New Sony ES 8K AV Receiver Line STR-AZ7000ES STR-AZ5000ES STR-AZ3000ES STR-AZ1000ES

[mattsrs]

I hope that's not the case, but I certainly will return the 7000ES if they don't have a fix. Attached is my hum - was your similar to this? I had to 'click' an onscreen menu to get it to start as it only plays with detected AV content, once it stops detecting AV content it stops generating the hum after about 10 seconds (which would be a good indication its not a ground loop hum and is generated by the unit)

Dropbox Link (you can play file in browser without download): https://www.dropbox.com/transfer/AAAAAMzmO4deQoLFjJ6ziP6UUOPkFDOALGmMGGzbz6u1XmD9qaqoW30

Granted I am next to speaker to capture the hum so it seems much louder than it is, but a discerning ear can easily hear it.

This was my hiss on both units (this recording is with 360ssm on) https://voca.ro/1ZPGl7ibEA9B

 

[STR-AZ7000ES User]

This was my hiss on both units (this recording is with 360ssm on) https://voca.ro/1ZPGl7ibEA9B

Wow, very similar! Definitely a Sony AVR issue going on with two different systems with almost the same identical feedback

360SSM definitely “enhances” the feedback but I have done several resets and tests and can confirm it exists no matter what in any mode (you just may need to turn it up a lot to hear it in some modes)

Easiest way to hear it: turn on 360SSM

 

[RocShemp]

This was my hiss on both units (this recording is with 360ssm on) https://voca.ro/1ZPGl7ibEA9B

Dang. Does it really sound like a small vacuum running?

 

[Slee_Stack]

I have the AN1000 and a 5.1.2 configuration. I use my Sony A80j TV in center mode with it. The feature works OK. It basically routes lower midrange to the center channel and upper to the TV. I'm new to Atmos and have set up Front heights on my front wall at ceiling level. Pink Floyd DSotM in Atmos sounds pretty cool. I haven't really explored movies yet though.

360SSM however has been a huge letdown, particularly when seeing others praise it.. I have the opposite problem that many people report. For me, the sub level drops dramatically when 360SSM is on. So much so, that it sounds like a tinny echo chamber. It ruins the sound of everything and is a completely useless mode for me. On a positive spin, I don't notice any hiss or noise because 360SSM is horrid to begin with.

I wonder what settings others have with 360SSM that makes their experience so good. I'd be surprised if I just have a defective unit, as everything else works fine sound-wise. I've tried the different calibration presets and all sound similarly bad with 360SSM on. I've also turned speaker crossovers on and off and can't achieve any semblence of bass with 360SSM. Firmware is the latest that Sony has released. The sub is still playing, but at a level that is at least 12db lower than when SSM is off.

Edit: I re-ran cal several more times and took a closer look at the distance settings. Several Seating and Screen speaker position distances were off...by several feet in some cases. Once I manually corrected them, 360SSM seems to be doing a lot better job. Even bass seems to have stabilized between on/off though I have no idea why. The mode is actually usable now and it does seem to add something to the listening experience.

 

[STR-AZ7000ES User]

Sony approved an advanced replacement today, I am hoping that the replacement alleviates the "small running vacuum" noise. I do still hear the hum with "Pure Direct" enabled although it has to be almost turned to the max to hear it. That seems to indicate that the DSP is not injecting the audio, but somehow the AVR is.

My hum on my 7000ES: https://www.dropbox.com/transfer/AAAAAMzmO4deQoLFjJ6ziP6UUOPkFDOALGmMGGzbz6u1XmD9qaqoW30
Another users hum on a 5000ES: https://voca.ro/1ZPGl7ibEA9B

They are almost identical, the only thing we have in common is we both were on Denon before and did not have a hum, the other user already did an advanced replacement which did not cure their hum so they went back to a Denon, my fingers are crossed that there is simply a bad first run batch and an advanced replacement does cure it for me.

Final notes on setup: It is a newer house build, Subs, AVR, and projector are each on their own dedicated circuit. Did not have any ground loop or similar hum previously with a Denon, using Prestige speakers, audio cabling is not run by any electrical cabling.

 

[4MusicFirst]

Sony approved an advanced replacement today, I am hoping that the replacement alleviates the "small running vacuum" noise. I do still hear the hum with "Pure Direct" enabled although it has to be almost turned to the max to hear it. That seems to indicate that the DSP is not injecting the audio, but somehow the AVR is.

My hum on my 7000ES: https://www.dropbox.com/transfer/AAAAAMzmO4deQoLFjJ6ziP6UUOPkFDOALGmMGGzbz6u1XmD9qaqoW30
Another users hum on a 5000ES: https://voca.ro/1ZPGl7ibEA9B

They are almost identical, the only thing we have in common is we both were on Denon before and did not have a hum, the other user already did an advanced replacement which did not cure their hum so they went back to a Denon, my fingers are crossed that there is simply a bad first run batch and an advanced replacement does cure it for me.

Final notes on setup: It is a newer house build, Subs, AVR, and projector are each on their own dedicated circuit. Did not have any ground loop or similar hum previously with a Denon, using Prestige speakers, audio cabling is not run by any electrical cabling.

Interesting, just listened to both. That does not sound like a grounding issue to me (but still could be). It also does not sound like something a firmware update is going to help.
To eliminate the possibility of it being a ground issue, I would try running a wire from the avr chassis (unscrew one of the case screws make sure there is metal to metal contact and screw the wire back to the chassis) and run the other end of the wire to the ground of an electrical outlet. You can just touch it to the ground of the outlet as you’re listening to the hum. If it is a ground issue within the avr itself, the hum should go away when you touch the wire to the ground of the outlet..

 

[The Guy who cares]

Interesting, just listened to both. That does not sound like a grounding issue to me (but still could be). It also does not sound like something a firmware update is going to help.
To eliminate the possibility of it being a ground issue, I would try running a wire from the avr chassis (unscrew one of the case screws make sure there is metal to metal contact and screw the wire back to the chassis) and run the other end of the wire to the ground of an electrical outlet. You can just touch it to the ground of the outlet as you’re listening to the hum. If it is a ground issue within the avr itself, the hum should go away when you touch the wire to the ground of the outlet..

I actually had the same humming issue back in the 1980s with a second 1970s Receiver. At first no hum sounded excellent, then hum happened. Two blocks away was a repair shop, there the unit had no Hum??? Embarrassing, I took it back home it home connected it up Humming. So I returned it to the store wear I bought it. They hooked it up and yet again No Hum? I was in my early 20s so I couldn't afford anything new so I bought a Sherwood and that unit sounded beautiful and it had no hum.

 

[The Guy who cares]

I can't link this to Audio Science on my tablet but well type in the site to read on.

 

[4MusicFirst]

I actually had the same humming issue back in the 1980s with a second 1970s Receiver. At first no hum sounded excellent, then hum happened. Two blocks away was a repair shop, there the unit had no Hum??? Embarrassing, I took it back home it home connected it up Humming. So I returned it to the store wear I bought it. They hooked it up and yet again No Hum? I was in my early 20s so I couldn't afford anything new so I bought a Sherwood and that unit sounded beautiful and it had no hum.

Sounds like there was an intermittent ground issue with that receiver. I used to fix AV equipment for a television station for many years. Intermittent issues like this within a piece of equipment were more common then you would think.. Cold solder joints, etc..

 

[CyrusTheGreat_600BC]

Sounds like there was an intermittent ground issue with that receiver. I used to fix AV equipment for a television station for many years. Intermittent issues like this within a piece of equipment were more common then you would think.. Cold solder joints, etc..

Since more than one person are reporting the same problem, it should be a heck of loose soldering robot or something! If you saw the op post, his Denon is fine, but Sony is not. Seems like a design flaw.

 

[4MusicFirst]

Since more than one person are reporting the same problem, it should be a heck of loose soldering robot or something! If you saw the op post, his Denon is fine, but Sony is not. Seems like a design flaw.

I was referring to that individuals receiver that he had back in the 80’s for his intermittent hum issue (hum at his home and not at the repair shop)..
This issue seems to be something different, but in my experience it definitely seems like a hardware issue of some type. Whether it’s ground related or not is unknown. If you look up to my previous post to the one you replied to you will see my suggestion to ground the AVR to eliminate the possibility of an internal circuit/grounding potential issue..

 

[MrBoylan]

I have the AN1000 and a 5.1.2 configuration. I use my Sony A80j TV in center mode with it. The feature works OK. It basically routes lower midrange to the center channel and upper to the TV. I'm new to Atmos and have set up Front heights on my front wall at ceiling level. Pink Floyd DSotM in Atmos sounds pretty cool. I haven't really explored movies yet though.

360SSM however has been a huge letdown, particularly when seeing others praise it.. I have the opposite problem that many people report. For me, the sub level drops dramatically when 360SSM is on. So much so, that it sounds like a tinny echo chamber. It ruins the sound of everything and is a completely useless mode for me. On a positive spin, I don't notice any hiss or noise because 360SSM is horrid to begin with.

I wonder what settings others have with 360SSM that makes their experience so good. I'd be surprised if I just have a defective unit, as everything else works fine sound-wise. I've tried the different calibration presets and all sound similarly bad with 360SSM on. I've also turned speaker crossovers on and off and can't achieve any semblence of bass with 360SSM. Firmware is the latest that Sony has released. The sub is still playing, but at a level that is at least 12db lower than when SSM is off.

Edit: I re-ran cal several more times and took a closer look at the distance settings. Several Seating and Screen speaker position distances were off...by several feet in some cases. Once I manually corrected them, 360SSM seems to be doing a lot better job. Even bass seems to have stabilized between on/off though I have no idea why. The mode is actually usable now and it does seem to add something to the listening experience.

I reviewed the STR-AZ1000ES last month. Good performance overall but I did encounter a couple of issues, which I'm curious whether other owners have experienced with any of the new receivers. Like the OP above, engaging 360SSM makes the bass disappear but for me *only* when listening to 360 Reality Audio content. So if any of the owners here have TIDAL HiFi tier or Amazon Music Unlimited, can you try the following?

Load the Tidal or Amazon Music app on your phone, search for 360 Reality Audio content. The Steward Copeland/Ricky Kej album "Divine Tides" is available in the format as is some Pink Floyd and Pink "Trustfall" (just to name a few). Make sure you're playing back the song in 360 RA, then click on the speaker thingy in the mobile player to engage Chromecast built-in to play the song back in 360RA on the Sony Receiver. Once that's done and you can hear the music in all channels in 360 Reality Audio, engage 360SSM using the button on the remote. Does the bass disappear? It does for me. Sony delivered an early firmware update, just before the receiver went public, but this didn't change the behavior.

Second issue - native DSD decoding doesn't seem to work over an HDMI connection. Works fine for DSD files on a connected USB drive, but when I attempt to use my OPPO player as a transport for SACD discs, and set the OPPO to DSD output, the Sony is silent. Sony's response was that the receiver's support for DSD decoding over HDMI supports a maximum stream of 2.8 MHz, but DSD via a USB/DLNA playback is supported up to 11.2 MHz. Seems weird that they would cap the decoder that way when most SACD discs are well over the 2.8 MHz in DSD. Also, I did try some 2.8MHz DSD files on the OPPO and the Sony was not able to decode these either over HDMI. Seems like in the HDMI EDID handshake, the receiver is telling the OPPO player it doesn't support DSD decoding. This isn't really that big a deal. If I set the OPPO to PCM output, it does the DSD decoding and passes a multi-channel PCM output to the receiver, which it decodes beautifully. Just seems weird to me that a Sony ES receiver wouldn't do native DSD decoding over an HDMI connection.

 

[MrBoylan]

Ohh my God Sony Canada hasn't still have the new Sony Es line in stock??? I actually paid in full for the Sony-az7000es and am getting a nervous breakdown on the wait. The new Sony's are coming from Singapore probably an a ship, yeah what ever happened to "Air Flight ?" Anyway when I do get it hopefully sometime this year I will happy. If it doesn't happen by the end of the month I can get Marantz av7706 for $300 less is the Marantz good?

Pretty sure the new Sony receivers are made in Malaysia... like the previous generation. As for Marantz, if you want to hedge your bets and care about immersive music, maybe get one of the 2022/2023 models instead. The higher end receivers and the pre/pro include Sony 360 Reality Audio support while the less expensive models (and earlier models) do not. If you're looking at the AV7706 pre/pro, then maybe consider the new AV10 pre/pro. It has 360 Reality Audio decoding as well as Dirac Live. But it's also $7K list.

If you're looking for something comparable to the AZ7000ES then that would probably be the Marantz Cinema 40 receiver, which also includes 360 Reality Audio and has the Dirac Live upgrade option. The new Marantz receivers have 4 independently adjustable subwoofer outputs, which should make calibration easier with a multi-subwoofer system. I have one of the new Denons in for review (also with 4 independent sub outputs and Dirac) but it hasn't made it out of the box yet.

 

[Nihon]

Second issue - native DSD decoding doesn't seem to work over an HDMI connection. Works fine for DSD files on a connected USB drive, but when I attempt to use my OPPO player as a transport for SACD discs, and set the OPPO to DSD output, the Sony is silent. Sony's response was that the receiver's support for DSD decoding over HDMI supports a maximum stream of 2.8 MHz, but DSD via a USB/DLNA playback is supported up to 11.2 MHz. Seems weird that they would cap the decoder that way when most SACD discs are well over the 2.8 MHz in DSD. Also, I did try some 2.8MHz DSD files on the OPPO and the Sony was not able to decode these either over HDMI. Seems like in the HDMI EDID handshake, the receiver is telling the OPPO player it doesn't support DSD decoding. This isn't really that big a deal. If I set the OPPO to PCM output, it does the DSD decoding and passes a multi-channel PCM output to the receiver, which it decodes beautifully. Just seems weird to me that a Sony ES receiver wouldn't do native DSD decoding over an HDMI connection.

After reading your post, I asked SONY Japan about this issue for STR-AN1000 instead of STR-AZ1000ES because only the former is sold in Japan.

They have confirmed native playback of DSD 5.6MHz of SACD in the following configuration:
UBP-X800---HDMI----STR-AN1000（BD/DVD）----HDMI----TV

I don't understand why they connected TV. (They presumably use TV as a speaker.)

Have you set the unit to process the DSD native playback as follows?

STR-AN1000/TA-AN1000 | Help Guide | Enabling the direct playback of DSD signals (DSD Native)

 

[RWetmore]

Everything about this launch seems off, which is consistent with being out of practice/new factory. Maybe new team!

Yeah, probably a new factory and new team. This has been a very uncharacteristic problematic launch for Sony. Some people over at AVS said they got replacement units without any hum issue, and some people's initial units were hum free. This suggests to me it's a hardware manufacturing issue/defect of some sort and not a software/firmware thing. I'm confident Sony will get this all fixed and sorted out, but obviously make sure you buy from a place with a good return/exchange policy.

 

[MrBoylan]

After reading your post, I asked SONY Japan about this issue for STR-AN1000 instead of STR-AZ1000ES because only the former is sold in Japan.

They have confirmed native playback of DSD 5.6MHz of SACD in the following configuration:
UBP-X800---HDMI----STR-AN1000（BD/DVD）----HDMI----TV

I don't understand why they connected TV. (They presumably use TV as a speaker.)

Have you set the unit to process the DSD native playback as follows?

STR-AN1000/TA-AN1000 | Help Guide | Enabling the direct playback of DSD signals (DSD Native)

Yes, I had to turn off Bluetooth Transmit mode in order to enable native DSD on the receiver. I get silence when I set the OPPO to DSD output. Works fine when OPPO is set to PCM output. I can't swear which HDMI input I used on the receiver as I'm not home at the moment, but I am pretty sure it was the BD/DVD input as well. I'm probably going to take the receiver out of service in a few days to review the next one so before I do, maybe I'll do a factory reset and try one more time to get DSD to work before I send it back. Again, I know the receiver *can* decode DSD as it works when the DSD files are on a connected USB flash drive. Just doesn't work over HDMI.

The inability to use 360 Reality Audio with 360 Spatial Sound Mapping is more troubling to me though. At least there's a workaround for the DSD issue by letting the player decode to PCM.

Regards,

-Chris

 

[STR-AZ7000ES User]

Advanced replacement update: as of now Sony does not have any 7000ES they can exchange out my unit. They did offer to do a buy back (which I did not do as I felt I got a REALLY good deal on mine ($2700)), so the plan is to wait until April 24th where they think they might have stock in hand to exchange to resolve the buzzing issue. My dealer did offer to exchange out now too, but I am concerned his stock has the same first run issues and would wait for the Sony direct exchange which hopefully is a different run without issues.

I have been working with the same Sony tech the whole way through the case and he has said that so far I am his only case reporting my hum, but in these forums I do know of at least 4 others (3 7000ES / 1 5000ES) with similar reported issues (especially with 360SSM enabled)

 

[GXAlan]

Advanced replacement update: as of now Sony does not have any 7000ES they can exchange out my unit. They did offer to do a buy back (which I did not do as I felt I got a REALLY good deal on mine ($2700)), so the plan is to wait until April 24th where they think they might have stock in hand to exchange to resolve the buzzing issue. My dealer did offer to exchange out now too, but I am concerned his stock has the same first run issues and would wait for the Sony direct exchange which hopefully is a different run without issues.

I have been working with the same Sony tech the whole way through the case and he has said that so far I am his only case reporting my hum, but in these forums I do know of at least 4 others (3 7000ES / 1 5000ES) with similar reported issues (especially with 360SSM enabled)

Crossing fingers on your behalf. Hopefully this means you are getting production batch #2 which will be better

 

[RocShemp]

Funny thing is nobody seems to care about Movies anymore and as we speak movie theaters are becoming extinct. All guys want is to spend thousands of dollars on a sound system for Video Games. Even Shopping Malls are becoming extinct because guys order games and audio equipment online. Musicians can't make any money in concerts anymore because all guys want to do is play video games. Too many rich kids with rich parents who buy their kids Condos, the kids don't want to work, they want to play video games. People who want to work are becoming homeless because of the RICH.

Hmm. That reminds me I need to get a PS5...

 

[scuzmcdragonsmoke]

We have had the STR-AN1000 for 2 weeks now as our daily driver. Thumbs up! A big upgrade over STR-DH790 in power - you can hear it. Using Apple tv with LG-CX in 5.1

ELAC and Polk Speakers. Still learning the Cross Over thing with our new sub the DT Pro Sub 800/1000 - any tips? Setting the Center channel to small seems to help. And yes I love spending thousands on sound and video!