Parasound Halo C1 Controller manual Using the Master and Sidekick Remotes

USING THE MASTER AND SIDEKICK REMOTES continued 17

Page 1 of the C1/C2 Menu

Of the items on the Page 1 menu, the MODE–, +MODE, DIM, and ZONE functions have already been discussed in the last chapter, but the others are new. Here’s what they do:

•THX®: With most modes, this key simply switches THX Cinema processing on or off (see “Technically Speaking”). In Direct mode, however, pressing it again may select other THX modes, depending on the speakers selected in “Speaker Setup/Size” and choices made in “THX Audio Setup.” If one or more surround-back speakers are present, pressing this key again will select the THX Surround EX mode; if two surround- back speakers are present, repeated pressings will bring up THX Ultra2 Cinema and then THX MusicMode. The C 1 will then cycle through these three modes for each press of the THX key, returning to Direct (and switching THX processing off) when you press either Mode key.

THX Surround EX will not activate if no surround-back speak- ers were selected during Setup, or the source signal does not include surround channels. In the first instance, the display will read “No Surround-back Speakers”; in the second, it will read “Incompatible Source.”

When THX modes are selected for an incompatible source or speaker setup, the C 1 will remember the selection and will automatically apply it if the setup is changed or a compatible source is selected.

•TAPE: Switches the main-zone audio output to the signal from the Play/In jacks of the rear panel’s Tape Monitor section, and to stereo mode. This allows you to hear not only the input sig- nal being fed to your recorder but, by pressing the key, the output from the same recorder.

If an analog tape recorder with separate recording and playback heads is connected to these jacks, you can use this feature to hear the signal from the tape you’ve just recorded, delayed by the fraction of a second it takes the tape to travel from the recording to the playback head.

If a digital recorder’s analog input and output jacks are connected to these jacks, using this fea- ture will let you check the signal after it’s been through the recorder’s A/D and D/A converters, to be sure the signal level does not reach overload levels. (Distortion, which increases gradually as analog tapes overload becomes obnoxiously high almost at once when digital converters reach their overload point.) Note that signals from the digital inputs are not sent to the Rec/Out analog jack and should be recorded digitally from one of the digital outputs on the C 1.

•DYN, or Dynamic Range, activates Dolby’s “Late Night” mode when the C 1 is playing Dolby Digital soundtracks. This reduces the dynamic range of digital movie soundtracks by making the soft sounds louder and the loud sounds softer. In late-night listening, this enables you to hear all the dialog with- out awakening your family (or neighbors) when the sound effects get loud. With anything other than Dolby digital signals, the displays will read “Incompatible source” when you press this key.

•EBASS, or Enhanced Bass, is for use in systems that have some “Large” speakers, i.e. those able to deliver adequate bass on their own. (See “Size” under “Speaker Setup,” next chapter). When EBASS is off, bass from the program channels with “Large” speakers goes only to those speakers, and the subwoofer receives bass from the LFE (Low-Frequency Effects) channel and bass from the channels whose speakers you selected as “Small” during setup. With EBASS on, bass from all program channels goes to the subwoofer as well. This can lead to a bass increase, which will probably be more welcome with movie soundtracks and with pop and rock music than with classical music. However, in some rooms it can lead to decreased bass at specific fre- quencies, caused by interference between the subwoofer’s bass output and that of the other speakers; if that occurs, you can try reversing the polarity of your sub or simply shut EBASS off.

•TEST: Sends a calibration-noise signal to each channel in turn, for use in checking channel iden- tification and setting speaker levels. For channel identification, the signal advances from channel to channel every 2 seconds, starting from the left front and moving clockwise to the center,