Sierra 2's distortion on Netflix

[movieNmusic]

Hello everyone,

I recently (yesterday!) got my sierra 2's and enjoyed a great listening session using my CD's. The sound was amazing and I was very happy :D:D. I next changed to watch one of my favorite video on Netflix - Moving Art: Oceans by Louie Schwartzberg. I strongly recommend watching this if someone has not, the whole series is absolutely mesmerizing with music by Ludovico Einaudi.

I had SVS ultra's before and they sounded amazing but when I plugged in my Sierra-2's they sounded extremely distorted and were hard to hear. From listening to -30 db on my Yamaha 775 BL using Ultra's I had to push the volume to -5 db to hear sounds clearly and it sounded terrible! I moved back to Jose James - Yesterday I had the Blues and it was amazing again.

Could someone else with Sierra-2 and Netflix let me know if they experience the same problem.

Thanks a lot everyone

[Mag_Neato]

While I have both Sierra-2's AND Netflix, they are not in the same system so I cannot comment. I do, however, have SVS Prime Sats in the HT setup that has Netflix. I've noticed that depending on the movie/show being played the sound can vary. Blurays always sound best probably due to them having the lossless codecs(DTS-Master/Dolby TruHD).

I'd say it has to be caused from what is being fed to the Sierra's. I stream Spotify to the Sierra-2's and have noticed a big difference in quality depending on the track recording. If there is any distortion it is from the source.

[movieNmusic]

Hello again Mag_Neato, that was my initial guess and to clarify this, I took my blu ray player (for netflix) to a friends who has Magnepan 20.7. The same content sounded amazing and hence I know its not the content quality.

[curtis]

What receiver are you using? (oops...sorry, I see you have a Yamaha)

Have you re-run the calibration/eq setup?

[Mag_Neato]

I would go as far as taking the -2's to your friend's and playing them on his system.

[curtis]

FWIW, I have Netfilx...no issues.

Keep in mind though, the Netflix picture/sound quality will automatically degrade if the network/data feed slows down.

Since it sounds fine with a disc, it should be fine with Neflix.

[movieNmusic]

Thanks a lot for the replies,

I will try the sierra 2's at my friends place but he seems reluctant to do it.

My setup is as follows

1. Yamaha RX V775 receiver - 105 W per channel for 8 ohms
2. Monoprice 14 AWG cable
3. Monoprice Banana Plugs
4. I used the YPAO room correction and also measured the distances manually using a tape measure, the results for both were very similar
5. Carpet floor and 7.8 ft difference between speakers and seating area in equilateral distribution
6. Blu ray player Samsung 6500 is source for Netflix and is wired in to a 20 mbps connection

Let me know if I am doing anything wrong. It has been 24 days since I got the receiver, if it is bad I should return it today.

Also Curtis, did you try the particular movie or general Netflix?

I do not have problem with daredevil and Star Trek

Thanks a lot guys really appreciate the help

[curtis]

Also Curtis, did you try the particular movie or general Netflix?

I do not have problem with daredevil and Star Trek

I have not tried that movie, but I will this weekend.

But the fact that you don't have the same issue with Daredevil and Star Trek rules out the speakers. If the speakers were the problem, they would be a problem on everything.

[davef]

Hi movieNmusic,

There really is no reason to bring your speakers to your friend's home. The issue is certainly not with the speakers. The only component the speakers "see" is the amplifier, which is directly upstream from them. Much like with the speakers, the only component your amplifier (which is built into your receiver) sees is the pre-amp / processor built into your receiver and since some sources sound great and others don't -- you need to look at what is upstream from your receiver's amplifier.

This leaves either the processing stage of your receiver or your BD player. There could be some incompatibilities between your receiver and BD player with regard to decoding. I would check the settings in your receiver. In addition, check if Netflix is streaming 5.1 audio or just 2 channel.

The surefire way to further narrow down and isolate the issue is to run the analog output of your BD player to your receiver. If it sounds great this way, then the issue is indeed with the decoding. If it still sounds bad, you can then rule the receiver out and the issue would then be with your BD player or, as Curtis said, bandwidth related.

Also, until you figure out what is going on, I would recommend turning YPAO off and try to avoid turning the volume up too high because if this is a syncing issue (decoding etc.), the digital errors (distortion) your are hearing can be damaging to speakers...

[movieNmusic]

Thanks a lot Dave, I will try these out and update the solution on this thread for other users.
Curtis, I am looking forward to hearing what you found.

Thanks

[davef]

I am streaming this from Netflix right now using an OPPO BDP-105, with analog outs into our multichannel amp into ribbon towers. IMO, the sound quality of the streamed 5.1 mix is quite poor. Streaming HD video combined with Dolby Digital audio can definitely be problematic as it requires a lot of bandwidth. The soundtrack is overly compressed, poor dynamics and if there is a lot going on (music plus waves crashing), I hear distortion. This will be even worse if relying on your receiver to handle the decoding -- this may or may not be what you are hearing.

Switching the Netflix stream from 5.1 to stereo sounds much better.

[curtis]

OK...so I just listened to it for a few minutes in different areas of the video.

I am using a Amazon Fire TV Stick, connected via HDMI to my receiver. I have a pretty high bandwidth internet connection. It is being decoded as Dolby Digital Plus.

I can't say I hear distortion, but I am not impressed with the soundtrack. It does sound compressed...not very dynamic. It doesn't sound bad, but it is something that I would use for background music at best.

[Mag_Neato]

I am streaming this from Netflix right now using an OPPO BDP-105, with analog outs into our multichannel amp into ribbon towers. IMO, the sound quality of the streamed 5.1 mix is quite poor. Streaming HD video combined with Dolby Digital audio can definitely be problematic as it requires a lot of bandwidth. The soundtrack is overly compressed, poor dynamics and if there is a lot going on (music plus waves crashing), I hear distortion. This will be even worse if relying on your receiver to handle the decoding -- this may or may not be what you are hearing.

Switching the Netflix stream from 5.1 to stereo sounds much better.

Dave, I am streaming Netflix through a Roku. There are audio settings in a couple of menus. There's a list of formats(DD+, etc.) and a PCM stereo setting. Should I set it to PCM and let the AVR decode to Dolby PL II? Not sure I even get any digital formats coming through anyway.

[movieNmusic]

I just found this thread (https://www.reddit.com/r/audiophile/comments/1zjx9h/does_anybody_else_find_that_the_sound_on_netflix/)which surprised me. It suggests Netflix is streaming 1080 video and 64 kbps audio!

Mag_Neato I will let Dave give the answer but the above thread suggests choosing dolby digital plus is the way to go. I will try to get a laptop with windows 8 and Netflix app to test over the weekend.

As I suspected and others suggested, the speakers rock and are amazing. Netflix is streaming sub par audio.

I found the soundtrack on spotify -
Album : In a time lapse Song : Life
and it sounds clear and amazing, no distortion even at reference volume.

[curtis]

I just found this thread (https://www.reddit.com/r/audiophile/comments/1zjx9h/does_anybody_else_find_that_the_sound_on_netflix/)which surprised me. It suggests Netflix is streaming 1080 video and 64 kbps audio!

Mag_Neato I will let Dave give the answer but the above thread suggests choosing dolby digital plus is the way to go. I will try to get a laptop with windows 8 and Netflix app to test over the weekend.

As I suspected and others suggested, the speakers rock and are amazing. Netflix is streaming sub par audio.

I found the soundtrack on spotify -
Album : In a time lapse Song : Life
and it sounds clear and amazing, no distortion even at reference volume.
While Spotify can sound good...it is still lossy. Feed your speakers lossless, and you will be rewarded.

For about $30, you can get a Chromecast or Amazon Fire TV Stick, and stream Netflix (and others services) with the Dolby Digital Plus codec (if the particular show/movie is using it).

FWIW...the current Apple TV does not support DD+.

[movieNmusic]

Thanks Curtis, I will start my CD collection soon, that would be my source of music in future. Regarding Netflix I am still not sure, I find it hard to believe that Samsung HD 6500 cannot play higher audio bitrate than 64. I dont mind buying a chromecast or fire stick but would want to buy the streaming device that gives me best audio-video quality for future. Do you have any suggestions for that?

Thanks

[curtis]

Thanks Curtis, I will start my CD collection soon, that would be my source of music in future. Regarding Netflix I am still not sure, I find it hard to believe that Samsung HD 6500 cannot play higher audio bitrate than 64. I dont mind buying a chromecast or fire stick but would want to buy the streaming device that gives me best audio-video quality for future. Do you have any suggestions for that?

Honestly, the audio streaming quality from Netflix is not something I worry about. You are always at the mercy of the provider and internet connection speeds, and much less the hardware. If I get good quality audio/video when streaming a movie, I consider it good luck.

If I am going to watch a movie, I much rather find what is available at my local Redbox...for $2 day, I grab the BluRay and enjoy.

If you want to enjoy streamed music, I have been having a nice time with Tidal, it is uncompressed, and I have been impressed, but it's $20/mo. for the uncompressed stream.

[rsmt2000]

If I am going to watch a movie, I much rather find what is available at my local Redbox...for $2 day, I grab the BluRay and enjoy.

If you want to enjoy streamed music, I have been having a nice time with Tidal, it is uncompressed, and I have been impressed, but it's $20/mo. for the uncompressed stream.


Hi Curtis

Is Tidal better than Spotify in terms of availability of songs and the quality of streaming??

[movieNmusic]

This (http://www.gottabemobile.com/2015/03/31/tidal-vs-spotify-tidalforall/) might e informative to you.

Another more current one is here (http://mashable.com/2015/06/08/apple-music-comparison/).

Quick update, What I was hearing was noise in my audio stream. I don't have a streaming stick yet but I connected my iPhone to my receiver (yes my phone) and played the same netflix content. The noise was significantly reduced now. It doesn't sound good but the noise was almost absent!

Will get a chromecast and make a final update on the threat.

Thanks for the suggestion Curtis regarding Tidal and Redbox.

Redbox is my current source of weekly movie. I rent 1 movie per week on an average from them. The moving art series is a special case thought. I love the visual and the sound of the series. They donot have the same content out on blu ray! They have the same content on DVD or same visuals with very poor music on Blu rays and hence the need to exploit Netflix.

[curtis]

Hi Curtis

Is Tidal better than Spotify in terms of availability of songs and the quality of streaming??
The Tidal Hi-Fi subscription is lossless streaming. I think the quality is great...it's suppose to be CD quality, and I think it is. As for availability of songs, I don't know.

[Mag_Neato]

The Tidal Hi-Fi subscription is lossless streaming. I think the quality is great...it's suppose to be CD quality, and I think it is. As for availability of songs, I don't know.

Interesting thing I've found regarding Tidal. Curtis, you mentioned the Hi-Fi subscription rate is around $20/month. When I downloaded the iTunes app for my iPhone and hit the start free trial link the rate came up as $25.99/month. I checked the regular website and found the rate was, indeed, $20/month. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot? Do IOS users pay a penalty to use Tidal? I did start my 30 day trial period to check it out but will not let it auto renew, at least until I can get the rate sorted out with Tidal/apple.

I listened to some tracks and found the sound quality to be excellent, but not sure if it is any better than my Spotify service. Some of my favorites on Spotify were absent from Tidal's library which is one strike. I prefer the user interface of Spotify so far. We will see as I use Tidal during the trial. The biggest negative for Tidal so far is the jacked up rate using it via the Apple/iTunes account.

[curtis]

You know...I wonder if Apple charges more because it competes with their own service.

I have read that people dislike the Tidal interface compared to Spotify. I rarely use either on my iPhone, so I can't really compare.

What I mainly use Tidal are their "curated" playlists. Over the weekend, I picked playlists while reading the morning paper, and when friends were over for background music. If I like something enough, I try and buy the CD to support the artist.

[davef]

Dave, I am streaming Netflix through a Roku. There are audio settings in a couple of menus. There's a list of formats(DD+, etc.) and a PCM stereo setting. Should I set it to PCM and let the AVR decode to Dolby PL II? Not sure I even get any digital formats coming through anyway.

It is likely these are internal settings on the Roku, in which case it would all depend which has the better processing -- your Roku or your receiver. If these are settings for Netflix streaming, you would want to set the audio settings to preserve as much bandwidth as possible - which would likely be PCM -- but I don't believe Netflix offers this as an option.

[Mag_Neato]

It is likely these are internal settings on the Roku, in which case it would all depend which has the better processing -- your Roku or your receiver. If these are settings for Netflix streaming, you would want to set the audio settings to preserve as much bandwidth as possible - which would likely be PCM -- but I don't believe Netflix offers this as an option.

These are Roku settings. I did not see anything that would allow separate settings for Netflix.

The D-to-A conversion takes place in the AVR via the HDMI connection. Roku does not handle that as far as I know. I guess if it offers PCM audio then it may? I will take a look again later tonight.

[natetg57]

PCM is still digital. I'm guessing if it converts DD+ to PCM then you'll go from 5.1 to 2 channel.

[bkdc]

Absolutely no problems with Netflix and my Sierra-2's. Sierra-2 pair run as my computer monitors through an external USB DAC and external amplifier.

[diesel79]

My S2's also sound great with netflix. I'm using an amazon fire tv. I'm running a 2.1 system and these speakers are unreal with movies.

[movieNmusic]

Hi Diesel79 and bkdc,

Could you please check this one http://www.netflix.com/title/70294764 , I get a lot of noise from 3-4.5 mins. Two particular instances are the bird chirping and the waves crashing. Could you check them out and let me know? Thanks a million

[diesel79]

Sounded crystal clear on mine. Had it turned up to -10 on my receiver.

Very cool video!

[movieNmusic]

Thanks Diesel79, just ordered firetv

[diesel79]

I really like my Fire Tv. There are alot of cool features with Amazon Prime as well.

Also, I have the Fire Tv, and not the Fire Tv Stick.

[diesel79]

Did the fire tv fix the issue?