User manual MERIDIAN AUDIO 861

[. . . ] Meridian 861 Reference Digital Surround Controller User Guide Reference Digital Surround Controller 861 Source DSP Mute Off i PREFACE Copyright and acknowledgements Sales and service in the UK Meridian Audio Ltd Stonehill Stukeley Meadows Cambs PE29 6EX England Tel (01480) 445678 Fax (01480) 445686 Sales and service in the USA Meridian America Inc 3800 Camp Creek Parkway Building 2400 Suite 122 Atlanta GA 30331 Tel (404) 344 7111 Fax (404) 346 7111 World Wide Web ­ http://www. meridian-audio. com Designed and manufactured in the UK by Meridian Audio Ltd Stonehill Stukeley Meadows Cambs PE29 6EX England Copyright © 1997-2003 Meridian Audio Ltd Part no: 861U/6 Manufactured under license from Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation (Canadian patent 1, 037, 877), Lucasfilm Ltd. (US patents 5, 043, 970; 5, 189, 703; 5, 222, 059. European patent 0323830), Trifield Productions Ltd, and Nimbus Records Ltd. MHR: this product incorporates copyright protection technology covered by certain patent applications and intellectual property of Meridian Audio Ltd. [. . . ] The sound appears diffused, and changes in timbre and apparent location as you move your head. Setting Correct Incorrect Pay particular attention to the centre channel, as this can have a dramatic effect on the overall sound. As you increase the delay the speaker will appear to move away from you. · Press > or Store to proceed to the next calibration stage. Speaker size These tests allow you to determine the bass handling capability of large analogue speakers and subwoofers. Once set, the 861 will limit the bass level to protect the speakers from potential damage. In each test the display shows the speaker being tested and the level of the test signal, followed by the limit value set for the speaker. For example: If you have an on-screen display it shows: Left Size 5/19 · Press > or < to move between each of the speakers under test. · Press A and V to adjust the limit value for the speaker. As you increase the limit value, the test signal will gradually get louder up to the limit value. Reducing the limit value will cause the test signal level to drop immediately. · Adjust the limit value until the speaker is just beginning to produce distortion, indicating that it is reaching its bass handling limit. 58 CONFIGURING WITHOUT A COMPUTER You have now completed the calibration of your system. · Press Off (front panel or remote) to exit from the calibration procedure. 59 CONFIGURING WITHOUT A COMPUTER Setting up sources This section explains how to use Gain/Sub mode to set up the sources connected to the digital surround controller, and configure them to suit your other equipment. You can also adjust the subwoofer crossover frequency to suit the subwoofers in your system. To turn on Gain/Sub mode · Put the digital surround controller into standby by pressing Off (front panel or remote). · Press and hold the Configure key under the front panel for at least five seconds. The display shows: Gain/Sub On The digital surround controller will then return to standby with Gain/Sub mode turned on. Gain/Sub mode adds two extra options to the DSP parameter menus: Sensitivity and Xover. To turn off Gain/Sub mode · Repeat the above procedure until the display shows: Gain/Sub Off To adjust the sensitivity of a source To obtain the best signal-to-noise ratio for your analogue sources you can adjust the sensitivity of each input to give the highest level that does not produce clipping. · Turn on Gain/Sub mode, as described above. · Select the source you want to adjust, with loud source material playing. · Press < or > (remote or under the front panel) until the display shows the current sensitivity. For example: Radio 2. 0V In · Press A or V (remote or under the front panel) to change the sensitivity. 60 CONFIGURING WITHOUT A COMPUTER You can select between sensitivities of 0. 5V (most sensitive), 1. 0V, 2. 0V, or 2. 5V (least sensitive). If the sensitivity is set too high the input will clip the loudest passages. The display shows, for example: In this case reduce the sensitivity. If you have selected a digital source you cannot adjust the sensitivity. [. . . ] The controller is normally chosen automatically, but the installer can override this. Dolby Digital A digital surround-sound which provides five full-frequency range channels (left, centre, right, left surround, and right surround) and an additional Low Frequency Effects (LFE) channel which is band limited to 120Hz. Dolby Surround The encoding system used for the majority of movies on video and many TV broadcasts. Dolby Surround encoded material can be replayed with a surround decoder connected to an array of loudspeakers which normally include at least left, centre, right, and rear surround. DTS Digital Theatre Systems originally produced digital audio tracks for motion pictures. A version of this format adapted for consumer video and audio products is referred to as DTS Entertainment. Like Dolby Digital it provides five full-frequency range channels (left, centre, right, left surround, and right surround) and an additional Low Frequency Effects (LFE) channel. 134 GLOSSARY PREFACE DVD Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc, a versatile CD-sized disc with nearly 30 times the storage capacity of CD. [. . . ]