Audio Features
Video Features
USB/iPod Connectivity
Convenience Features
Remote Control

Audio Features

H.C.P.S. (High Current Power Supply): The Onkyo TX-SR309 is equipped with a H.C.P.S. massive high power transformer to keep your music sounding great at low and high volume levels.

Burr-Brown DACs (Digital-to-Analog Converters): This receiver is equipped with 192kHz/24-bit Burr-Brown DACs to decode and playback high-resolution recordings with less jitter and  clearer sound.

Optimum Gain Volume Circuitry: Optimum Gain Volume Control adjusts the gain so that less than half the amount of attenuation is needed, ensuring the signal never comes close to the noise floor. This protects the signal against noise, resulting in a dramatically clearer sound

32-Bit Processing DSP: The Onkyo TX-SR309 is equipped with a powerful and highly accurate 32-bit processing DSP (Digital Signal Processor) for better surround sound reproduction.

Listening Modes: This receiver incorporates a wide variety of listening modes to bring you maximum enjoyment from your audio and video software. You can assign a default listening mode to each input source so that listening mode will be selected automatically when you select the corresponding input source. The following audio formats are supported by the receiver's Listening Mode - Mono, Stereo, 5.1-channel, and 7.1-channel.

Note: Dolby Digital and DTS listening modes can only be selected if your audio source is connected to the AV receiver via a digital audio connection (HDMI, optical or coaxial). Even though the AV receiver will decode 7.1channel surround sound (via HDMI), it will only output 5.1ch surround, because it lacks Surround Back channel speaker outputs.

Dolby Pro Logic II Music Settings: While listening in the Dolby Pro Logic II Music format, there are three further enhancements you can adjust:

• Panorama: Broadens the front stereo image to the surround speakers to provide a wraparound effect, especially effective when there is limited output from the surround channels, panorama can be turned on/off in the menu.
• Dimension: Allows you to move the sound field forward or backward.
• Center Width: Allows you to adjust the width of the center channel.

Center Image: In the Neo:6 Music mode, the Center Image feature adjusts the output of the left and right channels relative to the center channel, allowing you to make the center channel more or less dominant as needed. This improves the image of the center channel, especially when the listener is off-center. Adjustment varies from 5 (nothing subtracted from the L/R channels) to 0 (L/R channel output is cut in half).

Listening Angle: While listening in the Theater Dimensional mode you can adjust the listening angle to either Wide (if listening angle is 40-degrees) or Narrow (if listening angle is 20-degrees).

Speaker Setup: The Onkyo AV receiver allows you to manually setup your system's speaker configuration.

• Speaker Size: You can set Large or Small for your front speakers; Large, Small or None for your surround and center speakers; and Yes or No for subwoofer.
• Speaker Distance: The front speaker distance can be set from 1 to 30 feet in 1-foot increments. The center and subwoofer settings can be up to 5 feet more or 5 feet less than the distance you set for the front speakers (30 feet max). The settings for the surround left and right speakers are each individually adjustable, and they may be adjusted up to 5 feet more or 15 feet less than the distance you set for the front speakers (30 feet max).
• Adjustable Crossover: This receiver has a built-in high-pass crossover for any of the speakers set to Small. This setting is available when the subwoofer is set to Yes. The frequencies that you can choose from are 40, 50, 60, 80, 100, 120, 150, and 200 Hz. Frequencies lower than the set crossover point are output by the subwoofer.
• Speaker Levels: You can manually adjust the level of individual speakers between -12dB and +12dB; -15dB to +12dB for the subwoofer.

Bass And Treble: You can independently adjust the Bass (50Hz) and Treble (20kHz) of the TX-SR309 from -10 to +10 dB.

CinemaFilter: Using the CinemaFilter you soften overly bright movie soundtracks. Movie soundtracks are typically mixed for a large theater (relative to your home theater) with lots of soft seats and thick curtains on the walls. Home theater settings often lack these high frequency absorbing wall treatments, making the soundtrack sound too bright. CinemaFilter accounts for this and for many movies sounds more natural at home.

Music Optimizer: The Music Optimizer function enhances the sound quality of compressed music files. The Music Optimizer function only works with PCM digital audio input signals with a sampling rate below 48kHz and analog input signals.

Late Night Feature: The Late Night feature limits the dynamic range of Dolby Digital recordings. Limiting the dynamic range makes it easier to find a volume that ensures the quiet sounds are not too quiet and the loud sounds are not too loud for night time listening. This allows you to comfortably listen to without the need to constantly adjust the volume to keep from waking family/neighbors. The choices are: Off, Low, and High.

Note: This feature only works with Dolby Digital Encoded software and the depth of the feature will vary based on the individual software package.

ARC (Audio Return Channel): This feature allows audio to be sent from your compatible HDTV to your receiver through the same HDMI cable already being used to send audio and video to your HDTV. This eliminates the need for extra cables connected to your television.

Assignable Digital Inputs: The Onkyo receiver is equipped with two optical digital inputs and one coaxial digital input. All three digital inputs are assignable. You can choose auto decoding , PCM, or DTS for the digital audio inputs. Auto will decode the signal in its original form (Dolby Digital, DTS, PCM, etc), PCM decodes the signal to 2-channel, while DTS decodes only DTS formatted sources.

Spring-Clip Speaker Terminals: There are color-coded spring-clip terminals for all speaker connections - Front A, Front B, Center, and Surround.

Note: Speaker B can be used to listen to 2-channel stereo playback in other room. When Speaker B is on, your main speakers are limited to 2.1-channel playback.

Headphones: When headphones are plugged into the full-size 1/4" jack on the front panel, all the speakers are automatically muted.

AM/FM Tuner: With the built-in tuner you can enjoy AM and FM radio station. You can store your favorite stations as presets for quick selection. You can store a combination of up to 40 of your favorite FM/AM radio stations as presets.

Video Features

HDMI (v1.4): The TX-SR309 has three assignable HDMI v1.4 inputs and one HDMI v1.4 output for connecting DVD players, HDTV set-top boxes, and other video components to your TV or projector. The receiver's HDMI circuitry allows the receiver to output an HDMI audio signal from its speaker outputs, headphone out, and HDMI out so you don't have to run and additional analog or digital cable. The HDMI inputs can accept and switch 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i, and 1080p video signals to a HDTV. The HDMI inputs will support uncompressed standard or high definition digital video along with the following audio signals: 2-channel linear PCM, Multichannel linear PCM, and Bitstream. Each HDMI input is assignable.

3D-Compatible: The TX-SR309's HDMI v.1.4 connections will accept 3D video from your 3D-ready Blu-ray player and output the video signal in 3D to your 3D-ready HDTV.

x.v.Color: The AV receiver supports x.v.Color, offering a wider color range than the current broadcast standard. For the x.v.Color feature to be useful, the entire video production chain must be compatible (camera-editing-format-player-display).

Deep Color: The Onkyo receiver also supports Deep Color which allows the color depth of video signals passing through HDMI to be raised. The number of colors that could be expressed by 1 pixel was 24 bits (16,777,216 colors) with a standard HDMI jack. However, the number of colors which can be expressed by 1 pixel is 36 bits with a Deep Color enabled HDMI jack. Since the gradation of the depth of a color can be expressed more finely with more bits, continuous color changes can be more smoothly expressed.  For the Deep Color feature to be useful, the entire video production chain must be compatible (camera-editing-format-player-display).

Note: x.v. Color and Deep Color technology are supported only when source product, HDMI cable, media and HDTV all support those features.

HDMI Through: When enabling the HDMI Through function, regardless of whether the AV receiver is "on" or in "standby" both audio and video streams from an HDMI input will be output to your television, via the receiver HDMI monitor output. You can select between 3 HDMI Through functions modes.

• Auto: Detects the signal and automatically selects the input sources.
• Source: Selects the input source (BD/DVD, VCR/DVR, CBL/SAT, Game, PC, Aux, TV/CD, Port) for which the HDMI Through function in enabled.
• Last: The HDMI Through function is activated on the input source selected at the time of setting the AV receiver to the "standby" mode.

Auto Lip Sync: The Lip Sync function can automatically synchronize HDMI audio and video that has gotten out of sync due to the complex digital video processing being performed by your HDMI-compatible TV. With HDMI Lip Sync, the audio delay required to synchronize the audio and video is calculated and applied automatically by the AV receiver.

A/V Sync Control: Occasionally, you may need to manually adjust the audio/video signals that are not properly synchronized manually. Typically when using a progressive scanning DVD player. You can correct this by delaying the audio; options are 0 (no delay) to 400 milliseconds, in 20 millisecond steps.

Component Video: There are 2 component video inputs and 1 component video output. The component video inputs and outputs have a bandwidth of 5Hz to 100MHz.

Front-Panel AV Input: The Onkyo TX-SR309 is equipped with a front-panel audio/video input which consists of a composite video terminal and stereo audio RCA jacks.

USB/iPod Connectivity

Front-Panel USB Port: A USB MSC (Mass Storage Class) memory device can be connected to the USB (type-A) terminal located on the front-panel, allowing you to play music files through the receiver. Your USB MSC device must be formatted in FAT16 or FAT32. Compatible music file formats include MP3 (8-320 kbps), WMA (47-320k bps), AAC (8-320 kbps), and FLAC (16/24-bit). The receiver can recognize up to 255 music files in each folder. You can control basic playback functions of your connected USB device's music from the included remote control, such as - Folder/File Select, Play/Pause, Stop, Fast Forward/Rewind, Skip (next/previous), and Repeat/Random.

iPod/iPhone Direct: Using a USB-to iPod-Dock cable plugged into the front-panel USB port, music can be played directly from an iPod/iPhone, bypassing the iPod/iPhone's DAC. The iPod/iPhone is controlled by the receiver's remote, or you can continue to control your iPod/iPhone from its clickwheel or touchscreen. Song/artist information and elapsed time are displayed on the receiver's front-panel display and your connected TV screen (via HDMI only). You can navigate your iPod/iPhone's music using the on-screen menu and remote control by Playlist, Artist, Album Genre, Song, or Composer. You can also shuffle the playback of your iPod/iPhone's music and view the Now Playing screen. Your iPod/iPhone's battery will be charged while connected to the receiver. Using the dock cable to connect directly, iPod/iPhone compatibility is as follows (as of 1/10/2012):

Note: Apple iPod/iPhone software updates may change functionality results. If you download a newer software version, you may need to reset the receiver and your iPod/iPhone to regain functionality. If this doesn't work, you may need to revert to the older software version or wait until a newer software update is available.

Optional iPod/iPhone Video Dock: By connecting the optional Onkyo DS-A4 iPod Dock (580DSA4, sold separately) to the Onkyo AV receiver, you can view movies, music videos, TV shows, and video podcasts from your iPod/iPhone on your connected TV. Component or composite video connectivity ensures a stable, high-quality video signal output. The DS-A4 supports video output from the iPod video (5th gen), iPod classic (80/120/160GB), iPod nano (3rd/4th/5th gen), iPod touch (1st/2nd/3rd/4th gen), and iPhone (2G/3G/3GS/4).

No Headphone Output: When you connect an iPod or iPhone to the USB port on this receiver, no sound will be output from the headphone jack.

Convenience Features

On-Screen Display (via HDMI): The Onkyo AV receiver offers an on-screen setup menu through its HDMI output. If your TV is connected to the composite video or component video monitor output, you will need to use the AV receiver's front-panel display when changing settings.

Preset Input Names: You can enter a preset name for each individual input for easy identification. when entered, the preset name will appear on the display. This feature cannot be used for AM/FM tuner, or USB input.

Display Dimmer: The display brightness has three settings; Dim, Dimmer, and Normal.

Sleep Timer: From the remote, you can set the unit to automatically turn off after as much as 90 minutes or as little as 10 minutes; choices are presented in 10 minute increments.

Auto Standby: The AV receiver will automatically go into Standby mode, if there is no operation for 30 minutes with no audio/video signal input.

Remote Control

IR Remote: The supplied RC-799M wireless remote is pre-programmed to operate Onkyo components. The IR wireless remote control will operate up to 16-feet away from the receiver at an angle of 30-degrees left or right of the receiver as long as the remote is within the line of sight of the TX-SR309.

HDMI Control: This function allows CEC-compatible components (Toshiba REGZA-LINK TV/Sharp TV) or RIHD-compatible components connected via HDMI to be controlled with the TX-SR309. The AV receiver offers the following CEC HDMI controls.

• The AV receiver will enter Standby mode when the power of the TV is turned to Standby.
• You can set on the menu screen of the TV to either output the audio from the speakers connected to the AV receiver, or from the speakers of the TV.
• It is possible to output the audio/video from the antenna or from the input jack of the TV from the speakers connected to the AV receiver.
• Input to the AV receiver can be selected with the remote controller of the TV.
• Operations such as volume adjustment or similar for the AV receiver can be performed from the remote controller of the TV.

RI Remote Control Jack: The 1/8" RI remote control jack allows you to connect this receiver to other compatible Onkyo components.