Lexicon DC-1 Supplementary Manual page 4

DC-1 Digital Controller
All of the operating modes of the Lexicon DC-1 Digital Controller have a
common goal: to draw you, the listener, more deeply into a musical perfor-
mance or a film. For music the DC-1 uses true stereo digital processing to
recreate the original recording space or to create a new one of your choosing.
For films it incorporates Dolby Digital surround processing, the format that
utilizes Dolby Laboratories' AC-3 technology. For two channel surround
encoded films it includes Lexicon's 5 and 7 channel implementations of the
original Dolby Pro Logic surround decoder. These improvements yield a
greatly increased sense of surround and envelopment, as well as spectacular
left/right surround effects.
A great deal of effort went into designing an instrument which would be
flexible enough to satisfy the most critical listeners and yet be simple to
operate. Essentially, the DC-1 is a signal processing computer that can be
custom-programmed for any specific system. The increase in impact of a
musical performance or film when heard with the DC-1 is incredible.
To recreate the experience of being at a live musical performance the DC-1
draws on recent studies of concert-hall acoustics, and applies this research
to home listening rooms. Our auditory sense is quite adept at interpreting
clues about our physical environment. Even with your eyes closed, it is
possible to get a good mental picture of the room or hall you are in by
listening to the ambience, or reflected sound energy, in the room. We are not
aware of our auditory sense in everyday life because it confirms what our
eyes identify as the environment. When we listen to recorded music,
however, there are no visual clues and we rely completely on our sense of
hearing. The introduction of two-speaker stereo systems over thirty years
ago brought dramatic improvement to high fidelity music reproduction.
With a carefully-designed system, and good recording, it became possible to
produce a good sonic picture of the original event. Unfortunately, our
listening rooms do not approximate the acoustics of a good concert hall, an
intimate jazz club, or a magnificent cathedral - our ears tell us where we
really are. The Lexicon DC-1 is designed to overcome this fundamental
limitation to two-speaker reproduction and bring us closer to the ultimate
goal of transporting ourselves to the original musical event.
The DC-1 utilizes four basic algorithms: 5 channel or 7 channel Surround,
Ambience, Reverberation, and Panorama. These algorithms create effects
specifically designed to accurately reproduce any program material in your
home. The object is to increase the sideways-moving sound in a room, thus
increasing Spatial Impression, or SI. The DC-1 increases SI by either extract-
ing it from the original recording, with the Panorama or Surround effects,
or by generating a new acoustic environment with Ambience or Reverbera-
tion
DC-1Theory
and Design
Introduction
to the DC-1
1