v2, Horizon, Shattered and Silent in lossless M2TS for home theater testing.

www.demolandia.net

site is little wonky, but there's a lot and few proper Atmos files, just keep an eye on description

 

[srekal34]

I want to buy this receiver and need your help. I am currently using dsp to equalize my 4 subs(Scan speak 12 inch sealed in a small cabinets, qtc 1).

Their native in room response is around 35Hz f3, with ~6dB gain I am making them flat to 20Hz(they do it well within their excursion limits). They also have a lot of power on tap, so applying gain is not an issue(each has its own nc500 amp).

My question is - I want to get rid of dsp and rely on Dirac - will I be able to "force" their response beyond native in DLBC control panel - i.e. artificially apply gain on the bottom end?

 

[HarmonicTHD]

I want to buy this receiver and need your help. I am currently using dsp to equalize my 4 subs(Scan speak 12 inch sealed in a small cabinets, qtc 1).

Their native in room response is around 35Hz f3, with ~6dB gain I am making them flat to 20Hz(they do it well within their excursion limits). They also have a lot of power on tap, so applying gain is not an issue(each has its own nc500 amp).

My question is - I want to get rid of dsp and rely on Dirac - will I be able to "force" their response beyond native in DLBC control panel - i.e. artificially apply gain on the bottom end?

Don’t know about Dirac.

But the Audyssey MultiEQX software, which is compatible with the X3800, can do what you describe.

So whether you end up using Dirac or MultiEQX the x3800 is probably a good choice.

 

[srekal34]

Thank you, thats reassuring I have made a good choice

 

[peng]

Thank you, thats reassuring I have made a good choice

If it didn't do it automatically, you can "force it" by manually tweaking the target curve.

 

[G-Can]

Where can I find those Dolby Atmos demo files? Youtube?

ok, here:

One moment, please...

atmos downloads