Yamaha YSP-1100 owner manual Using Sound Field Programs, What is a sound field?, 50 En

USING SOUND FIELD PROGRAMS

This unit is equipped with a variety of precise digital decoders that allow you to enjoy multi-channel playback from stereo or multi-channel sources. This unit is also equipped with a YAMAHA CINEMA DSP (digital sound field processing) chip containing several sound field programs which you can use to enhance your playback experience. Most of the sound field programs are precise digital recreations of actual acoustic environments found in famous concert halls, music venues and movie theaters.

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The YAMAHA CINEMA DSP modes are compatible with all Dolby Digital, DTS and Dolby Surround sources.

Note

Choose a sound field program based on your listening preference and do not purely rely on the name of the sound field program itself.

What is a sound field?

A significant factor that creates the rich, full tones of a live instrument are the multiple reflections from the walls of the room. In addition to making the sound live, these reflections enable the listener to tell where the player is situated as well as the size and shape of the room in which the listening is sitting.

■Elements of a sound field

In any environment, there are two distinct types of sound reflections that combine with the direct sound coming straight to our ears from the player’s instrument to make up the sound field.

Early reflections

Reflected sounds reach our ears extremely rapidly (50 ms to 80 ms after the direct sound) after reflecting from one surface only (from the ceiling or a wall, for example). Early reflections help add clarity to the direct sound.

Reverberations

These are caused by reflections from more than one surface (i.e. wall, ceiling, the back of the room, etc.) so numerous that they merge together to form a continuous sonic afterglow. They are non-directional and lessen the clarity of the direct sound.

Direct sound, early reflections and subsequent reverberation taken together help us to determine the subjective size and shape of the room, and it is this information that the digital sound field processor reproduces in order to create sound fields.

If you could create the appropriate early reflections and subsequent reverberations in your listening room, you would be able to create your own listening environment. The acoustics in your room could be changed to those of a concert hall, a dance floor or a listening room of virtually any size at all. This ability to create sound fields at will is exactly what YAMAHA has done with the CINEMA DSP technology.

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