Surround receiver with preamp outputs for monitors?

[lucienpalmer]

How many channels of surround sound do you need? I might be selling my Marantz AV8003 soon.

[V5V]

Originally Posted by lucienpalmer

How many channels of surround sound do you need? I might be selling my Marantz AV8003 soon.

5.1

[V5V]

I picked up a used Denon DN-A7100 on Craigslist. When I get time to try using it as an audio monitor interface for Pro Tools | HD I'll report back about how it works out.

[lucienpalmer]

Originally Posted by V5V

5.1

The Marantz works great for that. It's capable of 7.1, but I'm connecting to a 5.1 system 5.1. I currently have an Apple TV, Mac Miini and DVD player running into the Marantz. It has balanced line outputs that connect to my Xmon so Pro tools and the Marantz can use the same 5.1 powered speakers at the same time.

I'm moving into my new studio next month and I'll have to upgrade to the Atmos Marantz. I'll be selling my 5.1/7.1 model.

PM me if you are interested.

[V5V]

Early results are not excellent. I'm having trouble with the unit I bought.

Anyone here know anything about the Denon DN-A7100 receiver? HDMI and analog inputs, no power amp(s), balanced XLR and unbalanced RCA outputs.

I have a 2016 MacBook Pro Touchbar. Connected to one of the USB-C ports is an adapter that provides HDMI output, USB-A (for the iLok), gigabit ethernet and power pass-through.

When I connect the HDMI port on this adapter to HDMI input on the "conventional" home theatre receiver in my living room, everything works as expected. I can output a surround mix from Pro Tools using the Playback Engine for that port (it shows up as "Displayport" in Pro Tools) and everything comes out of the correct speaker.

When I take exactly the same setup and plug into the Denon DN-A7100 instead, I get output from the Left and Right channels but nothing else. (I've only tried the XLR outs so far, not the RCA, because I didn't think of that until just now as I write this!)

The Denon does show up in the Mac Audio/MIDI setup utility. I've set it up the same way I did with the receiver in the living room: the "8-channel 48K 24 bit" option with the channel numbers going to the speakers corresponding to SMPTE 5.1 output (1=L / 2=R / 3=C / 4=LFE / 5=Ls / 6=Rs). The volume faders for the eight channels are greyed out, but I assume that's because the Mac doesn't control the level through HDMI/Displayport.

I tried playing an iTunes movie with VLC just to see what would happen and got the same result. With a 5.1 audio track selected there was no dialog because I was only getting the L & R, no centre (and no surrounds or sub)!

Because the receiver is about ten years old it only supports HDMI 1.1, but I can't imagine that being an issue since audio-only playback doesn't require any of the capabilities of later versions.

Operating system is 10.12.4. Pro Tools is 12.7.1. I don't think either of those is relevant though, since this source works with my cheap living room system. The problem would then seem to be with the Denon.

Any suggestions are gratefully appreciated!

[papalou]

More than 2 audio channels is not mandatory in HDMI in/outs, you should check the tech specs, it probably support only stereo audio HDMI input.

[lucienpalmer]

I suspect the problem is with the internal settings of the Denon. See if the manual has a way to pass incoming audio that isn't encoded. It might let you specify channel configuration. Sounds like something is set to only pass L/R on the output.

[V5V]

Originally Posted by lucienpalmer

I suspect the problem is with the internal settings of the Denon. See if the manual has a way to pass incoming audio that isn't encoded. It might let you specify channel configuration. Sounds like something is set to only pass L/R on the output.

The Denon does have settings for choosing the decoding method. I've gone through all of them, including the "direct" mode that is supposed to simply pass the input as presented with no decoding. The result is identical regardless of the mode selected.

It also provides for specifying which speakers are connected. I've activated those associated with 5.1 while disabling the two 7.1 "back" speakers.

[nucelar]

I would try to factory reset the unit (manual, page 48) to rule out a setting issue.

[V5V]

Originally Posted by nucelar

I would try to factory reset the unit (manual, page 48) to rule out a setting issue.

That was the very first thing i did when I got it home. My motivation for doing so was making sure to clear any "splits" set up by previous owner, with HDMI carrying the video but audio coming from somewhere else.

I've done it twice since, just in case I accidentally hit a button that made bad things happen. It doesn't solve this particular issue.

Good idea, though!