Topic: Can't connect to marantz av8801 via hdmi [Solved] (Read 21873 times)

luke472 · « **on:** October 01, 2015, 05:48:29 am »

I have spent two days trying to get the marantz av8801 connected to my PC via HDMI with not much luck. For a period I could see it as an audio device on jriver and windows, but audio from the library was cutting in and out. I can play music from jriver no worries over the net under playing now, but I wanted to connect via HDMI for surround sound for movies. Is the HDMI connection to the computer always this flaky? Is there someone out there using a similar set up with mc21? There has to be something I'm missing because I can't see how it can be that unreliable.

JimH · « **Reply #1 on:** October 01, 2015, 05:53:19 am »

What type of files are you playing?

MC's support for HDMI isn't the problem. It's widely used. A bad cable?

For this type of problem, you could test from Windows Control Panel > Sounds. You can play test sounds to the device to see if it works.

AndrewFG · « **Reply #2 on:** October 01, 2015, 05:53:31 am »

If you connect a renderer via Upnp / Dlna it appears in MCs Playing Now tree by name ( e.g. "Marantz xyz" )

If you connect a renderer via HDMI it appears in MCs Playing Now tree as "Player"

luke472 · « **Reply #3 on:** October 01, 2015, 07:23:26 am »

I'm just trying to play flac files I've ripped from CDs. I've changed cables and I had it working briefly on mc21 and windows. Conducted the test tones on windows no worries and had audio playing through jriver but it was cutting in and out. I rebooted the computer and then I couldn't see the marantz on windows or jriver (I've always been able to see it on the network under playing now). I understand the issue at the moment isn't with jriver because I can't see the marantz in windows. I've updated the drivers for windows and done everything I can find online with regards to windows HDMI issues, but that isn't to say I've missed something. There was a post by someone in march saying they were having similar issues with the marantz av8801, but no one had a solution. Again no issues on the dlna side of things, I'm listening to music right now.

AndrewFG · « **Reply #4 on:** October 01, 2015, 07:41:15 am »

Look if you have the receiver connected via a network input it will appear in MC under Playing Now as "Marantz XYZ", and if you (also) have it connected via an HDMI input it (also) appears in MC Playing Now as "Player". So in that configuration you would have two different ways to push to the same receiver. And if indeed you try to push both ways at the same time, both the receiver (and you) will get confused. You will get the best performance by using the HDMI connection (only). In which case use your receiver's set up menu to disable it from being a Unp / Dlna network renderer. And then it will just appear in MC Playing Now as "Player"..

luke472 · « **Reply #5 on:** October 01, 2015, 08:23:24 am »

The receiver is connected to the computer via a network switch, but I removed it from the network and couldn't see it at all. I'll have another crack tomorrow.

AndrewFG · « **Reply #6 on:** October 01, 2015, 08:28:57 am »

HDMI has absolutely NOTHING to do with networks. Forget about the network. And forget about whether the receiver shows up in MC.

You just plug one end of the HDMI cable into the PC where MC is running, and the other end into the receiver. And then play to "Player".

fitbrit · « **Reply #7 on:** October 01, 2015, 09:09:59 am »

Under the audio device settings in MC, if you get that far, try enabling or disabling WASAPI Event Style.

If you have the receiver connected to a TV/monitor via HDMI, Windows will sometimes see the screen instead of the receiver as the audio device. Any chance you could make a screenshot of the audio playback devices window in Windows, so that we can see which options are available to you?

luke472 · « **Reply #8 on:** October 02, 2015, 01:34:54 am »

Yep aware the HDMI is completely separate from network, but I still couldn't get jriver or windows to see the marantz av8801. After some messing around this morning I managed to get the marantz av8801 to come up on windows and jriver, but with no sound. I tried disabling/enabling wasabi but still no sound on windows or jriver. I'll post a screenshot as requested soon when I get on the other computer.

jjazdk · « **Reply #9 on:** October 02, 2015, 02:13:15 am »

Quote from: luke472 on October 02, 2015, 01:34:54 am

Yep aware the HDMI is completely separate from network, but I still couldn't get jriver or windows to see the marantz av8801. After some messing around this morning I managed to get the marantz av8801 to come up on windows and jriver, but with no sound. I tried disabling/enabling wasabi but still no sound on windows or jriver. I'll post a screenshot as requested soon when I get on the other computer.

I struggled with something similar for a while (Marantz AV8801, Windows 8.1 and AMD A10-7850K). For me it was a matter of the HDMI audio driver, and I searched the internet a LOT for suggestions/solutions.

One thing to be aware of (at least in my setup) was that the AV8801 MUST be switched on before the PC, otherwise Windows would only see the AV8801 as a 2-channel soundcard. If the AV8801 was switched on before the PC, Windows would see all 8-channels (and have support for DTS surround etc.).

My solution to that particular problem (as the PC is on 24/7), was to have an icon on the desktop such that I could easily reset the gfx-card, this forces it to redo the handshake with the AV8801 and thus see all 8-channels.

AndrewFG · « **Reply #10 on:** October 02, 2015, 05:27:13 am »

Quote from: luke472 on October 02, 2015, 01:34:54 am

Yep aware the HDMI is completely separate from network, but I still couldn't get jriver or windows to see the marantz av8801. After some messing around this morning I managed to get the marantz av8801 to come up on windows and jriver, but with no sound. I tried disabling/enabling wasabi but still no sound on windows or jriver. I'll post a screenshot as requested soon when I get on the other computer.

How many times do I have to repeat this? If you want to connect to the Marantz via HDMI it will NOT "come up" in MC or in Windows. It will NOT come up. It should NOT come up. Never. Forget about it EVER coming up. Did you get that yet?

If you connect via HDMI the Marantz is part of the "Player" entity. The "Player" entity comprises MC plus the DAC connected at its back end (in your case the Marantz).

StFeder · « **Reply #11 on:** October 02, 2015, 06:18:30 am »

Quote from: AndrewFG on October 02, 2015, 05:27:13 am

How many times do I have to repeat this? If you want to connect to the Marantz via HDMI it will NOT "come up" in MC or in Windows. It will NOT come up. It should NOT come up. Never. Forget about it EVER coming up. Did you get that yet?

Is there something different with Marantz compared to Onkyo? If I connect my Onkyo TX-SR 306 using HDMI with my PC, windows shows "Onkyo TX-SR 306" as an audio playback device. My Receiver doesn't support network connections, so no network involved here.

I often ran into trouble that my device wasn't showing up nor playing sound and only restarting my PC solved it (sometimes). I figured out that sometimes my HDMI output device got disabled by Windows. I had to re-enable it inside the windows device manager.

I'm not sure how it is handled inside MC for me. Perhaps MC doesn't show the receivers name, but I'm not sure right now. I'll take a look when I'm back home later that day.

jjazdk · « **Reply #12 on:** October 02, 2015, 06:32:43 am »

Quote from: AndrewFG on October 02, 2015, 05:27:13 am

How many times do I have to repeat this? If you want to connect to the Marantz via HDMI it will NOT "come up" in MC or in Windows. It will NOT come up. It should NOT come up. Never. Forget about it EVER coming up. Did you get that yet?

I think you have a different perception of "come up". A receiver (or pre-processor as the Marantz rightly is) is shown in Windows as a sound card, so depending on your terminology it does "come up" in Windows.

But, getting it to show up correctly as a multi-channel sound card can sometimes be difficult.

mattkhan · « **Reply #13 on:** October 02, 2015, 06:57:28 am »

It seems the terminology difference is in jriver seeing the marantz as a zone (which should happen automatically if the marantz is on the network) vs the marantz just being an audio device (in which case it is available to select as the output device & will appear as a windows audio device but will not appear in the zone list). A different signal chain applies in either case as one will go out via HDMI to the marantz and the other will go over the network to the marantz for decoding etc.

One thing to check is that the marantz is configured to use HDMI, if I switch my "HTPC" setting in my marantz prepro to use the analogue inputs for example then the HDMI device is disabled in windows (and hence jriver can't use it).

JimH · « **Reply #14 on:** October 02, 2015, 07:03:49 am »

luke472,
If a piece of equipment seems to behave erratically, the possibilities are:

1. Misconfiguration somewhere -- the device doesn't come up in the right mode, for example.
2. A driver problem
3. A network problem
4. A bug in MC
or
5. Some other software getting in the way. "Security" software is the usual suspect.

Try to work on narrowing down where the problem is. The way you might do that is to test to see if it behaves the same way somewhere else -- Windows Control Panel, for example. Check the connections, simplify if possible. And so on.

I hope you're talking to Marantz.

AndrewFG · « **Reply #15 on:** October 02, 2015, 11:54:08 am »

Quote from: AndrewFG on October 02, 2015, 05:27:13 am

How many times do I have to repeat this? If you want to connect to the Marantz via HDMI it will NOT "come up" in MC or in Windows. It will NOT come up. It should NOT come up. Never. Forget about it EVER coming up. Did you get that yet?

It has been pointed out that I may have misunderstood what you were talking about. I apologise for being so pissy.

fitbrit · « **Reply #16 on:** October 02, 2015, 02:42:20 pm »

Quote from: AndrewFG on October 02, 2015, 11:54:08 am

It has been pointed out that I may have misunderstood what you were talking about. I apologise for being so pissy.

An apology for possibly being wrong? On the internet?

Andrew, you clearly have not read the manual on how the internet works.

luke472 · « **Reply #17 on:** October 02, 2015, 03:51:43 pm »

Thanks everyone for your help. I had everything working for a couple of hours multichannel and all. After that I switched inputs to watch TV for a bit and then switched back to listen to music and the audio was cutting in and out. I thought ther could have been something i was missing but I'm pretty confident the issues I'm having are related to the marantz av8801 itself. I'll sort the rest out with the dealer/marantz.

Sparks67 · « **Reply #18 on:** October 04, 2015, 01:39:31 pm »

I have a Marantz AV8802A and I don't have problems connecting to JRiver via HDMI. I do use AudioQuest HDMI cables, but is is a requirement if you plan to go to 4k.
I have an AudioQuest Cinnamon 5 meter going from my LG UB9800 79" to Marantz AV8802A. My HTPC is hooked into the Marantz
AV8802A with EVGA 980 Ti video card. OS is windows 10, and Atmos sounds great with JRiver. Marantz is rather picky on the cable brands,, and it has occurred with my audio interconnects as well.

The Marantz AV 8801 doesn't have Atmos, but I recommend that you sell it. Atmos made me upgrade my Denon AVR-5308, because of the sound alone. Marantz has released a new AV7702mkII, that has Atmos and DTS-X. Auro 3D is an option.

jjazdk · « **Reply #19 on:** October 05, 2015, 01:21:07 am »

I call cow dung.

Audioquest cables are not better than other good quality cables, and what is important for HDMI cables is that they follow the standard.

My Marantz AV-8801 has not been picky with HDMI cables (though I use 1080p and not 4k), even a cheap 10 meter HDMI has given me no problems at all.

As for Atmos, in my opinion that is only launched on the market to make us buy a new receiver/processor. The AV-8801 is still a very nice piece of equipment, and will be for quite a while.

To each his own, but they way you lecture us on Audioquest and AV8802/Atmos sounds more like a salesman than an engineer.

Quote from: Sparks67 on October 04, 2015, 01:39:31 pm

I have a Marantz AV8802A and I don't have problems connecting to JRiver via HDMI. I do use AudioQuest HDMI cables, but is is a requirement if you plan to go to 4k.

JimH · « **Reply #20 on:** October 05, 2015, 07:08:39 am »

Let's not get into a cable brand food fight. Claims and rebuttals will be removed.

AndrewFG · « **Reply #21 on:** October 05, 2015, 07:18:25 am »

Notwithstanding what Jim says (which I fully support), it is perhaps worthwhile mentioning that cables that comply with HDMI v1.0, v1.1, v1.2 may not be fully compatible with devices that support HDMI v1.3 or higher. For audio purposes HDMI v1.0, v1.1, v1.2 is all you need. But it is possible that v1.3 or higher devices might choke on an older cable anyway. The reason is that in the earlier HDMI versions there were some pins defined as "future" and some cable manufacturers did not connect those pins. Whereas an HDMI v1.3 cable will certainly have all the pins joined up.

Sparks67 · « **Reply #22 on:** October 05, 2015, 10:26:31 pm »

Quote from: jjazdk on October 05, 2015, 01:21:07 am

I call cow dung.

Audioquest cables are not better than other good quality cables, and what is important for HDMI cables is that they follow the standard.

My Marantz AV-8801 has not been picky with HDMI cables (though I use 1080p and not 4k), even a cheap 10 meter HDMI has given me no problems at all.

As for Atmos, in my opinion that is only launched on the market to make us buy a new receiver/processor. The AV-8801 is still a very nice piece of equipment, and will be for quite a while.

To each his own, but they way you lecture us on Audioquest and AV8802/Atmos sounds more like a salesman than an engineer.

I tested Monster, Belkin, binary, and AudioQuest with my Marantz AV-8802A. You will have no problems with 1080P, but expect to upgrade on 4k. I could care less on what brand you buy.

My Yamaha DSP-A1 had to be upgraded in 2007 due to Dolby TrueHD, so I bought the Denon AVR-5308. Denon AVR-5308 is still my best receiver, but it only has HDMI 1.3. Atmos, Auro-3D, 3D Bluray and DTS-X requires HDMI 1.4. UHD Bluray and Vidity download requires HDMI 2.0 and it is also requires HDCP 2.2. The LG UB9800 has the best video processing, and it up converts a bluray to 4k. You can try a cheap video cable, then you will start notice issues in the picture. You really want a new LG OLED TV, but they have some great prices now.

I talked to a few top AV installers that do high end installs, but the problem with 4k is the HDMI cables. The cable that I recommend is rather inexpensive as compared to other brands. The future will be Thunderbolt/DisplayPort 1.3 or SuperMHL. http://www.flatpanelshd.com/news.php?subaction=showfull&id=1421213679

Sparks67 · « **Reply #23 on:** October 06, 2015, 01:10:33 am »

Quote from: AndrewFG on October 05, 2015, 07:18:25 am

Notwithstanding what Jim says (which I fully support), it is perhaps worthwhile mentioning that cables that comply with HDMI v1.0, v1.1, v1.2 may not be fully compatible with devices that support HDMI v1.3 or higher. For audio purposes HDMI v1.0, v1.1, v1.2 is all you need. But it is possible that v1.3 or higher devices might choke on an older cable anyway. The reason is that in the earlier HDMI versions there were some pins defined as "future" and some cable manufacturers did not connect those pins. Whereas an HDMI v1.3 cable will certainly have all the pins joined up.

The new Audio formats requires HDMI 1.4. (Atmos, DTS-X and Auro-3D). Technically, there is 4 formats. Here is the paper on Japan's format for 4k and 8K. http://www.nhk.or.jp/strl/publica/bt/en/fe0045-6.pdf The problem with HDMI is the AV Matrix switches are rather expensive. The movie studios plan to control 4k movies with Vidity and UHD Bluray. There is a next gen solution optical media coming in 2018, but I suspect it will be for 8K. Bluray UHD was never part of the plan This statement "For audio purposes HDMI v1.0, v1.1, v1.2 is all you need." sounds a little like Bill gates in the past.

MrSavageSK · « **Reply #24 on:** October 08, 2015, 01:21:25 am »

Quote from: Sparks67 on October 04, 2015, 01:39:31 pm

I have a Marantz AV8802A and I don't have problems connecting to JRiver via HDMI. I do use AudioQuest HDMI cables, but is is a requirement if you plan to go to 4k.
I have an AudioQuest Cinnamon 5 meter going from my LG UB9800 79" to Marantz AV8802A. My HTPC is hooked into the Marantz
AV8802A with EVGA 980 Ti video card. OS is windows 10, and Atmos sounds great with JRiver. Marantz is rather picky on the cable brands,, and it has occurred with my audio interconnects as well.

The Marantz AV 8801 doesn't have Atmos, but I recommend that you sell it. Atmos made me upgrade my Denon AVR-5308, because of the sound alone. Marantz has released a new AV7702mkII, that has Atmos and DTS-X. Auro 3D is an option.

Have you found a way to bitstream from PC to Receiver using MC yet? I have an Onkyo TX-NR737 and using WASAPI, HDMI 1.4 from my 280x, thru my HDMI 1.4 cable directly to my receiver, I can't get it to work to save my life...sigh. My Sony bluray player works fine to bitstream, however, my PC likes to be difficult it seems.

AndrewFG · « **Reply #25 on:** October 08, 2015, 03:42:34 am »

Quote from: Sparks67 on October 06, 2015, 01:10:33 am

This statement "For audio purposes HDMI v1.0, v1.1, v1.2 is all you need." sounds a little like Bill gates in the past.

A pity that it does not have the same impact on my bank account...

jjazdk · « **Reply #26 on:** October 08, 2015, 05:30:45 am »

Quote from: MrSavageSK on October 08, 2015, 01:21:25 am

Have you found a way to bitstream from PC to Receiver using MC yet? I have an Onkyo TX-NR737 and using WASAPI, HDMI 1.4 from my 280x, thru my HDMI 1.4 cable directly to my receiver, I can't get it to work to save my life...sigh. My Sony bluray player works fine to bitstream, however, my PC likes to be difficult it seems.

I haven't had any problems bitstreaming from neither XBMC nor MC to a Marantz AV-8801. My GFX-card was an onboard A10-7850k.

What issues are you seeing?

MrSavageSK · « **Reply #27 on:** October 08, 2015, 11:48:54 am »

Quote from: jjazdk on October 08, 2015, 05:30:45 am

I haven't had any problems bitstreaming from neither XBMC nor MC to a Marantz AV-8801. My GFX-card was an onboard A10-7850k.

What issues are you seeing?

Everytime I try to bitstream Atmos either file/disc MC errors out. Doesnt matter if I do custom, HDMI, same results either way.

fitbrit · « **Reply #28 on:** October 08, 2015, 11:55:17 am »

Quote from: MrSavageSK on October 08, 2015, 11:48:54 am

Everytime I try to bitstream Atmos either file/disc MC errors out. Doesnt matter if I do custom, HDMI, same results either way.

Are you using Red October? Did you ever manually use LAV filters in the past? Can you bitstream non-Atmos Dolby TrueHD successfully?

budley007 · « **Reply #29 on:** October 09, 2015, 04:15:22 am »

Probably not related at all to your problem, but I had a weird issue when connecting my PC to my AV8801 receiver via HDMI and attempted to play audio with MC.

It took me several hours to troubleshoot, but it seems my receiver will only play audio from my PC via HDMI with the TV "on". It doesn't make sense to me, but that cured my problem.

Goodluck with your issue, my friend.

jjazdk · « **Reply #30 on:** October 09, 2015, 11:26:40 am »

Quote from: budley007 on October 09, 2015, 04:15:22 am

Probably not related at all to your problem, but I had a weird issue when connecting my PC to my AV8801 receiver via HDMI and attempted to play audio with MC.

It took me several hours to troubleshoot, but it seems my receiver will only play audio from my PC via HDMI with the TV "on". It doesn't make sense to me, but that cured my problem.

Goodluck with your issue, my friend.

I have a similar experience with the AV-8801. If the monitor/TV/projector was turned off, windows only saw the AV-8801 as a 2-channel sound card. So for multichannel output the screen had to be switched on.

My take on it is, that it is some sort of HDMI-handshake-issue because of copyright-issues or whatever.

rec head · « **Reply #31 on:** October 09, 2015, 02:18:02 pm »

To the OP. It sounds like HDMI issues. The two solutions I can think of are:

1) new video card
2) HDMI Detective

My setup used to go crazy when something was turned on or off that the lousy HDCP didn't like. I solved that with the HDMI Detective. After I upgraded my video card I no longer had the problems.

downtothebone · « **Reply #32 on:** October 10, 2015, 12:58:33 pm »

My HTPC is connected via HDMI for movies and USB into an MDAC for two channel - not had any issues with my AV8801 ...

Fitzcaraldo215 · « **Reply #33 on:** October 10, 2015, 03:46:54 pm »

Quote from: rec head on October 09, 2015, 02:18:02 pm

To the OP. It sounds like HDMI issues. The two solutions I can think of are:

1) new video card
2) HDMI Detective

My setup used to go crazy when something was turned on or off that the lousy HDCP didn't like. I solved that with the HDMI Detective. After I upgraded my video card I no longer had the problems.

HDMI out with Windows is a tricky beast. A friend has problems on and off with his 8801, including playing Mch audio with the monitor off.

In my own case, I had problems getting any hi def HDMI video out to my old Sony TV at all. The Geffen HDMI Detective solved that in a flash. I suspect that HDMI Detective would fix his problems, too. But, we have not tried it.

mbagge · « **Reply #34 on:** October 11, 2015, 08:19:45 am »

When you connect your receiver to your PC, there will be some HDMI handshaking, where the receiver will tell Windows what capabilities it have. What display characteristics it supports and in this case which 'soundcard' characteristics. Then it is up to the Windows display driver to present this to the rest of the Windows apps.
In my experience some care should be taken installing display drivers for HDMI connected devices. Sometimes you have to install/enable "High Definition Audio". If you right click the speaker icon in the lower right corner of your display and select Output Devices, your receiver should be present in this list.
What tricked me sometimes was that the display driver "forgets" to output video/audio to the devices presented by the HDMI connected receiver. I have to check that I am still outputting to both "Digital display" and "Digital TV".

Just my 5cents to inspire you to find the bug.

Sparks67 · « **Reply #35 on:** October 12, 2015, 03:55:42 pm »

Quote from: MrSavageSK on October 08, 2015, 11:48:54 am

Everytime I try to bitstream Atmos either file/disc MC errors out. Doesnt matter if I do custom, HDMI, same results either way.

I never owned an AMD motherboard, but I noticed that there is several posts on that motherboard with HDMI. The
quick solution is to buy an Nvidia 970 and up or Amd that supports HDMI 2.0 and HDCP 2.2. The Dolby spec requires
the video card to be at least HDMI 1.4 for atmos. This link is from Pioneer, but Document is from Dolby.
https://www.pioneerelectronics.com/StaticFiles/PUSA/Files/Dolby%20Atmos/Dolby-Atmos-Home-Theater-Installation-Guidelines.pdf

"Decoding and rendering of Dolby Atmos content is managed entirely by the AVR. To properly pass the
Dolby Atmos audio to the AVR, source devices must be connected to the AVR via HDMI 1.4 or later and set to audio bitstream out."
Atmos has a chip in the receiver to decode that surround format, and if you have Marantz AV-8801 then it won't decode atmos.
I also looked at the Integra receiver, but all the receivers and pre-pros have an authorized decoder chip from Dolby. To make the
handshake, but you will still need a video card to complete the handshake.

luke472 · « **Reply #36 on:** November 14, 2015, 07:39:09 pm »

I had given up on this for a while, but I have managed to get everything working.

I went through a series of reboots and changing inputs without any luck. The marantz wasn't coming up in windows or jriver as a sound device.

I had the TV connected to the dvi output of the motherboard and the marantz connected via the HDMI output of the same motherboard. I could still get sound coming through the marantz when i set my TV up as the sound device and using the TV input on the marantz. That seemed weird seeing the TV was connected via dvi.

I disconnected the TV from my computer and tried to get the marantz to connect to the computer and still had no luck.

To back track a bit, before I started trying to get the marantz working in my system I had a USB DAC for the sound and my TV was connected to the HDMI output of the motherboard. I have a gigabyte ga-h97n motherboard and it has two HDMI outputs. I connected the marantz to the same HDMI port that the TV had been connected to and working in the past and I haven't had any issues for a couple of days.

I connected my TV via dvi once I had the marantz working and that didn't create any further issues.

Maybe the HDMI output on the motherboard was/is faulty, but I am not messing around with it now it's working.

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Author Topic: Can't connect to marantz av8801 via hdmi [Solved] (Read 21873 times)