Customizing Sound Fields - Sony STR-DB900 Operating Instructions Manual

Customizing sound fields

By adjusting the LEVEL menu and TONE
menu, you can customize the sound fields to suit
your particular listening situation.
Position your speakers and do the procedures
described in "Placing speakers" (page 8) and
"Checking the connections" (page 16) before
you customize a sound field.
Adjusting the LEVEL menu
You can use the LEVEL menu to adjust the
balance and level of each speaker. These settings
are applied to all sound fields. (Except for the
EFCT. parameter. The setting of the EFCT.
parameter is stored independently for each
sound field.)
1
Start playing a source encoded with
multichannel surround effects (DVD,
etc.).
2
Press MAIN MENU repeatedly to select
the LEVEL menu.
3
Press F/f to select the menu item.
For details, see "LEVEL menu parameters"
below.
4
While monitoring the sound, press G/g
to adjust the selected parameter.
5
Repeat steps 3 and 4 to adjust other
parameters.
LEVEL menu parameters
x BAL. XXX (Front speaker balance)
L
R
Lets you adjust the balance between the front left and
right speakers.
• BALANCE ( 0 dB)
• L (+1 dB to +8 dB)
• R (+1 dB to +8 dB)
GB
26
x CTR XXX dB (Center speaker level)
x SUR.L. XXX dB
(Surround speaker (L) level)
x SUR.R. XXX dB
(Surround speaker (R) level)
x SB XXXX dB
(Surround back speaker level)
x S.W. XXX dB (Subwoofer level)
The initial setting is 0 dB.
Lets you adjust the level of the speakers (center,
surround left, surround right, surround back) or
subwoofer.
You can adjust from –10 dB to +10 dB in 1 dB steps.
x COMP.
D.RANGE
(Dynamic range compressor)
Lets you compress the dynamic range of sound tracks.
This may be useful when you want to watch movies at
low volumes late at night.
• OFF
The dynamic range is not compressed.
• STD
The dynamic range is compressed as intended by the
recording engineer.
• MAX
The dynamic range is compressed dramatically.
Tip
The dynamic range compressor feature lets you
compress the dynamic range of soundtracks based on
the dynamic range information included in the Dolby
Digital signal. "STD" is the initial setting, but this only
enacts light compression.
Therefore, we recommend using the "MAX" setting.
This greatly compresses the dynamic range and lets
you view movies late at night at low volumes. Unlike
analog limiters, the levels are predetermined and
provide a very natural-sounding compression.
Note
Dynamic range compression is possible with Dolby
Digital sources only.