Harman Kardon AVR 630 Owner's Manual

Also see for AVR 630: Manual Brochure & specs Brochure & specs Service manual Supplementary guide

Harman Kardon AVR 630 Owner's Manual Manual pdf 34 page image

34 OPERATIONOperationTo take advantage of the AVR’s MP3 capabilities,simply connect the digital (SPDIF) output of acomputer sound card able to feed the MP3 for-mat to its digital output, or the digital (SPDIF)output of MP3 compatible CD or DVD players orof a portable MP3 player with a digital output toeither the rear panel Digital Inputs orthe front panel Digital Inputs *Ó.NOTES:• The AVR is only capable of playing signals inthe MP3 (MPEG 1/Layer 3) format. It is not com-patible with other computer audio codecs.• The MP 3 DSP mode found in the new AVRrequires an MP3 SPDIF stream. Presently, only afew units provide this but in the coming genera-tions of motherboards and operating systemupdates this will follow, since SPDIF is the stan-dard for audio & video hardware.• The digital audio input signal may be eitheroptical or coaxial, but the signal must be in theMP3 SPDIF format. Direct connection of USB orserial data outputs is not possible, even thoughthe signals are in the MP3 format. If you haveany questions about the data output format fromyour computer or a sound card, check with thedevice’s Owner’s Manual or contact themanufacturer’s technical support area.• If your computer or sound card’s digital outputis not capable of direct connection to the AVR orif the output is not capable of delivering MP3data stream, you may use an optional, externaltranscoder, such as those available from HarmanKardon to convert the USB output of a computerto a format compatible with the AVR. Contactyour Harman Kardon dealer for additional details.Selecting a Digital SourceTo utilize either digital mode you must haveproperly connected a digital source to theAVR. Connect the digital outputs from DVD play-ers, HDTV receivers, satellite systems or CD play-ers to the Optical or Coaxial inputs on the rearor front panel *Ó. In order toprovide a backup signal and a source for analogstereo recording, the analog outputs provided ondigital source equipment should also beconnected to their appropriate inputs on theAVR rear panel (e.g., connect the analog stereoaudio output from a DVD to the DVD Audioinputs on the rear panel when you connectthe source’s digital outputs).To select a digital source such as DVD, first selectits input using the remote or front panel InputSelector 4% as outlined in this manual inorder to feed its video signal (if any) to the TVmonitor and to provide its analog audio signal forrecording. When the digital input associated withthe input selected (e.g. “DVD”) is not selectedautomatically (due to the input settings madeearlier during the system configuration, see page21), select the digital source by pressing theDigital Input Selector button G Û andthen using the ⁄/¤ buttons E on the remoteor the Selector buttons 7$ on the front panelto choose any of the OPTICAL orCOAXIAL inputs, as they appear in theUpper Display Line ˜ or on-screen display.When the digital source is playing, the AVR willautomatically detect whether it is a multichannelDolby Digital or DTS source or a HDCD, MP3 orconventional PCM signal, which is the standardoutput from CD players.Note that a digital input (e.g. coaxial) remainsassociated with any analog input (e.g. DVD) assoon as it is selected, thus the digital input neednot be re-selected each time the appropriateinput choice (e.g. DVD) is made.Digital Bitstream IndicatorsWhen a digital source is playing, the AVR sensesthe type of bitstream data that is present. Usingthis information, the correct surround mode willautomatically be selected. For example, DTS bit-streams will cause the unit to switch to DTSdecoding, and Dolby Digital bitstreams will enableDolby Digital decoding. When the unit sensesPCM data, from CDs and LDs and some musicDVDs or certain tracks on normal DVDs, it willallow the appropriate surround mode to be select-ed manually. Since the range of available surroundmodes depends on the type of digital data that ispresent, the AVR uses a variety of indicators to letyou know what type of signal is present. This willhelp you to understand the choice of modes andthe input channels recorded on the disc.When a digital source is playing, the AVR willdisplay a variety of messages to indicate the typeof bitstream received. These messages will appearshortly after an input or surround mode ischanged, and will remain in the Main Infor-mation Display ˜ for about five secondsbefore the display returns to the normal surroundmode indication.Speaker/Channel IndicatorsIn addition to the Bitstream Indicators, theAVR features a set of unique channel-input indi-cators that tell you how many channels of digitalinformation are being received and/or whetherthe digital signal is interrupted. (See Figure 9).Figure 9These indicators are the L/C/R/LFE/SL/SR/SBL/SBRletters that are inside the center boxes of theSpeaker/Channel Input Indicators Ú in thefront panel Main Information Display ˜.When a standard analog stereo or matrixsurround signal is in use, only the “L” and “R”indicators will light, as analog signals have onlyleft and right channels.Digital signals, however, may have one, two, five,six or seven separate channels, depending on theprogram material, the method of transmissionand the way in which it was encoded. When adigital signal is playing, the letters in theseindicators will light in response to the specificsignal being received. It is important to note thatalthough Dolby Digital, for example, is referred toas a “5.1” system, not all Dolby Digital DVDs oraudio tracks selected on DVD or other DolbyDigital programs are encoded for 5.1. Thus, it issometimes normal for a DVD with a Dolby Digitalsoundtrack to trigger only the “L” and “R”indicators.NOTE: Many DVD discs are recorded with both“5.1” and “2.0” versions of the same sound-track. When playing a DVD, always be certain tocheck the type of material on the disc. Most discsshow this information in the form of a listing oricon on the back of the disc jacket. When a discdoes offer multiple soundtrack choices, you mayhave to make some adjustments to your DVDplayer (usually with the “Audio Select” button orin a menu screen on the disc) to send a full 5.1feed to the AVR or to select the appropriateaudio track and thus language. It is also possiblefor the type of signal feed to change during thecourse of a DVD playback. In some cases the pre-views of special material will only be recorded in2.0 audio, while the main feature is available in5.1 audio. As long as your DVD player is set for6-channel output, the AVR will automaticallysense changes to the bitstream and channelcount and reflect them in these indicators.