Dynex DX-IPDR - Digital player docking station Review

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(More customer reviews)I was looking for a device that would let me play my ipod through the receiver. I didn't want wire adapters. I wanted a docking station. I was surprised at how hard it was to find. Radio Shack had one for $40. I opted to give this product a chance. It works great! It has a remote and the docking station charges too. I use it for my ipod and itouch. If you need a docking station buy this product.

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Yamaha RX-V1065BL 7.2-Channel Digital Home Theater Receiver (Black) Review

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(More customer reviews)I needed to replace a couple of old receivers so I found a great deal on the RX-V1065 and RX-V765 on Amazon. I ended up getting both of them for aboout what 2 V665's would have cost me a a Big Box store. I first setup my Main Theate Room with the 1065, I thought it was somewhat difficult to get everything the way I wanted it but the automatic speaker setup was slick and the sound is fantastic compared to my old Sony I had previously. The Menu system takes some getting use to but once you do it's not bad to navigate. All in all I was pretty darn happy with my purchase, My JBL's sounded much better then before and although I didn't really notice any difference in video quality, it was as good as before and now I had everything coming thru the same box. Surround sound was a huge step up from my old receiver also, you are almost looking behind you now because you'd swear someone is behind you, where on my old Sony it was more or less a quieter front speaker.
I then went to hook up my 765 in my cave TV room, first thing that I noticed was that is basically identical to the 1065, sure the menu system is not as polished but as far as the functionality that I need it is the same. I have a few year old Bose surround sound in this room with a JBL center chanel speaker and what a HUGE difference this receiver made over my old Onkyo, the Onkyo was really good for music but surround sound was sub par, but it was 10 years old I guess. Granted I'm only hooking up a Xbox 360, blue ray and TV in this room but watching Vikes beat up the the Packers in surround sound with this receiver was great, I haven't figured out which sound field I like best but there are a couple perfect for sports.
One of the coolest things was when I grabbed the TV remote from my Samsung LCD by mistake to turn the volume down and it says RX-V765 un the upper corner and starts to tun down the volume of the receiver from the TV, displaying the volume the whole time it's changing. I guess that Anynet capability on the Samsung TV's with a HDMI reciever gives you a few more bells and whistles. Also really cool is when I turn on the Xbox or turn off the TV the receiver will come on or off accordingly. I haven't setup the remote for additionaly devices yet, but it seems to be easy to use and is exactly the same for the 765 and 1065, I actually expected the remote to be better for the 1065 so i was a little disapointed when I saw it, but in using it it seems OK/
One thing I do not like is the Zone 2 ability on the 1065, I almost wish is was more or less a A/B speaker selector, I have a normal 5 speaker surround setup, in addition to that I have 2 speakers in the kitchen, right behind the TV room which are connect to Zone 2 that when I'm listening to music we like to have on so that you have more sound. The problem is that Zone 2 running the same input as the Main Room is off by a few fractions of a second and if you stand right between the 2 rooms, it sounds like the song is a half a second behind in the kitchen, I tried the lipsync thing, which only made it worse, I haven't given up on it yet, but it's not obvious how to fix this.
Bottom Line -
Both the 1065 and the 765 have more inputs than I know what to do with.
Neither have HDMI on the front, I didn't want it anyway, as I think it looks stupid to set all your equipment up and then have a big cable hanging off the front of your system anyway. That's why the put the jacks on the back, right???
May not have quite as many sound fields as some others out there, but I pick the 2 or 3 I like for movies, sports and music anyway and don't care about the rest.
The YPAO is cool and works great to setup the speakers.
The onscreen Menu is better on the 1065 but adequate on the 765.
HI-DEF Radio sounds amazing on both.
Don't think I will ever use the remotes as universal remotes, but they are adequate for running the receivers.
I cannot comment much on the video conversion, as everything I am running is HDMI and looks the same as it die running straight into the TV.
Sound on both of these is fantastic, even at volumes that start to hurt, the sound is clear, the bass is crisp not slow and there is no distortion, my old receivers would make my speakers start to hiss at a much lower volume, and these receivers never do.
Save yourself some money though get the 765, once it's all setup and you don't need to go into the menu anymore, you'll never notice the difference.
I read a lot of reviews and narrowed it down to Onkyo and Yamaha, at last second I pulled the trigger on Yamaha and for what I paid on Amazon for the 2 of them I am thrilled with my purchase

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Yamaha RX-V1065BL 7.2-Channel Digital Home Theater Receiver

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Yamaha YDS-12BL iPod Dock (Black) Review

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(More customer reviews)I purchased this for my Yamaha RX-V567. I did not fully understand from the other reviews the features and limitations of this dock, so I will try to explain it clearly here. You can find the "User Guide" on-line, but it is utterly useless - in 11 different languages.
The YDS-12 connects to your Yamaha receiver through a proprietary connector. This connector has upwards of 60 pins, yet the device has very few features. These receivers are capable of firmware updates, so it is entirely possible that future enhancements may one day be available. Other Yamaha receivers have gotten enhancements for their docks in the past.
Once connected, you can plug your Apple device into the dock - and here is the first big negative about the YDS-12. Like most Apple docks, your iPod/iPhone stands nearly vertical on its own (it actually leans back about 20 degrees). It is expected to stay in that position while it is docked, putting a good deal of pressure on the Apple connector. It is far to easy for someone to accidentally hit the iPhone/iPod and snap the connector off (or worse, break the mating connector in your expensive phone). I really wish Yamaha would have provided the option of a corded cnnector and a cradle to rest your phone in. This product is an accident waiting to happen - but even the Apple Universal Dock has this issue. Repairs to Apple connectors cost $50-$100.
Once you insert your Apple device into the Dock and put the Yamaha in Dock mode, the Receiver Display will say "Ipod Connected" (even if you are connecting an iPhone). Pressing the "Display" button on your Yamaha remote brings up the control menu. There are two control menus available for commanding the iPhone/iPod: one is on the Yamaha Receiver display and the other is an On-Screen-Display (OSD) if you have the Yamaha hooked up to your TV. Some Yamahas have a dot-matrix display and the higher ends have an LCD display - both show you the same general menus. The nice thing about the menus is that they allow you to control play of your Apple device using the Yamaha remote.
Your menu choices are:
1) Play Video
2) Play Music
This brings me to another BIG limitation of this device: "Play Video" only refers to video from iTunes (i.e. movies that you have purchased or uploaded). It does NOT include video you recorded through your camera, nor does it include photos you took with your camera. Basically, it does not give you access to your Camera Roll.
You DO have the ability to play slideshows or recorded video, but NOT using the remote control. While your device is docked, you need to open your Camera Roll and start a slideshow manually. You then need to hit the "Display" button on your remote again to turn off your OSD on your TV. Only then will the pictures and recorded video appear on your TV. You can ONLY see pictures/video when it is playing as a slideshow. Because you need to do this while the device is docked, it means you are pressing on the screen, putting even more pressure on the poor little dock connector. I'm telling you, this is a bad mechanical design.
Yamaha REALLY needs to update the firmware to allow Camera Roll access through the menu. This limitation is truly a deal-breaker for a device that costs over $50. Read on for a cheaper solution.
Video playback quality is awful - as expected considering it is optimized for a tiny display. Even video recorded on a 4th gen iPod Touch (which is supposed to have the latest HD-quality video recording) looks blocky when played on a big TV. Video quality on a big screen TV is about the equivalent of watching SD video on the SlingPlayer App over 3G. Mediocre at best.
Movie playback of iTunes movies was quite a bit better, but still don't expect this to replace Netflix. Speaking of Netflix, be aware that almost no apps support playback of video through cables, so don't expect to be able to play Angry Birds on a 55" plasma. It's not going to happen. Given the two big cons I found with this device, I offer a less expensive alternative to it: Buy an Apple A/V Component (or Composite) Cable for about $40 (from the Apple store). You can get non-Apple ones even cheaper - but the Apple version is guaranteed to be compatible with just about all Apple devices. These cables have an Apple connector at one end and several RCA connectors at the other. You can connect the RCA cables to the back of the Yamaha Receiver and have the same quality picture and audio as you will with the YDS-12. Your device will be connected through a cable rather than perching on a tiny connector at a dangerous angle. About the only negative is that you won't be able to play back anything using the remote control - there will be no menus at all. You will need to directly handle the Apple device, but you need to do that anyway on the YDS-12 in order to watch recorded videos or see pictures. You still won't be able to play games on the big screen, though. And, the Apple cable includes an extra line to allow charging of your device while watching on your TV.Regarding a couple of confusing reviews:
* Several people mentioned that once a device is fully charged, the YDS-12 stops charging, so you wake up the next morning to a dead device. This did not happen to me with my 3GS, but since it's happened to others there may be defective units. Mine shows it is at 100% and still charging.
* Someone suggested that the YDS-12 is "easily portable". Yeah, it is....but so what? If you take it to a party, there had better be a new model Yamaha there to plug it into. This is not compatible with any other brand (nor is it compatible with most other Yamaha receivers). Another reason to choose the Apple cable over this - the Apple cable IS truly portable. You can take it to a party and plug it onto any component-ready device.
So, I'm not trying to knock this product unfairly. It's worth about $25 at most because of the very limited menu system. Unless Yamaha updates it in a big way, I would opt for the Apple A/V cable, knowing there will be no remote control. By the way, Apple DOES have a fancy dock that includes a remote, but it has even more limitations than the YDS-12, so stay away from the very expensive Apple Universal Dock.
In summary, YDS-12 vs Apple A/V cable:
* Both charge your device
* Both play back iTunes videos on your TV (but YDS-12 allows remote control)
* Both play back music through your TV or Yamaha (but YDS-12 allows remote control)
* Both play photo slide shows - NO REMOTE CONTROL
* Both play recorded video - NO REMOTE CONTROL
* Neither allows games or apps to be played on TV
* YDS-12 is menu-driven (Apple A/V is manually driven by you)
* YDS-12 is potentially dangerous to your connector (Apple A/V uses safer cable connection)
* YDS-12 won't work with iPad; Apple A/V Cable will
* YDS-12 is more expensive and only usable on specific Yamaha Receivers
* Apple A/V cable is cheaper and connects to most new TVs and almost all receivers
Unless you REALLY need to use the remote (with all its limitations), go with the Apple A/V cable.

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Yamaha YDS-12BL iPod Dock; Only compatiable with Yamaha RX-Vx67 series AV receivers.

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