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RSP-1572 SURROUND SOUND PROCESSOR
To activate Party Mode,
Press and hold ZONE button on the
front panel for 3 seconds. The words PARTY ON appear briefly in
the display and the ZONE icon flashes for 10 seconds. The record
input selection and all remote zones input selections will be displayed
as SOURCE, indicating that they are linked to the input selected for
listening. While in party mode, a “P” indicator remains in the front
panel display.
To cancel Party mode
, press and hold the SEL button on the front
panel or remote for at least 3 seconds.
SURROUND SOUND
To get the best performance from your unit, it helps to understand
the many surround sound formats available today, to know which
decoding process to use for a particular recording, and how to select
it. This section provides basic background information about surround
sound formats. The following sections provide detailed operating
instructions for automatic and manual selection of surround modes.
Overview of Surround Format
Dolby Surround & Dolby Pro Logic II
The most widely available surround sound format for consumer audio/
video is Dolby Surround®, available on nearly all commercial VHS
tapes, many television broadcasts, and most DVDs. Dolby Surround is
the consumer version of the analog Dolby Stereo system first introduced
in the film industry in 1972. It is a matrix-encoding system that records
front left, front center, front right, and a mono surround channel into
a 2-channel stereo recording. During playback, a Dolby Pro Logic®
or Pro Logic II decoder extracts each channel and distributes it to the
appropriate speakers.
The original Dolby Pro Logic decoder delivered a mono signal with
reduced high-frequency content to the surround speakers. A more advanced
decoder in the processor, Dolby Pro Logic II, increases the separation and
frequency response of the surround channels for significantly improved
performance with Dolby Surround encoded recordings.
Dolby Pro Logic II decoding should be used for any analog recording
labeled “Dolby Surround” or any Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack. Dolby
Pro Logic II does a superb job deriving surround sound from conventional
2-channel stereo recordings, using phase relationships to extract front,
right, center, and surround channels. A “music mode” makes Pro Logic
II an excellent choice for audio CDs.
Dolby Digital
In 1992, a digital recording system, called Dolby Digital, was first used in
the film industry. Dolby Digital is a recording/playback system that uses
compression techniques to store large amounts of audio data efficiently,
much like the JPEG format stores large photographs in small files on a
computer. Because it is capable of performance beyond that of audio CDs
and can tailor its output for a wide ranges of system configurations, Dolby
Digital is the standard audio format for DVDs and for digital television
broadcasting in the United States.
The Dolby Digital system can be used to record up to six discrete audio
channels, but can also be used for fewer. For example, a Dolby Digital
2.0 soundtrack is a digital 2-channel recording of a matrix encoded
Dolby Surround soundtrack. To play a Dolby Digital 2.0 recording, use
Dolby Pro Logic II decoding as previously described.
The most common use of Dolby Digital in newer films, in both the film
industry and in home theater, is Dolby Digital 5.1. Instead of encoding
multiple surround channels on a two-channel recording, Dolby Digital 5.1
records six discrete channels: front left, front center, front right, surround
left, surround right, and a Low Frequency Effects (LFE) channel containing
ultra-low bass signals intended for a subwoofer. A Dolby Digital decoder
extracts the channels from the digital bitstream, converts them to analog
signals and routes them to the appropriate amplifiers and speakers. All
channels provide full frequency response with total separation between
all channels and large dynamic range capability. A Dolby Digital 5.1
soundtrack can provide more impressive surround sound than matrix
Dolby Surround.
Decoding of Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtracks is automatic. When the RSP-
1572 detects a Dolby 5.1 signal on one of its digital inputs, it activates
the proper processing. Keep in mind that Dolby Digital is only available
from digital sources (a DVD, a LaserDisc, or a Digital TV/Cable/SAT
tuner). Also, you must connect the source with a digital cable (coax or
optical) to an active digital input on the processor.
Note:
Many DVDs have a Dolby Digital 2.0 matrix soundtrack as the
default, which should be decoded with Pro Logic II. The Dolby Digital 5.1
soundtrack may have to be selected as an option from the setup menus at
the beginning of the DVD. Look for a Dolby Digital 5.1 selection under
“Audio” or “Languages” or “Setup Options” when you insert the disc.
DTS 5.1 & DTS 96/24
DTS® (Digital Theater Systems) is an alternative digital format competing
with Dolby Digital in both movie theaters and home theater markets. The
basic functions of the DTS system are similar to those of Dolby Digital
(for example, 5.1 discrete channels), however the technical details of
the compression and decoding processes differ somewhat and a DTS
decoder is required.
A recent extension of the DTS encoding system is DTS 96/24 and the 6.1-
channel version DTS-ES 96/24. These recordings provide the performance
of a 96kHz sampling rate while still using the actual 48kHsampling rate
of standard DTS discs.
Like Dolby Digital, DTS can only be used on a digital recording and,
therefore, is only available for home use on LaserDiscs, DVDs, or other
digital formats. To use the RSP-1572’s DTS decoder, you must connect
your DVD player to the unit’s digital inputs. As with Dolby Digital 5.1,
detection and proper decoding of DTS 5.1 signals is automatic.
Note:
DVDs with a DTS soundtrack almost always have it configured
as an option to the standard matrix Dolby Surround format. To use DTS,
you may have to go to the setup menus at the beginning of the DVD and
select “DTS 5.1” instead of “Dolby Surround” or “Dolby Digital 5.1”. In
addition, many DVD players have the DTS digital bitstream turned off
by default and cannot output a DTS soundtrack (even if selected on the
disc’s menu) until you activate the player’s DTS output. If you hear no
sound the first time you attempt to play a DTS disc, go to the DVD player’s
configuration menus and turn on the DTS bitstream. This is a one-time
setting and need only be done once.
