Onkyo PR-SC886 - Manual (Page 84)

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Using the Listening Modes
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Neural THX 5.1/7.1
Neural-THX Surround employs psychoacoustic fre-
quency domain processing, which allows delivery of a
more detailed sound stage, with superior channel separa-
tion and localization of audio elements. The Neural THX
5.1 and Neural THX 7.1 modes can expand any 2-chan-
nel stereo source for 5.1- or 7.1-channel playback,
respectively. Use them with CD, radio, cassette, TV,
VHS, DVD, and other 2-channel stereo sources, includ-
ing video games. Neural-THX Surround can also be
used by broadcasters to encode and transmit surround-
sound content over a stereo signal, which listeners can
enjoy as either surround sound or normal stereo. XM
Satellite Radio, for example, is using Neural-THX Sur-
round on select channels, which the AV controller can
expand from 5.1 channels to 7.1 channels.
DSD
DSD stands for Direct Stream Digital and is the format
used to store digital audio on Super Audio CDs (SACD).
This mode can be used with SACDs that feature multi-
channel audio.
THX
Founded by George Lucas, THX develops stringent stan-
dards that ensure movies are reproduced in movie the-
aters and home theaters just as the director intended.
THX Modes carefully optimize the tonal and spatial
characteristics of the soundtrack for reproduction in the
home-theater environment. They can be used with 2-
channel matrixed and multichannel sources.
Surround back speaker output depends on the source
material and the selected listening mode.
• THX Cinema
THX Cinema mode corrects theatrical soundtracks
for playback in a home theater environment. In this
mode, THX Loudness Plus is configured for cinema
levels and Re-EQ, Timbre Matching, and Adaptive
Decorrelation are active.
• THX Music
THX Music mode is tailored for listening to music,
which is typically mastered at significantly higher
levels than movies. In this mode, THX Loudness
Plus is configured for music playback and only Tim-
bre Matching is active.
• THX Games
THX Games mode is meant for spatially accurate
playback of game audio, which is often mixed simi-
larly to movies but in a smaller environment. THX
Loudness Plus is configured for game audio levels,
with Timbre Matching active.
• THX Ultra2 Cinema
This mode expands 5.1-channel sources for 7.1-
channel playback. It does this by analyzing the com-
position of the surround source, optimizing the
ambient and directional sounds to produce the sur-
round back channel output.
• THX Ultra2 Music
This mode is designed for use with music. It expands
5.1-channel sources for 7.1-channel playback.
• THX Ultra2 Games
This mode is designed for use with video games. It
can expand 5.1-channel sources for 6.1/7.1-channel
playback.
• THX Surround EX
This mode expands 5.1-channel sources for 6.1/7.1-
channel playback. It’s especially suited to Dolby
Digital EX sources. THX Surround EX, also known
as Dolby Digital Surround EX, is a joint develop-
ment between Dolby Laboratories and THX Ltd.