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Overview of
Surround Formats
To get the best performance from your
RSX-1056, it helps to understand the many
surround sound formats available today, to
know which decoding process to use for a
particular recording, and how to select it. This
section provides basic background informa-
tion about surround sound formats. The follow-
ing sections provide detailed operating instruc-
tions for automatic and manual selection of
surround modes.
NOTE
: The RSX-1056 has built-in amplifiers to
drive five speakers in a 5.1 channel system.
To use surround modes for 6.1 or 7.1 chan-
nel systems, you will need a separate power
amplifier to drive one or two speakers.
Dolby Surround
Dolby Pro Logic II
The most widely available surround sound
format for consumer audio/video is Dolby
Surround
®
, available on nearly all commer-
cial VHS tapes, many television broadcasts,
and most DVDs. Dolby Surround is the con-
sumer version of the analog Dolby Stereo system
first introduced in the film industry in 1972. It
is a matrix-encoding system that records front
left, front center, front right, and a mono sur-
round channel into a 2-channel stereo record-
ing. During playback, a Dolby Pro Logic
®
or
Pro Logic II decoder extracts each channel and
distributes it to the appropriate speakers.
The original Dolby Pro Logic decoder deliv-
ered a mono signal with reduced high-fre-
quency content to the surround speakers. A
more advanced decoder in the RSX-1056,
Dolby Pro Logic II, increases the separation
and frequency response of the surround chan-
nels for significantly improved performance
with Dolby Surround encoded recordings.
Dolby Pro Logic II decoding should be used
for any analog recording labeled “Dolby Sur-
round” or any Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack.
Dolby Pro Logic II does a superb job deriving
surround sound from conventional 2-channel
stereo recordings, using phase relationships
to extract front, right, center, and surround chan-
nels. A “music mode” makes Pro Logic II an
excellent choice for audio CDs.
Dolby Digital
In 1992, a digital recording system, called
Dolby Digital, was first used in the film indus-
try. Dolby Digital is a recording/playback sys-
tem that uses compression techniques to store
large amounts of audio data efficiently, much
like the JPEG format stores large photographs
in small files on a computer. Because it is
capable of performance beyond that of au-
dio CDs and can tailor its output for a wide
ranges of system configurations, Dolby Digi-
tal is the standard audio format for DVDs and
for digital television broadcasting in the United
States.
The Dolby Digital system can be used to record
up to six discrete audio channels, but can also
be used for fewer. For example, a Dolby Digital
2.0 soundtrack is a digital 2-channel record-
ing of a matrix encoded Dolby Surround
soundtrack.. To play a Dolby Digital 2.0 re-
cording, use Dolby Pro Logic II decoding as
previously described.
The most common use of Dolby Digital in newer
films, in both the film industry and in home
theater, is Dolby Digital 5.1. Instead of encoding
multiple surround channels on a two-channel
recording, Dolby Digital 5.1 records six dis-
crete channels: front left, front center, front right,
surround left, surround right, and a Low Fre-
quency Effects (LFE) channel containing ultra-
low bass signals intended for a subwoofer.
A Dolby Digital decoder extracts the channels
from the digital bitstream, converts them to
analog signals and routes them to the appro-
priate amplifiers and speakers. All channels
provide full frequency response with total sepa-
ration between all channels and large dynamic
range capability. A Dolby Digital 5.1
soundtrack can provide more impressive sur-
round sound than matrix Dolby Surround.
Decoding of Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtracks is
automatic. When the RSX-1056 detects a Dolby
5.1 signal on one of its digital inputs, it acti-
vates the proper processing. Keep in mind that
Dolby Digital is only available from digital
sources (a DVD, a LaserDisc, or a Digital TV/
Cable/SAT tuner). Also, you must connect the
source with a digital cable (coax or optical)
to an active digital input on the RSX-1056.
NOTE
: Many DVDs have a Dolby Digital 2.0
matrix soundtrack as the default, which should
be decoded with Pro Logic II. The Dolby Digi-
tal 5.1 soundtrack may have to be selected
as an option from the setup menus at the be-
ginning of the DVD. Look for a Dolby Digital
5.1 selection under “Audio” or “Languages”
or “Setup Options” when you insert the disc.
DTS
5.1
DTS 96/24
DTS
®
(Digital Theater Systems) is an alterna-
tive digital format competing with Dolby Digital
in both movie theaters and home theater
markets. The basic functions of the DTS sys-
tem are similar to those of Dolby Digital (for
example, 5.1 discrete channels), however the
technical details of the compression and de-
coding processes differ somewhat and a DTS
decoder is required.
A recent extension of the DTS encoding sys-
tem is DTS 96/24. These recordings provide
the performance of a 96kHz sampling rate
while still using actual 48kHz sampling rate
of standard DTS discs.
Like Dolby Digital, DTS can only be used on
a digital recording and, therefore, is only
available for home use on LaserDiscs, DVDs,
or other digital formats. To use the RSX-1056’s
DTS decoder, you must connect your DVD
player to the RSX-1056’s digital inputs.
As with Dolby Digital 5.1, detection and proper
decoding of DTS 5.1 signals is automatic.
NOTE
: DVDs with a DTS soundtrack almost
always have it configured as an option to the
standard matrix Dolby Surround format. To
use DTS, you may have to go to the setup
menus at the beginning of the DVD and se-
lect “DTS 5.1” instead of “Dolby Surround”
or “Dolby Digital 5.1”. In addition, many DVD
players have the DTS digital bitstream turned
off by default and cannot output a DTS
soundtrack (even if selected on the disc’s
menu) until you activate the player’s DTS out-
put. If you hear no sound the first time you
attempt to play a DTS disc, go to the DVD
player’s configuration menus and turn on the
DTS bitstream. This is a one-time setting and
need only be done once.