Great new Yamaha receiver few flaws, November 29, 2008
I purchased this unit a week after it went on sale. I had been investigating the device for some time prior to the actual release. I used this to replace a Yamahe DSP-A1 purchased about 10 years ago. I wanted to simplify my cabling by switching to an HDMI capable receiver. The availability of 4 HDMI inputs was a big selling point for me.
...read full review
I purchased this unit a week after it went on sale. I had been investigating the device for some time prior to the actual release. I used this to replace a Yamahe DSP-A1 purchased about 10 years ago. I wanted to simplify my cabling by switching to an HDMI capable receiver. The availability of 4 HDMI inputs was a big selling point for me.
After initial setup I put the unit through it's paces with SACD recordings of Elton John's Madman Across the Water and the Alman Brothers Eat a Peach. The SACD 5.1 sound from my PS/3 over the HMDI was exceptional, wonderful depth to the soundfield. The video upscaling in this unit is far superior to that included in my 50" LG Flat Panel and has made watching non-HD signals much more palatable. Using blu-ray DTS HD and DD Pure HD both sound amazing. I also purchased a Rhapsody subscription account to use with the unit and love the virtual library of hundreds of thousands of CDs at my fingertips through the remote. I have found several albums on Rhapsody that result in a "unable to play" error, I am not sure if they are encoded in a format other than MP3 or if this error also occurs when using Rhapsody on a PC, these were usually extremely obscure recordings.
The onscreen Ipod controls are great and the album cover display is a great addition, now if they could only get the album, flip view from the iPhone or iPod touch working for scanning through and selecting albums/songs that would be truly fabulous.
The lack of inclusion of wireless networking is a big mistake in my view, how many people would have their ISP drop right next to their stereo system? I overcame this easily with the purchase of a "Wireless Gaming Adapter" which attaches to the Ethernet port on the receiver and connects it to my wireless network, this solution has worked well and runs about 50-100 dollars.
My biggest concern with the unit has been the adaptive sound leveling. This is a great feature to make sure you don't get blasted out of the room when commercials come on at twice the volume of your show. Usually this feature mutes the sound and makes the adjustment very quickly but every now and then it has difficulty setting the volume accordingly and drops the audio for as much as 10-20 seconds, very annoying when using DVR functions to skip commercials then having to go back 2-3 times to get the audio enabled again at the end of the commercials. Once the unit could not seem to set the audio at all and it required selecting a different source before sound was enabled again.
Overall I am quite happy with the unit and hope that a software/firmware upgrade may alleviate the audio level drop issues at some point in the future, while sometimes annoying this issue comes nowhere close to outweighing the great benefits of this receiver.
Pros:
Exceptional sound quality
Great video upscaling
Extensive features listing
Amazing array of device connections
Cons:
Not in everyones pricing range
Initial configuration not for the inexperienced
No built-in wireless networking (could have been a design decision to reduce potential degration of the audio signal)
Infrequent extended audio drop outs when relevelling the audio between programing and commercials or when changing stations
Some CDs visible through Rhapdosy cannot be played minimize
Great Sound, Great Receiver, January 18, 2009
I purchased the V3900 to upgrade my older avr in order to get hdmi switching and improved audio format support (Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD). I've had the receiver for about a month now and I'm 100% satisfied with the purchase.
Pros:
--excellent sound for both movies and audio, numerous audio processing choices
--4 hdmi...read full review
I purchased the V3900 to upgrade my older avr in order to get hdmi switching and improved audio format support (Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD). I've had the receiver for about a month now and I'm 100% satisfied with the purchase.
Pros:
--excellent sound for both movies and audio, numerous audio processing choices
--4 hdmi inputs, 2 hdmi outputs, all inputs (including component) are user assignable
--video conversion to hmdi, numerous video processing choices
--hd radio tuner
--net radio, rhapsody support, dlna (home media server support) via wired ethernet
--ipod support, usb support
--user upgradable firmware (sirius internet radio claimed for March 2009 firmware)
Cons:
--browsing of home media servers is a bit cumbersome and slow through the on screen menus, I much prefer to use squeezebox or the xbox360 for those music choices
--ipod dock sold separately
--no screensaver when playing back net radio or other music content sources
--no built in wi-fi support
Surprises
--the net radio support is excellent. Yamaha has their own integration with vtuner http://yradio.vtuner.com where you can "register" your receiver and then use to manage your favorites which can include music stations and podcasts
--the ipod playback also supports video from the ipod
Other receivers considered and listened to
--Pioneer SC-07
--Denon 4308
--Onkyo TX-NR906 minimize
Great receiver with a caveat, February 15, 2009
I'll keep this review short, as the other reviewers have covered a lot of ground here. However, since I upgraded from the Yamaha 1800 receiver to this unit, some folks might find my thoughts interesting.
High points:
- Overall sound is excellent, as well as very flexible. A slight upgrade from the 1800
- Video processing ...read full review
I'll keep this review short, as the other reviewers have covered a lot of ground here. However, since I upgraded from the Yamaha 1800 receiver to this unit, some folks might find my thoughts interesting.
High points:
- Overall sound is excellent, as well as very flexible. A slight upgrade from the 1800
- Video processing is top notch. I actually use the HDMI -> HDMI up-conversion, as for non-1080p sources I believe this improves the overall picture quality. A MAJOR upgrade from the 1800
- Ergonomics are very good, and the on-screen GUI that works with the HDMI output is a BIG plus from the 1800, which did not support this.
Low points:
- For my two video displays (Sony HD RPTV and Panasonic 2000 video projector) you cannot use the simultaneous output of HDMI1 and HDMI2. Every time I toggle between my two displays I have to change this setting.
- Whenever I switch my FIOS DVR to my Panasonic 2000, the DVR output is down-rezed to 480p. This was briefly mentioned in another review. This only happens with my FIOS unit; my DVD and BluRay players do not have this problem. Also, this is not an issue when using my Sony RPTV. Annoying to say the least, however I'm hoping that a future Firmware update for the Yamaha might fix this. (BTW: I tried every video option on the 3900 including using the THROUGH option for HDMI -> HDMI output; the problem remains)
Overall, I'm still happy I bought the 3900, however I cannot give it a 100% recommendation until this HDMI handshaking issue is resolved)
** 10/16/2009 Update ** After researching my HDMI issues, I purchased a Gefen HDMI Detective (About $120) and this has completely fixed my handshaking issues!
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Wow! The RX-V3900 is worth the money., February 2, 2009
I nursed my 10 year-old Yamaha AVR into her golden years waiting until the right features and network integration could woo me into spending the big bucks to move into the new century. Well, considered me WAY wooed. A search for a decent HD radio started me on my upgrade path and before I knew it I was ready to put down $1,700 for the RX-V3900....read full review
I nursed my 10 year-old Yamaha AVR into her golden years waiting until the right features and network integration could woo me into spending the big bucks to move into the new century. Well, considered me WAY wooed. A search for a decent HD radio started me on my upgrade path and before I knew it I was ready to put down $1,700 for the RX-V3900. Satisfied with my pervious Yamaha gear and seeing it had solid reviews in every source I checked, I didn't spend a great deal of time doing a feature by feature comparison to alternatives.
The setup was easy with the manual a perfect blend of "why" and "how-to". It had just the right of information to get things started and a clear path to enable more features when I'm ready. The HDMI GUI is robust and intuitive while the remote is laid out logically and leaves the heavy lifting to the GUI. The web interface is simple yet powerful. My 7-year-old was able to dial up his Backugan videos after 30 seconds working with the GUI and my iPod classic video plugged into the DOCK.
The HD radio stations tune in quickly and sound great. I have yet to put the unit through serious video switching, but I'll make an additional report should I find it lacking. minimize
Great in all respects!, January 16, 2009
I have had the RX-V3900 since New Year's eve.
The unit replaces the RX-V3300 I had previously.
The manual takes you from hookup to the automated setup (YPAO) then using the features. The auto setup found my reversed wired presence speakers before I could continue!
After I fixed this the auto setup completed having set the...read full review
I have had the RX-V3900 since New Year's eve.
The unit replaces the RX-V3300 I had previously.
The manual takes you from hookup to the automated setup (YPAO) then using the features. The auto setup found my reversed wired presence speakers before I could continue!
After I fixed this the auto setup completed having set the speaker distance and EQ. Sounds very nice from the listening position I used.
I really am happy with HDMI OSD and the other features the HDMI inputs gives. Much less cabling using the HDMI audio.
I used the firmware update via the front panel and ethernet without the need for PC or USB stick. A very handy feature.(USB can be used)
The browser GUI is a bit sparse for all but control, but, the zone 2 & 3 as well as main control is complete.
Using the internet radio and PC streaming is really cool.
The HD Radio is a very nice feature as there are many stations that I found in the S.F. bay area that deliver in this format. Sounds great considering it's FM/AM.
I am using an XM mini tuner as well and this works as advertised.
The remote was easy to program for my components and the back light and small form make it much more useable that the RX-V3300 remote.
Codes for my DVRs would have been nice but as the remote will learn from another it is not a show stopper.
The included zone remote is a very useful tool too.
All told I am really quite happy with the receiver and it's ease of use.
The HDMI pass-through in standby means that I don't have to turn on the receier to use the TV/DVR, a nice feature.
An other review had mention problems with this but I suspect that the settings are wrong for their needs.
Also I have no problem with the HDMI to a Samsung LCD TV. I have 2 DVRs and a PS3 using HDMI and am having no issues at all.
All in all I recommend this for all who desire the rich feature set this receiver offers. minimize
(12 total reviews)