Note that the S170's front-panel readout (and, momentarily, the OSD, if so enabled; see Display Setup, above) will always indicate the signal-format of the currently selected source. The table below lists the primary readings; multichannel readouts show the number of channels employed in the format front/surround/LFE, or simply front/surround.
Source | Readout/OSD |
| |
Analog | Analog |
Digital PCM | Digital PCM |
Multichannel (Dolby Digital) | Dolby D 3/2/.1 (full surround) |
| Dolby D 3/1/.1 |
| Dolby D 2/0 |
| etc. |
Multichannel (DTS) | dts 3/2/.1 (full surround) |
| dts 3/1/.1 |
| dts 2/0 |
| etc. |
SELECTING LISTENING MODES
From the S70 remote's PREAMP menu, select [MODE/MULTI.S]; then press the [Mode •] key; the [Cursor up/down] keys will now cycle through all of the S170 listening modes that are available for the current input signal type (see table, above).
NOTE THAT:
•The S170's front-panel readout (and OSD, depending on Display Setup, above) will always indicate the currently selected listening mode.
•You must re-key [Mode •] if more than five seconds have passed since your last use of the [Cursor up/down] to change listening modes.
•Neither changing the selected input, cycling the S170 through Standby or powering down, nor engaging mute will change the selected listening mode.
•Changing the type of signal will change the listening mode if the new signal is a digital-multichannel recording, or is incompatible with the selected mode. For example: After listening to a CD played on a DVD/CD player via the EARS listening mode, you remove the CD and replace with a 5.1-channel multichannel DTS CD recording. The S170 will automatically engage DTS/5.1 playback.
ABOUT THE THX MODE
In addition to certifying very high fundamental multichannel audio performance from components awarded the THX/Ultra logo, Lucasfilm Ltd.'s Home THX program also mandates that Ultra components include the THX mode. This incorporates three fundamental surround-audio enhancements:
•Re-equalization contours high frequencies from the front channels to better match the tonal balance of the original film soundtrack as reproduced on the "dubbing stage" on which the director and sound-mixers auditioned the film during its production.
•Timbre-matching compensates for the lateral/rearward placement of surround loudspeakers in a correctly deployed surround home-theater system, achieving a more consistent tonal characteristic from sounds originating from any point around the audience positions.
•Decorrelation mitigates the monaural surround channel delivered by all Pro Logic recordings (and some Dolby Digital and DTS sources), yielding more spacious, natural reproduction of a film's ambience and "virtual acoustics."
ENGAGING THX
From the From the S70 remote's PREAMP menu, select [MODE/MULTI.S]; then press the [•THX] key; THX surround will be engaged. Subsequent presses of the [•THX] key will "toggle" between standard-THX and THX Surround EX modes. To defeat the THX modes altogether and return to the listening mode selected by the [Cursor up/down] keys without additional enhancement, press the [•Mode] key again.
NOTE THAT:
•THX modes are only available to digital-input sources: Dolby Digital; DTS; PCM
•For PCM sources, the Dolby Pro Logic listening mode must previously have been engaged via the remote's [MODE/MULTI.S] page.
•"Incompatible Source" will appear on the OSD and front-panel readout when THX is invoked for an analog source, when Pro Logic is not the current listening mode, or when THX Surround EX is invoked for a PCM source or a Dolby Digital or DTS non-discrete-surround source (2/0/0, 2/1/0, 3/1/1, etc.).
