How to Play Music on an Onkyo HT-S3900 Home Theater

Authored by: Support.com Tech Pro Team

1. Introduction

Your Onkyo HT-S3900 system is capable of playing music using Bluetooth, USB, or the built in radio tuner.

This guide will explain how to play or stream music with your AVR.

2. Input and Navigation

All playback options involve setting the receiver to the correct input, navigating the TV screen if needed, and playing media appropriately for that medium.

To select the input source from the AV receiver itself

1. Press input button you wish to use.
2. The Display will show the currently selected input.

To select the input source using the remote control

1. Select one of the Labeled buttons to choose a source.
   

1. Common navigation controls for your AV receiver:
   

1. Setup - Displays setup menu screen
2. Home - Displays home menu screen
3. Arrows â–²/â–¼/â–º/â—„ - Move the focus in the menu screen
   Enter - Selects the focused menu / item
4. Return - Returns to the previous menu or screen

Depending on your individual AV receiver's model, your remote's button layout may vary slightly from the images above.

To select the input source on your Television

• Depending on what device you are electing to use with your AV receiver and how your equipment is connected, you may also need to adjust your Television's input settings as well. To adjust your television's input:
• Ensure the TV is powered on (1).
• Depending on your TV remote's button layout, press the button labeled AV, Input, or Source (2) on the remote to display the input selection menu.
  

• Use the Up and Down arrow buttons to highlight the desired input, then press the OK button to select said input.
  

• This process can be repeated at any time to switch to a different video input on your television. For example, switching from watching Cable television to a DVD player and then back again.

The images above are only a general guide on changing your television's input settings. Your television remote's button layout will vary depending on the manufacturer and model television being used.

3. Play from External Device

An external device can be anything connected to this unit: TV, radio tuner, CD / DVD / Blu-ray Disc player, VCR, record player, video game console, etc.

1. Turn on the external device connected to your AV receiver that you would like to use.
2. Using the AV receiver's remote control, or the front panel controls indicated previously, set your AV receiver and Television to the correct input settings.
3. You can then begin using your external device.

4. USB Thumbdrive

Plug the USB drive into the front of your Onkyo HT-S3900 receiver.

5. Play from USB Drive

1. Switch on the receiver and your television.
2. Make sure the TV input is set to your receiver.
3. Press the USB button on your remote.
   

1. \
2. "Loading" appears on the small screen of your receiver as it begins to read from the USB device connected. After this loading period, you should see playback information displayed on your TV screen. Playback will begin immediately for the first playable audio file detected on the device.
3. Standard playback controls can now be used to navigate and control your audio content.

6. Connect Antenna

Connect the supplied antenna to your AVR.

7. Radio

1. Press Tuner on your remote.
   

1. Use the Band button to switch from AM to FM if you need to.
   

1. Use the Tuning + or - buttons to change the station.
   

1. 
   
2. The station information will be shown on the display of the receiver. If your Television is also on, you may see an on-screen display as well.
   

Tune to a station. There are three ways to do this:

• Automatic Tuning: To search for stations in the currently selected band, press and hold TUNING +/– for about a second. The receiver will start searching for the next station, stopping when it has found one. Repeat to search for other stations.
• Manual Tuning: To change the frequency one step at a time, quickly press and release TUNING +/–.
• High Speed Tuning: Press and hold TUNING +/– for high speed tuning.

8. Play with Bluetooth Device

This unit can be used as a Bluetooth receiver.

• When paired as a receiver, audio can be streamed to the unit from a transmitter.
  

9. Play from Bluetooth Device

Bluetooth technology allows you to stream content wirelessly between devices without having to connect a single cable. With your device connected to your Onkyo receiver via Bluetooth, your home theater system is where your device will output sound rather than its built-in speakers. Playback can take place normally. The following steps are examples of playback options for your devices.

10. Apps for Streaming

There are multiple apps that can be downloaded from the Google Play Store for the purpose of playing or streaming music and audio on your device.

1. Open the Google Play Store.
   

1. Within the Google Play Store, tap Categories then Music & Audio.
   

1. Browse through the listed music apps and select the one you prefer. You can even check the most popular ones by tapping Top Charts.
   

Some popular Apps for streaming or playing music are:

Spotify allows you to search for any track, artist or album and listen for free. Make and share playlists. Build your biggest, best ever music collection. Get inspired with personal recommendations, and readymade playlists for just about everything. Listen absolutely free with ads, or get Spotify Premium.

Google Play Music gives you millions of songs and thousands of playlists for any situation. Powered by Google, we serve up music based on where you are and why you’re listening, getting smarter and more assistive as we get to know your tastes. Subscribe to create playlists, listen offline, and get ad-free YouTube with YouTube Red (where available).

SoundCloud is the world's largest music and audio streaming platform – 150 million tracks and growing. With a buzzing community of artists and musicians constantly uploading new music, SoundCloud is where you can find the next big artists alongside chart-topping albums, live sets, and mixes for every occasion.

Pandora gives you a personalized music experience that continually evolves with your tastes. Create stations from your favorite songs, artists or genres. Or search browse to find recommended stations for your mood or activity.

11. Apps for Streaming

There are multiple apps that can be downloaded from the Apple App Store for the purpose of playing or streaming music and audio on your device.

1. Open the App Store.
   

1. Within the App Store, tap Apps.
   

1. Scroll down to Categories and tap See All.
   

1. Tap Music.
   

1. Select the App you want or tap See All to see more.
   

Some popular Apps for streaming or playing music are:

Spotify allows you to search for any track, artist or album and listen for free. Make and share playlists. Build your biggest, best ever music collection. Get inspired with personal recommendations, and readymade playlists for just about everything. Listen absolutely free with ads, or get Spotify Premium.

Apple Music gives unlimited access to millions of songs and your entire music library—totally ad-free. Apple Music works seamlessly with your iTunes library to give your personal music collection a major upgrade. Start your trial today, cancel anytime.

Google Play Music gives you millions of songs and thousands of playlists for any situation. Powered by Google, we serve up music based on where you are and why you’re listening, getting smarter and more assistive as we get to know your tastes. Subscribe to create playlists, listen offline, and get ad-free YouTube with YouTube Red (where available).

SoundCloud is the world's largest music and audio streaming platform – 150 million tracks and growing. With a buzzing community of artists and musicians constantly uploading new music, SoundCloud is where you can find the next big artists alongside chart-topping albums, live sets, and mixes for every occasion.

Pandora gives you a personalized music experience that continually evolves with your tastes. Create stations from your favorite songs, artists or genres. Or search browse to find recommended stations for your mood or activity.

12. Bluetooth Playback Options

Now that your device is outputting its audio via Bluetooth, media playback can take place normally. All audio that is played will now be played through the connected Bluetooth device instead of the built-in speakers. Common playback options can be found below.

• Groove Music is a music player app that was introduced by Windows 10 and its primary role is playing music stored locally on our devices. The Groove Music app is useful for many: it is one of the best universal Windows apps, and with it, you can play your locally stored mp3 library, or even listen to the songs you have stored in your OneDrive.
  

• Windows Media Player 12 is a common media player option built into Windows 7, Windows 8.1, and Windows 10 for playing music and video files. Windows Media Player has the ability to play music, rip music from and copy music to compact discs, burn discs in audio CD format, or as data discs with playlists such as an MP3 CD.
  

• Spotify is like a jukebox you only need to feed once, or a radio that plays what you want in between ads. Spotify’s music library contains everything from mainstream pop hits to obscure death metal classics.
  

• iTunes is a media player made by Apple that is used for playing digital music or video files. iTunes is also used to purchase digital music files or subscribe to podcasts through Apple's iTunes Music Store.
  

• VLC Media Player is a free and open source media player. VLC is a portable multimedia player, encoder, and streamer supporting many audio and video codecs and file formats as well as DVDs, VCDs, and various streaming protocols.
  

13. Bluetooth Playback Options

Now that your device is outputting its audio via Bluetooth, media playback can take place normally. All audio that is played will now be played through the connected Bluetooth device instead of the built-in speakers. Common playback options can be found below.

• iTunes is the default music playback software built into the Apple operating system and is standard on all Apple Mac computers used for playing digital music or video files. iTunes is also used to purchase digital music files or subscribe to podcasts through Apple's iTunes Music Store.
  

• Spotify is like a jukebox you only need to feed once, or a radio that plays what you want in between ads. Spotify’s music library contains everything from mainstream pop hits to obscure death metal classics.
  

• VLC Media Player is a free and open source media player. VLC is a portable multimedia player, encoder, and streamer supporting many audio and video codecs and file formats as well as DVDs, VCDs, and various streaming protocols.
  

• Amazon offers free music streaming with Prime, a paid music service for an additional monthly fee, direct MP3 sales, a way to get MP3s when you purchase audio CDs, and a music locker you can upload your own songs to.
  

14. Play or Stream

For other types of devices, please refer to their respective documentation for more information on available software and apps for music and audio playback.

15. Pair Bluetooth Devices to Your Onkyo HT-S3900 Home Theater System

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