Harman-Kardon AVR 146 - Manual (Page 40)

Much of the AVR 146’s performance is handled automatically, with
little intervention required on your part. However, the AVR 146 is a
sophisticated component, and is capable of being customized to suit
your particular system and your tastes. In this section we describe some
of the more advanced adjustments available on the AVR 146. You may
save this section for later, when you have become more familiar with
your receiver.
Audio Processing and Surround Sound
Audio signals generated by sources are encoded in a variety of formats
that can affect not only the quality of the sound but the number of
speaker channels and the surround mode. You may also manually select
a different surround mode, although for certain types of audio signals,
the modes available will be limited in certain ways, as described below.
Analog Audio Signals
Analog audio signals usually consist of two channels – left and right.
The AVR 146 offers three basic options for playback of analog audio:
1. Analog Bypass Mode: In this mode, the 2-channel signal is passed
directly to the volume control, without being digitized or undergoing
any processing for bass management or surround sound. The
requirements for selecting analog bypass mode are:
a) The analog audio inputs for the source must be selected. If necessary,
press the Digital Button on the remote and use the ⁄ / ¤ Buttons
to make the selection.
b) The tone controls must be disabled by setting TONE MODE to OUT.
Either use the Input Setup menu in the full-OSD system to make
this change, or press the Tone Mode Button on the front panel or
remote and use the
⁄ / ¤ Buttons until the TONE OUT message
appears.
c) The Surround Off mode must be selected. The easiest way to
select the Surround Off mode is to press the Stereo Button on the
remote until the Surround Off icon is lit (and the DSP icon is
not lit)
in the front-panel display.
2. DSP Surround Off Mode: The DSP Surround Off mode digitizes the
incoming signal and applies the bass management settings, including
speaker configuration, delay times and output levels. This mode is
desirable when your front speakers are small, limited-range satellites
and you are using a subwoofer. Both the DSP and Surround Off icons
will be lit when this mode is active. Press the Stereo Button on the
remote repeatedly to select this mode.
3. Analog Surround Modes: One of the main benefits of a surround
receiver such as the AVR 146 is its ability to process 2-channel
audio signals to produce multichannel surround sound in a variety
of modes, even when no surround sound has been encoded in the
recording. Among the available modes are the Dolby Pro Logic II
modes, the Dolby Virtual Speaker modes, the DTS Neo:6 modes, the
Logic 7 modes, the Hall and Theater modes and the Stereo modes.
Digital Audio Signals
Digital audio signals offer the benefit of greater capacity, which allows
recording artists to encode center and surround channel information
directly into the signal. The result is improved sound quality and startling
directionality, since each of these channels is reproduced discretely.
Alternatively, the artist may encode only two channels, but the digital
signal allows for a higher sampling rate that delivers greater detail.
High-resolution recordings usually sound extraordinarily distortion-free
at all frequencies, but especially at high frequencies.
Multichannel digital recordings usually are found in the 5.1-, 6.1- or
7.1-channel formats. The channels included in a 5.1-channel recording
are front left, front right, center, surround left, surround right and LFE.
The LFE channel is denoted as “.1” to represent the fact that it is not
full-range, being limited to the low frequencies.
6.1-Channel recordings add a single surround back channel, and
7.1-channel recordings add surround back left and surround back
right channels to the 5.1-channel configuration. The AVR 146 is unable
to play the surround back channels in these recordings, and will use
5.1-channel (or fewer) surround modes.
Digital formats include Dolby Digital 2.0 (two channels only), Dolby
Digital 5.1, DTS 5.1, DTS 96/24 and 2-channel PCM modes in
32 kHz, 44.1kHz, 48kHz or 96kHz.
When a digital signal is received, the AVR 146 detects the encoding
method and the number of channels. The appropriate icon will light
in the front panel for Dolby Digital and DTS signals. The number of
channels encoded will scroll once across the front panel display as
three numbers, separated by slashes (e.g., “3/2/.1”).
The first number indicates the number of front channels in the signal:
“1” represents a monophonic recording, usually an older program that
has been digitally remastered or, more rarely, a modern program
for which the director has chosen a special effect.
“2” indicates the presence of the left and right channels, but no
center channel.
“3” indicates that all three front channels (left, right and center) are
present.
The second number indicates whether any surround channels are
present:
“0” indicates that no surround information is present.
“1” indicates that a matrixed surround signal is present.
“2” indicates discrete left and right surround channels.
The third number is used for the LFE channel:
“0” indicates no LFE channel.
“.1” indicates that an LFE channel is present.
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ADVANCED FUNCTIONS
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