Yamaha DSP-A2 Owner's Manual - Page 6

INTRODUCTION What's DSP? Introduction Welcome to the exciting world of digital home entertainment. This unit is one of the most complete and advanced AV amplifier available. Some of the more advanced features may not be familiar to you, but they are easy to use. State-of-the-art technologies such as Dolby Digital and Digital Theater Systems (DTS) may be new to your home, but you have probably experienced the amazing realism they bring to feature films in theaters around the world. To make the listening experience even more enjoyable, this unit includes a number of exclusive, digitally created listening environments known as digital sound fields. Choosing a sound field program is like transporting yourself to such venues as an outdoor arena, a European church, or a cozy jazz club. Take some time now to read more about these features and enjoy the new experiences this unit brings to your home theater. Digital Sound Field Processing Technological advances in sound reproduction over the last 30 years have enhanced the listening experience with improved clarity, precision and power. However, something has still been missing: The atmosphere and acoustic ambiance of the public venue. Our Yamaha engineers have extensively researched the nature of sound acoustics and the way sound reflects inside a room. We sent these engineers to famous theaters and concert halls around the world to measure the acoustics of those venues with sophisticated microphones. The data they collected is used to recreate these environments in digital sound fields. Some of these digital sound fields are created using data measured directly at the original venue; others are created from combinations of data to form unique environments for specific purposes. Of course, that only solves half of the problem. These engineers have no way of knowing the acoustics of your listening room, so we've made it possible for you to adjust the various parameters of this data to tailor each virtual venue to your taste. You can use these sound fields to enhance any source and in combination with any of the following surround sound technologies. Some are designed especially for music, and some especially for movies. Dolby Pro Logic Surround Dolby Pro Logic Surround has been used in movie theaters since the mid-seventies. It has also been available in home entertainment systems since the late eighties and continues to be a popular format for home theater systems. It uses four discrete channels and five speakers to reproduce realistic and dynamic sound effects: two main channels (left and right), a center channel for dialog, and a rear channel for special sound effects. The rear channel reproduces sound within a narrow frequency range. Most video tapes and laser discs include Dolby Pro Logic Surround encoding as do many TV and cable broadcasts. The Dolby Pro Logic Surround decoder built into this unit employs a digital signal processing system that stabilizes each channel for even more accurate sound positioning than is available with standard analog processors. 4