NEW RECIEVERS FOR ONKYO’S DOLBY ATMOS RANGE

More new releases announced today from Onkyo for Atmos home theater gear, with three new AV receivers.

Back in June, we looked at a number of products that were being released this year in our article Dolby Atmos: Coming Soon to a Home Theater Near You (link). At the time Onkyo were the only manufacturer promising the always popular HTiB (home theater in a box), with its HT-S7705 and HT-S9705THX systems.

The three new releases include the 9.2 channel TX-NR1030 AV receiver as well as two 11.2 channel models, the TX-NR3030 AV receiver and PR-SC5530 AV controller. The line-up allows users the option of adding either in-ceiling or Dolby Atmos enabled speakers to an existing 5.2, 7.2 or 9.2 channel surround setup.

Features for All Models

Each have Atmos built-in, giving users a kind of binaural or 3-dimensional sound environment, with sound not only surround sound at the ear level, but above also. Onkyo states that user’s are able to hear the flutter of a butterfly’s wings from an arm’s length or the tremors of a volcano in the distance. They also support 4K resolution at 60 frames per second (4K/60Hz) and are 3D-ready.

Other features include an upmixing feature called DTS Neo:X, which will automatically upmix sound to Atmos (up to 11.1 channels) from stereo or 5.1. Also included are seven digital-to-analogue converters (DACs) by Burr-Brown, AccuEQ calibration, a remote app (for iOS & Android), DLNA, WiFi, Bluetooth, eight HDMI ins/outs, coaxial and USB ports as well.

Another thing to note is the addition of the HDCP 2.2 copy protection standard on the new receivers. This new standard of copyright protection is not backwards compatible and is currently being adopted by film studios, broadcasters and IPTV services, to be applied to all future 4K content and other premium releases. It also means that 4K TVs and audio devices without the HDCP (high-bandwidth digital copy protection) won’t connect to those devices with the new standard. Something to think about if you’ve been in the market for new AV gear.

TX-NR1030 and TX-NR3030

Have double the standard digital signal processing (DSP) power, and include a Direct Mode, allowing users to bypass the video and digital signal processing circuitry to play only two-channel or 2.1 stereo sound.

Both include Three-Stage Inverted Darlington Circuitry on every channel, users can also assign the surround back channels to bi-amp the front speakers and a video upscaling feature called Qdeo to convert low-resolution video to 1080p or 4K (the quality of which is questionable).

HTiB

Other Releases include the 5.1.2 channel HT-S7705 AV receiver/speaker package, which comes with an AV receiver, 80W subwoofer and four speakers. Users can also add on the SKH-410 Dolby Atmos enabled speakers to further their set-up.

A recent firmware update now enables users to tune into Spotify Connect using any 2014 released Onkyo network receiver. The free download allows Spotify Premium subscribers to stream over 20 million tracks using the Spotify app via a smartphone or tablet device. Providing users with even greater control, Onkyo has also released an improved remote control app called ‘Remote 3*’ for use on both iPhone and Android devices.

Onkyo’s complete range of Dolby Atmos® compatible products will be available by early December. The new TX-NR1030 and TX-NR3030 AV receivers, as well as the PR-SC5530 AV controller, join the Onkyo line-up of Dolby Atmos®-ready products released earlier this year.

PRICES AND AVAILABILITY

All prices in Australian dollars.

Dolby Atmos built-in:

• 11.2 channel Onkyo TX-NR3030 AV network receiver – available from early December – $3999
• 9.2 channel Onkyo TX-NR1030 AV network receiver – available from early December – $3199
• 11.2 channel Onkyo PR-SC5530 AV controller – available from early December – $3999
• 5.1.2 channel Onkyo HT-S7705 AV receiver/speaker package – available now – $1799
• Onkyo SKH-410 add-on two speaker package – available now – $299

Dolby Atmos-ready via firmware upgrade (available now):

• 7.2 channel Onkyo TX-NR838 AV network receiver – $2199
• 7.2 channel Onkyo TX-NR737 AV network receiver – $1499
• 7.2 channel Onkyo TX-NR636 AV network receiver – $1199

Excerpts from PR