Harman-Kardon AVR 145 owner manual Advanced Functions, Surround Modes

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 145 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.

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

In addition, the Speaker/Channel Input Indicators will indicate the num- ber 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.

Figure 64 – Speaker/Channel Input Indicators

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

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 5 offers a brief description of each mode the AVR 145 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. Be aware that 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 of 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 5, 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 145’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 sur- round 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 Surr for Dolby modes DTS Sur for 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.

Figure 65 – Surround Select Menu Screen

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

1.A MODE line, which displays the currently selected mode. Use the ‹/› Buttons to scroll through the available modes.

2.A BACK TO SURROUND SELECT line, which may be used to exit the submenu.

The Dolby Surround submenu adds some advanced settings.

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