[rsc]

Looks like JVC is coming out with an entire line of receivers featuring their Hybrid Feedback digital amplifiers.

http://www.jvc.com/press/press.jsp?item=437

[Rob Babcock]

Looks pretty interesting, rsc.

[TheChairGuy]

yummy...

[cjr888]

A new feature in the JVC receiver line is a USB-PC link that sends music from a PC to the receiver for playback, providing far superior sound quality when listening to music files compared to the performance of typical PC speakers. All receivers offer a wired version, while the RX-D301S/302B and RX-D701S/702B feature wireless playback using a transmitter that plugs into the PC’s USB port and sends a 2.4GHz signal to a receiver in the same room for file playback.

Definitely curious.

[Dmason]

There we go folks. JVC has been paying attention all along. Clever bastards, USB will open all kinds of doors to excellent, bit-perfect and CHEAP hi end sounding thrill for the masses. The doctor is in!

[Jay S]

Their entry level $220 (list) receiver with a USB inputs would fit the bill in my tv room...

[CSMR]

Will these amplifiers be fully digital, or do D/A conversion first? Hopefully digital, so that USB works optimally.

[Woodsea]

I think I will have to go back to JVC.  Never thought I would.  But....
Does it have phono capabilities.  My secondary system (JVC) has phono.  My H/K does not

[JLM]

Very promising, if the sound quality remains.  Even the babies have lots of features adn plenty of power.

Pricing is very agressive, so remaining current stock should go cheap.  The budget ratio of source to amp to speaker continues to skew towards something more like 40%, 10%, 30% (with accessories making up the last 20%).  

Help me to understand.  With a wonderful player/DAC (like the new Denon 3910 for instance) output being in analog, do these new connections mean anything if they're digital?  Wouldn't the receiver then be required to have a built in DAC or are we pure digital?

[DS-21]

Anyone have more info (or links to pics) on these? Were they shown at CES?

The USB thing is neat, but IMO if it can't decode the formats iTunes uses (AAC, Apple Lossless) it's pretty much worthless. Still, the receivers look like they could be good values even with that feature being a wash.

[rosconey]

jvc did the usb thing a few years ago on a reciever i had,i never used it.but a friend who bought the same unit uses his hooked to his pc all the time.he enjoys it.

[dave_c]

Anyone have more info (or links to pics) on these? Were they shown at CES?

The USB thing is neat, but IMO if it can't decode the formats iTunes uses (AAC, Apple Lossless) it's pretty much worthless. Still, the receivers look like they could be good values even with that feature being a wash.

That's a pretty interesting thought.  For the most part, people are hooking up their PC's to componenets with USB interfaces.  The PC's do the decoding of the file formats and transmit bit perfect digital across the USB in  a standard format.  The receiver can decode this USB audio format using the codec on the USB receiver.  

But, it would be cool if the JVC could search and decode an external hard drive so you don't have to have a PC hooked up to it.  Just plug in your hard drive (or iPod for that matter) and use some interface, maybe OSD, to browse and play your files on the hard drive.

I think the JVC will end up being the former and not the latter, but I imagine we'll be crawling in that direction as soon as the RIAA feels they have a hold on digital rights management.

[TheChairGuy]

Dave,

I'm with you on that..

I think as cool would be for major labels to release music on Flash Drives...just plug 'em into the receiver and play!  Eliminate the player / separate box alltogether.  Eliminate all the problems inherent in a spinning disc. I've now seen 256 mb flash drives for $19.99...so the price is coming down to reality to do this now.

With Apple now intro'ing the iPod with Flash Drive for $99 retail, it should bring the cost of that storage technology down fast.

Portable devices, too, could be fed music this way.  A lot better quality than current MP3 with little penalty in size.  Lots of things to look forward to!

[DS-21]

That's a pretty interesting thought.  For the most part, people are hooking up their PC's to componenets with USB interfaces.  The PC's do the decoding of the file formats and transmit bit perfect digital across the USB in  a standard format.

Really? I thought (without justification beyond my own intuition) that if I hooked up, for example, the optical output of my iMac G5 up to something that it would be outputting undecoded AAC/MP3/Apple Lossless. (Or whatever surround format in the case of DVDs.)

Is that not the case? Does the computer decode the signal and pass it as...what?

[MonkeyK]

Using flash drives you still need to standardize a codec.  

The USB (or any other digital out) from the PC is a great idea.  doing this stuff in software provides the ultimate in flexibility.

It also get one step closer to my music management dream:  A wall mounted tablet style PC with audio out to the reciever.  This way I could have a big fat display to use for navigating my music collection but output through a quality reciever.

[dave_c]

Really? I thought (without justification beyond my own intuition) that if I hooked up, for example, the optical output of my iMac G5 up to something that it would be outputting undecoded AAC/MP3/Apple Lossless. (Or whatever surround format in ...

It should output in PCM 16/44.1 or whatever frequency your software player can output.  You could plug the Optical out directly to a receiver with no issues.  It would think that any normal transport is connected.

This brings to light the importance of software player.  That's the reason many PC users choose Foobar2k. Foobar has the ability to configure plugins which allow it to upsample to 24/96 or stay at 16/44.1.  Also, it can bypass the windows Kmixer which resamples any imcoming signal to 16/48 regardless of what comes in.  I don’t know if iTunes on a Mac will output bit perfect, but it can certainly be done on the PC.  I had this setup going for a while and I highly recommend giving it a listen if you can.  Its rock solid!

[Charles Charowsky]

I'm having trouble trying to hook up my F-10 receiver. I'm a total newbee,
     I been following some of the posts and I'm trying to hook this up according to the directions on pg.8 of the direction book, I have a toshiba 3960 DVD It only has a audio left & Right out  as according to directions on p
page 7, I am hooking this up to  some Axiom 3ti's and a axiom 125watt sub.
My toshiba does not have analog discrete output jacks(Multi IN) What does this DVD Multi mean , what's the best recemondation for setting up my sub.I am going to use this for 2 channel stereo and to watch some DVD's . I won't be hooking up a HT yet. What does all this digital analong settings mean. What is the simplest way to hook this up. This all seams so complicated. I don't understand some acronyns and I'm a litte frustrated, feel like taking the amp back.  any help would br geatly apreciated.      

                                                 Thanks Charles

[MonkeyK]

Charles,

I'm also new and working on setting up my first HiFi system using the F10.  Check out my thread in the starting block.

The starting block it the circle for us newbies to post questions in.

In answer to your question it seems that modern recieves can be confusing with all of the input and output options.  The F10 has two DVD modes: DVD and DVD-Multi.  DVD-Multi is for newer DVD players that have mulitple outputs to control each channel of your reciever.  If the DVD player is controling what goes where, the reciever will not (JVC is smart enough to know that too many cooks ...).  Using the plain DVD option, the reciever control what goes where, which includes bass.  The F10 also has four different ways of getting input from the source:  digital in optical, digital in coaxial, regular DVD in and DVC-Multi in.  The two digatal inputs are effectively the same thing with a different type of cable.  The regular RCA jacks are the analog input route.

JVC reccomends DVD-Multi as the best sounding option.  This would mean that if your DVD player supported outputs to front, center, rear, and subwoofer channels, you would plug the front channels into the regular DVD inputs, and then the other channels into the DVD-Multi inputs.  
If your DVD player does not support the multiple outputs, you have to choose between digital and analog input.  Almost everyone says that analog input sounds best with this reciever, so just plug your DVD player into the DVD in RCA jacks.

Good design would suggest that DVD-Multi not be selectable if the additional inputs are not plugged in, however the F10 does still let you select DVD-Multi.  Make sure that you select the DVD option (there are buttons for both options on your remote).

Bottom line, you are probably fine, just make sure that you select DVD and not DVD-Multi.

[TheChairGuy]

Charles,

Don't work yourself into a tizzy.....one of the benefits of these specialist internet forums, 24/7, is that you tap into a wide range of knowledge levels to help you out....so you don't have to sit there pissed off and confused.

So first, know that any new audio-video receiver you get is going to have some terms you may not be familiar with.  The JVC is not any more complicated than most.  By virtue of it's inexpensive retail cost, it's probably less vast in it's overwhelming choices by necessity.

It's also a remarkably good sounding receiver in many instances so it's worth hanging onto, at least, until it breaks in at 300 hours and you can decide for yourself if it sounds right to you.

I looked at Toshiba's website on the 3960.  P. 18 in your Toshiba manual describes how and what to hook up.  Because the Toshiba is only a $69.99 retail list DVD player it lacks analog discrete outputs for anything but your left and right channels.  So, you can hook up an analog cable from your left and right outputs to the corresponding FRONT left and right on the JVC's back panel.  This will allow your Axiom main speakers to operate and gain the highest fidelity from the JVC.  However, in doing this (because your Toashiba does not have a discrete analog output for your sub), your sub will not be hooked up.

To do this you need a Y-splitter.  Here is a good one to buy...a solid Y adaptor that you hook up at the end of one of your analog cables either just after it exits the Tosh or before it enters the JVC and you 'split' the signal so that you can now run one line for your main speaker and another 'tap' to run a single analog cable to your sub.

Now, you will have both front speakers and your sub running for movies and music and getting the maximum fidelity you can in your set up.  The DIGITAL (bits and bites that you do not and cannot hear) to ANALOG (what you can hear) conversion is done within the Toshiba in this manner. This is also referred to as D/A conversion...if that acronym is screwing with your head .

The other option is to run a digital cable, made specifically for digital transmission of signals from the digital out jack on the Toshiba to the Digital Input jack marked DVR/DVD on the back of the JVC.  It's near the cover towards the spring clip terminals. You are now bypassing the D/A in the Toshiba and directing the JVC to convert the digital signals to analog and send them to your right and left front Axiom's and your sub.

The way to set this up becomes a little tricky...you need to read the section in the JVC manual on how to set this up.  It would take too long to explain here.  Using the Toshiba and JVC with the digital cable allows you greater flexibility for your system, but at the expense of sonics.

You may not care and want the flexibility and range of features offered thru the digital cable hookup...but most of us are snotty audiophiles here that care to maximize the sound we hear.  Whatever floats your boat.

The real compatibility problem for you is NOT the JVC, it is the Toshiba as it only has front left and right channel outputs.  That is the other option you have...replace the Toshiba with a slightly more expensive DVD player that has outputs for front and rear left channels, center channel, subwoofer and some today even have surround rear channel outputs.  Witha DVD player like this you can plug in the front left and right cahnnels in, and your sub, and get the maximum fidelity from your JVC.

Good luck.

[MonkeyK]

ChairGuy,
I will have to defer to your experience, but with a few questions:
1)You mentioned a good y-splitter to get, but left out the link
2)Which front channel (left or right) should be connected to the sub in? or would you need three Y-splitters: one out from each channel and one in  to combine them for the sub.
3)Wasn't the conclusion in this thread; (JVC RX-F10 and Powered Subs) that you only need to select DVD, not DVD multi to let the RX-F10 manage bass?