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#97325 - 12/19/17 09:31 PM Re: 976 Initial Impressions after 24 hours [Re: bbaggin5]
kiwiaudio Offline
Gunslinger

Registered: 01/16/11
Posts: 85
Loc: United States
in the box where you enter model number or product name, type "model 976" not just "976"
_________________________
Double drywalled, "Green Glue" treated Theater
GIK acoustic treatment
Epson 8700UB Projecting on a 135" Seymour XD Audio transparent screen
Outlaw 976 Processor
Outlaw 755 amp for Center and all four surrounds
Adcom GFA 555II for Main L & R channels
Behringer EP4000 for two homemade subs
Outlaw Ultra X13 for REAL Sub Bass !
OPPO BDP103, Marantz CD63SE, Denon DP300F
2 Adcom ACE515s for AC current treatment
Newport Theater Director for AC distribution.
Speakers are all built by myself utilizing Dynaudio Drivers
Second room: Yamaha receiver, Musical fidelity X10D tubes, Carver C9 holographic pro.

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#97327 - 12/20/17 01:49 AM Re: 976 Initial Impressions after 24 hours [Re: bbaggin5]
AvFan Offline
Desperado

Registered: 09/12/05
Posts: 619
Loc: El Cajon, California
Is anybody else having trouble with the Harmony not using the right power on command for the 976?
_________________________
AvFan
Outlaw 976 | ATI 2005 | M&K 850s Left, Center & Right, Surround-55s, MX-70B Sub | Harmony 950 remote | Panamax 5100 | OPPO UDP-203 | LG OLED55B7

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#97332 - 12/20/17 11:38 AM Re: 976 Initial Impressions after 24 hours [Re: bbaggin5]
kiwiaudio Offline
Gunslinger

Registered: 01/16/11
Posts: 85
Loc: United States
My Impressions after two movies, one music dvd, one cd and bluetooth through my iphone :

Setup was fairly painless, though i have yet to connect 3.5 mono IR cables to the 976 and my Oppo BD-103.
Have not done any EQ yet and i may not. I may play with it one day, but my dedicated theater room is soundproofed and acoustically treated with GIK products and i cannot imagine it sounding better than it does.

I am coming from a 950 processor that has served me well for a long time - almost 12 years now! I ran the speaker RCA signals through an ICBM bass manager to the amps, setting all crossover activity in the 950 and oppo to large, meaning no crossover processing. This worked very well. All speakers are custom made using very high quality Dynaudio drivers from Denmark.

Now, im using the 976 crossover, the ICBM is gone, and with analog 7.1 outputs from the Oppo, im using the crossover in that. Simpler and less cables, but i love that ICBM !

HDMI Video signal to my Epson projector is now switched by the 976, where before i had it direct. There is no degradation that i can detect, but im more about audio, even though Im 57 now and my hearing is not great !

First movie i watched is well known to me - The Bourne Legacy.
Opening scene with Jeremy Renners character coming out of the freezing Alaskan river, when he is standing around the campfire I can hear the subtle sounds of the fire crackling and popping - never heard that before!
Next scene, the reporter is shot. Later Renner fires his rifle three times in the air, with accompanying echoes around the mountainside. The immediate sensory impact of these high powered rifle shots made me jump every time. Ive never heard those shots have such intense in-your-face sound. Every rifle shot after that impressed me. The motorcycle chase scene at the end was screaming around my room !
Very impressive, but this is DTS Master Audio 7.1 in and out, which my 950 couldnt do.

Next i watched/listened to Phil Collins First Farewell tour, recorded Live at Bercy, Paris. A 2004 release with DTS 5.1 being the highest level of audio available.
This concert disc set is also well known to me, and to be honest, i didnt detect much improvement listening to the DTS track over what my 950 could do. BUT, when i selected DIRECT 7.1 using the analog outputs from the OPPO, things really came to life far beyond the 950s ability. Vocal harmonies were the best ive heard anywhere period !
The Duet with Amy Keys "Separate Lives" was spine tingling, made especially so by Keys incredible voice and vocal range.
With the analog sound, you can just FEEL that nothing beyond the inital D/A is being added or subtracted or compressed. Extremely impressive lifelike sound.

I next listened to a CD through an excellent Marantz CD63SE player using the coaxial digital output. But it was too late for anything else to compare favorably to the Phil Collins disc. I should have done this first.
Same with Bluetooth. Sync issues were non problematic, but the sound was very so-so ! No better than i expected.

Ive been looking for a processor to upgrade from the 950 for some time and was looking to spend quite a bit more than the 976, but i wanted to stay with 7.2. Im glad i made this move.
_________________________
Double drywalled, "Green Glue" treated Theater
GIK acoustic treatment
Epson 8700UB Projecting on a 135" Seymour XD Audio transparent screen
Outlaw 976 Processor
Outlaw 755 amp for Center and all four surrounds
Adcom GFA 555II for Main L & R channels
Behringer EP4000 for two homemade subs
Outlaw Ultra X13 for REAL Sub Bass !
OPPO BDP103, Marantz CD63SE, Denon DP300F
2 Adcom ACE515s for AC current treatment
Newport Theater Director for AC distribution.
Speakers are all built by myself utilizing Dynaudio Drivers
Second room: Yamaha receiver, Musical fidelity X10D tubes, Carver C9 holographic pro.

Top
#97337 - 12/20/17 05:17 PM Re: 976 Initial Impressions after 24 hours [Re: bbaggin5]
drueb Offline
Gunslinger

Registered: 01/13/16
Posts: 77
Loc: Texas
5.1 System; I just put my 976 through the Auto Setup process. It registered 2 SB speakers not present and did not continue through the setup program. I then went to the speaker configuration menu and marked the SB speakers as "None." I then re-ran the program and it went through the entire program and gave an error message, "LS out of phase." Pretty cool, I would have never detected that...so I put the speaker in phase and ran the program again. The error was corrected, and different parameters were set for the out of phase speaker. Nicely done, Outlaw Audio! Sound is amazing...very clear, and the picture is outstanding...running THX Cinema on most sources (OTA Tivo; Apple TV; Fire TV; Blu-ray). This was not possible with my Denon 3808 CI. I played a concert Blu-ray, Rolling Stones 1978 Tour of Some Girls...no speaker level adjustment needed, and it sounded full and balanced.


Edited by drueb (12/20/17 05:23 PM)
_________________________
Outlaw Model 976 AV Surround Processor
Outlaw Model 5000 5 Channel Amplifier
JBL Studio 590 Left and Right
JBL Studio 520C Center
2 JBL Sub 550P
Polk 265RT 3 Way Surrounds (in wall)
Sony Bravia 77" Class - A80CJ Series - 4K UHD OLED TV
Panasonic DP-UB820-K 4K Player
Technics SL 1210 GR (2019)
Ray Samuels F-117 Nighthawk - Phono Preamp
Ortofon Bronze 2M; Ortofon Headshell;Emmeline Nighthawk Phono Pre-Amp by Ray Sammuels
Schitt Loki
Wire World RCA Cables
Drop THX AAA 789 Headphone Amp
Blue Jeans Speaker Cable Belden 10-gauge 5T00UP (Front L&R and Center)
Blue Jeans Interconnects LC-1's



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#97343 - 12/21/17 11:02 AM Re: 976 Initial Impressions after 24 hours [Re: kiwiaudio]
Beachbum1 Offline
Gunslinger

Registered: 02/11/17
Posts: 22
Loc: San Diego
Originally Posted By kiwiaudio
My Impressions after two movies, one music dvd, one cd and bluetooth through my iphone :

Setup was fairly painless, though i have yet to connect 3.5 mono IR cables to the 976 and my Oppo BD-103.
Have not done any EQ yet and i may not. I may play with it one day, but my dedicated theater room is soundproofed and acoustically treated with GIK products and i cannot imagine it sounding better than it does.

I am coming from a 950 processor that has served me well for a long time - almost 12 years now! I ran the speaker RCA signals through an ICBM bass manager to the amps, setting all crossover activity in the 950 and oppo to large, meaning no crossover processing. This worked very well. All speakers are custom made using very high quality Dynaudio drivers from Denmark.

Now, im using the 976 crossover, the ICBM is gone, and with analog 7.1 outputs from the Oppo, im using the crossover in that. Simpler and less cables, but i love that ICBM !

HDMI Video signal to my Epson projector is now switched by the 976, where before i had it direct. There is no degradation that i can detect, but im more about audio, even though Im 57 now and my hearing is not great !

First movie i watched is well known to me - The Bourne Legacy.
Opening scene with Jeremy Renners character coming out of the freezing Alaskan river, when he is standing around the campfire I can hear the subtle sounds of the fire crackling and popping - never heard that before!
Next scene, the reporter is shot. Later Renner fires his rifle three times in the air, with accompanying echoes around the mountainside. The immediate sensory impact of these high powered rifle shots made me jump every time. Ive never heard those shots have such intense in-your-face sound. Every rifle shot after that impressed me. The motorcycle chase scene at the end was screaming around my room !
Very impressive, but this is DTS Master Audio 7.1 in and out, which my 950 couldnt do.

Next i watched/listened to Phil Collins First Farewell tour, recorded Live at Bercy, Paris. A 2004 release with DTS 5.1 being the highest level of audio available.
This concert disc set is also well known to me, and to be honest, i didnt detect much improvement listening to the DTS track over what my 950 could do. BUT, when i selected DIRECT 7.1 using the analog outputs from the OPPO, things really came to life far beyond the 950s ability. Vocal harmonies were the best ive heard anywhere period !
The Duet with Amy Keys "Separate Lives" was spine tingling, made especially so by Keys incredible voice and vocal range.
With the analog sound, you can just FEEL that nothing beyond the inital D/A is being added or subtracted or compressed. Extremely impressive lifelike sound.

I next listened to a CD through an excellent Marantz CD63SE player using the coaxial digital output. But it was too late for anything else to compare favorably to the Phil Collins disc. I should have done this first.
Same with Bluetooth. Sync issues were non problematic, but the sound was very so-so ! No better than i expected.

Ive been looking for a processor to upgrade from the 950 for some time and was looking to spend quite a bit more than the 976, but i wanted to stay with 7.2. Im glad i made this move.


Very nice review. I had the opportunity to use the Model 950 for a brief period, so your comparison is invaluable.
A question about the use of your OPPO BDP-103. Have you tried using HDMI 2 output for audio vs. the 7.1 analog outs?
_________________________
Enlightened Audio Designs (EAD) Ovation
Enlightened Audio Designs Powermaster 1000
Pioneer Elite Kuro PRO-111FD
Aerial Acoustics Model 6
Aerial Acoustics Model 5
RSL Speedwoofer
OPPO BDP-103
Panamax MR5100

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#97345 - 12/21/17 11:14 AM Re: 976 Initial Impressions after 24 hours [Re: kiwiaudio]
Deromax Offline
Gunslinger

Registered: 11/05/07
Posts: 88
Loc: Shawinigan, PQ, Canada
Originally Posted By kiwiaudio
I next listened to a CD through an excellent Marantz CD63SE player using the coaxial digital output.

Anything abnormal with your CD player playing thru digital connexion? Have you tested several CDs? Mine is having issues! frown


Edited by Deromax (12/21/17 11:15 AM)
_________________________
Eric Desrochers
http://www.blu-ray.com/community/gallery.php?member=Deromax

" I hear no highs, I feel no lows, it sounds like crap, it must be Bose "

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#97351 - 12/21/17 02:34 PM Re: 976 Initial Impressions after 24 hours [Re: bbaggin5]
Owl's_Warder Offline
Desperado

Registered: 06/29/01
Posts: 894
Loc: Grants Pass, OR
What issues, Deromax?

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#97355 - 12/21/17 08:32 PM Re: 976 Initial Impressions after 24 hours [Re: Deromax]
kiwiaudio Offline
Gunslinger

Registered: 01/16/11
Posts: 85
Loc: United States
Originally Posted By Deromax
Originally Posted By kiwiaudio
I next listened to a CD through an excellent Marantz CD63SE player using the coaxial digital output.

Anything abnormal with your CD player playing thru digital connexion? Have you tested several CDs? Mine is having issues! frown


Nothing abnormal. The Marantz works fine. Ive used it with the Coax digital out for its whole life. What problems are you having ?
_________________________
Double drywalled, "Green Glue" treated Theater
GIK acoustic treatment
Epson 8700UB Projecting on a 135" Seymour XD Audio transparent screen
Outlaw 976 Processor
Outlaw 755 amp for Center and all four surrounds
Adcom GFA 555II for Main L & R channels
Behringer EP4000 for two homemade subs
Outlaw Ultra X13 for REAL Sub Bass !
OPPO BDP103, Marantz CD63SE, Denon DP300F
2 Adcom ACE515s for AC current treatment
Newport Theater Director for AC distribution.
Speakers are all built by myself utilizing Dynaudio Drivers
Second room: Yamaha receiver, Musical fidelity X10D tubes, Carver C9 holographic pro.

Top
#97356 - 12/21/17 08:53 PM Re: 976 Initial Impressions after 24 hours [Re: Beachbum1]
kiwiaudio Offline
Gunslinger

Registered: 01/16/11
Posts: 85
Loc: United States

[/quote]
Very nice review. I had the opportunity to use the Model 950 for a brief period, so your comparison is invaluable.
A question about the use of your OPPO BDP-103. Have you tried using HDMI 2 output for audio vs. the 7.1 analog outs? [/quote]

Beach, You made me get the Oppo manual out to see what you were talking about. I see where it says superior audio and superior video can be obtained by splitting the A/V between the 2 hdmi's.
I have not tried that. How is the 976 going to deal with two hdmi inputs (1 audio and 1 video) though. How would i set that up?
Thanks for pointing that out.
_________________________
Double drywalled, "Green Glue" treated Theater
GIK acoustic treatment
Epson 8700UB Projecting on a 135" Seymour XD Audio transparent screen
Outlaw 976 Processor
Outlaw 755 amp for Center and all four surrounds
Adcom GFA 555II for Main L & R channels
Behringer EP4000 for two homemade subs
Outlaw Ultra X13 for REAL Sub Bass !
OPPO BDP103, Marantz CD63SE, Denon DP300F
2 Adcom ACE515s for AC current treatment
Newport Theater Director for AC distribution.
Speakers are all built by myself utilizing Dynaudio Drivers
Second room: Yamaha receiver, Musical fidelity X10D tubes, Carver C9 holographic pro.

Top
#97358 - 12/21/17 10:47 PM Re: 976 Initial Impressions after 24 hours [Re: bbaggin5]
Deromax Offline
Gunslinger

Registered: 11/05/07
Posts: 88
Loc: Shawinigan, PQ, Canada
On some CDs, maybe 30% of them, the 976 will "lose the signal" in the silence between tracks, and when the next track begins, there is a short delay before the sound un-mute and resume with a fade-in, resulting in a loss of half the first second of the track. The same behavior is hapening when playing files on iTunes in a computer, via Bluetooth. I find this highly annoying. In pop/rock, it's often the first drums hit that is outright obliterated!

Here are a few CD titles that are affected here :

The immaculate collection - Madonna
Past to present - Toto
Violator - Depeche mode
Nevermind - Nirvana
Under the pink - Tori Amos
On every street - Dire straits

In a private discussion with Ben from outlaw's CS, I'm told this is unavoidable in modern HDMI based products, so the discussion about this issue may be moot. If you don't experience the issue, it's because you have the luck to have a player that is outputing a continuous bitstream even while there is idle space between tracks on the disc. I'm told Oppo have models that are doing this. Maybe the Marantz is too.

I may have to use the analog inputs, which would of course bypass the great DACs and DSP in the 976. I listen to music much more often than watching movies, so this is a big deal for me.
_________________________
Eric Desrochers
http://www.blu-ray.com/community/gallery.php?member=Deromax

" I hear no highs, I feel no lows, it sounds like crap, it must be Bose "

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