JBL ESC333 setup guide Surround Modes, Test Tone, Phantom, StereoMode

Surround Modes

Surround

Use this mode for films recorded using Dolby Digital or Dolby Pro Logic Surround.

Phantom

This mode creates surround sound from stereo recordings. The center channel is not used and the surround channels have a 20-ms delay.

3-Stereo Mode

Use this mode to play back Pro Logic-encoded films when you do not want the surround channels to play.

Stereo

This mode plays a recording in traditional two-channel stereo.

Test Tone

The Test Tone is used to calibrate the volume settings of each of the speakers in the ESC333. It is dependent on the room where the system is set up and the relative distances and positions of each speaker to the listening position. In Dolby Digital mode, a static-like noise will be heard cycling, in order: left front, center, right front, right surround, left surround, subwoofer. In modes other than Dolby Digital, the sound from the two surrounds will be coming at the same time, since the surrounds in all available modes, except in Dolby Digital, are in mono. When the Test Tone is heard coming from a specific channel, pressing the Adjustment +/– (11) buttons will increase or decrease the level of sound coming from that channel. The display status-bar indicator (27) provides visual

indication of the adjustment as the adjustment is being made. The default adjustment level of 0 dB is indicated by five status- bar indicators illuminated.

If adjustments are done in a mode where a certain channel is not available, the adjustment step for that channel is skipped. For example, in Phantom mode, the center-channel level cannot be adjusted since Phantom does not have a center channel. In stereo, neither the center nor the surround levels can be adjusted since Stereo does not feature surround speakers or a center speaker.

Using the remote control, adjust each channel’s levels until the volume of all the speakers is the same during the test. To make sure all channels are properly adjusted, do the

test twice, once in Dolby Digital (Dolby Digital is automatically selected when the ESC333 is connected to a DVD player’s digital output, that specific digital input is selected, and the DVD player is playing Dolby Digital-encoded material) and once again in Dolby Pro Logic.

Note: The Test Tone is used to calibrate the system to reproduce all program materials at the correct relative levels, as was determined by the recording engineers. When listening to actual surround- encoded program material, the volume level of the surround channels is generally lower than that of the front channels. In fact, virtually all of the dialogue and a substantial number of the effects in a movie are reproduced through the center channel.

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