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OPERATION 33

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, external DVD-Audio or SACD player, or
another source device and carry them straight
through to the volume control.

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 5

until S U R R O F F appears in the Main
Information Display ˜.

Digital audio is a major advancement over older
analog surround processing systems such as
Dolby Pro Logic. It delivers five or six discrete
channels: left front, center, right front, left
surround and right surround and with DTS ES
(see below) even surround back (with identical
signals for left and right). Each channel repro-
duces full frequency range (20Hz to 20kHz) and
offers dramatically improved dynamic range and
significant 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 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.

Dolby Digital 
Dolby Digital (originally known as AC-3

®

) is 

a standard part of DVD, and is available on 
specially encoded LD discs and satellite
broadcasts and it is a part of the new high-
definition television (HDTV) system.

Note that an optional, external RF demodulator is
required to use the AVR 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 

 !*Ó of the AVR.

No demodulator is required for use with DVD
players or DTS-encoded laser discs.

DTS
DTS is another digital audio system that is capa-
ble of delivering 5.1, 6.1 or 7.1 audio. Although
both DTS and Dolby Digital are digital, they use
different methods of encoding the signals, and
thus they require different decoding circuits to
convert the digital signals back to analog.

DTS-encoded sound tracks are available on select
DVD and LD discs, as well as on special audio-
only DTS CDs. You may use any LD, DVD or CD
player equipped with a digital output to play
DTS-encoded special audio-only CDs with the
AVR, but DTS-LDs can be played on LD players
and DTS-DVDs on DVD players only. All that is
required is to connect the player’s digital output
to either the Optical or Coaxial input on the
rear panel 

 ! or front panel *Ó.

In order to listen to DVDs encoded with DTS
sound tracks, the DVD player must be compatible
with the DTS signal as indicated by a DTS logo on
the player’s front panel. Note that early DVD
players may not be able to play DTS- encoded
DVDs. This does not indicate a problem with the
AVR, 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 DVDs, consult the player’s owner’s manual.

Please note that some DVD players are shipped
with their output set for Dolby Digital only. To
insure that DTS data is being sent to the AVR,
please check the setup menu system on your
DVD player to make certain that DTS data output
is enabled.

PCM Audio Playback
PCM (Pulse Code Modulation) is the non- com-
pressed digital audio system used for compact
discs, Non-Dolby Digital/DTS Laserdiscs and some
special PCM encoded DVDs. The digital circuits in
the AVR are capable of high quality digital-to-ana-
log decoding, and they may be connected directly
to the digital audio output of your CD/DVD or LD
player (LD only for PCM or DTS programs, for
Dolby Digital laser discs an RF adapter is needed,
see ”Dolby Digital” above).

Connections may be made to either the Optical
or Coaxial inputs 

 ! on the rear panel or the

front panel Digital Inputs *Ó.

To listen to a PCM digital source, first select the
input for the desired source (e.g., CD) to feed its
video signal (if any) to the TV monitor and to pro-
vide its analog audio signal for recording. Next
press the Digital Select button Û

G and then

use the 

⁄

¤

buttons 

D on the remote, or the

Selector buttons 7 on the front panel, until the
desired choice appears in the Main Information
Display ˜, then press the Set button @

F

to confirm the choice.

During PCM playback the unit automatically will
turn to the default surround mode or to the

LOGIC 7

mode but you also may select any

surround mode except Dolby Digital or DTS.

Selecting a Digital Source
To utilize either digital mode you must have 
properly connected a digital source to the 
AVR. Connect the digital outputs from DVD play-
ers, HDTV receivers, satellite systems or CD play-
ers to the Optical or Coaxial inputs on the rear
or front panel 

 !*Ó. In order to provide a

backup signal and a source for analog stereo
recording, the analog outputs provided on digital
source equipment should also be connected to
their appropriate inputs on the AVR rear panel
(e.g., connect the analog stereo audio output
from a DVD to the DVD Audio inputs

 on

the rear panel when you connect the source’s
digital outputs).

To select a digital source such as DVD, first select
its input using the remote or front panel Input
Selector

4% as outlined in this manual in

order to feed its video signal (if any) to the TV
monitor and to provide its analog audio signal for
recording. When the digital input associated with
the input selected (e.g. “DVD”) is not selected
automatically (due to the input settings made
earlier during the system configuration, see page
18), select the digital source by pressing the
Digital Input Selector button 

G Û and

then using the 

⁄

/

¤

buttons 

D on the remote

or the Selector buttons 7 on the front panel to
choose any of the 

OPTICAL

or 

COAXIAL

inputs, as they appear in the Main Information
Display ˜ or on-screen display.

When the digital source is playing, the AVR will
automatically detect whether it is a multichannel
Dolby Digital or DTS source or a conventional
PCM signal, which is the standard output from
CD players.

Note that a digital input (e.g. coaxial) remains
associated with any analog input (e.g. DVD) as
soon as it is selected, thus the digital input need
not be re-selected each time the appropriate
input choice (e.g. DVD) is made.

34 OPERATION

Digital Bitstream Indicators
When a digital source is playing, the AVR senses
the type of bitstream data that is present. Using
this information, the correct surround mode will
automatically be selected. For example, DTS bit-
streams will cause the unit to switch to DTS
decoding, and Dolby Digital bitstreams will enable
Dolby Digital decoding. When the unit senses PCM
data, from CDs and LDs and some music DVDs or
certain tracks on normal DVDs, it will allow the
appropriate surround mode to be selected manu-
ally. Since the range of available surround modes
depends on the type of digital data that is present,
the AVR uses a variety of indicators to let you
know what type of signal is present. This will help
you to understand the choice of modes and the
input channels recorded on the disc.

When a digital source is playing, the AVR will
display a variety of messages to indicate the type
of bitstream received. These messages will appear
shortly after an input or surround mode is
changed, and will remain in the Main
Information Display ˜ for about five seconds
before the display returns to the normal surround
mode indication.

For Dolby Digital and DTS sources, a three digit
indication will appear, showing the number of
channels present in the data. An example of this
type of display is 3/2/.1.

The first number indicates how many discrete
front channel signals are present.

• A 3 tells you that separate front left, center and

front right signals are available. This will be dis-
played for Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1 pro-
grams.

• A 2 tells you that separate front left and right

signals are available, but there is no discrete
center channel signal. This will be displayed for
Dolby Digital bit streams that have stereo pro-
gram material.

• A 1 tells you that there is only a mono channel

available in the Dolby Digital bitstream.

The middle number indicates how many discrete
surround channel signals are present.

• A 2 tells you that separate surround left and

right signals are available. This will be displayed
for Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1 programs.

• A 1 tells you that there is only a single, sur-

round encoded surround channel. This will
appear for Dolby Digital bit streams that have
matrix encoding.

• A 0 indicates that there is no surround channel

information. This will be displayed for two-
channel stereo programs.

The last number indicates if there is a discrete
Low Frequency Effects (LFE) channel. This is the
“.1” in the common abbreviation of “5.1” sound
and it is a special channel that contains only bass
frequencies.

• A .1 tells you that an LFE channel is present.

This will be displayed for Dolby Digital 5.1 and
DTS 5.1 programs, as available.

• A 0 indicates that there is no LFE channel infor-

mation available. However, even when there is
no dedicated LFE channel, low frequency sound
will be present at the subwoofer output when
the speaker configuration is set to show the
presence of subwoofer.

• The information in the right side of the display

will tell you if the digital audio data contains a
special flag signal that will automatically acti-
vate the appropriate 6.1 or 7.1 mode. This will
be shown as 

EX-ON

or 

EX-OFF

for Dolby

Digital bitstreams and 

ES-ON

or 

ES-OFF

for DTS bitstreams.

An 

UNLOCK

message may appear in the

Lower Display Line ˜. This is your indication
that the digital audio data stream has been inter-
rupted or is no longer present. When that occurs,
the unit’s digital signal processor has no signal to
lock onto, and is thus “unlocked.” You may see
this message when a DVD is first started until the
stream is playing and the processor determines
which mode to apply; or any time the data stream
is stopped or paused, such as when the menus of
some discs are displayed or when the player is
switching between the different sections of a
disc. You may also see the message when a satel-
lite receiver, cable set-top or HDTV tuner is in use
if the digital audio is temporarily interrupted
when channels are changed or when a cable box
switches from a channel with a digital data
stream to a channel with analog audio only. The

UNLOCK

message is normal, and does not indi-

cate any problem with your receiver. Rather, it
tells you that the incoming data has simply been
paused or is not present for a variety of possible
reasons.

When Dolby Digital 3/2/.1 or DTS 3/2/.1 signals
are being played, the AVR will automatically
switch to the proper surround mode, and no other
processing may be selected. When a Dolby Digital
signal with a 3/1/0 or 2/0/0 signal is detected you
may select any of the Dolby surround modes.

It is always a good idea to check the readout for
the channel data to make certain that it matches
the audio logo information shown on the back of
a DVD package. In some cases you will see indi-
cation for “2/0/0” even when the disc contains a
full 5.1, or 3/2/.1 signal. When this happens,
check the audio output settings for your DVD
player or the audio menu selections for the specif-
ic disc being played to make certain that the play-
er is sending the correct signal to the AVR.

PCM Playback Indications
PCM is the abbreviation for Pulse Code Modula-
tion, which is the type of digital signal used for
standard CD playback, and other non-Dolby
Digital and non-DTS digital sources such as Mini-
Disc. When a PCM signal is detected, the Main
Information Display ˜ will briefly show a
message with the letters PCM, in addition to a
readout of the sampling frequency of the digital
signal.

In most cases this will be 

4 8 KHZ

, though in

the case of specially mastered, high-resolution
audio discs you will see a 

9 6 KHZ

indication.

The 

PCM 4 8 KHZ

indication will also appear

when modes or inputs are changed for analog
sources. In those cases the system is telling you
the sampling frequency used internally at the
output of the analog-to-digital converters that
change the incoming signal from a VCR, tape
deck, the tuner, or other ana-log source to digital.

Speaker/Channel Indicators
In addition to the Bitstream Indicators, the 
AVR features a set of unique channel-input
indicators that tell you how many channels of
digital information are being received and/or
whether the digital signal is interrupted.

These indicators are the L/C/R/LFE/SL/SR/SBL/SBR
letters that are inside the center boxes of the
Speaker/Channel Input Indicators $ in the
front panel Main Information Display ˜.
When a standard analog stereo or matrix 
surround signal is in use, only the “L” and “R”
indicators will light, as analog signals have only
left and right channels.

Digital signals, however, may have one, two, five,
six or seven separate channels, depending on the
program material, the method of transmission
and the way in which it was encoded. When a
digital signal is playing, the letters in these 
indicators will light in response to the specific sig-
nal being received. It is important to note that
although Dolby Digital, for example, is referred to
as a “5.1” system, not all Dolby Digital DVDs or
audio tracks selected on DVD or other Dolby
Digital programs are encoded for 5.1. Thus, it is
sometimes normal for a DVD with a Dolby Digital
soundtrack to trigger only the “L” and “R”
indicators.

OPERATION  35

NOTE: Many DVD discs are recorded with both
“5.1” and “2.0” versions of the same sound-
track. When playing a DVD, always be certain to
check the type of material on the disc. Most discs
show this information in the form of a listing or
icon on the back of the disc jacket. When a disc
does offer multiple soundtrack choices, you may
have to make some adjustments to your DVD
player (usually with the “Audio Select” button or
in a menu screen on the disc) to send a full 5.1
feed to the AVR or to select the appropriate
audio track and thus language. It is also possible
for the type of signal feed to change during the
course of a DVD playback. In some cases the pre-
views of special material will only be recorded in
2.0 audio, while the main feature is available in
5.1 audio. As long as your DVD player is set for
6-channel output, the AVR will automatically
sense changes to the bitstream and channel
count and reflect them in these indicators.

Important Note: When a digital surround
source (Dolby Digital, DTS) is played, the letters
SBL/SBR for the Surround Back channels will
appear only when a DTS ES DISCRETE 6.1 source
is played. Then this surround mode will be indi-
cated in the front display and on-screen display.
With all other recordings the icons for the sur-
round back speakers may light (when those
speakers have been configured) to indicate that a
signal will be fed to them (Matrix decoded with
NEO:6, LOGIC 7 or 7 CH Stereo), but no letters
inside will light as the unit will not receive an
input signal for the surround back channels.

The letters used by the Speaker/Channel Input
Indicators $ also flash to indicate when a bit-
stream has been interrupted. This will happen
when a digital input source is selected before the
playback starts, or when a digital source such as
a DVD is put into a Pause mode. The flashing
indicators remind you that the playback has
stopped due to the absence of a digital signal
and not through any fault of the AVR. This is
normal, and the digital playback will resume once
the playback is started again.

Night Mode 
A special feature of Dolby Digital is the Night
mode, which enables Dolby Digital input sources
to be played back with full digital intelligibilty
while reducing the maximum peak level and
lifting the low levels by 

1

/

4

to 

1

/

3

. This prevents

abruptly loud transitions from disturbing others
without reducing the impact of the digital source.
The Night mode is available only when the Dolby
Digital mode is selected.

The Night mode may be engaged when a Dolby
Digital DVD is playing by pressing the Night
Button 

B on the remote. Next, press the 

⁄

/

¤

buttons 

D to select either the middle range or

full compression versions of the Night mode. To
turn the Night mode off, press the 

⁄

/

¤

buttons

D until the message in the lower third of the
video display and the Main Information
Display ˜ reads 

D-RANGE OFF

.

The Night mode may also be selected to always
be on as soon as the Dolby Digital mode is 
activated at either level of compression using the
options in the 

DOLBY

menu. See page 20 for

information on using the menus to set this
option.

IMPORTANT NOTES ON DIGITAL PLAYBACK:
• When the digital playback source is stopped, or
in a pause, fast forward or chapter search mode,
the digital audio data will momentarily stop, and
the channel position letters inside the Speaker/
Channel Indicators $ will flash. This is normal
and does not indicate a problem with either the
AVR or the source machine. The AVR will return to
digital playback as soon as the data is available
and when the machine is in a standard play
mode.

• Although the AVR will decode virtually all DVD
movies, CDs and HDTV sources, it is possible that
some future digital sources may not be compatible
with the AVR.

• Note that not all digitally encoded programs
and not all audio tracks on a DVD contain full 5.1
or 6.1 channel audio. Consult the program guide
that accompanies the DVD or laser disc to deter-
mine which type of audio has been recorded on
the disc. The AVR will automatically sense the
type of digital surround encoding used, indicate it
in the Channel Input Indicators $ and adjust
to accommodate it.

• When a Dolby Digital or DTS source is playing,
you normally may not be able to select some of
the analog surround modes such as Dolby Pro
Logic II, Dolby 3 Stereo, Hall, Theater, 5CH/7CH
Stereo or Logic 7, except with specific Dolby
Digital 2.0 recordings that can be played with the
Pro Logic II modes too (see page 33).

• When a digital source is playing, it is possible
to make an analog recording using the Tape

or Video 1 or Video 2 or 

"& record outputs,

even if the source is connected to any digital
input of the AVR only, as long as "Surround Off"
mode is selected (possible with a PCM source
only). But the analog two channel signal, even of
a Dolby Digital (not DTS) source, the ”Downmix”
to Stereo or Dolby Surround, can be recorded by
connecting its analog audio outputs to the
appropriate analog inputs (e.g. DVD) of the AVR.
Additionally, the digital signals will be passed
through to the Digital Audio Outputs 

.

In normal operation, the audio or video source
selected for listening through the AVR is 
sent to the record outputs. This means that any
program you are watching or listening to may be
recorded simply by placing machines connected
to the outputs for Tape Outputs

 or Video 1

or 2 Outputs

"& in the record mode.

When a digital audio recorder is connected to
any of the Digital Audio Outputs

, you are

able to record the digital signal using a CD-R,
MiniDisc or other digital recording system.
Note that all digital signals will be passed
through to both, coaxial and optical, digital 
outputs simultanously, no matter which kind of
digital input was selected.

NOTES:
• The digital outputs are active only when a digital
signal is present, and they do not convert an ana-
log input to a digital signal, or change the format
of the digital signal (e.g. Dolby Digital to PCM or
vice versa, but coaxial digital signals are converted
to optical signals and vice versa). In additon, the
digital recorder must be compatible with the
output signal. For example, the PCM digital output
from a CD player may be recorded on a CD-R or
MiniDisc, but Dolby Digital or DTS signals may not.

• To make an analog recording from a digital
source is possible, but only from a PCM source
(not Dolby Digital or DTS) and correctly only with
"Surround Off" mode (with any Surround mode
only the L/R front signals will be fed to the record
outputs).

Normal output level adjustment for the AVR is
established using EzSet+ or the test tone, as out-
lined on page 27. In some cases, however, it may
be desirable to adjust the output levels using pro-
gram material such as a test disc, or a selection
you are familiar with. Additionally, the output
level for the subwoofer and those for the Stereo
and VMAx modes can only be adjusted using this
procedure. Note that all adjustments made with
any input will be effective with all inputs select-
ed, just as it is the case with the adjustment
using the test tone.

To adjust the output levels using program materi-
al, first select the surround mode for which you
want to trim the speakers (see NOTE below), start
your program material source and set the 
reference volume for the front left and front right
channels using the Volume Control

)î.

Once the reference level has been set, press the
Channel Select button 

CÙ and note that

FRONT L LEVEL

will appear in the Main

Information Display ˜. To change the level,
first press the Set button 

F @, and then use

the Selector buttons 7 or the 

⁄

¤

buttons

D to raise or lower the level.

36 OPERATION

DO NOT use the volume control, as this will alter
the reference setting.

Once the change has been made, press the Set
button 

F @ and then press the Selector but-

tons 7 or the 

⁄

/

¤

buttons 

D to select the

next output channel location that you wish to
adjust. To adjust the subwoofer level, press the
Selector buttons 7 or the 

⁄

/

¤

buttons 

D

until 

WOOFER LEVEL

appears in the Main

Information Display ˜ or on-screen display
(only available if the subwoofer is turned on).

Press the Set button 

F @ when the name of

the desired channel appears in the Main
Information Display ˜ and on-screen 
display, and follow the instructions shown above
to adjust the level.

Repeat the procedure as needed until all chan-
nels requiring adjustment have been set. When
all adjustments have been made and no further
adjustments are made for five seconds, the 
AVR will return to normal operation.

The channel output may also be adjusted using
the full-OSD on-screen menu system. First, set
the volume to a comfortable listening level using
the Volume Control ı

)î. Then, press

the OSD button 

L to bring up the 

MASTER MENU

(Figure 1). Press the 

¤

Button 

D four times until the on-screen 

›

cursor is next to the 

CHANNEL ADJUST

line. Press the Set Button 

F to activate the

CHANNEL ADJUST

menu (Figure 12).

Once the menu appears on your video screen,
use the 

⁄

/

¤

D to move the on-

screen 

➞ cursor so that it is next to the 

TEST

TONE

line. Press the 

‹

/

›

E& so

that 

OFF

appears. This turns off the test tone

and allows you to use external source material as
the reference.
Then, use the 

⁄

/

¤

D to select the

channels to be adjusted. At each channel posi-
tion use the 

‹

/

›

E& to change

the output level. Remember, when you are using
a disc with test signal (e.g. pink noise) or an
external signal generator as the source, the goal
is to have the output level at each channel be
equal when heard at the listening position, with
any surround mode selected. When your test
source is a normal disc with music signals, you
may adjust the level for each channel and sur-
round mode as you prefer, e.g. you may lower the
center channel level when you find it to be too
high or increase the level of the rears when you

find it to be too low with specific surround
modes.

If you wish to reset all the levels to their original
factory default of 0dB offset, press the 

⁄

/

¤

D so that the on-screen cursor is

next to the 

CHANNEL RESET

line and press

the 

‹

/

›

E& so that the word ON

is highlighted. After the levels are reset, resume
the procedure outlined above to reset the levels
to the desired settings. When all adjustments are
done, press the 

⁄

/

¤

D to move the

on-screen 

›

cursor so that it is next to 

BACK

T O MASTER MENU

and then press the Set

F if you wish to go back to the main

menu to make other adjustments. If you have no
other adjustments to make, press the OSD
Button

L to exit the menu system.

NOTE: The output levels may be separately
trimmed for each digital and analog surround
mode. If you wish to have different trim levels for a
specific mode, select that mode and then follow the
instructions in the steps shown above.

With Stereo and Vmax modes the adjustment
procedure described above is the only way to
trim the output level, e.g. to match the Stereo or
Vmax level with other modes.

This product is equipped with a memory backup
system that preserves tuner presets and system
configuration information if the unit is turned off
completely, accidentally unplugged or subjected
to a power outage. This memory will last for
approximately two weeks, after which time all
information must be reentered.

  *   C H A N N E L   A D J U S T   *

F L

: 0   d B

S B R : 0   d B

C E N

: 0   d B

S B L : 0   d B

F R

: 0   d B

S L

: 0   d B

S R

: 0   d B

S U B : 0   d B

C H A N N E L   R E S E T

: O F F  

T E S T   T O N E   S E Q

: M A N U A L  

T E S T   T O N E        

: O F F  

B A C K   T O   A U D I O   S E T U P

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