Denon AVR-X3800H Review

[rvsixer]

At this point, I do believe I may be part of the group waiting to see an upgrade to the Onkyo RX50 (the rumored RZ70) Thanks!

Me too (even given Onkyo's precarious position).

 

[Bernito]

If I turn off the internal amplifiers in the Denon X3800H and configure it to use the preamplifier outputs and connect it to my Anthem PVA 7 power amplifier, does that mean that I cannot use the Denon to set the speaker crossover?

Being able to use the Denon to set the speaker crossover is critical to me since I use a Magnepan speakers (MG 1.6/QR fronts, MGCC 2 center channel and MGMC 1 surrounds).

 

[dlaloum]

At this point, I do believe I may be part of the group waiting to see an upgrade to the Onkyo RX50 (the rumored RZ70) Thanks!

As am I.

But given the recent Dirac and StormAudio announcements, I have a feeling Onkyo may be holding off for when they can release with Dirac Live - ART onboard - and that seems to be Q4 at the earliest.... so another year to wait.

 

[rvsixer]

If I turn off the internal amplifiers in the Denon X3800H and configure it to use the preamplifier outputs and connect it to my Anthem PVA 7 power amplifier, does that mean that I cannot use the Denon to set the speaker crossover?

Being able to use the Denon to set the speaker crossover is critical to me since I use a Magnepan speakers (MG 1.6/QR fronts, MGCC 2 center channel and MGMC 1 surrounds).

If by "speaker crossover", you mean splitting a channel to both sub and speaker(s), yes no problem. The sub/speaker crossover happens before the preamp/internal amp sections.

If by speaker crossover you mean actual crossovers for the Magnepans speaker drivers themselves (i.e. active), no the Denon will not do it (nor will the vast majority of AVP/AVR's out there, only a select few have active crossover outputs).

 

[muziker]

This and other reviews made me realize that AVR brands are being bought by corporations that care only about revenue, so I also decided to change my criteria and buy the cheapest receiver that delivers features I need with power required to run my speakers. I've already had ordered X3800H because it was the cheapest option for me (1450€) with decent calibration system but then I found shop that had Pioneer VSX-LX305 and LX505 at discounted prices (950€ and 1250€). As soon as I found out I cancelled order for Denon and replaced it with LX305 because hell yeah sound quality is not a factor to consider anymore and I'm not into paying 300€ for preouts. New AVRs are made by accountants, so get your excel choose the best for you. I've never been more happy to keep 500€ in my pocket for better use.

 

[rvsixer]

Pioneer VSX-LX305 and LX505 at discounted prices...and buy the cheapest receiver that delivers features I need with power required to run my speakers.

Ironic, as these Pioneers max out at 20 watts periodically .

 

[dlaloum]

Ironic, as the latest Pioneers max out at 20 watts periodically .

Have you found any owners who report this issue?

 

[SoundsGood64]

https://h-m-entertainment.com/denon-avr-x3800h-review

A new review of the 3800 above. The main thing I did not know is support this year for Sony's 360 Reality Audio, which is now available on Tidal. Not quite sure how it will work. Perhaps the Tidal app with Denon over Airplay2? or using HEOS? Was trying to avoid HEOS because of criticism of it's interface, but I realize that I may have to use it anyway to hear my DSD files since Denons' are incompatible with Audirvana's DSD output over uPnP. Will be interesting to see how my DSD multichannel files (eg. Jazz at the Pawnshop) sound in HEOS. One omission for me in the 3800 is multichannel analog input because my Panasonic UHD player with AKM DACs sounds great with DSD multichannel. I wonder if since the 3800's audio in is assignable that I can hook up the Panny's 5.1 analog output to spare analog inputs? Probably not. Fore stereo, currently quite happy with a WIIM Mini and Topping DAC to 3800's analog in pure direct so not really keen to explore HEOS.

Above references Post 1488

Before you buy, confirm for sure that the HEOS in the 3800 would do DSD 5.1...did you read in the manual that HEOS would do multichannel? I (strongly) suspect that the HEOS will do only 2 channel and will not do 5.1 playback, but it would be very great if it did....if you know otherwise, super!

When you play multichannel DSD through the Panasonic UB-820 5.1 analog out, is the playback gapless? Will the UB-820 play DSD files (maybe by converting to PCM first or maybe direct DSD) through the HDMI?

I don't know Audrivana settings at all. However, to get DSD playback over the network using MinimServer, I had to make some setting changes there, which might (or not) also be the case for Audrivana. Refer to my post on gapless DSD playback for that:

Multi-channel DSD playback

Hi guys, in my collection I have a few multi-channel DSD albums, when I play from Audirvana looks like it’s been down sampled to 2 channels. My question is how to play multi-channel DSD in bit-perfect way (I have 5.1 setup)? Most DACs seem to only support 2 channels. Maybe an AV receiver is...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[Chromatischism]

Before you buy, confirm for sure that the HEOS in the 3800 would do DSD 5.1...did you read in the manual that HEOS would do multichannel? I (strongly) suspect that the HEOS will do only 2 channel and will not do 5.1 playback, but it would be very great if it did....if you know otherwise, super!

I am not sure about HEOS, but I have played a 5.1 SACD from my Sony X800M2 to my Denon X4500H.

 

[SoundsGood64]

I am not sure about HEOS, but I have played a 5.1 SACD from my Sony X800M2 to my Denon X4500H.

Yes, the Sony X800M2 Blu-ray player can play a 5.0 or 5.1 SACD, and send that as DSD or (transcoded) PCM over HDMI to a Denon AVR-X4500H. In that AVR generation, HEOS can stream over the local network several types of files, including DSD, but HEOS is limited to 2ch...can't do 5.0 or 5.1 over network. I believe the AVR-X4500H can receive a direct DSD stream from the X800M2 over HDMI. I am not sure whether HEOS can likewise do direct DSD over the network...it might be transcoding DSD to PCM even for the main zone DAC which I think is AKM4458, which can convert DSD received over HDMI. Zone2 and network DAC is likely TI PCM5100, which takes PCM but not DSD (and so would require DSD-to-PCM transcoding to play a DSD file). If anyone knows about how HEOS handles DSD in Denon AVRs, please post.

 

[ban25]

Yes, the Sony X800M2 Blu-ray player can play a 5.0 or 5.1 SACD, and send that as DSD or (transcoded) PCM over HDMI to a Denon AVR-X4500H. In that AVR generation, HEOS can stream over the local network several types of files, including DSD, but HEOS is limited to 2ch...can't do 5.0 or 5.1 over network. I believe the AVR-X4500H can receive a direct DSD stream from the X800M2 over HDMI. I am not sure whether HEOS can likewise do direct DSD over the network...it might be transcoding DSD to PCM even for the main zone DAC which I think is AKM4458, which can convert DSD received over HDMI. Zone2 and network DAC is likely TI PCM5100, which takes PCM but not DSD (and so would require DSD-to-PCM transcoding to play a DSD file). If anyone knows about how HEOS handles DSD in Denon AVRs, please post.

I find HEOS pretty clunky on my X3700H and try to avoid it if at all possible. I do have several good options for streaming to the Denon, however. For most cases where I want to stream from TIDAL, including for Atmos content, I simply run the app from my NVIDIA Shield, which is connected to the AVR. This gives me full bandwidth for all TIDAL content. Alternatively, I can stream music from BluOS or Roon to a Bluesound NODE which I have connected to the AVR via SPDIF. This does let me play my local library of FLAC and DSD within the bandwidth limitations of the SPDIF interface. Finally, for pure convenience, and when I don't care about anything beyond 2-channel CD-quality playback, I can use the AVR as a Roon endpoint via AirPlay -- this has the advantage of being able to turn the AVR on simply by selecting play from the Roon app.

 

[RF Air]

Received the Denon notification the AVR-X4800H is released for sale and was able to add it to my Denon.com Cart for purchase. Not sure if I want to wait on Test results, still need an AVR with it's capabilities, but already expect disappointment after the 3800 Review. Undecided

 

[ban25]

Received the Denon notification the AVR-X4800H is released for sale and was able to add it to my Denon.com Cart for purchase. Not sure if I want to wait on Test results, still need an AVR with it's capabilities, but already expect disappointment after the 3800 Review. Undecided

Capabilities are paramount. Performance will be the same as 3800H and 3700H PCM as it's the same hardware. And the perf is solid.

 

[Ageve]

Have you found any owners who report this issue?

How do you know that this never happens during normal use? There's no indication when it kicks in.

If the unit is always running cold (as you or another Pioneer user said in the other thread), it means that it doesn't produce the same amount of power as a Denon receiver. Both are Class AB. 50% of the power used is turned into heat. Less heat with equal cooling = less power.

Some people use 1 watt tube amplifiers without complaining. It doesn't mean they are good. Any amplifier worth it's name should handle a simple 8 ohm and 4 ohm test. Just look at all other reviews, of all other amplifiers except Pioneer/Onkyo.

 

[rvsixer]

Have you found any owners who report this issue?

Two of two here have units where the issue occurred...

 

[ChrisB1224]

I experienced all sorts of odd video and audio issues when I had my PC with an NVIDIA RTX 3080 connected to my Denon AVR-X3700H. Most of the issues went away when I instead hooked the PC up directly to my LG C1 OLED TV and use eARC for Dolby Atmos audio (sadly the LG C1 doesn't pass through DTS at all, so I've stopped using my HTPC for DVD/Blu-Ray playback and shifted that to a dedicated UHD player, making my HTPC a combination Plex server/gaming device). I have continued to experience one really annoying random audio issue where the X3700H can't decode eARC audio correctly for anywhere from 10 seconds to a minute and instead just plays really really loud and nasty variable digital noise over all the speakers. I haven't figured out anything that consistently triggers it or makes it stop, it comes and goes randomly a few times a week.

I don't know know why these big companies can't deliver solid HDMI or resolve these issues better. I'm not psyched to have a Denon SPK618 adapter to resolve 4k/120 compatibility issues with my X3700H, and when Denon quietly revised the HDMI board in the later X3700H models to fix the issue I asked about being able to swap my early X3700H for one of those, and they said no. If these companies were smart, they'd at least offer upgrades to the HDMI boards across the line and not just in their flagships to make their products work to spec and not offer annoying band-aids like the SPK618 or just expect customers to upgrade their receivers more often. I would pay to upgrade my X3700H so it wouldn't have HDMI issues. It leaves a really bad taste in my mouth.

This is 100% true and well-established. I am looking to see if issues still exist with the newer denon's. I have an x4700h and can't use hdmi 2.1 at all. The fix they sent makes audio not work, and I dont believe the fix actually fixed anything for anyone. I've heard countless testimonies to all these facts, so it would be nice to know if the issues still exist. Is someone saying they are still getting audio popping, coming in and out on PC? Because if they are, I would hesitate to say anyone is jumping to conclusions when they assume these widespread issues aren't fixed

 

[dlaloum]

How do you know that this never happens during normal use? There's no indication when it kicks in.

If the unit is always running cold (as you or another Pioneer user said in the other thread), it means that it doesn't produce the same amount of power as a Denon receiver. Both are Class AB. 50% of the power used is turned into heat. Less heat with equal cooling = less power.

Some people use 1 watt tube amplifiers without complaining. It doesn't mean they are good. Any amplifier worth it's name should handle a simple 8 ohm and 4 ohm test. Just look at all other reviews, of all other amplifiers except Pioneer/Onkyo.

The status screen on the Web interface reports it... but you have to look for it.

 

[RF Air]

Capabilities are paramount. Performance will be the same as 3800H and 3700H PCM as it's the same hardware. And the perf is solid.

Yes, this has been the issue for my purchase decision. I would like to see testing results being that the 4800H has some newer changes with Amplifier construction, Jitter Chip and Japanese Production. The DAC is the weaker point with the SINAD, but it may be less of a factor if everything else is tipping the needle forward with performance and features. Otherwise, biting the bullet of a X8500HA or A1H is a little difficult to justify for me if I am getting a negligible increase in performance.

 

[tmukh]

Can someone make it simple for me?:

What is the best sub $6000 HDMI 2.1 av receiver or processor that money can buy today w.r.t sound quality from the pre amps (for digital sources like HDMI)?
Intention is to have one system that is very good for both 2.2 channel music and 7.2 channel movies.

 

[Chromatischism]

Can someone make it simple for me?:

What is the best sub $6000 HDMI 2.1 av receiver or processor that money can buy today w.r.t sound quality from the pre amps (for digital sources like HDMI)?
Intention is to have one system that is very good for both 2.2 channel music and 7.2 channel movies.

Do you need a lot of flexibility for immersive audio layouts and room correction? Denon 4800 or 6800. If not, get the 3800, which still does most of that, but with a few less features.

There's also Anthem to look at.