ROTEL RSP-1098 - Manual (Page 25)

25 English
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-1098’s
DTS decoder, you must connect your DVD
player to the RSP-1098’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 se-
lect “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 out-
put. 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.
DTS Neo:6
The RSP-1098 features a second type of DTS
surround sound decoding: DTS Neo:6. This
decoding system is similar to Dolby Pro Logic
II and is designed for playback of any 2-channel
stereo recording, either matrix-encoded or not.
The Neo:6 decoder can be used with any
conventional 2-channel source such a stereo
TV or FM broadcast or a CD. It can also be
used as an alternative method of decoding
matrix-encoded Dolby Surround recordings or
TV broadcasts. Activate the DTS Neo:6 de-
coding with the DTS Neo:6 button as detailed
later in this section. DTS Neo:6 is not used
with DTS 5.1 digital sources and the button
need not be pressed for those recordings.
6.1 and 7.1 Surround
In 1999, the first Dolby Digital soundtrack was
released to theaters with an additional cen-
ter back surround channel, intended to increase
the directional effects from behind the audi-
ence. This additional surround channel is en-
coded into the two existing surround channels
in Dolby Digital 5.1, using a matrix encod-
ing process similar to that used previously in
Dolby Surround. This new extended surround
capability is called Dolby Digital Surround EX.
DTS has added a similar capability for record-
ing this extended surround information called
DTS-ES
® 6.1 Matrix. They have also taken it
one step further and developed the capabil-
ity to record this extended surround informa-
tion as a discrete channel in a system called
DTS-ES
® 6.1 Discrete.
All of these systems are extensions of the ex-
isting Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1 digital
surround sound formats. Users with one cen-
ter back speaker (a 6.1 configuration) or two
center back speakers (a 7.1 configuration) can
take advantage of this extended surround in-
formation. On traditional 5.1 channel systems,
Dolby Digital Surround EX or DTS-ES 6.1 discs
sound exactly the same as 5.1 channel discs
in each respective format.
If you have configured your system with one
or two center back speakers, decoding of
DTS-ES discs is automatic, just as it is with stan-
dard DTS soundtracks. Likewise, decoding of
Dolby Digital Surround EX discs is automatic
with one exception. Some Surround EX titles
do not have the detection “flag” encoded on
the disc. To activate the Dolby Digital Surround
EX features for these discs (or for standard 5.1
channel Dolby Digital discs), you must manu-
ally activate Dolby Surround EX processing.
The RSP-1098 also features Rotel XS (eXtra
Surround) processing that automatically ensures
optimum extended surround performance on
6.1 and 7.1 channel systems. The key ben-
efit of Rotel XS is that it works at all times with
all multichannel digital signals, even those that
might not otherwise activate Dolby Digital EX
or DTS-ES surround decoding for the center
back channel(s). Always available when center
back speaker(s) are configured in the system
setup, Rotel XS decodes the surround chan-
nels and distributes the extended surround chan-
nels to the center back speaker(s) in a way
that tends to create a diffuse surround effect.
Rotel XS works with matrix-encoded surround
signals (such as non-flagged DTS-ES and Dolby
Surround EX discs) as well as digital source
material that is not Dolby Surround EX encoded
(such as DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1, and even
Dolby Pro Logic II decoded Dolby Digital 2.0
recordings).
DSP Music Modes
Unlike all of the formats mentioned above, the
RSP-1098 offers four surround modes that are
not part of a specific recording/playback sys-
tem. These modes (MUSIC 1–4) use digital sig-
nal processing that adds special acoustic ef-
fects to any signal. DSP processing can be used
with Dolby Surround recordings, Dolby Digi-
tal recordings, CDs, radio broadcasts, or any
other source material; however, typically DSP
settings would be used with source material
for which there is no specific surround decoder.
The four MUSIC MODES in the RSP-1098 use
digital delay and reverberation effects to simu-
late progressively larger acoustic environments
with MUSIC 1 being the smallest type of venue
(such as a jazz club) and MUSIC 4 being a
large venue (such as a stadium). Typically used
to add ambience and a sense of space when
listening to music sources or other sources that
lack surround sound encoding.
2Ch/5Ch/7Ch Stereo Formats
The RSP-1098 also provides four modes that
disable all surround processing and deliver
stereo signals to amplifiers and speakers. There
are three options:
2CH Stereo: Turns off the center channel and
all surround channels in the system and deliv-
ers a conventional 2-channel signal to the front
speakers. If the system is configured to route
bass signals from the front speakers to the
subwoofer, this capability remains in effect.
Analog Bypass: For 2-channel analog in-
puts, there is a special stereo mode that by-
passes ALL of the RSP-1098’s digital process-
ing. The two front speaker receive pure ana-
log stereo full-range signals with no subwoofer
crossover, no delay, no level adjustments, and
no contour adjustment.
5CH Stereo: Distributes a stereo signal to
5.1 channel systems. The left channel signal
is sent, unchanged, the front left and surround
left speakers. The right channel is sent to the
front right and surround right speakers. A mono
sum of the two channels is sent to the center
channel speaker.
7CH Stereo: This mode is the same as 5CH
Stereo described above except that it also
distributes stereo signals to center back
speaker(s) installed in the system.