Harman-Kardon AVR 255, AVR 355 Operation, Surround Modes, Dolby Surround Settings, English

Operation

For DTS-ES materials, the incoming bitstream will be displayed as 3/3/.1 ES-ON.

When a PCM signal is received, the PCM message, followed by the sampling rate of the signal (32kHz, 44.1kHz, 48kHz or 96kHz), will appear in 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. A line will connect the SBL and SBR boxes when a 6.1- channel signal is detected, indicating that the same signal is playing through both speakers. The letters flash when no signal is present, such as when a DVD is paused.

L	C	R
	LFE
SL		SR
SBL		SBR	Speaker/Channel Input Indicators

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

Figure 14 – Surround Modes

If you would prefer a different surround format than the native signal’s digital encoding, press the Surround Modes Button to display the Surround Modes menu (see Figure 14).

The Auto Select option (the first line) uses the native signal’s digital encoding, e.g. Dolby Digital or DTS. For two-channel materials, the AVR defaults to Logic 7 Movie mode. If you prefer a different surround processing mode, select the appropriate line from the menu: Virtual Surround, Stereo, Movie, Music or Video Game.

Each line is set to a default surround mode:

•Virtual Surround: Dolby Virtual Speaker Reference

•Stereo: 7-channel stereo

•Movie: Logic 7 Movie

•Music: Logic 7 Music

•Video Game: Logic 7 Game

You may change each line’s setting to a different surround mode. The choice of new modes depends on the number of speakers in your system.

•Virtual Surround: Dolby Virtual Speaker Reference or Wide

•Stereo: 2-channel stereo, 5-channel stereo or 7-channel stereo

•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.

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 information, 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.

Surround Modes

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. 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 or language 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.

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 355/

AVR 255’s surround modes are available, there is usually a wide variety of modes available for a given input.

To select a surround mode, press the Surround Modes Button S￿, select either Auto Select - AVR Selects Best Mode, or move the blue line to the other options: Virtual Surround, Stereo, Movie, Music and Video Game. Each of these 5 options permit several selections, accessed by pressing the OK Button (See Figure 14).

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 15.

Figure 15 – 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 soundstage 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.

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.

ENGLISH

OPERATION 33