•   Overview
•   Advantage of Denon AVR-X250BT
•   Advantage of Yamaha RX-V385
•   Common Strengths and Weaknesses
•   Audio Section
•   Video Section
•   Inputs and Outputs
•   Specifications

Here we are comparing Denon AVR-X250BT to Yamaha RX-V385 to reveal their common strengths and weaknesses as well as the differences between them which will help you in making a correct decision before the purchase. Both receivers have 5 channel and equally powerful amplifiers.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Denon AVR-X250BT over Yamaha RX-V385.

Denon AVR-X250BT has bigger power supply and higher bluetooth standard.

This section shows those features and specifications which are the reason to choose Yamaha RX-V385 over Denon AVR-X250BT.

Yamaha RX-V385 has room correction system and higher signal to noise ratio. It supports DSD streaming via HDMI. In video department only Yamaha RX-V385 supports HDCP 2.3 copy protection and Dolby Vision.

Here we list common strengths and weaknesses of both receivers.

Amplifier

Speaker Configurations

Denon AVR-X250BT's and Yamaha RX-V385's amplifiers can be assigned for different speaker configurations.

• Configurations: Available configurations are:
Denon AVR-X250BT: 5.1 with internal amplifier.
Yamaha RX-V385: 5.1 with internal amplifier.
• Bi-Amp: Yamaha RX-V385 is able to bi-amp up to 2 main channels simultaneously. During bi-amplification two amplifiers are used for one speaker. One amplifier powers the midrange and tweeter section of the speaker and another amplifier powers the low frequency woofers. Each amplifier is less loaded and performs better. In order to use this feature speakers must have 2 pairs of connectors.



Enhanced Audio Return Channel (eARC)

Yamaha RX-V385 supports Audio Return Channel (ARC) feature allows the compatible TV to send audio signal to the a/v receiver through the same HDMI cable which is used to send audio and video signals to the TV. So one HDMI cable is used to transfer audio signal in both directions. New Enhanced ARC will support uncompressed audio formats such as Dolby Atmos, DTS:X, Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD Master Audio whereas the previous ARC could support only Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, DTS, DTS HD, and PCM.






Sound Processing

• Compressed Music Enhancer: Denon AVR-X250BT and Yamaha RX-V385 feature Compressed Music Enhancer which enhances the quality of the music files with lossy compression.

Room Calibration

Yamaha RX-V385 comes with YPAO room correction system.

• YPAO: The Yamaha Parametric room Acoustic Optimizer (YPAO) function detects speaker connections, measures the distances from them to your listening position(s), and then automatically optimizes the speaker settings, such as volume balance and acoustic parameters, to suit your room.

HDMI

Denon AVR-X250BT comes with 5 HDMI inputs. It has 1 output.

Yamaha RX-V385 comes with 4 HDMI inputs. It has 1 output.

• 4K/60Hz Passthrough: On both receivers all inputs pass up to 4K 50/60Hz 4:4:4 video signal.
• 4K Upscaling on Yamaha RX-V385: It can upscale up to 4K 60p 4:4:4 from HDMI sources.
• BT.2020 Color Space: BT.2020 or Rec. 2020 is a color standard which delivers a wider color gamut compared to Rec. 709. It covers approximately 75% of the total visual spectrum while the Rec. 709 covers only 35% (available on both models).
• HDCP Copy Protection: Denon AVR-X250BT is HDCP 2.2 and Yamaha RX-V385 is HDCP 2.3 compliant which is a requirement for 4K/HDR copy-protected content transmission.
• 3D Ready: Both receivers are able to pass 3D video through HDMI.

HDR (High Dynamic Range)

Denon AVR-X250BT supports HDR10 and Hybrid Log-Gamma.

Yamaha RX-V385 supports HDR10, Dolby Vision and Hybrid Log-Gamma.

High dynamic range video has greater dynamic range than standard dynamic range (SDR) video with brighter whites and deeper blacks. The result is greater contrast and more details in dark and bright areas, better color and depth.

• HDR10: HDR10 uses the wide-gamut Rec. 2020 color space. It sends static metadata via video stream to the TV which calibrates its screen brightness and color according to that. HDR10 supports 10-bit color which corresponds to 1024 shades of the primary RGB colors. It is technically limited to a maximum of 10,000 nits peak brightness, however common HDR10 contents are mastered with peak brightness from 1,000 to 4,000 nits.
• Dolby Vision: Dolby Vision is a set of technologies developed by Dolby Laboratories for high dynamic range (HDR) video. It covers content creation, distribution, and playback. Like HDR10+, it includes dynamic metadata that are used to adjust and optimize each frame of the HDR video to the consumer display's capabilities in a way specified by the content creator. Dolby Vision allows for a maximum resolution of 8K up to 12-bit color depth, maximum peak brightness of 10,000 nits and a color gamut up to Rec. 2020. It uses Dolby's proprietary dynamic metadata defined in SMPTE ST 2094-10.
• Hybrid Log-Gamma (HLG): The Hybrid Log-Gamma (HLG) is a transfer function developed mainly for HDR live video feed and over-the-air broadcasts. It is an HDR format that uses BT.2020 color primaries and a bitdepth of 10-bit. It is backward compatible with the transfer function of SDR and is designed to be better-suited for television broadcasting, where the metadata required for other HDR formats is not backward compatible with non-HDR displays. HLG defines a non-linear optical-electro transfer function, in which the lower half of the signal values use a gamma curve and the upper half of the signal values use a logarithmic curve.

Audio

• Analog Line Inputs: There are 2 pair of line inputs on Denon AVR-X250BT and 3 pair of line inputs on Yamaha RX-V385 for connecting sources with analog outputs.
• Digital Inputs and Outputs: 0 optical input and 2 optical outputs are available on Denon AVR-X250BT and 0 optical input, 1 optical output and 2 coaxial inputs are available on Yamaha RX-V385 for digital audio connections.
• Headphone Output: There is a 6.3 mm (1/4") headphone output jack on the front panel of each receiver.

Video

• HDMI:
Denon AVR-X250BT
Inputs: 5   Outputs: 1
8K Inputs: 0.
Yamaha RX-V385
Inputs: 4   Outputs: 1
8K Inputs: 0.
• Composite Video: Connect you VCR, Laserdisc player and other old video equipment with composite video cables.
Denon AVR-X250BT
Inputs: 2   Outputs: 1.
Yamaha RX-V385
Inputs: 3   Outputs: 1.

Front A/V Inputs

• Denon AVR-X250BT: None
• Yamaha RX-V385: USB, mini-jack Audio

Denon AVR-X250BT

Yamaha RX-V385

And in the end let us list all the available specifications of the receivers side-by-side.

* - 480i/576i and 480p/576p only
** - 480i/576i only
*** - no 1080p/24 upconversion
**** - 1080p signal is not converted