Owner's Manual

12
Re-Equalization™ The tonal balance of a standard film soundtrack will be excessively bright and harsh
when played back over high quality audio equipment in the home because film
soundtracks were designed to be played back in large movie theatres using very different
professional equipment. Re-Equalization restores the correct tonal balance for watching a
movie soundtrack in a small, home environment.
Timbre Matching™ The human ear alters our perception of a sound based on the direction from which
the sound is coming. Thus two identical sounds arriving from different directions
sound somewhat different to us (based on the asymmetrical shape of our ears). In film
soundtracks, this can introduce discontinuity as sounds pan from the front to the rear of
the room, even if the speakers themselves are quite well-matched.
The Timbre Matching feature filters the information going to the surround speakers
so that they more closely match the tonal characteristics of the sound coming from the
front speakers. This ensures seamless panning between the front and surround speakers.
Adaptive Decorrelation™ In a movie theater, there is an array of perhaps a dozen surround speakers so that
the surround information is literally all around you. This creates a diffuse surround
soundfield that envelopes you, drawing you into the action on the screen rather than
distracting you from it.
By contrast, in a home theater you often use only two speakers, located to the sides and
somewhat behind you. Even in more elaborate “7.1 channel” systems, you still have only
two speakers to the sides and two speakers to the rear – quite different than the surround
array for which the soundtrack was mixed. This difference can make the surround
speakers sound like headphones, lacking spaciousness and envelopment. The surround
soundfield also tends to collapse into the closest speaker as you move away from the
middle seating position.
Adaptive Decorrelation
™
– another THX technology – slightly changes each surround
channel’s time and phase relationship with respect to the other surround channels. This
expands the listening position and helps create – even with only two surround speakers
– the same spacious surround experience as in a movie theater.