Denon AVR-X4700 AVR Review (Updated)

[peng]

The serial method isnt correct, i got a brand new unit that fits the old serial key and it is far more likely that it is a TI DAC.



3600 is like the safest bet its properly done, 7 series are a gamble, series 8 are proven downgrade... so, yeah. I was in a market for 4700x but theres no way of knowing will you get an AKM unit (they dont print production dates anywhere that i found) so i kinda quit on the idea and then i got offered a new unit at 1300e and i YOLO'd it. I suspect it is not an AKM unit but im not gonna mess with opening it just yet.


Compared to old 646 Onkyo, tbh, there isnt much of an improvement. I'd even dare to say, uncorrected input (multichannel, not pure) Onkyo sounds 2 classes above Denon. Once XT32 gets its hands on Denon, situation improves in favor of it but again, not that much since it kinda really sounds bad uncorrected. Onkyo auto correct on the other hand isnt worth a dime so you gotta be proficient with REW. When all is matched, only thing i see thats clearly better on the 4700x is "all channel stereo". Denon seems to have better power handling for DBR62's i believe, it is cleaner sounding for sure. Oh, yeah, speakers are 5xDBR62.

In all other regards, i'd fail a blind test in like 85% of situations (when all is matched).

Did you get the serial number method directly from Denon? If it is from a poster, unless he included the link to the source, then it may not be reliable.
The other way is to go by the manufacturing year. According to D+M/Sound United, the DAC chip was substituted in the spring of 2021.

Denon Replaces AKM AK4458 DAC IC in X4700H and X6700H

Per the Denon website (Google translation from Japanese) in Japan in the product information for at least the X4700H and X6700H AVR's: "The D / A converter IC has been changed since the spring of 2021." The previous DAC IC in the two products is the 8-channel AK4458. This is a rather...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[Sebbie]

Of course, the 3600, 3700, 4700, even the 4400, have the same volume control IC (nju72343), opamps, and DAC IC (AK4458). The 3600, 3700, 4700 have very comparable bench test results. Are you saying the 4700 that has the AKM IC would perform better than the 3600 and 3700 used as preamp/dac with the P2200? What would be the reason?

No i did not say this. i was just incorrectly thinking that the fact it could disable its L+R amps would make it better at pre out.

 

[peng]

No i did not say this. i was just incorrectly thinking that the fact it could disable its L+R amps would make it better at pre out.

It does, but it depends on the output you need to drive the amp. At below 1.4 V, it makes no difference.
"clipping" is the term Amir used, but that's his own definition. Most would not consider it clipping until distortions reach at least 0.1%, that is -60 dB.

 

[connta]

Did you get the serial number method directly from Denon? If it is from a poster, unless he included the link to the source, then it may not be reliable.
The other way is to go by the manufacturing year. According to D+M/Sound United, the DAC chip was substituted in the spring of 2021.

Denon Replaces AKM AK4458 DAC IC in X4700H and X6700H

Per the Denon website (Google translation from Japanese) in Japan in the product information for at least the X4700H and X6700H AVR's: "The D / A converter IC has been changed since the spring of 2021." The previous DAC IC in the two products is the 8-channel AK4458. This is a rather...

www.audiosciencereview.com

I have the unit setup, i bought it, im reading the SN myself it is DBCT06228345 and that is BELOW 70001 so should be old stock but i bought it new like 10 days ago, doesnt look refurb either. There is absolutely no date reference anywhere on the box or the unit itself, neither manufacture nor import. It looks brand new down to last detail. I suspect it is TI but for all i know it might be a weird case of "lost inventory" from 2 years ago, it happened before.

 

[peng]

I have the unit setup, i bought it, im reading the SN myself it is DBCT06228345 and that is BELOW 70001 so should be old stock but i bought it new like 10 days ago, doesnt look refurb either. There is absolutely no date reference anywhere on the box or the unit itself, neither manufacture nor import. It looks brand new down to last detail. I suspect it is TI but for all i know it might be a weird case of "lost inventory" from 2 years ago, it happened before.

It looks like you are missing one number and if so, then the "8" would be the fifth digit from the right, and the manufacturing date might be June 2022; and that would mean it has the TI chip.

Reference post:

Denon Replaces AKM AK4458 DAC IC in X4700H and X6700H

Interestingly here where I live the Denon 8500HA is significantly more expensive (by 1k) than the 8500H plus its 8k board. I wonder, are the DACs in the 8500H (not HA) guaranteed to be the AKMs? If then, it's an even better deal getting the older model. If you look at the photos on the...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[connta]

Son of a gun, ye, there are two "3" instead of one, so 83345 and that confirms it as a TI version (as suspected). Might be down to DAC but old Onkyo with AKM DAC just sounds better out of the box untouched.

Some of other "not so great" things in this upgrade are built in EQ and Denon HDMI settings, both are horrendous. 1/1 octave EQ filter on a 1500$ 2020. device (1300 paid but still)?! Onkyo (600$, 8 yrs ago) has 1/3 octave that is right on the money, like i set it up 1 dB cut and measurement in REW is cut exactly 1 dB centered on the 1/3 octave. Denon built in EQ is less precise to begin with and it doesnt reproduce 1:1 what you set and what you measure like Onkyo did. I guess you have to go Audissey app route to get a decent EQ. Also, Denon ALWAYS hijacks primary monitor setting whenever it is turned on even tho i dont use video outputs at all (comp->separate hdmi to tv and AVR, no passthru) but whenever i turn on AVR it hijacks the primary monitor setting, its crazy. Onkyo certainly didnt do this, same TV, GPU, cables, etc. Also, auto stand by is finicky, one time it triggers, sometime it doesnt, cant figure out whats that about.

All in all, price was decent (1300) but i'm hardly "blown away" by anything on this thing, overall it is better but not worth double the price... if i paid upwards of 1500, i'd be pissed.

 

[mmshah]

Recently picked up a x4700h, but am having trouble with getting 4k 120hz from my Xbox to work. My unit has the 8k enhanced setting so I'm pretty sure it's got the updated hdmi chip with no need for adapter, xbox settings say 4k 120 hz is supported but trying to change from 60 hz to 120hz results in a black screen. All cables support 4k 120 hz when plugged in directly from Xbox to tv. Do I need to check the serial number to see if I have a unit with an old hdmi chip?

Nvm, just checked the serial 10/20 date of manufacture so have the buggy hdmi chip, but good dacs I guess?

Thanks

 

[connta]

Pretty much, TBH just use eARC, send sound to TV then let TV pass it thru to AVR, since only sound goes to AVR you shouldnt have any problems. Since XBox is all digitaly encoded formats you should be getting full surround.

 

[mmshah]

Pretty much, TBH just use eARC, send sound to TV then let TV pass it thru to AVR, since only sound goes to AVR you shouldnt have any problems. Since XBox is all digitaly encoded formats you should be getting full surround.

Yup, that's how I've set it up now. I can't find the link on denon's site for the 8k hdmi adapter (SPK618) anymore. There faq for it just links to page that doesn't exist, are they not available anymore? Messaged denon will see what they say.

 

[ban25]

Yup, that's how I've set it up now. I can't find the link on denon's site for the 8k hdmi adapter (SPK618) anymore. There faq for it just links to page that doesn't exist, are they not available anymore? Messaged denon will see what they say.

You might be able to buy one of these, but no guarantee that it works...

AVS-3 - 3 In/1 Out HDMI Switcher - Switcher for up to three 8K devices connected to select 8K AV Receivers. | Denon - US

Upgrade your home theater setup with Denon AVS-3 HDMI Switcher. Connect three 8K devices, compact size, remote control, automatic power-on, AVR integration.

www.denon.com

 

[connta]

Personal advice, sure, try to get the adapter if they still give out some, might need it in the future but for XBox i'd say leave it as it is, youll have way less problems with only audio transmitting over a repeater. HDMI 2.1 is still finicky, certainly more so on 2020. devices, cables are sheite QC too, i got some cables that just refuse to do 2.1 speeds on Samsung TV's, work fine on LG, etc.

 

[mmshah]

Update: Denon is still sending the HDMI adapters out, but you need to contact support to get them if you have an affected unit.

 

[Macfox]

Can anyone confirm whether the adapter with the latest firmware updates finally fixed 4K + VRR? I've seen many reports of people still having issues when connecting for example an Xbox and outputting combinations of 4K, VRR and/or HDR after the adapter was released. I'm wondering whether this is finally fixed with later updates, or if the problem is so severe it can't be fixed. I don't have a 4K TV yet, but am planning on buying one next year. Would really like to know whether I can expect functional 4K + VRR and preferably HDR. 4K/120 would be icing on the cake for the few games that actually support it.

 

[ban25]

Can anyone confirm whether the adapter with the latest firmware updates finally fixed 4K + VRR? I've seen many reports of people still having issues when connecting for example an Xbox and outputting combinations of 4K, VRR and/or HDR after the adapter was released. I'm wondering whether this is finally fixed with later updates, or if the problem is so severe it can't be fixed. I don't have a 4K TV yet, but am planning on buying one next year. Would really like to know whether I can expect functional 4K + VRR and preferably HDR. 4K/120 would be icing on the cake for the few games that actually support it.

The V2 X3700H has no problem with 4K120 and VRR on it's single HDMI 2.1 input. From what I have read, the original AKM X3700H never functioned properly with the XBX in 4K120/VRR/Dolby Vision.

 

[Macfox]

The V2 X3700H has no problem with 4K120 and VRR on it's single HDMI 2.1 input. From what I have read, the original AKM X3700H never functioned properly with the XBX in 4K120/VRR/Dolby Vision.

I have the AKM X4700H. So you're saying that, even with the latest updates and using the adapter, it still won't work reliably? That's a bummer...
Can anyone actually using an AKM x700H confirm? I'm primarily interested in 4K/60 + VRR + HDR.

 

[mmshah]

I have an akm x4700h and Xbox x, will check and update once my adapter arrives.

 

[Macfox]

I have an akm x4700h and Xbox x, will check and update once my adapter arrives.

Great, thanks in advance! Fingers crossed it works...

 

[mmshah]

Setup the SPK618 HDMI adapter today, Xbox Series X to adapter to Denon x4700h to LG OLED working fine at 4k @ 120 hz with VRR enabled. Just have the VRR setting enabled haven't actually played a game that uses VRR yet thou.

 

[marktrumpet]

It seems pretty established in this thread that in Pure Direct with an analog input, no digitizing is done

I'm curious what it's doing when adding in a sub, but still in Pure Direct. If you set up 2 channel settings with large speakers, LFE+Main, the sub is active even in Pure Direct mode. I'm guessing that it is sending the main speakers an untouched "pure" full-range signal, and then sending a the same signal to the sub, but low-passed (via some ADC -> DAC mechanism) at the crossover frequency set in the 2 channel settings.

Anyone know?

 

[KMO]

It's possible it's going ADC->DAC for the sub.

Could also have an analogue LPF used pretty much just for this scenario. Some Denons certainly have had that - don't know if they still do it. Fixed-frequency only, mind. You could check to see if the crossover frequency setting has any effect. If it doesn't, it's an analogue path.