Kenwood VR-9080 Instruction Manual

Also see for KRF-X9090D: Service manual Instruction manual

Contents

35 ENAmbience effectsTHXTHX is an exclusive set of standards and technologies established bythe world-renowned film production company, Lucasfilm Ltd. THXgrew from George Lucas' personal desire to make your experience ofthe film soundtrack, in both movie theatres and in your home theatre,as faithful as possible to what the director intended.Movie soundtracks are mixed in special movie theatres called dub-bing stages and are designed to be played back in movie theatres withsimilar equipment and conditions. This same soundtrack is thentransferred directly onto Laserdisc, VHS tape, DVD, etc., and is notchanged for playback in a small home theatre environment.THX engineers developed patented technologies to accurately trans-late the sound from the movie theatre environment into the home,correcting the tonal and spatial errors that occur. On this product,when the THX indicator is on, THX features are automatically addedin Cinema modes (e.g.THX Cinema, THX Surround EX):Re-equalization (Re-EQ)The tonal balance of a film soundtrack will be excessively bright andharsh when played back over audio equipment in the home becausefilm soundtracks were designed to be played back in large movietheatres using very different professional equipment. Re-Equaliza-tion restores the correct tonal balance for watching a movie soundtrackin a small home environment.Timbre MatchingThe human ear changes our perception of a sound depending on thedirection from which the sound is coming. In a movie theatre, thereis an array of surround speakers so that the surround information isall around you. In a home theatre, you use only two speakers locatedto the side of your head. The Timbre Matching feature filters theinformation going to the surround speakers so that they more closelymatch the tonal characteristics of the sound coming from the frontspeakers. This ensures seamless panning between the front andsurround speakers.Adaptive DecorrelationIn a movie theatre, a large number of surround speakers help createan enveloping surround sound experience, but in a home theatrethere are usually only two speakers. This can make the surroundspeakers sound like headphones that lack spaciousness and envelop-ment. The surround sounds will also collapse into the closest speakeras you move away from the middle seating position. AdaptiveDecorrelation slightly changes one surround channel's time andphase relationship with respect to the other surround channel. Thisexpands the listening position and creates - with only two speakers- the same spacious surround experience as in a movie theatre.THX Select 2Before any home theatre component can be THX Select 2 certified,it must incorporate all the features above and also pass a rigorousseries of quality and performance tests. Only then can a productfeature the THX Select 2 logo, which is your guarantee that the HomeTheatre products you purchase will give you superb performance formany years to come. THX Select 2 requirements cover every aspectof the product including pre-amplifier performance and operation, andhundreds of other parameters in both the digital and analog domain.THX Surround EXTHX Surround EX-Dolby Digital Surround EX is a joint development ofDolby Laboratories and the THX division of Lucasfilm Ltd.In a movie theatre, film soundtracks that have been encoded withDolby Digital Surround EX technology are able to reproduce an extrachannel which has been added during the mixing of the program. Thischannel, called Surround Back, places sounds behind the listener inaddition to the currently available front left, front center, front right,surround right, surround left and subwoofer channels. This additionalchannel provides the opportunity for more detailed imaging behindthe listener and brings more depth, spacious ambience and soundlocalization than ever before.Movies that were created using the Dolby Digital Surround EXtechnology, when released into the home consumer market mayexhibit a Dolby Digital Surround EX logo on the packaging. A list ofmovies created using this technology can be found on the Dolby website at http://www.dolby.com.Only receiver and controller product bearing the THX Surround EXlogo, when in the THX Surround EX mode, faithfully reproduce thisnew technology in the home.This product may also engage the “THX Surround EX” mode duringthe playback of 5.1 channel material that is not Dolby Digital SurroundEX encoded. In such case the information delivered to the SurroundBack channel will be program dependent and may or may not be verypleasing depending on the particular soundtrack and the taste of theindividual listener.ASA (Advanced Speaker Array)ASA is a proprietary THX technology which processes the sound fedto 2 side and 2 back surround speakers to provide the optimalsurround sound experience. When you set up your home theatersystem using all eight speaker outputs (Left, Center, Right, SurroundRight, Surround Back Right, Surround Back Left, Surround Left andSubwoofer) placing the two Surround Back speakers close togetherfacing the front of the room as shown in the diagram will provide thelargest sweet spot. If for practical reasons you have to place theSurround Back speakers apart, you will need to go THX Audio Set-upscreen and choose the setting that most closely corresponds to thespeaker spacing, which will re-optimize the surround sound-field.ASA is used in three new modes; THX Select 2 Cinema, THXMusicMode and THX Games Mode.THX Select 2 Cinema mode.THX Select 2 Cinema mode plays 5.1 movies using all 8 speakersgiving you the best possible movie watching experience. In thismode, ASA processing blends the side surround speakers and backsurround speakers providing the optimal mix of ambient and direc-tional surround sounds.DTS-ES (Matrix and 6.1 Discrete) and Dolby Digital Surround EXencoded soundtracks will be automatically detected in Select 2Cinema mode if the appropriate flag has been encoded.Some Dolby Digital Surround EX soundtracks are missing the digitalflag that allows automatic switching. If you know that the movie thatyou are watching is encoded in Surround EX, you can manually selectthe THX Surround EX playback mode, otherwise THX Select 2Cinema mode will apply ASA processing to provide optimum replay.THX MusicMode.For the replay of multi-channel music the THX MusicMode should beselected. In this mode THX ASA processing is applied to the surroundchannels of all 5.1 encoded music sources such as DTS, Dolby Digitaland DVD-Audio to provide a wide stable rear soundstage.THX Games Mode.For the replay of stereo and multi-channel game audio the THXGames Mode should be selected. In this mode THX ASA processingis applied to the surround channels of all 5.1 and 2.0 encoded gamesources such as analog, PCM, DTS and Dolby Digital. This accuratelyplaces all game audio surround information, providing a full 360degree playback environment. THX Games Mode is unique as it givesyou a smooth transition of audio in all points of the surround field.DVD 6-channel modeUsing a DVD player or the like equipped with six (5.1) output channelsand the receiver, you can enjoy multi-channel encoded DVD sourcematerial in all its splendor. Since the source signals are digital andeach channel is input independently, the resulting sound quality,sense of spaciousness, and dynamic range are superb.