Harman-Kardon AVR 354 owner manual Dolby Surround Settings, Night Mode

ADVANCED FUNCTIONS

•Movie: Logic 7 Movie, DTS Neo 6:Cinema, Dolby Pro Logic II Movie, Dolby Pro Logic IIx Movie

•Music: Logic 7 Music, DTS Neo 6:Music, Dolby Pro Logic II Music, Dolby Pro Logic IIx Music

•Video Game: Logic 7 Game, Dolby Pro Logic II Game, Dolby Pro Logic IIx Game

When one of the Dolby Pro Logic II Music modes is selected, access to the Edit submenu becomes available. This submenu may be used to adjust special settings available only in Music mode: Center Width, Dimension and Panorama.

Once you have programmed the default surround mode for each type of program, simply select the line from the Surround Modes menu any time you wish to override the AVR’s automatic surround mode selection. The AVR will use the same surround mode the next time the source input is selected.

Please refer to Table A12 in the appendix for more information on which surround modes are available with different bitstreams.

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 only 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 IIx Movie mode, but you may select another Dolby surround mode manually.

Dolby Surround Settings

Some additional settings are available for Dolby modes. Three settings are active only when the Dolby Pro Logic II or IIx Music modes have been selected. See Figure 64.

Panorama: With the Panorama mode turned ON, some of the sound from the front speakers is moved to the surround speakers, creating an enveloping “wraparound” type of effect. Each press of the OK Button toggles the setting on or off.

Night Mode

Night mode is available with some Dolby Digital programs, if it has been encoded in the material. It compresses the peak sound levels, maintain- ing the intelligibility of the dialogue and quieter passages, while reducing the loudness of special effects and louder passages to avoid disturbing others. Night Mode is accessed from the Audio Effects menu. Press the Audio Effects Button and scroll down to the Night Mode line. Three levels of compression are available:

Off: At this setting, there is no compression, as the Night mode is deactivated.

Half: A mild compression is applied.

Full: More compression is applied.

Table A12 provides descriptions of all surround modes available on the AVR 354, along with the incoming bitstreams or signals that the particular mode may be used with. Feel free to experiment and simply cycle through all of the available modes at any time; you cannot cause any problems for the AVR 354 by doing so.

NOTE: To access 6.1- and 7.1-channel modes, such as Dolby Digital EX, DTS-ES, Logic 7 (7.1 modes), DTS Neo:6 (6.1 modes), and 7-channel Stereo, you must enable the surround back channels as explained in the Manual Setup section. You should not enable these channels if you don’t have surround back speakers in your system.

Figure 64 – Dolby Pro Logic II/IIx Music Mode Settings

Center Width: This setting affects how vocals sound through the three front speakers. A higher number (up to 7) focuses the vocal information tightly on the center channel. Lower numbers broaden the vocal sound- stage across the three speakers. Use the ‹ / › Buttons to change the setting.

Dimension: This setting affects the depth of the surround presentation, allowing you to “move” the sound toward the front or rear of the room. The setting of “0” is a neutral default. Setting “F-3” moves the sound mostly toward the front of the room, while setting “R-3” moves the sound mostly toward the rear. Use the ‹ / › Buttons to change the setting.

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