To run Audyssey on a Denon AVR-S960H, set the supplied microphone at ear height where you normally sit, plug it into the SETUP MIC jack on the front, then press SETUP and choose Speakers > Audyssey® Setup > Start. The receiver plays test tones and measures up to six spots around your seat, then saves the results.
You need a TV connected to the receiver, because the whole process runs on screen. Plan to keep the room quiet for the whole test. If you already ran Speaker Calibration in the S960H’s Setup Assistant when you first set it up, Denon says you don’t need to run Audyssey Setup again unless something changed.
When you should run Audyssey
- You just set up the receiver, or you did a factory reset.
- You moved a speaker, moved your couch, or replaced a speaker.
- You added speakers, such as height speakers or surround backs. Denon warns not to turn on new speakers in the speaker menu after a calibration. If you add one, run Audyssey Setup again.
What you need
- The Sound calibration microphone that came with the receiver.
- The supplied microphone stand, or a camera tripod of your own.
- All your speakers wired and the subwoofer powered on.
- Headphones unplugged from the PHONES jack. Audyssey won’t run while headphones are connected.
Get the room ready
Audyssey listens to your room through the mic. Anything else it hears makes the result worse. Before you start:
- Close windows, and turn off fans, air conditioners, and other noisy devices.
- Take cell phones out of the room. Denon says phone signals can disrupt the measurements.
- Clear the path between each speaker and the mic. Don’t stand or sit in between while the tones play.
- Keep the mic at least 20 inches (50 cm) away from any wall.
- Don’t touch the volume during the test. Turning VOLUME on the remote or MASTER VOLUME on the receiver cancels the measurement.
You’ll hear test tones from every speaker and the subwoofer. Denon notes this is normal. They can be loud, so if someone is asleep, pick a better time.
Set your subwoofer’s knobs first
Your subwoofer has its own controls on the back. Denon asks you to set them like this before you measure, so the receiver can take control of the bass.
| Subwoofer control | Set it to |
|---|---|
| Direct mode (if your sub has one) | On. This turns off the sub’s own volume and crossover. |
| Volume (no direct mode) | 12 o’clock, the halfway point |
| Crossover frequency | Maximum, the highest number |
| Low pass filter | Off |
| Standby or auto-on mode | Off, so the sub doesn’t sleep during the test |
Where to put the microphone
The first spot matters most. That’s the main listening position, the seat you use most often. Point the tip of the mic straight up at the ceiling. Raise it to the height of a seated person’s ears.
For positions 2 through 6, move the mic to other spots within about 2 feet (60 cm) of the first one. Keep the same height each time. If you have a big sectional, don’t try to cover the far ends. Denon’s instructions keep all the positions close to the main seat.
How to run Audyssey Setup, step by step
- Turn on your TV and the receiver, and switch the TV to the receiver’s HDMI input.
- Put the mic on its stand at the main listening position, pointing up at ear height.
- Plug the mic into the SETUP MIC jack on the front of the receiver.
- Press SETUP on the remote and select Speakers > Audyssey® Setup.
- Select Start, then press ENTER.
- Check the pre-test settings on screen. Set Amp Assign to match the speakers you actually have, and use Channel Select if you want to skip channels you don’t use. The table in the next section explains each one.
- Follow the on-screen instructions, selecting Next to move forward.
- Select Begin Test and press ENTER. The first measurement starts. It takes several minutes, so stay quiet.
- When the screen lists the speakers it detected, check that everything you own is there. Then select Next and press ENTER.
- Move the mic to position 2. Select Continue and press ENTER.
- Repeat for positions 3 through 6. If you want to stop early, select Complete and press ENTER instead.
- Select Continue and press ENTER. The receiver analyzes and saves the results. Don’t turn off the power while it saves.
- Choose your Dynamic EQ and Dynamic Volume settings when the screen asks. See the section on these below if you’re unsure.
- Unplug the mic from the SETUP MIC jack, then select Next.
- If this is your first calibration, the results are saved to Preset 1 automatically. If you’ve run Audyssey before, a Speaker Preset screen asks where to save them.
To quit in the middle, press BACK. A pop-up appears. Select Yes and press ENTER.
The pre-test settings, explained
| Setting | What it’s for |
|---|---|
| Amp Assign | Tells the receiver what’s connected to its extra speaker terminals. Choices include Surround Back, Front Height, Top Front, Top Middle, Front Dolby, Surround Dolby, and ZONE2. Get this right, or Audyssey won’t look for your height or back speakers. |
| Channel Select | Lets you skip channels you don’t use. This shortens the test. |
| Dolby Speaker Setup | Only for Dolby Atmos Enabled (up-firing) speakers. Enter the distance from the speaker to your ceiling. |
If Audyssey shows an error
| Message | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| No speakers found. | The mic isn’t plugged in, or some speakers weren’t detected. | Plug the supplied mic into SETUP MIC. Check your speaker connections. |
| Ambient noise is too high or level is too low | The room is too noisy, or a speaker or the sub is too quiet. | Turn off the noise source and try again. Check that speakers face the mic. Turn up the subwoofer’s volume knob. |
| Front R : None (or another speaker name) | That speaker wasn’t detected. | Check the wiring for the speaker named. |
| Front R : Phase (or another speaker name) | That speaker may be wired backward (+ and – swapped). | Check its polarity. If it’s wired correctly, select Ignore and press ENTER. |
Always turn the receiver off before you check or touch speaker wires.
What the Audyssey settings do after calibration
Running Audyssey Setup turns on three features: MultEQ, Dynamic EQ, and Dynamic Volume. You’ll find them under SETUP > Audio > Audyssey.
MultEQ (room correction)
- Reference (default): the calibrated sound with a slight treble roll-off, tuned for movies. Most people should leave it here.
- L/R Bypass: same as Reference, but leaves your front left and right speakers uncorrected.
- Flat: meant for small rooms where you sit close to the speakers.
- Off: no room correction.
Dynamic EQ and Reference Level Offset
Dynamic EQ keeps bass and detail full when you listen at low volume. It’s on by default. Its partner, Reference Level Offset, has settings of 0, 5, 10, and 15 dB. Leave it at 0 dB for movies. Denon suggests the higher settings for content mixed at different levels, such as music and TV. While Dynamic EQ is on, the receiver’s tone controls are unavailable.
Dynamic Volume
Dynamic Volume evens out the jump between quiet dialogue and loud explosions or ads. Choose Light, Medium, or Heavy. It’s handy for late-night watching.
Note that the Audyssey settings don’t apply in Direct or Pure Direct sound modes. MultEQ also turns off when you use headphones.
Fine-tuning without losing your calibration
You can adjust speaker size, distances, levels, and crossovers in Speakers > Manual Setup without turning off Audyssey. What you shouldn’t do is turn on a new speaker there after calibration. That blocks MultEQ, Dynamic EQ, and Dynamic Volume until you run Audyssey Setup again.
If you tweak too much and want the original results back, Denon’s Restore… option returns the settings to what Audyssey measured. It’s described on the Retrieving Audyssey® Setup settings page of the manual.
If the bass feels too light or too strong after calibration, a quick adjustment is Subwoofer Level Adjust in the Audio menu, which changes the sub’s level without redoing the test. Also note that Audyssey may report the subwoofer as farther away than it really is. Denon says that’s expected, because of electrical delay in the sub.
Keep two setups with Speaker Presets
The S960H can store two complete speaker setups, Preset 1 and Preset 2. Each preset holds your Amp Assign, speaker configuration, distances, levels, crossovers, bass settings, MultEQ data, and Graphic EQ data. This is useful if you rearrange the room for parties, or if you want to compare an old calibration with a new one.
To use this, choose the preset you want to fill at Speakers > Manual Setup > Speaker Preset before you calibrate. When you run Audyssey again later, the receiver asks which preset to save the new results to.
Protect your calibration
A factory reset erases your Audyssey results along with everything else. So can a firmware update, in some cases, according to Denon. Two ways to protect the work you just did:
- Save a backup to a USB flash drive with SETUP > General > Save & Load > Save Configuration. Our AVR-S960H reset guide explains the backup and restore steps.
- Before you update the S960H’s firmware, make a fresh backup.
Denon’s full procedure, with its screen images, is on the Audyssey® Setup procedure page of the online manual.