Parasound Halo C1 Controller Speaker System User Manual


 
Changing Your Listening and Viewing Source
The C 1 Controller can accept up to four audio and six audio/video sources. There are several
ways to select a new source for listening or viewing.
If you press the SOURCE button at the lower right of the C 1 front panel, its halo will glow a
brighter blue and the front-panel knob temporarily changes its function from volume control to input
source selector. As you turn the knob, information for each input will appear in the front-panel dis-
play screen. If the display was already showing a video program, input information will now appear.
It will either be superimposed on the program or it will appear on a blank background in place of
the program, depending on the choices you made in Display Setup (page 34). Five seconds after
you stop turning the knob, it resumes its volume-control function and the display reverts to whatever
video program it was showing originally.
The Master remote control supplied with the C 1 can be used to select any source directly.
Source selection is made from Page 2 of the C1/C2 screen, by pressing the small key next to
the name of the source you want. To get to that page, press the remotes MAIN button, press
the small key next to C1/C2 on the screen, then press the PAGE button until Page 2 comes
up on the screen. If your remote has been custom-programmed by your dealer or installer, the
screen will show the names of the source equipment in your system, rather than the factory-
loaded, generic names shown on the preceding page.
Page 1 of the C1/C2 screen gives access to the tape monitor input (which is available only from
the Master remote) and the 7.1-channel analog input. Neither the tape monitor nor the 7.1-channel
analog input is associated with any specific video inputs; to use either while watching a video
source, select that source first, then select tape monitor or 7.1-channel input for the sound.
If you dont want to accidentally select inactive inputs, you can use Autosearch. Press the cen-
ter of the Master remotes round thumbpad, and the C 1 will shift to the next active input that
is, the next one receiving either a video or digital audio signal. Autosearch automatically skips
any inputs that are unused or whose source components are stopped (rather than in play/pause)
or turned off. (It will also skip any inputs receiving only component video and analog audio.) The
name of the currently selected source will appear on the C 1 display if it is in status mode or if
it is in video preview mode and superimpose has been selected in Display Setup (page 34).
With the Master remotes display showing any of the three C1/C2 control pages, rocking the remotes
round thumbpad to the right or left will cycle through the C 1s ten inputs.
As delivered from the factory, the SideKick remotes CH up and down buttons cycle through the
C 1s ten inputs. Its common, however, for dealers, installers, and owners to reprogram these
buttons to change channels on your TV, cable, or satellite receiver.
You can customize or change the input names that appear on the C 1, using the Master remote (see
Source Setup in Adjustments, Menus, and Setup). To change the names that appear on the screen
of the remote itself, you will need a PC and the Halo version of the MX-Editor software; this software
and its instructions can be downloaded from www.parasound.com/halo. A separate user manual is
supplied with the remotes, and additional copies can be downloaded from the same Web site.
Using Audio Recorders
The C 1 has two types of recorder connection, each with its own advantages.
The Tape Monitor connections enable you to listen to the output from an audio recorder while a
recording is being made. If you have an analog recorder with separate recording and playback
heads, you can use the monitor feature to hear exactly how your recording sounds, by listening
to the output from its playback head. If you are recording through the analog inputs of a digital
recorder, this feature also alerts you to distortion caused by excessive signal levels, without your
having to keep watching a meter or other level indicator. The Rec/Out jack in the Tape Monitor
section carries whatever analog signal you select for the main listening zone, with the excep-
tions of balanced inputs in Bypass mode and the 7.1-channel analog input.
The Record outputs in the Video, S-Video, and Analog Audio output sections of the rear panel
also carry the video and analog audio signals playing in the main zone. Avoid setting the source
selector to an audio or video deck while its recording from the Record outputs, or youll get
USING THE MAIN CONTROLS continued
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