Integra DRX 8.4

[Guilherme66]

I am another happy owner of the AV Receiver Integra DRX 8.4

I sold my AV Pioneer Elite SC-67 after 12 years of great joy and ended up buying the AV Integra DRX- 8.4.

I have had it for 20 days and I am really enjoying the sound quality. A positive point is the sensational and robust construction.
It has an easy-to-read MENU and a very good APP.
So far I really like it and am doing some calibrations to get the best out of the AV.

I live in Brazil and this is my first post. Sorry for the mistakes.

 

[Sonnie Parker]

Congratulations... I am sure you will enjoy it. Welcome to AVNirvana!

I have owned a LOT of Onkyo AVRs over the years... still have one from way back when that is connected at our cabin.

 

[Guilherme66]

Congratulations... I am sure you will enjoy it. Welcome to AVNirvana!

I have owned a LOT of Onkyo AVRs over the years... still have one from way back when that is connected at our cabin.

Thank you my friend!!

Here are some photos of my system set up. Soon I'll be installing a wooden panel with rock wool behind the TV.
The Integra DRX-8.4 pushes the Dynaudio Contour 20 front speakers, Dynaudio Evoke 25C center, KEF CI160QS surround and Atmos speakers.
JlAudio D110 subwoofer.
Oppo 203 Power Supply Aurender A10 and Apple TV 4K
Samsung 75 P TV / JVC DILA RS-46 Projector

 

[Mr.Satyre]

Very nice set up! Much cleaner than mine.

I see you removed the silver features sticker from the front of the 8.4s faceplate, and that made me laugh because mine is still on, even though I would love to take it off. I've left it on out of an admittedly warped sense of ownership: because I developed it, and I will probably never get a shot at working with that brand again, I want to keep it frozen in time, as close to still being "new in the box" as possible, if that makes any sense.

 

[Guilherme66]

Very nice set up! Much cleaner than mine.

I see you removed the silver features sticker from the front of the 8.4s faceplate, and that made me laugh because mine is still on, even though I would love to take it off. I've left it on out of an admittedly warped sense of ownership: because I developed it, and I will probably never get a shot at working with that brand again, I want to keep it frozen in time, as close to still being "new in the box" as possible, if that makes any sense.

Thanks again. Mine didn't come with the silver sticker. It doesn't seem to be standard.

 

[Mr.Satyre]

That's interesting.

 

[Sonnie Parker]

Thank you my friend!!

Here are some photos of my system set up. Soon I'll be installing a wooden panel with rock wool behind the TV.
The Integra DRX-8.4 pushes the Dynaudio Contour 20 front speakers, Dynaudio Evoke 25C center, KEF CI160QS surround and Atmos speakers.
JlAudio D110 subwoofer.
Oppo 203 Power Supply Aurender A10 and Apple TV 4K
Samsung 75 P TV / JVC DILA RS-46 Projector

Very nice... and clean!

 

[Mr.Satyre]

Without exaggerating, during my 25+ years with Pioneer and Onkyo, I probably spent six or seven years away from home; while I managed to collect (and subsequently sell and give away) a tremendous amount of electronics and cables, I just wasn't home enough to spend the time crafting a worthy home theater space. Later, when I was developing product at PAC, I wasn't traveling, but I was constantly swapping one component for another for quick hardware and software field tests, and again, didn't have the time or energy to build a nice home theater space. Function, not form, was always the rule of the day.

Once I was laid off, and moved from my old digs to a new one, I finally had the space (a loft with vaulted ceiling), and the time to at least set up some of my gear and get it dialed in. Is it perfect? No, but what is in our audio world? But at least I can get through a CD or movie without cringing.

 

[Guilherme66]

View attachment 78455
Without exaggerating, during my 25+ years with Pioneer and Onkyo, I probably spent six or seven years away from home; while I managed to collect (and subsequently sell and give away) a tremendous amount of electronics and cables, I just wasn't home enough to spend the time crafting a worthy home theater space. Later, when I was developing product at PAC, I wasn't traveling, but I was constantly swapping one component for another for quick hardware and software field tests, and again, didn't have the time or energy to build a nice home theater space. Function, not form, was always the rule of the day.

Once I was laid off, and moved from my old digs to a new one, I finally had the space (a loft with vaulted ceiling), and the time to at least set up some of my gear and get it dialed in. Is it perfect? No, but what is in our audio world? But at least I can get through a CD or movie without cringing.

Congratulations on your space and system. Everything is in very good taste.
Do you use an external amplifier?

 

[Sonnie Parker]

View attachment 78455
Without exaggerating, during my 25+ years with Pioneer and Onkyo, I probably spent six or seven years away from home; while I managed to collect (and subsequently sell and give away) a tremendous amount of electronics and cables, I just wasn't home enough to spend the time crafting a worthy home theater space. Later, when I was developing product at PAC, I wasn't traveling, but I was constantly swapping one component for another for quick hardware and software field tests, and again, didn't have the time or energy to build a nice home theater space. Function, not form, was always the rule of the day.

Once I was laid off, and moved from my old digs to a new one, I finally had the space (a loft with vaulted ceiling), and the time to at least set up some of my gear and get it dialed in. Is it perfect? No, but what is in our audio world? But at least I can get through a CD or movie without cringing.

Yep... looking really nice there too!

Is that a blue flying saucer over on the table to the right?

 

[Mr.Satyre]

Yep... looking really nice there too!

Is that a blue flying saucer over on the table to the right?

The blue flying saucer is a Jellyfish2 by Yantouch, and can change colors randomly, or be set to any of 16M colors. Sadly, they have been unavailable for many years; hopefully this one will never break!

 

[Guilherme66]

Has anyone had the opportunity to listen to the Denon A10H? An opportunity to exchange it for the 8.4 Integra has appeared. I'm having trouble with the dialogue in the 8.4 central speaker. I've done several calibrations and there's a harshness that bothers me a lot.

 

[Mr.Satyre]

Has anyone had the opportunity to listen to the Denon A10H? An opportunity to exchange it for the 8.4 Integra has appeared. I'm having trouble with the dialogue in the 8.4 central speaker. I've done several calibrations and there's a harshness that bothers me a lot.

What happens if you try a different speaker in place of your current center, or place it outside of the cabinet it's in?

 

[Guilherme66]

What happens if you try a different speaker in place of your current center, or place it outside of the cabinet it's in?

I don't have another one to test. I've already put it on top of the rack and I didn't notice any improvement.

I'm upset because I like Integra. It has a lot of power, speed, doesn't heat up, super well built, but in the dialogue it has a roughness that bothers me. I've even changed the power cables and boxes.

When I used the Elite SC 67 this didn't happen.

 

[Mr.Satyre]

I'm sorry you're not happy with the center dialogue reproduction. We did spend considerable time tuning it prior to production, and at least in my opinion, my 8.4 sounds every bit as good as the NAD M17 V2i I was using before: lots of timbre that was sorely lacking in prior generations.

Which sounded better to you? Before calibration or after calibration? Calibration isn't always a panacea.

Any chance you can insert a 3rd party mono or bridgeable amp in between and see if that changes anything?

 

[Guilherme66]

I'm sorry you're not happy with the center dialogue reproduction. We did spend considerable time tuning it prior to production, and at least in my opinion, my 8.4 sounds every bit as good as the NAD M17 V2i I was using before: lots of timbre that was sorely lacking in prior generations.

Which sounded better to you? Before calibration or after calibration? Calibration isn't always a panacea.

Any chance you can insert a 3rd party mono or bridgeable amp in between and see if that changes anything?

Thank you very much for your attention. You are a very cool guy.
Yesterday I stayed up until dawn calibrating.
Both AccuEq and DL.
The AccuEq in my system has more dynamics, body and more brightness, but the DL has a better bass response.
For music the system is very good, but in movies the dialogue is driving me crazy. LOL
I have made several adjustments and I have not been able to get it the way I like it.
Anyway, I will try one more time tonight before deciding whether to change it.

 

[Sonnie Parker]

Are you measuring the response from each EQ system with REW to see where the differences are?

I would measure the left speaker after the AccuEq calibration and after the DL calibration. If you are using the same target curve for both calibrations, they shouldn't be all that different, other than AccuEq may not have the same filter resolution as DL in the bass region.

 

[Guilherme66]

Are you measuring the response from each EQ system with REW to see where the differences are?

I would measure the left speaker after the AccuEq calibration and after the DL calibration. If you are using the same target curve for both calibrations, they shouldn't be all that different, other than AccuEq may not have the same filter resolution as DL in the bass region.

I've never used REW. I don't have the UMIK 1 microphone. I'm just calibrating with the original 8.4 microphone. I have no skills with graphics. I'm doing the basic calibrations. Just some changes in the bass frequencies. Then I'll transfer them to the three Slots.

 

[Sonnie Parker]

REW is fairly easy for this... no graphic knowledge is required. It's very easy to set up nowadays, and it gives you the graphics.

The UMIK-1 connected to the USB port on a laptop, and an HDMI cable from the laptop to your Integra would be required.

Is is seriously worth it if you can do it. If you have the right laptop, your only expense would be the UMIK-1.

 

[Mr.Satyre]

I would add that that the Umik is also much, much better than the generic included mic when running Dirac.

 

[Sonnie Parker]

I would add that that the Umik is also much, much better than the generic included mic when running Dirac.

Does the Integra allow use of the UMIK-1 vs. the supplied mic?

 

[Guilherme66]

REW is fairly easy for this... no graphic knowledge is required. It's very easy to set up nowadays, and it gives you the graphics.

The UMIK-1 connected to the USB port on a laptop, and an HDMI cable from the laptop to your Integra would be required.

Is is seriously worth it if you can do it. If you have the right laptop, your only expense would be the UMIK-1.

I'm going to buy the UMIK 1 today. Here in Brazil, everything is very expensive and time-consuming with imported products. I really wouldn't like to spend more money on another receiver. The difference in $ compared to the Denon A10H is not small.
I have a good ACER Notebook for my work and I can use it on the REW. It's a shame we live too far away for you to help me with the calibration. LOL

Big hug!

 

[Mr.Satyre]

So...anyone using the Advanced Web Setup in Integra (and Onkyo) (and Pioneer)?

Go into any web browser and punch in the AVR's IP address, then (lower case)

ciuser
ciuser

If it's in Standby, you hit Enter next, and after a pause, you get a prompt to turn the receiver on, or, if it's already on, after it loads the current configuration to your browser, it should look like this (capture made on my phone). All sorts of options and then some; useful Backup and Upload options, too, so you can screw around to your to your heart's content and always be able to quickly restore the prior configurations that worked.

 

[Guilherme66]

Does the Integra allow use of the UMIK-1 vs. the supplied mic?

DL recommends the UMIK-1 for use in any licensed receiver.

 

[Guilherme66]

So...anyone using the Advanced Web Setup in Integra (and Onkyo) (and Pioneer)?

Go into any web browser and punch in the AVR's IP address, then (lower case)

ciuser
ciuser

If it's in Standby, you hit Enter next, and after a pause, you get a prompt to turn the receiver on, or, if it's already on, after it loads the current configuration to your browser, it should look like this (capture made on my phone). All sorts of options and then some; useful Backup and Upload options, too, so you can screw around to your to your heart's content and always be able to quickly restore the prior configurations that worked.

This feature is awesome. I use this web browsing directly. It makes viewing 8.4 settings much easier.

look how the crossovers look after calibration with AccuEq