New Hopper 3 owner with Questions

[Briant73]

Just upgraded today to the Hopper 3 with 3 joeys, install went well from what I can tell but have a few questions (tried search for some already)

1) Hopper 3 been going for 2+ hours yet options show guide update on tuner 1 constantly and other tuners say guide update at times too (currently say's tuner 1 and tune 6 guide update). Is this normal, my old hopper 2 just would show it after a reboot or diag usually.

2) I have the hopper going to my denon 4311 by hdmi, what audio settings would be optimal for it?

Thanks

 

[Dudleydog73]

This is normal. Give the new H3 about 24-48 hours before everything is downloaded and know it could be a bit sketchy during this time frame. I use optical out to my AV receiver so I will let someone else chime in about that portion.

 

[Bobby]

I have Digital Passthrough - On, Volume Leveling - Off, Dynamic Range - Narrow set on my HDMI to my Denon. Works great....

 

[MikeD-C05]

I have Digital Passthrough - On, Volume Leveling - Off, Dynamic Range - Narrow set on my HDMI to my Denon. Works great....

Same settings on my hopper 3 to my Yamaha a/v receiver and it works great too.

 

[Briant73]

So you both prefer the Narrow settings to Wide?

Also I notice when changing channels quickly (set to hide redundant SD channels) the system seems to get a little odd, like it sees the SD channel then hides it. Is this normal?

 

[Bobby]

So you both prefer the Narrow settings to Wide?

I like Narrow because it make the voices louder than the music. If I am set to Wide, the voices get lost in the musical soundtracks. Just a personal choice. You can try each to see what you like best. I don't like Volume Leveling turned on because it evens up both and defeats the entire reason for 5.1 sound, IMHO.

 

[TheLip]

I like Narrow because it make the voices louder than the music. If I am set to Wide, the voices get lost in the musical soundtracks. Just a personal choice. You can try each to see what you like best. I don't like Volume Leveling turned on because it evens up both and defeats the entire reason for 5.1 sound, IMHO.

Wouldn't it make more sense to use wide and simply increase the volume on the center channel slightly if you want higher vocal volumes?

 

[Bobby]

Wouldn't it make more sense to use wide and simply increase the volume on the center channel slightly if you want higher vocal volumes?

Actually, no. My sound system in balanced perfectly to my viewing room. When I watch blurays or Netflix (via my Apple TV) the sound is perfectly balanced. I believe that the Narrow setting is actually adding to the volume of the center channel by itself. It is not squelching the surround channels at all...

 

[kwindrem]

Actually, no. My sound system in balanced perfectly to my viewing room. When I watch blurays or Netflix (via my Apple TV) the sound is perfectly balanced. I believe that the Narrow setting is actually adding to the volume of the center channel by itself. It is not squelching the surround channels at all...

At least on Dolby Digital audio, "Narrow" uses (or is supposed to use) a metadata stream to reduce dynamics in the program. The content creator is supposed to author this metadata to bring out important things like dialog while down-playing explosions and loud music.

In tests done years ago, Volume Leveling did not seem to affect Dolby Digital audio, only 2-channel PCM audio. It wasn't sufficient to compensate for the difference between PCM and Dolby Digital audio but did help.

 

[satjay]

Welcome to the Hopper 3 world, 24 hours or so is best to let it get all the functions going

 

[Briant73]

Thanks everyone for your answers and help!