Kenwood VR-9080 Instruction Manual page 35

Ambience effects
THX
THX is an exclusive set of standards and technologies established by
the world-renowned film production company, Lucasfilm Ltd. THX
grew from George Lucas' personal desire to make your experience of
the 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 with
similar equipment and conditions. This same soundtrack is then
transferred directly onto Laserdisc, VHS tape, DVD, etc., and is not
changed 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 added
in Cinema modes (e.g.THX Cinema, THX Surround EX):
Re-equalization (Re-EQ)
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-Equaliza-
tion restores the correct tonal balance for watching a movie soundtrack
in a small home environment.
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.
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 envelop-
ment. 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.
THX Select 2
Before any home theatre component can be THX Select 2 certified,
it must incorporate all the features above and also pass a rigorous
series of quality and performance tests. Only then can a product
feature the THX Select 2 logo, which is your guarantee that the Home
Theatre products you purchase will give you superb performance for
many years to come. THX Select 2 requirements cover every aspect
of the product including pre-amplifier performance and operation, and
hundreds of other parameters in both the digital and analog domain.
DVD 6-channel mode
Using a DVD player or the like equipped with six (5.1) output channels
and the receiver, you can enjoy multi-channel encoded DVD source
material in all its splendor. Since the source signals are digital and
each channel is input independently, the resulting sound quality,
sense of spaciousness, and dynamic range are superb.
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) placing the two Surround Back speakers close together
facing the front of the room as shown in the diagram will provide the
largest sweet spot. If for practical reasons you have to place the
Surround Back speakers apart, you will need to go THX Audio Set-up
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 new modes; THX Select 2 Cinema, THX
MusicMode and THX Games Mode.
THX Select 2 Cinema mode.
THX Select 2 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 direc-
tional surround sounds.
DTS-ES (Matrix and 6.1 Discrete) and Dolby Digital Surround EX
encoded soundtracks will be automatically detected in Select 2
Cinema mode 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 Select 2
Cinema mode will apply ASA processing to provide optimum replay.
THX MusicMode.
For the replay of multi-channel music the THX MusicMode 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 Games Mode.
For the replay of stereo and multi-channel game audio the THX
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 Games Mode is unique as it gives
you a smooth transition of audio in all points of the surround field.
THX Surround EX
THX Surround EX-Dolby Digital Surround EX is a joint development of
Dolby Laboratories and the THX division of Lucasfilm Ltd.
In a movie theatre, film soundtracks that have been encoded with
Dolby Digital Surround EX technology are able to reproduce an extra
channel which has been added during the mixing of the program. This
channel, called Surround Back, places sounds behind the listener in
addition to the currently available front left, front center, front right,
surround right, surround left and subwoofer channels. This additional
channel provides the opportunity for more detailed imaging behind
the listener and brings more depth, spacious ambience and sound
localization than ever before.
Movies that were created using the Dolby Digital Surround EX
technology, when released into the home consumer market may
exhibit a Dolby Digital Surround EX logo on the packaging. A list of
movies created using this technology can be found on the Dolby web
site at http://www.dolby.com.
Only receiver and controller product bearing the THX Surround EX
logo, when in the THX Surround EX mode, faithfully reproduce this
new technology in the home.
This product may also engage the "THX Surround EX" mode during
the playback of 5.1 channel material that is not Dolby Digital Surround
EX encoded. In such case the information delivered to the Surround
Back channel will be program dependent and may or may not be very
pleasing depending on the particular soundtrack and the taste of the
individual listener.
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