Surround Mode Selection; Digital Audio Playback - Harman Kardon AVR 525 Owner's Manual

remove the tone controls from the circuit so that the
output is "flat" at any time by pressing the Tone Mode
Button and then pressing the / Buttons
so that TONE OFF appears in the on-
screen display and the Lower Display Line
• For private listening, plug the 1/4" stereo phone
plug from a pair of stereo headphones into the front-
panel Headphone Jack . When the headphone's
plug is connected, the word HEADPHONE will
scroll once across the Lower Display Line
all speakers will be silenced. When the headphone
plug is removed, the audio feed to the speakers will
be restored.

Surround Mode Selection

One of the most important features of the AVR 525
is its ability to reproduce a full multichannel surround
sound field from digital sources, analog matrix
surround-encoded programs and standard stereo
programs.
Selection of a surround mode is based on personal
taste, as well as the type of program source material
being used. For example, motion pictures or TV pro-
grams bearing the logo of one of the major surround-
encoding processes, such as Dolby Surround, DTS
Stereo or UltraStereo® may be played in either the
Dolby Digital, Dolby Pro Logic II Cinema, DTS Neo:6
Cinema, or Logic 7 Cinema surround modes depending
on the source material.
NOTE: Once a program has been encoded with matrix
surround information, it retains the surround information
as long as the program is broadcast in stereo. Thus,
movies with surround sound may be decoded via any of
the analog surround modes such as Pro Logic II
Cinema, Logic 7 Cinema or DTS Neo:6 Cinema, when
they are broadcast via conventional TV stations, cable,
pay-TV and satellite transmission. In addition, a growing
number of made-for-television programs, sports broad-
casts, radio dramas and music CDs are also recorded in
surround sound. You may view a list of these programs
at the Dolby Laboratories Web site at www.dolby.com.
Even when a program is not listed as carrying intentional
surround information, you may find that the Pro Logic II,
Logic 7 Enhanced or DTS Neo:6, VMAx and the Hall or
Theater modes often deliver enveloping surround pre-
sentations through the use of the natural information
present in all stereo recordings.
Surround modes may be changed at any time by
using either the front panel or remote control. To
select a new surround mode from the front panel, first
press the Surround Mode Group Selector Button
until the desired major surround mode group such
as Dolby, DTS or Logic 7 is selected. Next, press the
Surround Mode Selector Button
specific individual surround mode.
To select a surround mode using the remote, press
.
the button for the major surround mode group that
includes the mode you wish to choose from: Dolby
, DTS Surround
29
Logic 7 , Stereo
The first press of the button will show the current
and mode from that group if it is already in use, or the first
available mode if you are currently using another
mode. To cycle through the available modes in that
group press the button again until the desired mode
appears in the Lower Display Line
screen display.
As the surround modes change, a green LED will light
next to the current mode in the Surround Mode
Indicators list on the front panel.
The Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Ex and DTS 5.1, DTS-
ES Matrix and DTS-ES Discrete modes may only be
selected when a digital input is in use. In addition,
when a digital source is present, the AVR 525 will
automatically select and switch to the correct mode,
regardless of the mode that has been previously
selected. For more information on selecting digital
sources, see the Digital Audio Playback section below.
When the 6-Channel/8-Channel direct inputs are in
use there is no surround processing, as these inputs
take the analog output signals from an optional, exter-
nal DVD-Audio or SACD player, or another source
device and carry them straight through to the volume
control without any further digital processing.
To listen to a program in traditional two-channel stereo,
using the front left and front right speakers only (plus
the subwoofer, if installed and configured), press the
Stereo Button until SURR OFF appears in the
29
Main Information Display
Mode Group Selector
appear in the on-screen display and Lower Display
Line . Next, press the Surround Mode Select
until SURROUND OFF appears in
Button
the on-screen display and Lower Display Line

Digital Audio Playback

Digital audio is a major advancement over older analog
surround processing systems such as Dolby Pro Logic. It
delivers five discrete channels: left front, center, right
front, left surround and right surround. Each channel
reproduces full frequency range (20Hz to 20kHz) and
offers dramatically improved dynamic range and signifi-
cant improvements to signal-to-noise ratios. In addition,
digital systems have the capability to deliver an additional
channel that is specifically devoted to low-frequency
to choose the information. This is the ".1" channel referred to when you
see these systems described as "5.1, " "6.1" or "7.1".
The bass channel is separate from the other channels,
but since it is intentionally bandwidth-limited, sound
designers have given it that unique designation.
30
, DTS Neo:6 ,
Dolby Digital
or DSP Surround .
Dolby Digital is a standard part of DVD, and is available
on specially encoded LD discs and satellite broadcasts
and it is a part of the high-definition television (HDTV)
system.
An optional, external RF demodulator is required to
and the on-
use the AVR 525 to listen to the Dolby Digital sound-
tracks available on laser discs. Connect the RF output
of the LD player to the demodulator and then connect
the digital output of the demodulator to the Optical or
Coaxial Inputs
demodulator is required for use with DVD players or
DTS-encoded laser discs.
DTS
DTS is another digital audio system that is capable of
delivering 5.1 or 6.1 discrete or matrix sound field
reproduction. Although both DTS and Dolby Digital are
digital, they use different methods of encoding the sig-
nals, and thus they require different decoding circuits
to convert the digital signals back to analog.
DTS-encoded soundtracks are available on select DVD
and LD discs, as well as on special audio-only DTS
discs. You may use any LD or CD player equipped
with a digital output to play DTS-encoded discs with
the AVR 525. All that is required is to connect the
player's output to either an Optical or Coaxial Input
on the rear panel
In order to listen to DVDs encoded with DTS sound-
tracks, the DVD player must be compatible with the
. Press the Surround
DTS signal as indicated by a DTS logo on the player's
until the Stereo modes
front panel. Early DVD players may not be able to play
DTS-encoded DVDs. This does not indicate a problem
with the AVR 525, as some players cannot pass the
DTS signal through to the digital outputs. If you are in
. doubt as to the capability of your DVD player to handle
DTS discs, consult the player's owner's manual.
NOTE: Some DVD players have a default setting that
does not pass through the DTS signal. Before playing
DVDs with a DTS soundtrack, make certain that the
settings in your DVD player have been properly adjusted
so that DTS audio is passed through. Consult the
Owner's Manual for your DVD player for more infor-
mation on making these settings.
of the AVR 525. No
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33 36 or front panel .