Harman-Kardon AVR 430 - Manual (Page 34)

OPERATION
34 OPERATION
These indicators are the L/C/R/LFE/SL/SR/SBL/SBR
letters that are inside the center boxes of the
Speaker/Channel Input Indicators @ on the front-
panel. When a standard analog signal is in use, only
the “L” and “R” indicators will light, as analog signals
have only left and right channels.
Digital signals, however, may have two, five, six or
seven channels; this depends on the program material,
its method of transmission and the way in which it was
encoded. When a digital signal is playing, the letters in
these indicators will light in response to the specific
signal being received. It is important to note that
although Dolby Digital, for example, is referred to as a
“5.1” system, not all Dolby Digital DVDs or programs
are encoded for 5.1. Thus, it is sometimes normal for
a DVD with a Dolby Digital soundtrack to trigger only
the “L” and “R” indicators.
NOTE: Many DVD discs are recorded with both “5.1”
and “2.0” versions of the same soundtrack. When
playing a DVD, always be certain to check the type of
material on the disc. Most discs show this information
in the form of a listing or icon on the back of the disc
jacket. When a disc does offer multiple soundtrack
choices, you may have to make some adjustments to
your DVD player (usually with the “Audio Select” button
or in a menu screen on the disc) to send a full 5.1
feed to the AVR 430. It is also possible for the type of
signal feed to change during the course of a DVD’s
playback. In some cases, the previews of special
material will only be recorded in 2.0 audio, while the
main feature is available in 5.1 audio. The AVR 430
will automatically sense changes to the bitstream and
channel count and reflect them in these indicators.
The letters used by the Speaker/Channel Input
Indicators @ also flash to indicate when a bitstream
has been interrupted. This will happen when a digital
input source is selected before the playback starts, or
when a digital source such as a DVD is paused. The
flashing indicators remind you that the playback has
stopped due to the absence of a digital signal and not
through any fault of the AVR 430. This is normal, and
the digital playback will resume once the playback is
started again.
Night Mode
A special feature of Dolby Digital is the Night mode,
which enables specially encoded Dolby Digital input
sources to be played back with full digital intelligibility
while reducing the minimum peak level by 1/4 to 1/3.
This prevents abruptly loud transitions from disturbing
others, without reducing the impact of the digital
source. The Night mode is available only when Dolby
Digital signals with special data are being played.
The Night mode may be engaged when a Dolby
Digital DVD is playing by pressing the Night Mode
Button
T on the remote. Next, press the ⁄ / ¤
Navigation Button o to select either the middle
range or full compression versions of the Night
mode. To turn the Night mode off, press the
⁄ / ¤
Navigation Button o until the message in the
lower third of the video display and in the Lower
Display Line $ reads
D-RANGE OFF.
The Night mode may also be selected to always be on
at either level of compression using the options in the
DOLBY SURR menu. (See page 23 for informa-
tion on using the menus to set this option.)
MP3 Audio Playback
The AVR 430 is one of the few receivers equipped for
onboard decoding for the MP3 audio format used by
computers and portable audio devices. By offering
MP3 decoding, the AVR 430 is able to deliver precise
conversion of the digital signals to an analog output,
along with the benefits of listening to the MP3 audio
through the AVR 430’s high-current amplifier and the
speakers from your surround system, rather than the
smaller speakers and low-powered amplifiers typically
used with computers.
To take advantage of the AVR 430’s MP3 capabilities,
simply connect the S/P-DIF output of a computer’s
sound card or the S/P-DIF output of a portable digital
audio device to either the rear panel Digital Inputs
or the front-panel Digital Inputs JK.
When the digital signal is available, the Lower
Display Line $ will indicate that an MP3 bitstream
is present, and the audio will begin playing.
NOTES:
• The AVR 430 is only capable of playing signals in
the MP3 (MPEG 1/Layer 3) format. It is not com-
patible with other computer audio codecs.
• The digital audio input signal may be either optical
or coaxial, but the signal must be in the S/P-DIF
format. Direct connection of USB or serial data
outputs is not possible, even though the signals
are in the MP3 format. If you have any questions
about the data output format from your computer
or a sound card, check with the device’s owner’s
manual or the manufacturer’s technical support.
• If your computer or sound card’s digital output is not
capable of direct connection to the AVR 430, you
may use an optional, external transcoder to convert
the USB output of a computer to a format compati-
ble with the AVR.
• Due to the wide variation in MP3 formats and
encoding speeds, it is possible that the AVR 430
may not be compatible with all MP3 input signals.
Some may produce unacceptable results and some
may not be decoded. This is not a fault of either the
computer or the AVR 430, but rather a by-product
of the unpredictable nature of MP3 playback.
IMPORTANT NOTES ON DIGITAL PLAYBACK:
• When the digital playback source is stopped, or in
a pause, fast forward or chapter search mode, the
digital audio data will momentarily stop, and the
channel position letters inside the Speaker/
Channel Input Indicators @ will flash. This is
normal and does not indicate a problem with either
the AVR 430 or the source machine. The AVR 430
will return to digital playback as soon as the data is
available and when the machine is in a standard
play mode.
• Although the AVR 430 will decode virtually all current
DVD movies, CDs and HDTV sources, it is possible
that some future digital sources may not be compati-
ble with the AVR 430.
• Not all digitally encoded programs contain full 5.1-
or 6.1-channel audio. Consult the program guide
that accompanies the DVD or laser disc to deter-
mine which type of audio has been recorded on the
disc. The AVR 430 will automatically sense the type
of digital surround encoding used and adjust to
accommodate it.
• When a digital source is playing, you may not be
able to select some of the analog surround modes
such as Dolby Pro Logic II, Hall, Theater or Logic 7.
• When a Dolby Digital or DTS source is playing,
it is not possible to make an analog recording using
the Tape Outputs
and Video 1 or Video 2
Audio Outputs . However, the digital signals
will be passed through to the Digital Audio
Outputs ikK.
Tuner Operation
The AVR 430’s tuner is capable of tuning AM, FM and
FM Stereo broadcast stations. Stations may be tuned
manually, or they may be stored as favorite station pre-
sets and recalled from a 30-position memory.
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