Denon AVR-X4700 AVR Review (Updated)

[N1ck]

Thats a bit clearer thanks. So the issue only arises when the source does the decoding and sends LPCM and the AVR tries to downmix further?

I am setting up a 4.1.2 system and just concerned that I’ll have issues when watching films on the TV such as Disney plus, Sky Q and Amazon due to the centre channel deletion and down mixing it into the left and right channels.

 

[GXAlan]

Thats a bit clearer thanks. So the issue only arises when the source does the decoding and sends LPCM and the AVR tries to downmix further?

I am setting up a 4.1.2 system and just concerned that I’ll have issues when watching films on the TV such as Disney plus and Amazon due to the centre channel deletion and down mixing it into the left and right channels.

There won't be an issue. Disney Plus has a problem with Dolby Atmos on some Sony TVs using ARC but as long as you have the Dolby Atmos logo, you'll be fine.

 

[N1ck]

Thanks. I have a Sony TV, lol.
Potenial issues aside, has Denon actually provided an update to fix the issue (assuming it can be fixed)?

 

[GXAlan]

Thanks. I have a Sony TV, lol.
Potenial issues aside, has Denon actually provided an update to fix the issue (assuming it can be fixed)?

It’s a Sony/Disney thing. Lots of discussion on Reddit about it in r/bravia

It seems that it breaks for a while, a software update fixes it and then a few updates later it breaks again.

As long as it says Dolby Atmos in your preview screen before hitting play then the app knows to send Atmos over DD+

 

[KMO]

Sorry, I’m just not understanding what you are saying. How do you configure a source to AVR connection as multichannel? The source plays what ever the source is.

Decent source devices do - dedicated devices like Blu-ray players or whatever - but quite a few things like PCs, or various "smart" apps won't do that, and always output a fixed channel configuration regardless of what they're playing.

On those you may find yourself having to manually switch between 2.0 and multichannel PCM output, because only the 2.0 output will let the AVR do its upmix on 2.0 content.

On such devices, having them send a bitstream if possible mostly sidesteps the fixed-channel-config-for-PCM problem - multichannel content is usually delivered in something that can be passed to the AVR as a bitstream, and you can leave PCM output set to 2.0, never actually needing multichannel PCM.

 

[Propheticus]

Sorry, I’m just not understanding what you are saying.

Use case was a PC where you configure the HDMI connection as e.g. 7.1 and it'll then always present 7.1 channels. Now when you play a stereo source, it will have 2 channels containing audio and 5.1 empty channels instead of switching to a 2.0 connection like a blu-ray player would.
Like KMO said, it would require manual switching.

I thought that the issue arose when the AVR downmixes.

The issue was this 'multichannel' input containing several empty channels performed badly when the AVR downmixed this to output to only a stereo speaker setup. Leaving it untouched (no downmixing), so setting the AVR up as if being 7.1 speakers in setup removed the issue.
This is all explained in Amir's opening post.
So this is not an issue with actual multichannel content downmixing.

You could argue this is a setup error. Why tell Windows you have 7.1 speakers set up while in fact you have 2?
Well for content that does contain more channels, you might want Windows to send all to the AVR and let it do the downmix instead of the app or Windows audio pipeline.

 

[Sal1950]

My poor Marantz AV7703 totally expired a week back, victim of the notorious Central Florida lightning.
I've been mulling it over this week and just put in my order for a new Denon X4700H to replace it.
It will be used in preamp mode exclusively, using the stack of classic Adcom power amps that have been driving my speakers for the last 5 years or so.
With their input sensetivity of 1.25 volts for full output they should make a good match with the Denon
I'm confident it's subjective sound quality will equal or surpass the Marantz pre/pro which didn't measure anywhere near as good as this Denon.
I purchased factory direct and have 60 days totally free return if I should be disappointed in any way.
I'll keep ya'll informed.

 

[Doodski]

My poor Marantz AV7703 totally expired a week back, victim of the notorious Central Florida lightning.
I've been mulling it over this week and just put in my order for a new Denon X4700H to replace it.
It will be used in preamp mode exclusively, using the stack of classic Adcom power amps that have been driving my speakers for the last 5 years or so.
With their input sensetivity of 1.25 volts for full output they should make a good match with the Denon
I'm confident it's subjective sound quality will equal or surpass the Marantz pre/pro which didn't measure anywhere near as good as this Denon.
I purchased factory direct and have 60 days totally free return if I should be disappointed in any way.
I'll keep ya'll informed.

Wowow!!! Going all in on this bad boy.

 

[Sal1950]

Wowow!!! Going all in on this bad boy.

That's only the half of it, it also took out my music server computer.
Thank goodness I didn't lose any music, all my SSD drives survived and they were of course backed up anyway.
I don't want to even think about losing all my files. The multich stuff alone numbers near 1,000 albums right now.
I got it all backed up but I need to start thinking about off site storage in case of fire, flood, whatever.

 

[Doodski]

That's only the half of it, it also took out my music server computer.
Thank goodness I didn't lose any music, all my SSD drives survived and they were of course backed up anyway.
I don't want to even think about losing all my files. The multich stuff alone numbers near 1,000 albums right now.
I got it all backed up but I need to start thinking about off site storage in case of fire, flood, whatever.

Ouch! Bit by the lightning and bit hard... What are the size(s) of this sort of backup? Are there legal issues by rerecording and backing up?

 

[Sal1950]

Ouch! Bit by the lightning and bit hard... What are the size(s) of this sort of backup? Are there legal issues by rerecording and backing up?

I've got a 12TB outboard spinner drive that's about 10TB full right now.
If you own anything legal you can back it up all you like as long as you don't get rid of the original, then you lose your rights to keep it at all.
That IT rights stuff is all BS in my book.

 

[Doodski]

I've got a 12TB outboard spinner drive that's about 10TB full right now.
If you own anything legal you can back it up all you like as long as you don't get rid of the original, then you lose your rights to keep it at all.
That IT rights stuff is all BS in my book.

4TB drives on sale right now for $114.00
Western Digital RED Plus 4TB NAS Desktop Hard Drive, SATA III w/ 128MB Cache

 

[Sal1950]

Ouch! Bit by the lightning and bit hard... What are the size(s) of this sort of backup? Are there legal issues by rerecording and backing up?

To clear things up, I tried to keep that box as quiet as possible, all onboard hard-drives were SSD. It has (4) 2TB, (1) 1TB, & (1) 500GB, all Crucial MX500 SSD's.
Outboard there is a WD Elements 12TB USB3.0 drive, they only run about $220 US from NewEgg. When it's time to do some backups, I plug in the WD Elements and use rsync commands from the terminal to do the backups.
IE
(#rsync -avS -P --stats --delete /media/2.0_TB/Music_MCH1/ /media/Elements/Music_MCH1)

I had been planning to replace that box with a new totally silent build in the near future, looks like fate has pressed my hand with the project.
Think I may temper the "totally silent" plan with a "very quiet" build. Times have changed in the PC builders world with costs and parts
availability changing a lot in the last couple years.
I'm doing my homework now, it's been like 14 years since I was up to speed not only on the parts, but also some dual boot issues with Linux and Windoz and all this secure boot BS.

 

[wseroyer]

@amirm Did you measure the Headphone Jack on this AVR?

 

[Fahzz]

I tested mine, and I can do the same. It is a kluge-y way to turn off the front pair, however. I hope this is improved in a future firmware update.

To recap for future readers, if you want to turn off the front L+R amps, the procedure is:

1. In the Speakers menu, set the Amp Assign Mode to 11.1
2. Set the Floor and Height Layouts so that all amps are assigned to speakers--real or imaginary
3. In the Speaker Config submenu, turn off all the speakers you are not actually using
4. Back in the Amp Assign menu, set the Pre-Outs to Front
5. Using a test speaker, verify the front amps are not running

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Recently acquired a 3700. Is this still the procedure to power the fronts by a separate amplifier or has anything changed? Thanks.

 

[bplatypus]

If I'm using the preouts for the FRONT (L&R), do you know if I have to change some settings?? Or just connecting the RCA will do it?

thanks

 

[Mowz]

If I'm using the preouts for the FRONT (L&R), do you know if I have to change some settings?? Or just connecting the RCA will do it?

thanks

Just connect. The rca are always active.

 

[Fahzz]

If I'm using the preouts for the FRONT (L&R), do you know if I have to change some settings?? Or just connecting the RCA will do it?

thanks

I had found this previously- as far as I know, this process still works. There's a few posts on this.

<https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...-avr-review-updated.14493/page-66#post-557465>

 

[amper42]

If I'm using the preouts for the FRONT (L&R), do you know if I have to change some settings?? Or just connecting the RCA will do it?

thanks

If you are setting up a stereo system with the Denon 3700/4700/6700 models using external amp I would set the Denon Amp Assign setting to pre-out mode. Then connect your amp to the Denon pre-outs. This will idle the internal Denon amp so you can avoid adding any additional distortion from the internal amps. Without this step the internal Denon amps are fully active and can add noise to the output at higher levels. When you setup pre-out mode the receiver will go through a new Audyssey setup. Save this configuration with the Audyssey MultEQ Editor app so you can always reload it later. Also save it as one of your presets on the Denon.

You can simply plug into the RCA pre-out and not optimize the sound with pre-out mode in amp assign, but if you are buying an external amp for stereo why not maximize the configuration to disengage the Denon internal power rails while using the external amp.

 

[Brambo67]

If you are setting up a stereo system with the Denon 3700/4700/6700 models using external amp I would set the Denon Amp Assign setting to pre-out mode. Then connect your amp to the Denon pre-outs. This will idle the internal Denon amp so you can avoid adding any additional distortion from the internal amps. Without this step the internal Denon amps are fully active and can add noise to the output at higher levels. When you setup pre-out mode the receiver will go through a new Audyssey setup. Save this configuration with the Audyssey MultEQ Editor app so you can always reload it later. Also save it as one of your presets on the Denon.

You can simply plug into the RCA pre-out and not optimize the sound with pre-out mode in amp assign, but if you are buying an external amp for stereo why not maximize the configuration to disengage the Denon internal power rails while using the external amp.

I got a question on this as well; I have my 4700 set up in 11.1 mode in a 7.1.4 setup. I use the Marantz MM7025 as an external power amp to drive the fronts. When I use it in stereo I guess all the internal amps are shut off?