Harman-Kardon AVR 3550HD Advanced Functions, Audio Processing and Surround Sound, Surround Modes

ADVANCED FUNCTIONS

Much of the AVR 3550HD’s performance is handled automatically, with little intervention required on your part. The AVR 3550HD is capable of being customized to suit your system and your tastes. In this section we describe some of the more advanced adjustments available.

Audio Processing and Surround Sound

Audio signals output by sources are encoded in a variety of formats that can affect not only the quality of the sound but the number of speaker channels and the surround mode. You may also manually select a different surround mode, when available.

Analog Audio Signals

Analog audio signals usually consist of two channels – left and right. The AVR 3550HD offers three options for playback:

1.Analog Bypass Mode: The 2-channel signal is passed directly from the input to the volume control, without being digitized or undergoing any processing for bass management or surround sound. To select analog bypass mode:

a)The analog audio inputs for the source must be selected. If necessary, press the Info Button on the remote and use the ⁄ /¤ Buttons to scroll to the Audio Input from source setting.

b)The tone controls must be disabled by setting Tone Control to Off. Press the Audio Effects Button to access the Tone Control setting.

c)The 2-channel Stereo mode must be selected. Press the Surround Modes Button to access the STEREO line of the Surround Modes submenu. Press the OK Button to select 2-channel Stereo.

When the Tone Control setting is Off, the front speakers will be set to Large automatically, indicated by double boxes in the Speaker/Channel Input Indicators. When the Tone Control setting is turned On, if you have set the front speaker crossover to a numeric setting, the front speakers will return to the Small setting, indicated by single boxes in the Speaker/ Channel Input Indicators.

2.DSP Surround Off Mode: The DSP Surround Off mode digitizes the incoming signal and applies the bass management settings, including speaker configuration, delay times and output levels. Select this mode when your front speakers are small, limited-range satellites and you are using a subwoofer. To select this mode, use a digital audio input, or turn the Tone Control setting off, and select 2-channel Stereo mode.

3.Analog Surround Modes: The AVR 3550HD is able to process

2-channel audio signals to produce multichannel surround sound, even when no surround sound has been encoded in the recording. Among the available modes are the Dolby Pro Logic II/IIx modes, the Dolby Virtual Speaker modes, the DTS Neo:6 modes, the Logic 7 modes, and the Stereo modes.

Digital Audio Signals

Digital audio signals offer greater capacity, which allows the encoding of center and surround channel information directly into the signal. The

result is improved sound quality and startling directionality, since each channel is reproduced discretely.

Even when only two channels are encoded, the digital signal allows for a higher sampling rate that delivers greater detail. High-resolution recordings sound extraordinarily distortion-free, especially at high frequencies.

Surround Modes

Surround mode selection is dependent upon the format of the incoming audio signal, as well as personal taste. Table A12 offers a brief descrip- tion of each mode and 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 disc for more information on which surround modes are available. 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 player’s audio output is set to the original bitstream rather than just PCM. Stop play and check the player’s output setting.

For any incoming signal, only a limited number of surround modes are available. Although there is never a time when all of the AVR 3550HD’s surround modes are available, there is usually a wide variety of modes available for a given input.

Multichannel digital recordings are found in the 5.1-, 6.1- or 7.1-channel formats. The channels included in a 5.1-channel recording are front left, front right, center, surround left, surround right and LFE. The LFE channel is denoted as “.1” to represent the fact that it is limited to the low frequencies.

6.1-Channel recordings add a single surround back channel, and 7.1-channel recordings add surround back left and surround back right channels to the 5.1-channel configuration. New formats are available in 7.1-channel configurations. The AVR 3550HD is able to play the new audio formats, delivering a more exciting home theater experience.

NOTE: To use the 6.1- and 7.1-channel surround modes, the Surround Back channels must be enabled. See the Manual Setup section on page 42 for more information.

The Digital formats are Dolby Digital 2.0 (two channels only), Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Digital EX (6.1), Dolby Digital Plus (7.1), Dolby TrueHD (7.1), DTS-HD High-Resolution Audio (7.1), DTS-HD Master Audio (7.1), DTS 5.1, DTS-ES (6.1 Matrix and Discrete), DTS 96/24 (5.1), 2-channel PCM modes in 32kHz, 44.1kHz, 48kHz or 96kHz, and 5.1 or 7.1 multichannel PCM.

When a digital signal is received, the AVR 3550HD detects the encoding method and the number of channels, which is displayed briefly as three numbers, separated by slashes (e.g., “3/2/.1”).

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