Harman-Kardon AVR 154 owner manual Surround Modes, Dolby Surround Settings

ADVANCED FUNCTIONS

NOTE: The 6.1-channel signals – Dolby Digital EX and DTS-ES Matrix and Discrete – each include a flag meant to signal the receiver to decode the surround back channel. Since the

AVR 154 is only capable of processing and playing 5.1 channels, the indications EX-OFF or ES-OFF, as appropriate, will always appear for 6.1-channel bitstreams.

Refer to Table 2 on page 42 for more information on which surround modes are available with different bitstreams.

When a PCM signal is received, the PCM message, followed by the sampling rate of the signal (32kHz, 44.1kHz, 48kHz or 96kHz), will scroll once across the front-panel display.

In addition, the Speaker/Channel Input Indicators will indicate the number of channels discretely encoded in the signal by displaying a letter inside that channel’s speaker box. The letters flash when no signal is present, such as when a DVD is paused. See Figure 44.

Even when only two channels – left and right – are present in the signal, the analog surround modes may be used to decode the signal into the remaining channels.

NOTE: Dolby Digital 2.0 signals may also include a Dolby Surround flag indicating DS-ON or DS-OFF, depending on whether the 2-channel bitstream contains just stereo informa- tion, or a downmix of a multichannel program that can be decoded by the Dolby Pro Logic decoder in the AVR. By default, these signals are played in Dolby Pro Logic II Movie mode, but you may select another Dolby surround mode manually.

Surround Modes

As mentioned in the Introduction to Home Theater section, surround mode selection is dependent upon the format of the incoming audio signal, as well as personal taste. There is no harm in experimenting with all of the modes available with any given source material. Table 2 offers a brief description of each mode the AVR 154 is capable of using, and also 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 DVD for more information on which surround modes are available on the disc. Usually nonessential sections of the disc, such as trailers, extra materials or the disc menu, are only available in Dolby Digital 2.0 (2-channel) or PCM 2-channel mode. If the main title is playing and the letters in the Speaker/Channel Input Indicators are not lit for all speaker locations, look for an audio setup section in the disc’s menu. Also, make sure your DVD player’s audio output is set to the original bitstream rather than just PCM. Check the DVD player’s output setting by stopping play of the disc and checking the DVD player’s menu system.

As indicated in Table 2, different surround modes may only be available with certain input signals or bitstream formats. For any incoming signal, only a limited number of surround modes are available. Although there is

never a time when all of the AVR 154’s surround modes are available, there is usually a wide variety of modes available for a given input.

There are three methods of manually selecting one of the available surround modes:

1.From the front panel, press the Surround Mode Button until the desired mode group (Dolby, DTS, DSP, Stereo, Logic 7) is selected, and the last-used mode from that group will be activated. Then press the Surround Select Button repeatedly to scroll through the modes available within that group.

2.Using the remote, press the button for the desired mode group:

Dolby Sur for the Dolby modes DTS Sur for the DTS Digital modes DTS Neo:6 for the DTS Neo:6 modes Logic 7 for the Logic 7 modes

Stereo for the Stereo or Surround Off modes

Surr for the DSP Surround modes (Hall 1, Hall 2, Theater)

Press the mode button repeatedly to scroll through the modes available within that group.

3.The full-OSD menu system allows access to submenus for each of the mode groups through the Surround Select menu. See Figure 64.

Figure 64 – Surround Select Menu Screen

Navigate to the line for the desired surround mode group, and press the OK Button to access the submenu for that group. In most cases, the submenu consists of only two lines:

1.MODE: Displays the currently selected mode. Use the ‹ / › Buttons to scroll through the available modes.

2.BACK TO SURROUND SELECT: May be used to exit the submenu. The Dolby Surround submenu adds some advanced settings.

Dolby Surround Settings

In addition to the MODE line, the DOLBY SURROUND submenu includes three settings that are active only when the Dolby Pro Logic II Music mode has been selected. See Figure 65.

40