# Dynamic Range



## alexadams77 (Aug 4, 2007)

I was going through some of the options on my receiver and I found Dynamic Range. So, my question is - What is it and what should it be set to?


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## bobgpsr (Apr 20, 2006)

Normal should be *OFF* for full dynamics. But late at night with others sleeping nearby it can help to turn it on and then crank down the volume.


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## alexadams77 (Aug 4, 2007)

On my Yamaha RX-V2200 I have two different D-Ranges with 3 settings each.

HP D-Range
SP D-Range

Max - Standard - Min


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## bobgpsr (Apr 20, 2006)

I think the Yamaha user manual will explain which setting does the most throttling of dynamic range. I know that I was not sure until I carefully read my RX-V2500 manual. Also a test of the extreme settings each way will tell.


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## alexadams77 (Aug 4, 2007)

I've gone through the pdf manual and it doesn't say anything at all about it.

Max - watching feature film
Std - general use
Min - listening to sources at extremely low levels


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## bobgpsr (Apr 20, 2006)

That is clear. Use *Max* for normal full dynamic range. :T


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## Prof. (Oct 20, 2006)

For current day DVD's, you should only need to use the "STD" setting..
"MAX" is EXTREMELY dynamic and if you set your listening level to clearly hear voices, loud explosions etc.will just about overdrive your speakers and possibly cause damage..
You can't use it for low level listening either because the range is too great and setting the volume for the louder passages will make low level voices too soft..

There is a "night time" setting for this type of listening which actually compresses the most part of the signal and at the same time gives some extra boost to the bass..

The only time you need to use the "MAX" setting is on some of the older movies that were tranferred from VHS to DVD..It seems that some of them loose some of the dynamics..
"Deep Impact" is one of the movies I have to watch at MAX Dynamic..


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## Guest (Nov 20, 2007)

alexadams77 said:


> I've gone through the pdf manual and it doesn't say anything at all about it.
> 
> Max - watching feature film
> Std - general use
> Min - listening to sources at extremely low levels


I have a Yamaha receiver as well, and after doing some research, MAX has historically been the correct setting for max dynamic range rather than max compression. The difference for your particular receiver should become obvious when you try both settings at high volumes on a bassy scene. I keep my setting at max and I never have a problem. Be sure you calibrate your system with a sound meter and it should sound fine left at MAX if it's like my Yammie. (HTR-5750).


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## alexadams77 (Aug 4, 2007)

I experienced that last night while watching WOTW. My sub actually sounded like it bottomed out, I could hear the suspension going like crazy. I'm back in standard mode right now.


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## Guest (Nov 20, 2007)

alexadams77 said:


> I experienced that last night while watching WOTW. My sub actually sounded like it bottomed out, I could hear the suspension going like crazy. I'm back in standard mode right now.


Hmmm, maybe it's my particular model. My system just seems to sound better overall with the receiver set to max and I've never experienced the sub sounding strained...yet.


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## alexadams77 (Aug 4, 2007)

Everything does sound a lot louder, but I've never had my PC13-U "bottom out" and it did during WOTW. I've watched it a ton louder with the only change being made was the D-Range set to Max on both HP & SP.


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## Guest (Nov 20, 2007)

alexadams77 said:


> Everything does sound a lot louder, but I've never had my PC13-U "bottom out" and it did during WOTW. I've watched it a ton louder with the only change being made was the D-Range set to Max on both HP & SP.


One thing I never really did understand was the difference between HP & SP...would you ever set them differently?


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## alexadams77 (Aug 4, 2007)

I'm not 100% sure, but I know that I read in the manual, not under the D-Range section, that "HP" stood for "Head Phone" and "SP" I assume would be the short form of speakers......maybe?


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## Guest (Nov 20, 2007)

alexadams77 said:


> I'm not 100% sure, but I know that I read in the manual, not under the D-Range section, that "HP" stood for "Head Phone" and "SP" I assume would be the short form of speakers......maybe?


I think you're right about headphones, I seem to recall that--I don't know about your receiver, but even reading the manual cover to cover, there are still about a zillion settings that I have no idea of the utility/whether they're even worth playing with...


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## Prof. (Oct 20, 2006)

alexadams77 said:


> I'm not 100% sure, but I know that I read in the manual, not under the D-Range section, that "HP" stood for "Head Phone" and "SP" I assume would be the short form of speakers......maybe?


That is correct..


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## Prof. (Oct 20, 2006)

ArtVandalay7 said:


> Hmmm, maybe it's my particular model. My system just seems to sound better overall with the receiver set to max and I've never experienced the sub sounding strained...yet.


This seems to be the case..
I know of several owners of Yamaha receivers and some can use MAX.without any adverse affect and others can only use STD..
I have an RX-V757 and I can only use STD.without overdriving speakers or subs.


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## alexadams77 (Aug 4, 2007)

Well it pushed my PC13-U enough for me to put it back to STD. I've never heard it strain that bad without running it extremely hot.


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## Guest (Nov 21, 2007)

Prof. said:


> This seems to be the case..
> I know of several owners of Yamaha receivers and some can use MAX.without any adverse affect and others can only use STD..
> I have an RX-V757 and I can only use STD.without overdriving speakers or subs.


I played with it a bit tonight and with my humble Yammie, max doesn't seem to do anything but make things a bit louder and less "compressed" sounding. Guess my old school HTR-5750 is one of the ones where max is good.:T


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## alexadams77 (Aug 4, 2007)

Max was good for me until I watched WOTW. After re-calibrating my system, I had to turn my PC13-U as low as I could -20 and then had to turn down the amp on the back from the 11 o'clock position (less then half power) to just under the 9 position. 

After doing all of this, I just figured that I'd put it back to STD and leave the Menu Option alone. Everything sounded good for me until I messed around with the D-Range.


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## Prof. (Oct 20, 2006)

alexadams77 said:


> Max was good for me until I watched WOTW. After re-calibrating my system, I had to turn my PC13-U as low as I could -20 and then had to turn down the amp on the back from the 11 o'clock position (less then half power) to just under the 9 position.


In which case I would definitely advise you not to watch "The Haunting" with the Max. setting!!
I get sub "choofing" sounds even on the Std. setting: :unbelievable::bigsmile:


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## Prof. (Oct 20, 2006)

ArtVandalay7 said:


> I played with it a bit tonight and with my humble Yammie, max doesn't seem to do anything but make things a bit louder and less "compressed" sounding. Guess my old school HTR-5750 is one of the ones where max is good.:T


Have you tried it with WOTW or The Haunting?


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## Guest (Nov 22, 2007)

Prof. said:


> Have you tried it with WOTW or The Haunting?


I have a demo disc with the Haunting DTS and I watched WOTW on HBO HD (DD 5.1). Never a problem...could this be a unique characteristic to my system, particularly with respect to the PB10 which, in accordance with Ed Mullen's review, <paraphrasing> "quietly and politely refuses to play any louder" rather than overdrives and distorts...?


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## Prof. (Oct 20, 2006)

I'm not familiar with you model receiver, but from the sounds of it, it may have some additional limiters built in to limit the dynamic range, or otherwise the sub is the culprit..

The test is to play a DVD that has some fairly loud orchestral music on the STD. settings, then change to MAX. and play that part again..
If you don't hear a significant increase in sound level, then you have limiters in the receiver..


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## alexadams77 (Aug 4, 2007)

Going from Max to STD is very noticeable, it sounds like everything is more amplified. When I do this though, when I play a movie like WOTW or Eragon, you can hear the sub suspension going like crazy during the extra heavy LFE chapters. I have to put my sub at the lowest setting (-20 of the available +20) and I can still hear it. It's nice and loud, but I think that I may damage my speakers or sub like mentioned above.


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## Prof. (Oct 20, 2006)

Sounds like you're getting the full dynamic range on MAX..
Setting the dynamics to STD. and re-calibrating, should give you all you'll need..


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## Guest (Nov 25, 2007)

alexadams77 said:


> Going from Max to STD is very noticeable, it sounds like everything is more amplified. When I do this though, when I play a movie like WOTW or Eragon, you can hear the sub suspension going like crazy during the extra heavy LFE chapters. I have to put my sub at the lowest setting (-20 of the available +20) and I can still hear it. It's nice and loud, but I think that I may damage my speakers or sub like mentioned above.


On mine everything is definitely more amplified as well, although I don't have the sub issues that you seem to have...


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## Guest (Nov 25, 2007)

I am currently using a model pretty close to the 5750 (the 5740, to be precise) in my bedroom system with the computer as a source and a tuner as a source.

I'm only using the L/R channels to power some Bose speakers.

When it was being used in the main system, having the dynamic range on max always seemed best...and still does.


And for those of us that say it's pushing our system too hard with our receiver, shouldn't we have more capable subs and speakers than that? :scratchhead:


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## Prof. (Oct 20, 2006)

Hi Arande and welcome....

You may have noticed that when you're listening at reasonably high levels for the overall sound, any peaks in sound level can sound extremely loud, even on the STD dynamic..
If you listen at the same level on MAX., the voltage increase to the speakers on peaks is enough to overdrive some speakers, particularly the smaller monitor and bookshelf type of speakers if they don't have sufficient head room..
With subs, if the excursion is not long enough, then you will start to hear cracking sounds as the sub bottoms out..


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## Guest (Nov 26, 2007)

And I don't see why you wouldn't invest in transducers that could handle it? :foottap:



Well I guess people have their preferences. :whew:


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## drf (Oct 22, 2006)

arande2 said:


> And I don't see why you wouldn't invest in transducers that could handle it? :foottap:


I would assume all transducers are designed to handle the dynamic range encoded on standard DVD's and that it is only the overall level that would become the limiting factor. So the question would be does the max setting on yammy amps increase the dynamic range (thus pushing it past the limits of the transducer) or is it just passing through the encoded dynamic range (thus revealing it is a crapo sub or that your volume is too high).


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## Guest (Nov 26, 2007)

drf said:


> I would assume all transducers are designed to handle the dynamic range encoded on standard DVD's and that it is only the overall level that would become the limiting factor. So the question would be does the max setting on yammy amps increase the dynamic range (thus pushing it past the limits of the transducer) or is it just passing through the encoded dynamic range (thus revealing it is a crapo sub or that your volume is too high).


I haven't read up on the specs on his speakers, but think the sub is unlikely to be the issue since the OP has a SVS ultra. Could be a volume/speaker capability issue methinks...:scratchhead:


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## alexadams77 (Aug 4, 2007)

There's no issue with my speakers. I stated that when I use the Max setting for Dynamic Range that I have to put my PC13-U to 1/4 of power (PC13 Amp) and turn down the sub in the receiver to -20 (lowest setting). This is when I listen at a volume of -30 on my receiver when watching WOTW and Eragon. I end up hearing the sub suspension when watching those movies at Max D-Range. I just wanted to know if I "could" damage my main speakers?


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## Guest (Nov 26, 2007)

alexadams77 said:


> There's no issue with my speakers. I stated that when I use the Max setting for Dynamic Range that I have to put my PC13-U to 1/4 of power (PC13 Amp) and turn down the sub in the receiver to -20 (lowest setting). This is when I listen at a volume of -30 on my receiver when watching WOTW and Eragon. I end up hearing the sub suspension when watching those movies at Max D-Range. I just wanted to know if I "could" damage my main speakers?


Yeah, just kind of weird. It's got to be a difference in the receivers, even though they are both Yammies, since I can watch WOTW on full dynamic range at 0db (i.e. reference level) and have the sub/speakers do just fine. I think we're probably dealing with apples and oranges (or macintosh apples and granny smith apples)...


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## Prof. (Oct 20, 2006)

ArtVandalay7 said:


> Yeah, just kind of weird. It's got to be a difference in the receivers, even though they are both Yammies, since I can watch WOTW on full dynamic range at 0db (i.e. reference level) and have the sub/speakers do just fine. I think we're probably dealing with apples and oranges (or macintosh apples and granny smith apples)...


Man oh man.!!..If you can watch WOTW on MAX. dynamic, then it has to be the difference between Yammy models..
On STD. dynamic on my Yammy, WOTW's virtually shakes the whole room..If I had that on MAX., I think I would be catching speaker cones as they shot out towards me!! :heehee: :hide:

The other possibilty is that your speakers are an inefficient type and need some extra dynamic and power to get them working properly..


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## Guest (Nov 26, 2007)

Prof. said:


> Man oh man.!!..If you can watch WOTW on MAX. dynamic, then it has to be the difference between Yammy models..
> On STD. dynamic on my Yammy, WOTW's virtually shakes the whole room..If I had that on MAX., I think I would be catching speaker cones as they shot out towards me!! :heehee: :hide:
> 
> The other possibilty is that your speakers are an inefficient type and need some extra dynamic and power to get them working properly..


Right, this very issue caused me a lot of confusion some months back after calibrating...my speakers are really pretty efficient (Infinity Beta series) but after calibrating using a SPL meter, reference level is usually loud but quite listenable. I never did have anyone explain it to me how this is so...finally, I decided it still sounded pretty **** good and just quit trying to understand...although I still would like to shed some light on that one...check out my equipment and see if you have any ideas...:dontknow:


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## Prof. (Oct 20, 2006)

WOW!!!!! You can listen at REFERENCE LEVEL!!???
If I tried that, I'd have blown eardrums...:yikes:

It sounds like something is definitely wrong somewhere..We are talking 0 level on master volume control with SPL at 75db., aren't we?

Edit..Is your SPL meter set to "C" weighted and "Slow" response?


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## Guest (Nov 27, 2007)

Prof. said:


> WOW!!!!! You can listen at REFERENCE LEVEL!!???
> If I tried that, I'd have blown eardrums...:yikes:
> 
> It sounds like something is definitely wrong somewhere..We are talking 0 level on master volume control with SPL at 75db., aren't we?


Right, I've tried to calibrate according to 0db being reference and master volume control with SPL at 75db (-4 db), not a whole lot of difference between the two either way...


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