Pioneer Elite VSX-44 7.2-Channel Network A/V Receiver with HDMI 2.0

Receiver was an excellent receiver would buy again

Love it, I have two of them.

Pioneer Elite... has to be awesome, right? After all, to be elite means you are 'above all others'... that you stand out from the crowd. In general, I'm underwhelmed. Not that it's bad - it's just not that significantly better than the Yamaha receiver I have, which in itself was a mid-line receiver. Personally, I feel like electronics these days are trying too hard to see how many logos they can apply to their boxes. I don't personally use Pandora, but the Internet radio features are nice. This receiver actually had a lot of features I just don't need or for which I'm simply not ready -- for example, the dual subwoofer pre-outs, 4k compatibility, or 2-zone output. I do not need the Roku compatibility, as I use a Tivo. I happen to have a 5-1 speaker configuration, so really do not need the 7.2 support. Perhaps someday... :) The Bluetooth functionality is somewhat misleading... I thought maybe I could use this in my living room with satellite speakers, but it turns out I'd have to purchase an adapter. On the plus side, the 140w per channel is nice, as are the 6 HDMI ports. I also appreciate the Apple Air-play functionality, though I have that with my Yamaha receiver, as well. The sound was good, and the setup was fairy easy. In general, I give the VSX-44 4 stars. Feature-wise, it competes well in this price range. But for carrying the Pioneer 'Elite' badging, I just don't get the sense that it stands out so much my friends & will be impressed or that sound is massively improved over my mid-level Yamaha. The controller could be arranged a little better, and the on-screen menu could be a little better, though most receivers are somewhat lousy in that department. I would certainly recommend this if you need a budget-friendly 7.2 receiver that's 4k compatible, but don't be fooled by the name.

I bought this model thinking of using a USB stick to play MP3 music files. I do not know why it does not play the USB stick formatted using Microsoft Windows (FAT32), and converted MP3 audio files? These audio files play fine on the cellphone. VSX-44 just does not recognize the files on the USB stick. However, the same USB stick plays fine on the Pioneer SC-75 model. Can anyone tell me what is the problem? Because it cannot play the USB stick, I am giving it a 1 Star rating. If I can play the USB stick, I will give it a 5-Star rating. For now, it is 1-Star.

I've had mine for 24 hours so far. After initial setup and calibration, I was watching The Avengers on my Smart TV's Amazon prime video app when suddenly the sound cut out from the receiver. I double checked the ARC settings for both my TV and receiver, made sure the HDMI cable used supported ARC, recycled the power by front switch, all of which seemed properly setup. Eventually I found a forum where someone with similar issues on an older Pioneer receiver resolved it by pulling the power plug and waiting 10 seconds to power back on whereby it would begin working again. Yup, that fixed it. If I recall that was a VSX-1020, a few year older version than this receiver; funny Pioneer never resolved that issue in later versions. On to the Pandora features, I have a wired house with gigabit connection, fiber internet, and a top of the line Linksys WRT-1900AC router. My entertainment center has an 8 port gigabit switch connected to my game consoles, this receiver, and a htpc. All network patch cables I've made myself to ensure a proper, clean length, as well as tested with a cable tester. All my av gear is hooked up to a Furman power conditioner as well. For some reason, this receiver plays music by pandora for one or two songs at best, then just locks up. The only way to get any response is to power this off, then back on again. Pioneer currently has no firmware updates for this receiver making it too buggy to recommend at this time. If you want a receiver for just the receiver function, this will do the job. As for their advertised web apps such as pandora and internet radio, that's a failure. The OSD user interface looks identical to a pioneer receiver I used in 1998. Horrible SD resolution black with white text w/ aliasing, cluttered remote that's poorly labeled in blue font that's invisible in dim lighting. One plus, the IOS and android remote app is a good overall touch, it prevented me from having to use the abysmal included remote for most tasks, therefore I'll give this 2 stars for that. As for the sound quality, it's pretty average. Honestly, from my experiences with Onkyo, Denon, and Yamaha receivers, it's the worst I've used so far. I'm inclined to disconnect this and return it. I'm just dreading the idea of dealing with wiring again since I've spent a good part of yesterday afternoon making it all nice and neat....

It's been a while since I've had a proper multi channel receiver, due to the small area that we live in, and I didn't realize until I hooked up the VSX-44 how much I missed it. I'm not a big audiophile, so I'm not sure that I could notice any major differences between a receiver like this and the upscaled VSX-80, but the VSX-44 does everything that I need: - the multiple HDMI inputs have been a godsend. - the receiver does offer multiple outputs, which I guess is a nice feature, but it isn't one that I plan on using. - The ability to stream Pandora is really cool. - Airplay ability is even better. We tend to use iTunes Radio more than so being able to stream it is great. There are a few downsides, as well: - The thing is really heavy and larger than I expected. Its made it a little hard to fit into our minimalist TV setup. - The controller is a little complicated. Overall, the VSX-44 is a really nice system for me. I've read some of the other reviews, and I understand that there are some shortcomings for it from people that are really into audio, but for our small movie nights, It's been really nice so far!