PCM Effects and Parameters

MC-1 Digital Controller

ROLLOFF mimics the absorption of the air in the hall and, typically, should begin with a low frequency to simulate large spaces.

SIDE LEVEL controls the volume level of the side speakers. Although we have selected a default value, the correct setting will vary with each recording, the room, and your personal taste.

SIDE ROLLOFF provides a high frequency cutoff for the side speakers. The optimal setting for this control will vary widely with the source material.

SOUNDSTAGE controls the level of the surround speakers relative to the front speakers in a dynamic way. The MC-1 attempts to detect whether or not the sound source was originally encoded from a surround source by looking for occasional bursts of rear-steered material, and by identifying the directional orientation of the background sound between strong sounds. Whenever there is an indication that the source was originally surround encoded, the Soundstage control automattically reverts to the REAR setting — which gives the rear speakers full level. The NEUTRAL position attenuates the rear speakers 3dB. The FRONT position attenuates the rear speakers 6dB. The effect is to move the listening position forward in the listening space.

SPEECH DETECT activates a circuit that distinguishes monaural speech from other inputs. Essentially, this control turns down the effect to make speech clearer. Whenever stereo signals are present, the right and left input channels are used independently as inputs to the ambi- ence synthesis. If there is a strong monaural speaking voice present at the same time, this component of the input to the effect is reduced while the stereo component is increased.

If the input signal is pure monaural speech the reverb is almost entirely attenuated. SPEECH DETECT is a real benefit to some popular music (where spoken voice, such as rap, occurs along with the music), stereo television and early stereo movies. Any stereo material which was not carefully mixed for Surround is a good candidate for playing through the Nightclub, Concert Hall, Church or Cathedral Effect with speech detect on.

SUBWOOFER LVL boosts or cuts the subwoofer output level. Although the normal subwoofer level is set during the calibration procedure, with some recordings it may be desirable to increase or decrease this deep bass level.

SURROUND LEVEL adjusts the loudness of the signals sent to the rear channels. This control should be set so that the rear is audible without calling attention to itself. Numerical values and screen graphics are displayed during adjustment. The settings also affect the level of the side outputs.