Yamaha RX-Z11 - Manual (Page 159)

Glossary
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■ THX Ultra2 Cinema mode
THX Ultra2 Cinema mode plays 5.1 movies using all 8 speakers
giving you the best possible movie watching experience. In this
mode, ASA processing blends the side surround speakers and back
surround speakers providing the optimal mix of ambient and
directional surround sounds. This mode permits the playback of a
non Surround EX/ES encoded 5.1 movie to be played back over a
7.1 system. DTS-ES (Matrix and 6.1 Discrete) and Dolby Digital
Surround EX encoded soundtracks will be automatically detected, if
the appropriate flag has been encoded. Some Dolby Digital
Surround EX soundtracks are missing the digital flag that allows
automatic switching. If you know that the movie that you are
watching is encoded in Surround EX, you can manually select the
THX Surround EX playback mode, otherwise THX Ultra2 Cinema
mode will apply ASA processing to provide optimum replay.
■ THX Ultra2 Music mode
For the playback of multi-channel music the THX Ultra2 Music
mode should be selected. In this mode THX ASA processing is
applied to the surround channels of all 5.1 encoded music sources
such as DTS, Dolby Digital and DVD-Audio to provide a wide
stable rear soundstage.
■ THX Ultra2 Games mode
For the playback of stereo and multi-channel game audio the THX
Ultra2 Games mode should be selected. In this mode THX ASA
processing is applied to the surround channels of all 5.1 and 2.0
encoded game sources such as analog, PCM, DTS and Dolby
Digital. This accurately places all game audio surround information,
providing a full 360 degree playback environment. THX Ultra2
Games mode is unique as it gives you a smooth transition of audio
in all points of the surround field.
■ THX Loudness Plus
THX Loudness Plus is a new volume control technology featured in
THX Ultra2 Plus™ and THX Select2 Plus™ Certified receivers.
With THX Loudness Plus, home theater audiences can now
experience the rich details in a surround mix at any volume level. A
consequence of turning the volume below Reference Level is that
certain sound elements can be lost or perceived differently by the
listener. THX Loudness Plus compensates for the tonal and spatial
shifts that occur when the volume is reduced by intelligently
adjusting ambient surround channel levels and frequency response.
This enables users to experience the true impact of soundtracks
regardless of the volume setting. THX Loudness Plus is
automatically applied when listening in any THX listening mode.
The new THX Cinema, THX Music, and THX Games modes are
tailored to apply the proper THX Loudness Plus settings for each
type of content.
■ Re-Equalization
The tonal balance of a film soundtrack will be excessively bright
and harsh when played back over audio equipment in the home
because film soundtracks were designed to be played back in large
movie theatres using very different professional equipment. Re-
Equalization restores the correct tonal balance for watching a movie
soundtrack in a small home environment.
■ Adaptive Decorrelation
In a movie theatre, a large number of surround speakers help create
an enveloping surround sound experience, but in a home theatre
there are usually only two speakers. This can make the surround
speakers sound like headphones that lack spaciousness and
envelopment. The surround sounds will also collapse into the
closest speaker as you move away from the middle seating position.
Adaptive Decorrelation slightly changes one surround channel's
time and phase relationship with respect to the other surround
channel. This expands the listening position and creates – with only
two speakers – the same spacious surround experience as in a movie
theatre.
■ Timbre Matching
The human ear changes our perception of a sound depending on the
direction from which the sound is coming. In a movie theatre, there
is an array of surround speakers so that the surround information is
all around you. In a home theatre, you use only two speakers located
to the side of your head. The Timbre Matching feature filters the
information going to the surround speakers so that they more
closely match the tonal characteristics of the sound coming from the
front speakers. This ensures seamless panning between the front
and surround speakers.
■ BGC (Boundary Gain Compensation)
If your chosen listening room layout (for practical or aesthetic
reasons) results in the most of the listeners being close to the rear
wall, the resulting bass level can be sufficiently reinforced by the
boundary that the overall sound quality becomes “boomy”. THX
Ultra2 receivers and controllers contain the BGC (Boundary Gain
Compensation) feature to provide an improved bass balance.
“Bndry Gain Comp” can be selected by setting “THX Ultra2
SWFR” to “Yes” in “THX Set” of “Manual Setup”.
■ ASA (Advanced Speaker Array)
ASA is a proprietary THX technology which processes the sound
fed to 2 side and 2 back surround speakers to provide the optimal
surround sound experience. When you set up your home theater
system using all eight speaker outputs (Left, Center, Right,
Surround Right, Surround Back Right, Surround Back Left,
Surround Left and Subwoofer), be sure to go to the “THX Set”
screen and choose the setting that most closely corresponds to the
speaker spacing, which will re-optimize the surround sound-field.
ASA is used in three modes; THX Ultra2 Cinema, THX Ultra2
Music and THX Ultra2 Games.
■ Dialogue normalization
Dialogue Normalization (Dial Norm) is a feature of Dolby Digital,
which is used to keep the programs at the same average listening
level so the user does not have to change the volume control
between Dolby Digital programs.
When playing back software which has been encoded in Dolby
Digital, sometimes you may see a brief message in the front panel
display which will read “Dial Norm X dB” (X being a numeric
value). The display is showing how the program level relates with
THX calibration level. If you want to play the program at calibrated
theatrical levels, you may wish to adjust the volume. For example, if
you see the following message: “Dial Norm + 4 dB” in the front
panel display, to keep the overall output level at THX calibrated
loudness, just turn down the volume control by 4 dB. However,
unlike a movie theater where the playback loudness is preset, you
can choose your preferred volume setting for best enjoyment.