the program material, the method of transmission and the way in which it was encoded. When a digital signal is playing, the letters in these indicators will light in response to the specific signal being received. It is important to note that although Dolby Digital, for example, is referred to as a “5.1” system, not all Dolby Digital DVDs or programs are encoded for 5.1. Thus, it is sometimes normal for a DVD with a Dolby Digital soundtrack to trigger only the “L” and “R” indicators.
NOTE: Many DVD discs are recorded with both “5.1” and “2.0” versions of the same soundtrack. When playing a DVD, always be certain to check the type of material on the disc. Most discs show this information in the form of a listing or icon on the back of the disc jacket. When a disc does offer multiple soundtrack choices, you may have to make some adjustments to your DVD player (usually with the “Audio Select” button or in a menu screen on the disc) to send a full
5.1feed to the AVR580. It is also possible for the type of signal feed to change dur- ing the course of a DVD playback. In some cases, the previews of special material will only be recorded in 2.0 audio, while the main feature is available in 5.1 audio. The AVR580 will automati- cally sense changes to the bitstream and channel count and reflect them in these indicators.
The letters used by the Speaker/ Channel Input Indicators E also flash to indicate when a bitstream has been interrupted. This will happen when a digi- tal input source is selected before the playback starts, or when a digital source such as a DVD is paused. The flashing indicators remind you that the playback has stopped due to the absence of a digi- tal signal and not through any fault of the AVR580. This is normal, and the digital playback will resume once the playback is started again.
Night Mode
A special feature of Dolby Digital is the Night mode, which enables specially encoded Dolby Digital input sources to be played back with full digital intelligibility while reducing the minimum peak level by 1/4 to 1/3. This prevents abruptly loud transitions from disturbing others, with- out reducing the impact of the digital source. The Night mode is available only when Dolby Digital signals with special data are being played.
The Night mode may be engaged when a Dolby Digital DVD is playing by pressing the Night Mode Button l on the remote. Next, press the ⁄/¤ Buttons
nto select either the middle range or
The Night mode may also be selected to always be on at either level of compres- sion using the options in the DOLBY menu. See page 23 for information on using the menus to set this option.
IMPORTANT NOTES ON DIGITAL PLAYBACK:
•When the digital playback source is stopped, or in a pause, fast forward or chapter search mode, the digital audio data will momentarily stop, and the channel position letters inside the
Speaker/ Channel Input Indicators
E will flash. This is normal and does not indicate a problem with either the AVR580 or the source machine. The AVR580 will return to digital playback as soon as the data is available and when the machine is in a standard play mode.
•Although the AVR580 will decode virtu- ally all current DVD movies, CDs and HDTV sources, it is possible that some future digital sources may not be com- patible with the AVR580.
•Not all digitally encoded programs contain full 5.1- or
•When a digital source is playing, you may not be able to select some of the analog surround modes such as Dolby Pro Logic II, Dolby 3, Stereo, Hall, Theater or Logic 7.
•When a Dolby Digital or DTS source is playing, it is not possible to make an analog recording using the Tape Outputs 33 and Video 1 or Video 2 Audio Outputs 36 39 . However, the
digital signals will be passed through to the Digital Audio Outputs gi.
PCM Audio Playback
PCM (Pulse Code Modulation) is the non- compressed digital audio system used for compact discs and laser discs. The digital circuits in the AVR580 are capable of
Connections may be made to either the
3134 or the
&*.
To listen to a PCM digital source, first select the input for the desired source (e.g., CD). Next press the Digital Select Button Pq and then use the ⁄/¤ Buttons n on the remote, or the ‹/› Selector Buttons )# on the front panel, until the desired choice appears in the Main Information Display ˜.
During PCM playback, you may select any Surround mode except Dolby Digital or DTS.
MP3 Audio Playback
The AVR580 is one of the few receivers equipped for onboard decoding for the MP3 audio format used by computers and portable audio devices. By offering MP3 decoding, the AVR580 is able to deliver precise conversion of the digital signals to an analog output, along with the bene- fits of listening to the MP3 audio through the AVR580’s
To take advantage of the AVR580’s MP3 capabilities, simply connect the PCM out- put of a computer’s sound card or the PCM output of a portable digital audio device to either the
NOTES:
• The AVR580 is only capable of playing signals in the MP3 (MPEG 1/Layer 3) format. It is not compatible with other computer audio codecs.
33
continued on p. 35
