Advanced functions – Harman-Kardon AVR 3650 User Manual

Page 33

AVR

Advanced Functions

Advanced Functions

Much of the adjusting and conﬁguration your AVR requires is handled automatically,
with little intervention required on your part. You can also customize your AVR to
suit your system and your tastes. In this section we will describe some of the more
advanced adjustments available to you.

Audio Processing and Surround Sound

Audio signals can be 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, when available.

Analog Audio Signals

Analog audio signals usually consist of two channels – left and right. Your AVR offers
two options for analog playback:

1. 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. Select this mode when your front speakers are small,
limited-range satellites and you are using a subwoofer. To select this mode, use a
digital audio input or turn the Tone Control setting off, then select 2 CH Stereo mode.

2. Analog Surround Modes: Your AVR is able to process two-channel audio signals
to produce multichannel surround sound, even when no surround sound has been
encoded in the recording. Among the available modes are the Dolby Pro Logic II/IIx/
IIz, HARMAN Virtual Speaker, DTS Neo:6, Logic 7, 5 CH and 7 CH Stereo modes. To
select one of these modes, press the Surround Modes button.

Digital Audio Signals

Digital audio signals offer greater ﬂexibility and capacity than analog signals, and
allow the encoding of discrete channel information directly into the signal. The result
is improved sound quality and startling directionality, since each channel’s information
is transmitted discretely. High-resolution recordings sound extraordinarily distortion-
free, especially in the high frequencies.

Surround Modes

Surround-mode selection depends upon the format of the incoming audio signal
as well as your personal taste. Although there is never a time when all of the AVR’s
surround modes are available, there is usually a wide variety of modes available for a
given input. Table A12 in the Appendix, on page 50, offers a brief description of each
mode and indicates the types of incoming signals or digital bitstreams the mode may
be used with. Additional information about the Dolby and DTS modes is available on
the companies’ Web sites: www.dolby.com and www.dtsonline.com.

When in doubt, check the jacket of your disc for more information on which surround
modes are available. Usually, nonessential sections of the disc, such as trailers, extra
materials or the disc menu, are available only in Dolby Digital 2.0 (two-channel) or
PCM two-channel mode. If the main title is playing and the display shows one of
these surround modes, look for an audio or language setup section in the disc’s
menu. Also, make sure your disc player’s audio output is set to the original bitstream
rather than two-channel PCM. Stop play and check the player’s output setting.

Multichannel digital recordings are produced in ﬁve-channel, six-channel or seven-
channel formats, with or without a “.1” channel. The channels included in a typical
5.1-channel recording are front left, front right, center, surround left, surround right
and LFE (low-frequency effects). The LFE channel is denoted as “.1” to represent
the fact that it is 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. New formats
are available in 7.1-channel conﬁgurations. Your AVR is able to play the new audio
formats, delivering a more exciting home theater experience.

NOTE: To use the 6.1- and 7.1-channel surround modes, the surround back channels
must be enabled. See Manual Speaker Setup, on page 36 for more information.

Digital formats include Dolby Digital 2.0 (two channels only), Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby
Digital EX (6.1), Dolby Digital Plus (7.1), Dolby TrueHD (7.1), DTS-HD High-Resolution
Audio (7.1), DTS-HD Master Audio (7.1), DTS 5.1, DTS-ES (6.1 Matrix and Discrete),
DTS 96/24 (5.1), two-channel PCM modes in 32kHz, 44.1kHz, 48kHz or 96kHz, and
5.1 or 7.1 multichannel PCM.

When the AVR receives a digital signal, it detects the encoding method and the
number of channels, which is displayed brieﬂy 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 mono as 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.
“3” is used with DTS-ES bitstreams to represent the presence of the discrete
surround back channel, in addition to the side surround left and right channels. “4”
is used with 7.1-channel digital formats to indicate the presence of two discrete side
surround channels and two discrete back surround channels.

The third number is used for the LFE channel: “0” indicates no LFE channel. “.1”
indicates that an LFE channel is present.

The 6.1-channel signals – Dolby Digital EX and DTS-ES Matrix and Discrete –
each include a ﬂag that signals the receiver to decode the surround back channel,
indicated as 3/2/.1 EX-ON for Dolby Digital EX materials, and 3/3/.1 ES-ON for DTS-
ES materials.

Dolby Digital 2.0 signals may include a Dolby Surround ﬂag indicating DS-ON or
DS-OFF, depending on whether the two-channel bitstream contains only stereo
information or a downmix of a multichannel program that can be decoded by the
AVR’s Dolby Pro Logic decoder. By default, these signals are played in Dolby Pro
Logic IIx Movie mode.

When a PCM signal is received, the PCM message and the sampling rate (32kHz,
44.1kHz, 48kHz or 96kHz) will appear.

When only two channels – left and right – are present, the analog surround modes
may be used to decode the signal into multiple channels. If you would prefer a
different surround format than the native signal’s digital encoding, press the Surround
Modes button to display the Surround Modes menu (see Selecting a Surround Mode,
on page 32).

The Auto Select option sets the surround mode to the native signal’s digital encoding,
e.g., Dolby Digital, DTS, Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD Master Audio. For two-channel
materials, the AVR defaults to the Logic 7 Movie mode. If you prefer a different
surround mode, select the surround-mode category: Virtual Surround, Stereo, Movie,
Music or Video Game. Press the OK button to change the mode.

Each surround-mode category is set to a default surround mode:

• Virtual Surround: HARMAN virtual speaker.

• Stereo: 7-CH Stereo or 5-CH Stereo (depending on how many main speakers are

present in the system).

• Movie: Logic 7 Movie.

• Music: Logic 7 Music.

• Video Game: Logic 7 Game.

You may select a different mode for each category. Below is a complete list of
available surround modes. (The actual surround modes available will depend on the
number of speakers in your system.)

• Virtual Surround: HARMAN virtual speaker.

• Stereo: 2-CH Stereo, 5-CH Stereo or 7-CH Stereo.

• Movie: Logic 7 Movie, DTS Neo:6 Cinema, Dolby Pro Logic II Movie, Dolby Pro Logic

IIx Movie, Dolby Pro Logic IIz.

• Music: Logic 7 Music, DTS Neo:6 Music, Dolby Pro Logic II Music, Dolby Pro Logic

IIx Music, Dolby Pro Logic IIz.

• Video Game: Logic 7 Game, Dolby Pro Logic II Game, Dolby Pro Logic IIx Game,

Dolby Pro Logic IIz.

Once you have programmed the surround mode for each type of audio, select the
line from the Surround Modes menu to override the AVR’s automatic surround-mode
selection. The AVR will use the same surround mode the next time the source is
selected.

NOTE: Dolby Pro Logic IIx is available only if you have set up the AVR’s Assigned Amp
to Surround Back; Dolby Pro Logic IIz is available only if you have set up the AVR’s
Assigned Amp to Front Height. See Manual Speaker Setup, on page 36, for more
information.

Please refer to Table A12 in the Appendix for more information on which surround
modes are available with different bitstreams.