Pioneer VSX-03TXH manual About Neural THX Surround

Additional information

•THX Loudness Plus Description

THX Loudness Plus is a new volume control technology featured in THX Ultra2 Plus™ and THX Select2 Plus™ Certified amplifiers. With THX Loudness Plus, home theater audiences can now experience the rich details in a surround mix at any volume level. A consequence of turning the volume below Reference Level is that certain sound elements can be lost or perceived differently by the listener. THX Loudness Plus compensates for the tonal and spatial shifts that occur when the volume is reduced by intelligently adjusting ambient surround channel levels and frequency response. This enables users to experience the true impact of soundtracks regardless of the volume setting. THX Loudness Plus is automatically applied when listening in any THX listening mode. The new THX Cinema, THX Music, and THX Games modes are tailored to apply the proper THX Loudness Plus settings for each type of content.

•ASA Description

ASA is a proprietary THX technology which processes the sound fed to 2 side and 2 back surround speakers to provide the optimal surround sound experience. When you set up your home theater system using all eight speaker outputs (Left, Center, Right, Surround Right, Surround Back Right, Surround Back Left, Surround Left and Subwoofer), be sure to go to the THX Audio Set-up screen and choose the setting that most closely corresponds to the speaker spacing, which will re-optimize the surround sound-field. ASA is used in three modes; THX Ultra2 Cinema, THX Ultra2 Music and THX Ultra2 Games.

•THX Select2 Cinema

THX Select2 Cinema mode plays 5.1 movies using all 8 speakers giving you the best possible movie watching experience. In this mode, ASA processing blends the side surround speakers and back surround speakers providing the optimal mix of ambient and directional surround sounds.

DTS-ES (Matrix and 6.1 Discrete) and Dolby Digital Surround EX encoded soundtracks will be automatically detected in Select2 Cinema mode if the appropriate flag has been encoded.

Some Dolby Digital Surround EX soundtracks are missing the digital flag that allows automatic switching. If you know that the movie that you are watching is encoded in Surround EX, you can manually select the THX Surround EX playback mode, otherwise THX Select2 Cinema mode will apply ASA processing to provide optimum replay.

•THX Select2 Music

For the playback of multi-channel music the THX Select2 Music mode should be selected. In this mode THX ASA processing is applied to the surround channels of all 5.1 encoded music sources such as DTS, Dolby Digital and DVD-Audio to provide a wide stable rear soundstage.

•THX Select2 Games

For the playback of stereo and multi-channel game audio the THX Select2 Games mode should be selected. In this mode THX ASA processing is applied to the surround channels of all 5.1 and 2.0 encoded game sources such as analog, PCM, DTS and Dolby Digital. This accurately places all game audio surround information, providing a full 360 degree playback environment. THX Select2 Games mode is unique as it gives you a smooth transition of audio in all points of the surround field.

THX, the THX logo and Select2 Plus are trademarks of THX Ltd. which may be registered in some jurisdictions. All rights reserved. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

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About Neural – THX Surround

Neural-THX®Surround is taking surround sound to the next level. This revolutionary new technology delivers the rich envelopment and discrete image detail of surround sound in a format that is fully compatible with stereo from various content sources. Neural-THX Surround enables 5.1, 6.1 and 7.1-channel support for gaming, movies and digital music. By unmasking the audio details, typically lost by other playback modes, audiences will experience the deep ambience and subtle details of movies, music and games.

Neural-THX®Digital Music™ is a new surround mode specifically designed to enhance the playback of compressed digital music content. It provides listeners with an expanded sound stage and clean surround experience, even with compressed audio sources such as MP3s and Internet streams.

Neural-THX Surround has been chosen as the official surround sound format for XM Satellite Radio’s “XM HD Surround,” TV sports broadcasting, 7.1 games, Music Direct Internet streaming as well as leading FM/HD radio stations worldwide. And with this technology being used by sound designers during content creation, as well as embedded into playback devices, Neural-THX Surround promises a listening experience that is true to the original mix.

For additional information, please visit www.neuralsurround.com. This product is manufactured under license from Neural Audio Corporation and THX Ltd. PIONEER hereby grants the user a non- exclusive, non-transferable, limited right of use to this product under USA and foreign patent, patent pending and other technology or trademarks owned by Neural Audio Corporation and THX Ltd. “Neural Surround”, “Neural Audio”, “Neural” and “NRL” are trademarks and logos owned by Neural Audio Corporation, THX is a trademark of THX Ltd., which may be registered in some jurisdictions. All rights reserved.

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