[Vader2k]

No too long ago, after discovering the shortcomings on the low end of the 2011 Astro Mixamp’s frequency response (it clips below 35Hz), I decided to look into upgrading my 11 year old AVR to one with Dolby Headphone.  It was mentioned in Mad Lust Envy's Headphone Gaming Guide (an excellent resource, btw!) that Marantz receivers were one of the few with DH processing, so I focused my attention there.
 
As I began researching the different Marantz models with DH (using the brochures and manuals from Marantz’ site, as well as reading forums), I compiled a list of key features I was looking for so I could see how the models compared to one another.  Although the below headers are pretty straightforward, here's some descriptions for each:
 

1. Model - Instead of having these ordered sequentially, I grouped them by their series/release year
2. Year - I referenced these from the year printed on the manual, so they might have hit the market a bit later than that
3. Watts Per Channel - Since I also have surround sound speakers, this spec was important for me
4. HDMI Version - I read of some issues people had getting PS3's to work with HDMI 1.1 devices, so I wanted to be cautiously aware of the version on these
5. HDMI Inputs - More is always better, right?!
6. DD/DTS HD - Whether or not the receiver has Dolby Digital HD or DTS HD decoding capabilities from a bitstream source.
7. USB - Whether or not a USB port is available.  Note that when one is, older MP3 players may not interface, and PC to AVR will not work 
   
8. THX - Not really a huge feature to me, but was kinda neat to be aware of.  Has no impact on DH processing, though, AFAIK.

 

Model ​	Year ​	Watts/Chan​	HDMI Ver.​	HDMI Inputs​	DD/DTS HD​	USB ​	THX ​	Notes​
SR4001​	2006​	80 W​	1.1​	2​	No​	No​	No ​	Might need firmware update for 7.1 PCM​
SR5001​	2006​	90 W​	1.1​	2​	No​	No​	No ​	Might need firmware update for 7.1 PCM​
SR6001​	2006​	100 W​	1.2​	2​	No​	No​	No​	Might need firmware update for 7.1 PCM​
SR7001​	2006​	110 W​	1.2​	4​	No​	No​	Select 2 ​	Might need firmware update for 7.1 PCM​
SR8001​	2006​	125 W​	1.2​	4​	No​	No​	Select 2​	Might need firmware update for 7.1 PCM ​
​	​	​	​	​	​	​	​	​
SR4002​	2007​	80 W​	1.1​	3​	No​	No​	No ​	​
SR5002​	2007​	90 W​	1.1​	3​	No​	No​	No​	​
SR7002​	2007​	110 W​	1.3​	4​	Yes​	No​	Select 2​	​
SR8002​	2007​	125 W​	1.3​	4​	Yes​	No​	Select 2​	​
​	​	​	​	​	​	​	​	​
SR4003 ​	2008​	80 W​	1.1​	3​	No​	No​	No​	​
SR5003​	2008​	90 W​	1.3​	3​	Yes​	No​	No ​	​
SR6003​	2008​	100 W​	1.3​	3​	Yes​	Yes​	No​	​
​	​	​	​	​	​	​	​	​
SR5004​	2009​	90 W​	1.3​	3​	Yes​	No​	No​	Bad popping sound caused damage​
SR6004​	2009​	110 W​	1.3​	4​	Yes​	Yes​	No​	Bad popping sound caused damage​
​	​	​	​	​	​	​	​	​
SR5005​	2010​	100 W​	1.4​	4​	Yes​	Yes​	No​	​
SR6005​	2010​	110 W​	1.4​	6​	Yes​	Yes​	No​	​
SR7005​	2010​	125 W​	1.4​	5​	Yes​	Yes​	No​	Able to decode FLAC​
*Although I checked the data many times, it's possible I made some errors.  If you notice anything, please let me know!​

 
Are there other Marantz receivers with DH?  Possibly; I don’t claim to have looked at all of them.  I do know, though, that although the SR5006/SR6006 brochures state that they have DH processing, I confirmed with Marantz tech support that it was a misprint and they do not. So, as far as I can tell, the xx05 series was the last to use DH.
 
Anyway, there you have it. I hope that this has been helpful!

 

[PurpleAngel]

Any chance you could add "Year released" to the chart?
Thanks for creating the chart in the first place.

 

[autoteleology]

This is very neat. Too bad that at these prices, I'd almost just buy a Beyer Headzone or a Smyth Realizer.

 

[Vader2k]

Quote:

Any chance you could add "Year released" to the chart?
Thanks for creating the chart in the first place.

 
Done! Wasn't sure if I needed to put it on there, so thanks for asking.
 
Quote:

This is very neat. Too bad that at these prices, I'd almost just buy a Beyer Headzone or a Smyth Realizer.

 
Thanks.  Yeah, new they are definitely pricey.  I bought mine refurbed, though, and these can be found used on ebay and fairly decent prices.  Still, those other two techs you mentioned sound pretty cool. 

 

[runswithaliens]

If you could find and list the Output Impedance of the Headphone Jack, that would be really something.

 

[familyguy26]

Thanks for this. I do see a refurb SR6005 for not too bad a price.
 

 

[Vader2k]

Quote:

If you could find and list the Output Impedance of the Headphone Jack, that would be really something.

 
Yeah, that's been a bit hard to nail down.  I've received two pieces of info from Marantz about this, at least for the SR6005:

1. I was told via an online support ticket that the max headphone output would be 2V no matter what the impedance of the headphone is (1V @ 16 Ohms, 2V @ 32 Ohms)
2. I was told by a phone support rep that they were fairly certain the jack could handle phones from 30 Ohms to 300 Ohms.

 
The annoying thing is I can't find this info broken down into specific wattage outputs at different ohms the way it is on typical headphone amps.  I tried using some volt to wattage converters online, but the numbers I came up with didn't seem right.
 
Quote:

Thanks for this. I do see a refurb SR6005 for not too bad a price.
 

 
No problem.  Yeah it's a great model that, for lack of a better word, felt the most "future-proof" for me by having so many HDMI ports and decoding formats.  Sounds excellent too! 

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

 
Yeah, that's been a bit hard to nail down.  I've received two pieces of info about this, at least for the SR6005:

1. I was told via an online support ticket that the max headphone output would be 2V no matter what the impedance of the headphone is (1V @ 16 Ohms, 2V @ 32 Ohms)
2. I was told by a phone support rep that they were fairly certain the jack could handle phones from 30 Ohms to 300 Ohms.

 
The annoying this is I can't find this info broken down into specific wattage outputs at different ohms the way it is on typical headphone amps.  I tried using some volt to wattage converters online, but the numbers I came up with didn't seem right.

A $200 Yamaha receiver can drive (per Yamaha tech support) up to a 450-Ohm headphone, you would think a Marantz that cost several times more would be able to handle headphones up to 600-Ohms.

 

[PurpleAngel]

Quote:

If you could find and list the Output Impedance of the Headphone Jack, that would be really something.

May never be able to find out the output impedance of the headphone jack.
But I think (guess) using headphones in the 120-Ohm to 300-Ohm would work fine plugged into a Marantz.

 

[Vader2k]

A $200 Yamaha receiver can drive (per Yamaha tech support) up to a 450-Ohm headphone, you would think a Marantz that cost several times more would be able to handle headphones up to 600-Ohms.
 

 
Yeah, I was kinda surprised when he said only 300 Ohms.  But he was telling me that from memory as he couldn't find the actual spec on it, so I guess take that info with a grain of salt.

 

[Qupie]

I am sorry for this huge grave digging, but I found this thread using google.
 
I am using an SR 5600 (with DH) with my playstation 4 for gaming. And I am having some troubles with it. It doesn't seem to work properly, because I cannot locate where footsteps are comming from at all! I never had this problem in the past with my Xbox 360.
 
What settings do you use for your marantz? 
 
I set my playstation so it outputs bitstream dolby digital over optical cable (no HDMI on this marantz model). My marantz shows that it gets 6 channels of input on the display. 
I set my marantz to DH (2) setting. And I disabled the dolby pro logic II settings (this only is "good" for stereo inputs right?)

Now while playing I have no clue where opponents are comming from, and it starts to get very frustrating. Is there any settings I might have not set up right?
 
Another change since my Xbox 360 gaming times is that I switched from an 5.1 to 2.1 setup for my big speakers, which I also put in the marantz menu's. So that is something I am going to look at tonight if that has any influence, but as the headphones output should probably complete ignore those settings, I am afraid this not the solution.
 
I hope my bad enlish made my point clear, and thank you in advance  

Greetings, Qupie 

 

[Vader2k]

Hey, no problem bringing the thread back up. I'd be happy to try to help.

Disabling prologic II isn't necessary, really, and sometimes stuff coming through Netflix or other streaming services is only stereo, so being able to switch to DP II can be nice. But generally speaking, especially on games, the receiver should say Dolby Digital on the display when receiving audio from the PS4 as you've configured it.

Something on my SR6005 is an option to change auto or manual audio input source. You won't have HDMI on yours obviously, but make sure you're on digital and not analog.

The speaker configuration shouldn't matter either, as you should technically be able to use the DH processing without any speakers attached.

I'll download your model's manual tomorrow and see if I can find any other settings to check.

 

[Qupie]

Thank you for the reply

It is on Dolby digital when I don't have the headphones connected. When I connect the headphones it says: DH (2). So I think that part is okay. The receiver does show a 5.1 input from the PS4 so I think it is setup right.

I also thought the headphones should ignore the speaker setup but it was literally the only thing I could think off.

Thanks for the help, I hope you find anything else which might be the problem.

Cheers! Qupie

 

[Vader2k]

Yeah, so far that sounds correct. Mine goes from saying MULTI CH 7.1 (because of the PCM over HDMI) to saying DOLBY HEADPHONE when I plug in phones (that's because later iterations of DH dropped the 1-3 room sizes and just went with 2 as the standard/only option).

I just thought of something else you can check, though. For comparison, I put my PS4 on DIGITAL OUT (OPTICAL) and checked Bitstream (Dolby). I then switched the AVR input from HDMI to Digital. With the headphones plugged in, there's a menu option I can access on the receiver to confirm the input and processing. I don't know if yours has this option, but for me I access it by going:

Menu > Information > Audio Input Signal

From there I get four lines of details :
*Surround Mode - DOLBY HEADPHONE
*Signal - Dolby Digital
*fs - 48kHz
*Format - 3/2/.1

If you can find a menu item similar to that, it should confirm whether or not you're receiving the proper signal and decoding it properly.

I'll keep you posted if I can find anything useful in the manual tomorrow.

 

[Qupie]

Thank you for your post! I will sure try to find the menu! I think there is something similar on the sr5600
 
I will try this next weekend. I won't be home before then. 

Kind regards,
 
Qupie