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C 2 Owner`s Guide

1. z Z S Notes Yes THX post processing is available Yes THX post processing is not available for this mode and signal type No Mode is not available for this signal type THX Ultra2 Cinema replaces THX Cinema if two surround back speakers were selected in setup Requires one or two surround back speakers THX Cinema is not available for combinations where THX Ultra2 Cinema can be selected Requires two surround back speakers Available only when in the Direct mode ol gt w N l Analog mode selections are not available for the 71 channel analog input or for the balanced analog input if its Bypass was selected during setup USING THE MAIN CONTROLS continued Using the Status Button and the Displays The display on the front panel of the C 2 Controller normally shows you the currently selected source audio and video signal types audio mode and volume setting If you have a video screen connected to one of the Controller s OSD outputs it will show that information in greater detail for 5 seconds after you press the STATUS buttons on the Master remote or the INFO button on the SideKick remote The same signal will be echoed to the OSD composite and S Video outputs on the rear panel for display on a video screen You can choose whether to view the status information against a plain background or superimposed on the current video program and whether the information will stay on screen at all times o
2. Dolby Pro Logic Il Movie Optimized for movies and electronic games this 5 1 channel mode has more chan nel separation than Pro Logic and two full range surround channels instead of a single filtered channel By feeding the two surround speakers slightly different signals Pro Logic Il produces a more spacious enveloping effect Unlike the original Pro Logic it is designed for use with stereo analog or digital signals as well as for films and other two channel material with Dolby Surround encoding Available only with two channel sources e Dolby Pro Logic Il Music Optimized for music listening this mode is designed to produce surround ambi ence trom stereo sources such as CDs It has three adjustments not found in Pro Logic or Pro Logic Il Movie Center Width which adjusts the apparent width of the centerchannel signal Panorama which USING THE MAIN CONTROLS continued wraps the sound of the front left and right speakers around the listening area and Dimension which moves the surround field toward the back or front of the room These adjustments are made through the Dolby DTS setup page of the Audio Setup menu see page 24 e Dolby Digital EX An enhancement of the original Dolby Digital 5 1 channel surround system it adds back of the room surround information to the information coming from the surround speakers at the room s sides It can be used with a 6 1 channel speaker setup having one surround back speaker or with a 7 1
3. er a Analog Audio Inputs o Tape Monitor Analog Audio Outputs 7 1 Analog Audio Inputs Main Analog Audio Outputs Programmable Out C R The jacks in the control connection area of the rear panel can link the C 2 to a wide variety of devices beyond those that deliver or receive audio and video signals RS 232 Control This 9 pin full duplex serial port has several potential uses For one thing it allows the C 2 to communicate bidirectionally with widely available software based home automation and control systems such as AMX or Crestron When the C 2 is con nected to one of these systems it can be controlled and its status monitored from keypads and handheld or tabletop touch screen remotes throughout your house The capabilities of such con nections and the programming and interfacing needed will depend on the automation system you select consult your Parasound Dealer or Custom Installer for more information regarding interfacing an external control system to your C 2 The RS 232 port s second use is for programming If you link the RS 232 port to a serial port on a PC you can use free Windows software to program every aspect of the C 2 Controller s oper ation and make backup copies of program settings you have made via the C 2 front panel or with its Master remote The program which requires Windows 95 or higher can be down loaded trom www parasound com halo and a standard RS 232 serial cable can be purc
4. USING THE MASTER AND SIDEKICK REMOTES continued D THX Surround EX will not activate if no surround back speakers were selected during Setup or the source signal does not include surround channels In the first instance the display will read No Surround back Speakers in the second it will read Incompatible Source When THX modes are selected for an incompatible source or speaker setup the C 2 will remember the selection and will automatically apply it if the setup is changed or a compatible source is selected eTAPE Switches the main zone audio output to the signal from the Play In jacks of the rear panel s Tape Monitor section and to stereo mode This allows you to hear not only the input sig nal being fed to your recorder but by pressing the key the output from the same recorder If an analog tape recorder with separate recording and playback heads is connected to these jacks you can use this feature to hear the signal from the tape you ve just recorded delayed by the fraction of a second it takes the tape to travel from the recording to the playback head If a digital recorder s analog input and output jacks are connected to these jacks using this fea ture will let you check the signal after it s been through the recorder s A D and D A converters to be sure the signal level does not reach overload levels Distortion which increases gradually as analog tapes overload becomes obnoxiously high almost at once wh
5. To Cable To Output Input Output Input Outputs Antennaor TV CONI VCR D O Set top Box o D Q Note Video signals can also be recorded via the video monitor outputs However do not use the OSD jacks or the on screen display will be superimposed forever on your recording A third option of course is to record broadcast cable or satellite program through the video recorder s antenna cable RF inputs this can be done regardless of what you re watching and even when the C 2 is turned off Cabling tor a DVD recorder would be similar to that shown for a VCR with the addition of digital audio connections like those shown for a digital audio recorder earlier in this chapter CONNECTING THE AUDIO AND VIDEO OUTPUTS The output jacks of the C 2 are grouped with the input jacks of the same types Balanced Analog Audio S Video Digital Audio Component Video Inputs amp Outputs Inputs amp Outputs Outputs amp Inputs Inputs amp Outputs Left Back Ig D can Surround ts a ien ced Analog Au aie Video Outputs See Ee obj 0000000000000000 0000000j OO Analog Audio Inputs Tape Mon Analog Audio Outputs 7 1 Analog Audio Inputs Main Analog Audio Outputs apr nimanl Oit AC Power Unbalanced Analog Tape Zone amp 7 1 Channel Main Analog Programmable Switch Audio Inputs Monitor Record Analog Inputs Outputs Outputs Input amp Outputs Outputs Main Audio Outputs All
6. 13 16 17 Mono mode 12 14 28 46 51 54 60 Mounting See Placement Rack mounting Movie soundtracks 6 54 60 Multichannel See 71 channel Multiroom home control systems 5 52 Music Modes Also see Club Concert PL II Music THX MusicMode Neo 6 13 14 47 52 60 Muting 7 8 10 11 18 54 MxX Editor software 11 16 18 21 31 Natural mode 13 60 Neo 6 DTS 13 14 24 47 60 No Change setting 18 32 54 No OSD video outputs 6 48 9 56 Noise signals See Bass limiter Calibration noise signal NTSC video signals 33 Numerical keypad Master remote 20 On off switch Also see Rearpanel switch 9 15 18 INDEX continued On off trigger 34 53 On screen display OSD 6 8 10 11 15 23 28 33 36 37 45 49 56 Optical digital Toslink cables 38 OSD Also see On Screen Display OSD and Non OSD video output jacks 15 45 48 49 56 OSD Setup See Display Setup Output Input table 51 Overhead Speaker see Centered Ceiling Speaker 28 52 E PAGE button on Master Remote 11 16 PAL video system 33 40 Panorama See PL II Panorama Parasound T 3 tuner 16 Party mode 13 14 60 PCM 14 Physical distance 31 61 PHON on display see Headphones PL Il See Pro Logic II Placement Guidelines 3 4 Play In input Also see Tape Monitor 5 6 17 38 table 43 44 58 Polarity Programmable Aux channels 29 Polarity reversal by amplifie
7. 57 Setup 19 20 22 36 Shipping 4 57 Side speakers extra 50 Side Surround See Surround side SideKick remote 21 Signal levels See Analog Monitor and Level Setup Signal processor Motorola Symphony DSP56367 62 Signal type vs Listening Mode Table 14 Size setup 26 27 Software See Halo Setup MX Editor Sound level 7 10 27 30 61 Sound level meter 27 SOURCE button 8 10 11 Sources vs Listening Modes Table 14 Sources and presets 25 Source Setup menu 31 32 Source selection See Input selection Speaker distances 27 28 29 30 Speaker level adjustments 27 31 Speaker levels 60 Speaker Setup 2 30 35 60 Speaker setup Size 35 60 Speakers 24 47 49 Specifications 64 Speed of sound 30 SPL Sound pressure level 7 27 STATUS button on Master remote 15 18 Stereo 12 14 58 Stereo mode 12 14 Stereo music 13 14 Stereo96 mode 12 14 Sub See Subwoofer Subwoofer 6 17 18 24 32 35 40 47 50 51 54 55 60 62 Subwoofer 6 17 18 26 33 35 36 41 48 50 52 55 56 61 63 Subwoofer delay 30 Subwoofer filter 26 30 Subwoofer level 24 27 30 31 55 Subwoofer sides of room 51 Superimpose OSD 33 56 Surround Back speakers See Back SURROUND Button 8 10 12 13 Surround Modes See Listening modes Surround Side channels 6 13 50 60 Tactile transducertime delayed 50 Tactile transducers See Floorshakers TAPE key 5 11 12 17 43 58
8. Audio Setup page 24 Trigger Setup page 34 Dolby DTS Bass Limiter Presets Treble THX Audio Setup page 35 ANG BaSS LPE LEVEL Revel THX EX Enable Boundary Gain Speaker Setup page 26 Compensation ASA Advanced Speaker Array Level Distance Size Aux Programmable Halo Setup Software page 36 Channels Autocalibration source Setup page 31 Inputs Title Preset Selection Analog Monitor Balanced Inputs Navigating the Setup Menus You can set up the C 2 just the way you want it with either the front panel and remote controls or with a PC and downloadable HaloSetup software page 36 To get into Setup mode press the MENU button on the front panel or on the Master remote The built in display will read MAIN MENU AUDIO SETUP The video on screen display if you have a TV or video screen connected to one of the OSD output jacks on the C 2 is far more informative You can access specific setup menus by pressing the front panel MENU button to advance to the next item on the list or by pressing MENU on the Master remote then rocking the remote s thumbpad up or down until the name of the setup you want appears on the second line of the built in display or is indicated by the cursor on the video screen Note Programming is much easier with the remote which lets you scroll backward and for ward through the list rather than simply forward
9. MONITOR Ag MEA D K CHANNEL SPEAKER LEFT LEFT SURROUND BACK SPEAKER SPEAKER A The basic home theater setup is 5 1 channels Front left and right Surround left and right and Center front plus a subwoofer the 1 in the array That s sufficient for the Dolby Digital and DTS soundtracks on most DVDs and the Dolby Surround soundtracks on most videocassettes Laserdiscs and broadcasts The two surround back channels are optional as the diagram indicates They are needed for optimum surround from 71 channel Dolby Digital Surround EX or DTS ES soundtracks and from 71 channel sources that use the 71 channel analog inputs However if you have surround back speakers the C 2 will extract ambience information to feed them when you select the DTS Neo 6 Cinema or Neo 6 Music modes which also work with non DTS program material If your system does not yet have surround back speakers 71 channel soundtracks will be reproduced as regular 5 1 channel surround As you can see trom the diagram if you start with a five channel amp and want to expand your sys tem later you can add a stereo two channel amp to drive the additional speakers Amplifier Alternatives The amplifier setup shown above a five channel amplifier and an optional two channel amp both connected to the 7 1 channel unbalanced analog outputs is far from mandatory A five channel amplifier is convenient compact and cost effective a two c
10. Treble and Bass override any treble and bass adjustments you may have made in the Audio Setup menu but only for the input or inputs to which the preset is assigned The range is trom 12 dB cut to 12 dB boost Front Channel Treble and Bass Frequency Response 10 4 2 E Wa 20 50 100 200 500 1k 2k 5k 10k 20k DSP Clock Test PCM Audio Frequency Response Right Input 20 dBFs R PCM Audio 48 kHz bass 12dB treble 12dB 0 dBr Normalized to output 1kHz PL All Large SW Yes Center Surround and Subw will for any input assigned to a preset raise or lower the levels in these channels by up to 12 dB relative to those selected in Level Setup under the Speaker Setup menu ADJUSTMENTS MENUS AND SETUP continued Speaker Setup To hear the closest possible match to what the Tilmmak ers heard when they mixed their soundtracks your home theater must be set up so that each speaker gets the pa proper signals that no speaker is louder or softer than it mel setup should be relative to the others and so that the sound from each speaker arrives at the proper time fee a E F rE pe TENNAD v fpe oon fo FER ee ick gt Level autocalibrate Dist Exit Though not the first item on this menu it is the first one you should program it s used to adapt the C 2 to the i z number locations and types of speakers in your s
11. as the C 2 s component video board is isolated from its other video circuitry Component video systems commonly use RCA or twist on BNC connectors with BNC offering a slight edge in picture quality the C 2 has BNC Jacks and comes with adapters for cables with RCA plugs In addition to these three jacks which you ll find on home theater components and some professional video gear may have RGB connections which use separate cables for red green and blue plus external TECHNICALLY SPEAKING continued connections for horizontal and vertical sync signals or sometimes R G and B plus a composite sync as do the VGA video inputs and outputs on computers the five jacks on the component video inputs and output of the C 2 can be connected to these components too Using Unmatched Power Amplifiers While it s best to use identical amplifiers for all chan nels it s sometimes more convenient or economical to use a mixture of amps especially if you already have some If you do observe the following e Check with your amplifiers manufacturers to see which of your amplifiers do and do not reverse sig nal polarity Then reverse the output connections of the amplifiers that reverse polarity and only those amps i e connect their black terminals to the speakers red terminals and vice versa This will ensure correctly matched polarity from all your speakers Otherwise imaging the sense of where sounds are coming fro
12. cal sized home listening rooms It should be acti vated in setup if you have such subwoofers but otherwise turned off On Screen Messages The front panel display and video on screen display may sometimes show these messages while you re watching a movie e Dial Norm Offset Dialog Normalization Offset Once the C 2 is calibrated for your room and sys tem a volume setting of 0 will give you the same sound levels in your room that you d hear in a commercial movie theater assuming that the dialog in the movie was recorded at the correct level The Dial Norm Offset message which flashes briefly on the built in display and OSD at the beginning of a Dolby Digital DVD shows you to what extent the dialog on that DVD deviates from the standard For example if the dialog offset is 4 dB that DVD s dialog was recorded 4 dB too hot Reducing the C 2 Controller s volume setting by 4 dB will restore normal overall levels e Digital Error The digital signal being fed to the C 2 has errors in it and the C 2 needs a little time to analyze and accept it This may happen very briefly at the start of a DVD or CD and for longer periods when surfing channels with a satellite receiver While this message appears you won t hear any sound so a slight delay whenever you tune your satellite receiver to another station is quite normal Autocalibration Distance Measurements The C 2 calculates and displays the actual
13. dlog Audio Outputs Programmable Out Digital Optical Digital Coaxial CON DVD A Output Output O iia 7 Ss ae For simplicity s sake the player shown is strictly for audio For SACD and DVD A players that also play DVDs add the video input and output connections shown for a DVD player previous page Connecting a Balanced Output Audio Source What You May Need a e Two balanced interconnects with XLR plugs RCA Plug Toslink Connector e One optical digital cable with Toslink connectors or one 75 ohm digital coaxial cable with RCA plugs a Male e Audio source component with balanced and unbal on anced analog audio outputs and optical or coaxial Pen Female digital output XLR Connectors CONNECTING AUDIO AND VIDEO SOURCES AND RECORDERS continued _ _ _ oururs l Balanced Unbalanced Digital Digital Analog Audio Analog Audio Optical Coaxial CD PLAYER Output K L R 7 1 Analog Audio Inputs Main Analog Audio Outputs Programmable Out Normally all balanced and unbalanced input signals appear at both the balanced and the unbal anced outputs of the C 2 including its Record and Programmable outputs but only signals going to the main 71 channel outputs are affected by whatever surround tone control and other DSP digital signal processor settings you select There is a Bypass mode which sends signals directly from the left and right balanced inputs to the left fr
14. ers because that information is part of the video signal fed to the C 2 Note No on screen display is sent to the component video outputs because on screen display circuits reduce video bandwidth and detract from component video s increased signal purity and picture clarity However OSD is available for composite and S Video because its effect on these narrowerbandwidth signals isn t as noticeable The diagram shows cables to only three of the five component video jacks provided the ones marked Pr Y and Pb as most home theater video devices use only those connections Professional video gear computers and a few DVD players and other devices use VGA or RGB connections that require five cables for red green blue and horizontal and vertical sync For the best possible picture quality especially for HDTV we recommend using cables with twist on BNC connectors however adapters are provided for the more commonly available RCA plug cables Note The component video jacks on the C 2 and the plug adapters supplied are not color coded however a key to the appropriate cable colors is printed below the bottom row of component video jacks from left to right they are Red Green and Blue Connecting a Second Entertainment Zone What You May Need 1 composite video cable RCA Plug e 2 unbalanced analog audio interconnects e 1 zone amplifier and pair of speakers bys 3 5 mm mini plug e 1
15. First press the thumbpad s edge to tilt it up or down until the cursor is on Title press the center of the thumbpad it will click lightly to select this option and the Digital inout line of the display will be replaced temporarily by a cursor and an arrow SOuUTGE io gt litle Audio d reset Analog monitor Component video Balanced routing EKIL By rocking the thumbpad up or down you can change the character above the arrow to any upper or lower case let ter numbers O through 9 a space or any of several punc tuation marks asterisk hyphen period or slash if you hold the thumbpad in its up or down position the C 2 will scroll rapidly through the available characters If you pre fer you can also scroll through the character list by turning the front panel knob on the C2 When you have changed the character to the one you want rock the Master remote s thumbpad to the right to move the selection arrow to the next character Pressing the center of the thumbpad or moving the arrow past the beginning or end or the seven character title ends titling mode Note To change titles using the C 2 front panel alone turn the knob to change the letter that s underlined on the built in display and press the front panel MENU button to advance to the next letter The display shows only uppercase capital letters even when lowercase letters are selected but that won t matter unless you hook up a video screen lat
16. Main Menu VVhen you reach the setup menu you want press the cen ter of the Master remote s thumbpad or turn the front panel knob slightly clockwise to display the next level of menus Under Audio setup for example the front panel display would show AUDIO SETUP JUEBY Ola SETUP ADJUSTMENTS MENUS AND SETUP continued and the on screen display would show something like this Audio setur __ 8B Once again pressing MENU brings you to the next option as shown by the on screen cursor and the second line of the front panel display on the C 2 And once again turning the front panel knob slightly or rocking the thumbpad on the Master remote brings up a list of options For bass limiter setup the front panel display would read BADo LIMITER SETUP BASS LIMITER JFE And the on screen display would show Turning the knob a little or rocking the thumbpad to one side changes the setting or adjusts the function you ve selected For example Bass limiter would go from Off to On and back to Off again while Limiter level would change in 1 dB steps from 50 to O dB If you ve finished making changes and would like to go to a different setup you can save your changes and move back to a higher menu level by selecting Exit from the current menu by rocking the thumbpad up or down or by turning the front panel knob until you reach Exit To exit the current menu press the center
17. Natural Party Club and Concert THX processing has several parts and modes e Re Equalization which is patented by Lucasfilm adjusts the frequency response of movie sound tracks to compensate for the acoustical differences between home theaters and commercial movie theaters without It movie soundtracks would sound overly bright and fatiguing It is applied to the front channels and in THX Surround EX mode to the surround back channels but not to the side surrounds Re Equalization is not used in the THX MusicMode Timbre Matching compensates for a characteristic of the human hearing that changes the apparent frequency balance for identical sounds coming from different angles and directions Because the main speakers are at the front and surround speak ers are at the sides this hearing characteristic would make voices and other sounds change as they moved from the front to the surround chan nels or vice versa Timbre matching alters the fre quency balance in the side surround channels to compensate for this Adaptive Decorrelation functions with Dolby Pro Logic to add a greater sense of spaciousness and to enlarge the listening Sweet spot It accom plishes this by altering the mono surround informa tion so that the left and right surround speakers receive different rather than identical signals It does not apply when the surround channels already differ from each other as is usually the case with such dis
18. RS on the right Extra surround speakers closer to the rear could blend signals from the appropriate side surround channel and the back channel Time delays for these new speakers should be set for the distance to the closest seats CONNECTING THE AUDIO AND VIDEO OUTPUTS continued e Add a rearchannel subwoofer try 50 B 25 LS and 25 RS Then add low pass filtering If needed and a delay time for the sub s distance from your seat If you prefer to add subwoofers on the sides of the room try feeding the left sub 100 L 60 C 100 LS 60 LFE and feed the right sub 100 R 60 C 100 RS 60 LFE e Add time delay for a tactile transducer try 100 LFE 0 to 50 C 50 100 each of L R LS and RS e Add a central overhead channel Try 100 each of LS and RS or 2 30 C 10 LS 10 RS 50 B If you find yourself acutely aware of sound coming from this new speaker adjust the channel s low pass filter to roll off its highs above say 8kHz to blend it with the other speakers whose high frequencies are less noticeable because they re further away Create a mono channel for an adjacent room try 100 C 50 L 50 R 25 LS and RS and adjust the LFE percentage or high pass filter so as not to overload the speaker with bass it cant handle Add more front speakers for an extra wide room place inboard of the L and R speakers Feed the left one 50 75 L 50 75 C feed 50 75 R 50 75 C to the speaker on the other si
19. SIDEKICK REMOTES continued Even when the remotes are customized however the printed buttons will usually have the following functions Previous u Channel Channel a Guide Selection Ar Players amp gt Recorders GO Favorite gt mi Numerical gt Keypad e The buttons surrounding the Master remote s thumbpad are labeled for use as transport con trols for DVD players VCRs tape decks etc and will ordinarily be used as such controlling whichever device s control pages are active e MENU if pressed while any of the C1 C2 pages is on the display will put the C 2 in setup mode as described in the chapter on Adjustments Menus and Setup pages 22 35 e CH and CH can be programmed to change channels on whatever device or devices you use for station selection If for example you used both a satellite dish tuner and a cable tuner these buttons could control channel selection for whichever one was currently shown on the Master remote s display and control station selection when the current device was your FM AM tuner You might however find it more convenient if you have only one tunable device to program these buttons to tune that device at all times no matter what device is shown on the remote s display e PREV CH recalls the last cable or satellite channel you were watching as long as your cable or satellite tuner supports this function e GUIDE commonly disp
20. Tape Monitor Also see Play In and Rec Out 6 11 12 17 37 38 table 32 37 39 42 44 46 51 58 Tape Outputs See Record Outputs Temporary disp OSD setting 33 TEST See Calibration noise signal Thumbpad on Master remote 10 11 19 20 22 23 35 27 29 31 32 THX Audio Setup menu 35 THX Cinema mode 13 14 16 THX EX 24 26 35 THX EX Enable setting 35 60 THX Key on Master remote 13 16 35 60 THX MusicMode 13 14 16 60 THX Reference level 75 dB SPL C weighted 7 10 THX Signal processing 7 13 14 16 17 24 26 35 55 60 61 THX Surround EX mode 13 14 16 17 35 4760 THX Ultra2 Cinema mode 13 14 16 35 60 THX Ultra2 subwoofers 29 35 61 Timbre Matching THX 60 Titling of C 2 inputs 6 22 23 31 Tone controls 12 18 on Master remote 24 in Setup 25 in Presets 31 32 in Presets 42 54 58 62 Toslink jacks 38 Transport controls on remotes 20 Treble controls See Tone controls Trigger 6 34 setup 53 connections Troubleshooting 2 3 54 56 Tuning from remote controls 19 21 Turn on off messages reprogramming See Halo Setup software Turn off thumps avoiding 8 9 Turn on command 9 Two channel signal processors 43 58 Upgradability 5 52 63 o VCR 6 16 19 20 25 37 40 42 45 48 49 VGA connections 49 59 Video 5 6 21 31 32 Source Setup 33 OSD Setup 53 55 56 62 64 Video 1 to Video 6 audio inputs
21. Video which uses separate wires for luminance pic ture brightness in effect the signal portions that make a black and white picture and chrominance color information Keeping these picture elements separate reduces Interactions between them and produces a cleaner more detailed picture than composite video It also requires the use of connectors with four pins two each for the luminance and chrominance circuits Component video which requires three cables is capable of handling all current high definition televi sion HDTV formats up to 1080 1080 lines inter laced and beyond The key to the high quality of component video con nections are that they include separate links connec tions for the video signal components of luminance Y and color difference Cb and Cr rather than trans mitting them mixed together and separating them out later Not every Source component or video monitor labels its component video Y Cb and Cr some may label their connections as be Y B Y and R Y or Y Pb and Pr Refer to the owner s manual of your video component for details A growing number of video components including large screen IVs video projectors and DVD players have component video connections and you ll get the best possible picture quality if you use these connec tlons However you will need both a component video source the C 2 has inputs for two such sources and a TV or projector with component video inputs
22. and MODE lines on the remote s display to reach the surround mode you want These settings affect signals from any input except the 71 channel analog input and the bal anced input if you selected its Bypass mode Not all listening modes are available for every type of input For example modes that generate surround signals from stereo sources cannot be used with DTS or Dolby Digital signals that have discrete digital surround channels and decoding modes for such digital surround signals won t work with stereo signals When you select modes those not available for your currently selected input simply won t show up as options If you switch to an input that your currently selected mode won t work with the C 2 will automatically select an appropriate mode usually Stereo for stereo sources and Direct for Surround sources Note The names of some modes are abbreviated on the C 2 front panel display but are spelled out on the on screen display Mono Downmixes blends all channels of the current input signal to mono fed through the center speak er If you have no center speaker and have indicated this in Speaker setup page 26 the signal will be mixed into the stereo L and R outputs If you prefer to hear mono through the L and R speakers go to the Speaker setup menu and from the Size submenu change Center speaker to No don t forget however to change it back when you resume normal listening e Stere
23. clearly marked on the outer carton only IMPORTANT Enclose a copy of your original purchase receipt A unit is eligible for warranty repair ONLY when the receipt shows that the unit was purchased from an Authorized Parasound Dealer A unit obtained through unauthorized channels is not eligible tor warranty repair Parasound is not responsible for any sellers misrepresentations about our warranties or other service policies For a non warranty repair contact us for an estimate of the repair charges before you ship the unit to us The same packing and Return Authorization number procedures apply We do not accept any of the following e Units with collect shipping charges e Units without a valid RA number e Units without a suitable shipping carton e Units that show visible or audible evidence of shipping damage caused by improper packing Important Notice Shipping the C 2 Before shipping the unit to Parasound you MUST re pack the unit into its fitted foam inserts and its original carton If you do not have the original packing cartons and foam inserts call us for new packing materials that we can provide to you for a nominal charge Use of any other carton and packing materials will probably result in shipping damage and refusal of the unit Common carriers such as UPS seldom pay claims for damage incurred during shipment when a product is surrounded only with Styrofoam peanuts or otherwise improperly packed We cannot stress en
24. if not raise the gain then lower it a little once you hear clipping The range of adjustment is 5 to 10 dB For the analog outputs of CD players and other sources with 2 volt output levels a gain setting of less than O dB will usually be best Note If you go to this screen while playing a digital source the level meter bars will appear but the Gain line will be replaced by Digital input and no adjustments can be made Input level Monitoring i Peek geoeste id i m wi TE EI ws ID t i i 3 ie CO ETE EJI Ets Ga Pe ag MEF LYE ab 23 mI inh ci i Cal Ga Component video lets you associate the selected input with either of the two component video inputs on the C 2 Note that this is true even of the Audio 1 through Audio 4 inputs which are not associated with any composite or S video inputs Balanced source assigns the balanced analog Left and Right inputs to one of the ten main sources not necessarily the one selected in the Source line of the Source setup screen If you are not using the balanced input for any source set this to Off Balanced routing offers two routes from the balanced input to the outputs of the C 2 Bypass gives the shortest most direct route possible through the C 2 with the signal passing only through the volume controller and then to the left and right front channel balanced outputs and to the Rec Out jacks in the Tape Monitor area
25. it is available only in sys tems with one or more surround back speakers in addition to L and R surround speakers To select It press the THX key once or twice depending on Setup entries and the input signal while in Direct mode THX Ultra2 Cinema A version of THX designed for playback of 5 1 channel digital soundtracks over a 7 1 chan nel system It is engaged by pressing the THX key again while in THX Surround EX mode THX MusicMode Similar to THX Ultra2 Cinema but for 71 channel listening with 5 1 channel music record ings which are mixed differently than movie soundtracks With a full 71 channel speaker setup it provides a wide stable rear soundstage placing surround sounds to best suit music playback It is reached by pressing the THX key yet again while in THX Ultra2 Cinema mode e DTS ES An enhancement of the DTS 5 1 channel surround system which adds back of the room surround infor mation In DTS ES Discrete soundtracks this is carried on a discrete or independent channel In DTS ES Matrix soundtracks it is encoded as a matrix that is carried by the left and right surround channels In Setup you can elect to play Surround back information through one 6 1 channel or two 7 1 channel Surround back speakers e DTS 96 24 A DVD encoding system that delivers up to 5 1 channels of 24 bit audio with potential for fre quency response up to 48 kHz DTS 96 24 signals are contained in a conventional bitstream that is availab
26. license from Digital Theater Systems Inc US Pat No 5 451 942 5 956 674 5 974 380 5 978 762 and other worldwide patents issued and pending DTS DTS ES Extended Surround and Neo 6 are trademarks of Digital Theater Systems Inc Copyright 1996 2000 Theater Systems Inc All Rights Reserved Manufactured under license from THX Ltd U S patent numbers 5 043 970 5 189 703 and or 5 222 059 European patent number 0323830 Other U S and foreign patents pending Ultra2 and THX are trademarks or registered trademarks of THX Ltd Surround EX is a trademark of Dolby Laboratories Inc Used under authorization INDEX A AC cord 7 AC outlet 7 AC connection 7 AC power switch 7 AC voltage 7 A D Analog to Digital Converters 12 62 Acoustic distance 31 61 Adaptive Decorrelation 60 Advanced Speaker Array ASA 35 60 Amplifier unmatched 47 60 Analog Monitor 32 54 Analog audio sources connecting 39 ASA see Advanced Speaker Array Associating presets with inputs 31 Audio recorders 11 12 42 45 Audio Setup menu 24 25 Autocalibration abort 31 Autocalibration Distance amp Level 29 30 Autosearch input selection mode 11 19 56 Aux Programmable Outputs 28 29 50 61 B Back surround channels 6 13 14 16 17 26 35 47 50 60 Balanced Inputs and Outputs 14 28 31 32 37 38 40 41 42 46 47 50 51 54 58 59 62 64 Balanced In Bypass mode see Bypass Bass c
27. loaded generic names shown on the preceding page e Page 1 of the C1 C2 screen gives access to the tape monitor input which is available only from the Master remote and the 71 channel analog input Neither the tape monitor nor the 71 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 71 channel input for the sound e If you don t want to accidentally select inactive inputs you can use Autosearch Press the cen ter of the Master remote s round thumbpad and the C 2 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 2 display and will briefly be seen on your video screen if the on screen display is in use e With the Master remote s display showing any of the three C1 C2 control pages rocking the remote s round thumbpad to the right or left will cycle through the C 2 s ten inputs e As delivered from the factory the SideKick remote s CH up and down buttons cycle through the C 2 s ten inputs It s common however for dealers installers and owners to reprogram these buttons to change ch
28. menu music but is weak on movie soundtracks Bass weak or missing Subwoofer output off Turn subwoofer output on in speaker setup menu Poorly placed subwoofer Try other positions including room corners Bass limiter set too low Raise Bass Limiter level if its turned on in Audio setup or turn Bass Limiter off Bass control turned down If true for all inputs check setting in Audio setup If true only for some inputs check in Source setup whether these sources are associated with a Preset that includes a bass cut If the sources with low bass have No change for their presets check the bass control on Page 3 of C1 C2 menu on Master remote TROUBLESHOOTING GUIDE continued TROUBLE PROBABLE CAUSE REMEDY Bass Weak or Missing Subwoofer level too low Check level control on subwoofer or sub continued woofer amp Sub trim on Page 3 of C1 C2 menu on Master remote and subwoofer level settings on Speaker setup menu Double filtering Disable low pass filter in subwoofer or in C 2 Bass from sub does not Sub polarity is incorrect Reverse polarity on sub amplifier blend with other channels Hum and or buzz heard Defective audio interconnect Check all audio interconnect cables in affect through speakers or cable ed channel or coming from affected source neadpnencs Ground loop with TV cable system Disconnect your home theater system from the cable outlet If the noise goes away install a TV
29. possible settings Min 1 6 and Max If you like sharp imaging and the ability to pinpoint where each musician is in the soundfield you ll probably want it at Min but if you prefer spaciousness youre likely to want a higher setting Dolby DTS setup PL Il Dimension adjusts the front rear positioning of the surround field in the PL II Music mode When Dimension is set to its normal position 0 the control has no effect When set to 1 2 or 3 the surround field moves increasingly forward diminishing the spatial effect When set to 1 2 or 3 the surround field moves increasingly rearward increasing the spatial effect Neo 6 Center Image also creates a wrap around effect by sending some front channel sound to the surround speakers Unlike PL II Panorama It is adjustable in 6 steps Min 1 4 Max ADJUSTMENTS MENUS AND SETUP continued Preset Setup The preset menu lets you create up five different sound profiles each with its own memorized combination of Treble Bass Center level Surround level and Sub level adjustments Each preset can then be assigned to one or more specific inputs in the Source Setup menu This gives you a way to automatically compensate for the audio properties of different sources especially analog sources such as cassette decks or VCRs that seem to need some help or simply set preferences for each Preset is used to choose whichever of the five presets you want to adjust
30. s name audio and video input types and audio mode This information is shown for 10 seconds FAVORITE buttons A B and C can be programmed for many uses depending on your home theater habits For example if you mainly watch DVDs a button could be programmed with a macro that turns on the C 2 DVD and video screen and sets the C 2 to its DVD input Or if you mainly channel surf you can set the three but tons to bring up your three favorite channels Because the possibilities and the systems the C 2 and SideKick will be used with vary so much the FAVORITE buttons are programmed at the facto ry to do nothing in particular they send the same signals as the Master Remote s 17 2 and 3 buttons do in C1 C2 mode This leaves them free to be reprogrammed for you and your system The SideKick is an excellent choice for use in a second remote zone The Zone command need not be programmed into it for this as the C 2 has a control input specifically for use with commands from an IR repeater sensor in the remote zone The SideKick s OFF and ON buttons can be reprogrammed with macros to turn on the C 2 Controller s Zone circuitry and any equip ment such as TV sets or amplifiers in the second zone If your C 2 was set up by your dealer or installer the SideKick has probably been programmed for your system and the way you use it If not you can program it very easily from your PC by downloading and running the MxX Editor soft
31. speaker level adjustments on the Master remote to change these settings your changes will persist as long as the C 2 is set to that input but will be erased from memory and lost as soon as you change to another input A source set to No change will use the global settings made in the Audio setup menu until you change Its settings with the Master remote and changes made that way will be remem bered whenever you come back to this source A source set to Flat trims will use the global settings made in the Audio setup menu until you change them with the Master remote and will return to the global settings once you have changed sources Analog monitor is used to adjust input sensitivity for analog audio signals to insure against overloading the analog to digital converters in the C 2 and also to allow balancing analog sources so that volume will not shift annoyingly when you switch between them To use this feature select the desired analog audio source on the Source setup screen then select Analog monitor This will change the on screen display to a level scale flanked by fluctu ating level meter bars for each channel plus shorter bars that linger briefly to help you see the most recent peak levels Play some music that you know has high peak levels and listen carefully to see if the signal clips distorts on the peaks If so use the Master remote s thumbpad or the front panel knob to lower the gain
32. than one command per component The first entry on the list is for the Halo by Parasound C 1 and C 2 Controllers both of which use the same commands The second entry on the list is for the Halo by Parasound T 3 tuner You can reprogram the T3 key for another tuner s functions and model number display The Master Remote and the C 2 Controller Pressing the key next to the C1 C2 listing brings up the first of three pages devoted to operat ing the Halo Controllers Many of the functions on these three pages are not easily available trom the front panel of the C 2 Page 1 of the C1 C2 Menu Of the items on the Page 1 menu the MODE MODE DIM and ZONE functions have already been discussed in the last chapter but the others are new Here s what they do e THX With most modes this key simply switches THX Cinema processing on or off see Technically Speaking In Direct mode however pressing it again may select other THX modes depending on the speakers selected in Speaker Setup Size and choices made in THX Audio Setup If one or more surround back speakers are present pressing this key again will select the THX Surround EX mode If two surround back speakers are present repeated pressings will bring up THX Ultra2 Cinema and then THX MusicMode The C 2 will then cycle through these three modes for each press of the THX key returning to Direct and switching THX processing off when you press either Mode key
33. 12 14 16 17 35 60 Display OSD Setup 33 Distance autocalibration See Autocalibration Distance units display 27 33 Dolby Digital Surround 14 17 24 35 Dolby DTS Setup 24 Dolby Pro Logic See Pro Logic Pro Logic II PL II Dolby Surround EX 13 14 24 26 47 Dry reverb setting 24 DSP 32 42 54 DSP engine 62 63 DTS 12 24 26 4760 DTS 2 0 153 DTS 96 24 13 DTS ES 13 14 24 26 47 60 DTS ES Discrete 13 14 60 DTS ES Matrix 13 14 DTS Neo 6 See Neo 6 Dual Zone Operation See Zone Duration see Trigger Setup DVD Audio multichannel See 71 chan nel sources DVD Players 20 39 41 DVD Recorders 42 43 DYN Dynamic Range key 17 E Enhanced Bass EBASS 17 26 Equipment rack See Rack mounting Equivalent distance 61 Error messages 33 ESC Escape button on Master Remote 23 EX See Dolby Digital EX and THX EX EXIT button 8 23 Expansion port 63 External processor loop via Tape Monitor 43 Extra subwoofer output See Programmable Outputs Favorite FAV buttons and macros on remotes 19 21 Filter Programmable channels 9 amp 10 29 Flat Trims setting 18 32 54 Floorshakers and Programmable Outputs 28 50 51 62 Front channels Also see Bypass 26 46 47 60 Front speakers extra 51 amp Grounding 55 58 59 GUIDE button Master remote 19 Halo Setup software 36 63 HDTV high definition television 40 49 59 H
34. 2 has been calibrated for your listening room amplifiers and speakers the sound reaching you when the volume Is set at 0 dB will be just about the same level you d hear in a THX cali brated commercial movie theater The volume setting is shown numerically on the C 2 front panel display and briefly on the on screen display OSD the OSD also shows a bar with an indicator at O dB and another at the current level When the volume setting reaches either end of its range the knob will still turn freely but the sound level will not change further When you turn the C 2 Controller on the volume will normally be whatever level you had last selected However to avoid sudden blasts of sound when turning the C 2 on again after a loud listening session the volume at turn on is never higher than a moderate 20 dB Pressing the MUTE button on the left side of the front panel or on either remote will shut off all sound until you either press MUTE again or raise the volume setting Plugging headphones into the jack at the left on the C 2 front panel will shut off output to the rearpanel outputs except for the Rec Out Zone and Record jacks and the volume Indication on the front panel display will change from VO to PHON The on screen display will also turn on briefly when the headset is plugged in or unplugged Volume in headphone mode is con trolled by the regular volume knob the available volume level may be limited if your headphones hav
35. 31 39 Video circuitry 62 Video signal formats 33 OSD Setup 37 40 59 technical explanation Video Inputs Outputs 38 table 39 40 48 49 64 Video Record outputs 42 45 Video Sources 39 Video for second zone 49 51 Video based triggering 34 53 VO on display 7 10 21 VOL buttons on remotes 10 18 21 Volume control and setting 7 12 17 18 19 21 32 40 Volume control range 10 Warranty 2 57 Web Addresses 2 11 13 21 36 61 Wet reverb setting 24 XLR connectors See Balanced J Zone 8 15 17 18 21 42 43 49 50 51 table 52 55 58 59 64 ZONE BON 15 ZONE button 8 Zone outputs 9 12 39 table 39 42 43 50 51 59 7 1 channel multichannel analog input 5 11 12 14 17 31 34 38 table 40 41 42 46 47 62 64 7 1 channel multichannel analog output 46 47 64 7 1 channel multichannel analog sources 5 17 40 41 CONNECTION AND SETUP NOTES Notes PARASOUND Parasound Products Inc 950 Battery Street San Francisco CA 941 I 415 397 7100 Fax 415 397 0144 www parasound com V 0 97 6 42 Parasound Products Inc 2003
36. 5 mm mini plug to fit the C 2 trigger output jacks and a 2 5 mm sub mini plug for the trigger input jacks on Parasound amplifiers and tuners Additional wires are available trom Parasound CAUTION Insert or remove trigger plug wires only when the C 2 is switched off or disconnected from the AC power line Otherwise its trigger circuits may be damaged TROUBLESHOOTING GUIDE TROUBLE PROBABLE CAUSE REMEDY No power Power cord is disconnected Connect power cord Rear panel AC switch is turned off Turn switch back on if dead check fuse or circuit breaker Source setup wrong Make sure source is set for correct input type analog or digital Amplifiers turned off Turn amplifiers on One channel dead Check all connections in channel fix as needed All channels on one Faulty connection from analog Check connections from source to C 2 side dead source No sound in Mono mode Center speaker is off Turn center channel on and check its amplifier and speaker Dialog is muffled or inaudible No sound at unbalanced C 2 is in Bypass mode Change Balanced Routing in Source output from balanced setup menu from Bypass to DSP source Some analog sources are Source signal levels vary or Change Analog monitor settings on Source much louder or softer Analog monitor is miscalibrated setup menu than other sources Bass sounds correct on LFE level set too low Adjust LFE level on Audio setup
37. 96 kKHz codecs trom AKM long a leader in single chip multi channel analog to digital and digital to analog converters The signal processor is Motorola s Symphony DSP56367 a 24 bit processor designed specifically for audio use With the ability to handle 150 million instructions per second 150 mips this DSP has enough processing power to perform surround decoding tone control the user interface and more The operation of this processor is managed by the finest DSP engine in the world designed by Flextronics Design in Finland Other components include metal film 1 resistors polypropylene and mica capacitors and high quality gold plated input and output connectors Muting is han dled by high quality relays The chassis is of heavy gauge steel Circuit boards are of FR4 glass epoxy some are of fourlayer construction to ensure nearpertect ground planes for minimum noise and distortion The Power Supply The C 2 uses a high energy switched mode power supply SMPS Extremely efficient such power sup plies generate very little heat This allows the entire C 2 to run very cool even when left on continually for extreme reliability PARASOUND C 2 DESIGN OVERVIEW continued Functionality The C 2 has inputs and outputs to accommodate any home theater configuration the ability to automatically decode all current surround signal formats and a con trol and interface structure that s totally programmable To make that ve
38. Analog Audio Outputs 7 1 Analog Audio Inputs Main Analog Audio Outputs L L R R lena Analog Audio Inputs Programmable Out C Zone amp Record Playback Outputs Tape Monitor DIGITAL CO ReconvER With some audio recorders the Tape Monitor feature enables you to observe the quality of your recording as It s being made without having to rewind the tape or go back to the beginning of the disc and play it through again to be sure It is okay Analog recorders with separate record and playback heads can play the signal from the tape as soon as It s passed from the recording to the playback head If you re recording to the analog inputs of a CD DAT or other digital recorder using Tape Monitor lets you hear the signal after it s gone through the recorder s ana log to digital and digital to analog converters so you can make sure there s no overload distor tion If you do hear any problems the Tape Monitor helos you determine by comparing the orig inal signal to the recorder s output whether that signal or your recorder is causing the problem If it is your recorder check its level settings setting the level too high is the most common cause of distortion in recording If your recorder is connected to the Record Out jacks next to the Zone output you can also monitor its output by selecting it as the source for your main zone But while you re recording be sure not to select any active recorder
39. Display Dim Setup IR Mute Status Display Exit Menu Knob Controller PARASOUND Output On Off Zone Source Surround Mode The knob at the far right normally controls volume but pressing the appropriate buttons see below temporarily turns it into a selector knob for menu items and source selection GETTING STARTED continued The buttons are surrounded by a blue halo of light when the C 2 is turned on the halo around every button except DIM and EXIT glows brighter when that button Is pressed and remains bright as long as the button s function is active The MUTE and MENU buttons stay active and bright until you turn them off The SOURCE and SURROUND buttons on the lower row stay active and illuminated for 5 seconds or for as long as you keep turning the knob to alter their set tings The ZONE button stays active and illuminated for 10 seconds or for as long as you keep altering control settings When any of these three buttons is active the Ttront panel display will show the name of the control for SOURCE and SURROUND it will also show a circular arrow indicating that you can make selections for that button by turning the knob When you turn the knob the OSD on your video screen will show the settings for each input as you reach it When the front panel ON OFF button is switched off the halo around it glows soft blue and the Parasound logo glows soft red When the C 2 is turned on the logo becomes brighter the halos aro
40. ECTING AUDIO AND VIDEO SOURCES AND RECORDERS continued The Tape Monitor Rec Out jacks and the separate Record output jacks receive the same signal as the main zone If you wish to listen to one signal in your main zone while recording another connect your recorder s input to the Zone output jacks whose program source can be selected independently With the C 2 you can easily connect three recorders at once even without using the Zone output for example an analog tape deck on the Tape Monitor jacks a VCR on the audio Record 1 and video Record outputs and a digital audio recorder connected to digital inouts and outputs and to audio Record 2 If desired a DVD recorder could be substituted for the digital audio deck receiv ing video from the S Video Record jack while the composite Record jack feeds the VCR Showing all of these possibilities in one diagram would produce something like a map of the New York subway system So the diagrams that follow show various possibilities by themselves Analog Recording Via the Tape Monitor Jacks What You May Need e Two pairs of unbalanced interconnects with RCA plugs e Analog tape recorder preferably with off tape thira nead monitoring RCA Plug Inputs Balanced Analog Audio Outputs D Composite Video Inputs Video Outputs intan ologies S Video Inputs S Video Outputs Audio 5 Record 1 Record 2 GS 0 0 OQO Pla In ReqOut Tape Monitor
41. FLA LO PARASOUND C 2 Controller Owner s Guide THANK YOU Congratulations and Thank You for Choosing Parasound Your new Halo by Parasound C 2 Controller presents the latest advancements in surround processor technology The C 2 is built to the strict quality and performance standards set by Parasound We re proud to offer you this exceptional audio component that will bring you many years of enjoyment and dependability Here at Parasound we design our products to perform at a higher level of flexibility and sonic performance than you may have expected We encourage you to read this entire manual to learn all the features and capabilities of your new Halo C 2 Controller Most audio component manuals start by telling you how to connect and set up the equipment then tell you how to use it That s logical but once the installation s done it makes you leaf past all the setup info each time you want a reminder of how some button works So we ve put setup and connection details in the back though we ve included brief descriptions in the Getting Started section just ahead For detailed operating information Getting Started is followed by sections on using the con trols and remotes and on adjustments and setups which you may wish to change from time to time Information on connections trouble shooting and specifications are at the end together with the obligatory acknowledgements that yes we are using various t
42. In wall infrared sensor e 1 IR repeater module Composite Video Zone Outputs 2 CHANNEL ZONE AMPLIFIER IR WALL RIGHT SENSOR SPEAKER CONNECTING THE AUDIO AND VIDEO OUTPUTS continued The C 2 allows you to feed separate audio or audio video programs to two different areas or zones in your home To feed video and audio to a second zone connect a video cable with RCA plugs to the Zone composite video jack and a pair of audio cables to the Zone unbalanced output jacks The Zone audio output is always stereo unless you are playing a monophonic source When you select a source for this output the display on the C 2 will initially show what ever listening mode that source was last used with but will revert to Stereo almost immediate ly Remember that only analog sources are available at the Zone audio output jacks We strongly recommend that you use a professional installer when setting up a second enter tainment zone Ihe pros are very experienced at snaking wires through walls know just what kinds of cable will keep long cable runs from diminishing audio and video quality and save you a lot of work and potential grief A good installer can also suggest ways to enhance your second zone system and make it better suited to your needs If you don t already have an installer ask your Parasound dealer for recommendations Using the Programmable Aux Outputs Wh
43. Recorders 37 Summary Tables s bw esaa un oehea eee Sous babe ee eee ee eo a 38 SOURCES a o oa eh eee ee a eee eee eee eee eee eee eee ees 39 RecordarS sss 45 ehee eae dikara dades eee a eee aes 42 Connecting the Audio and Video Outputs 20 20000 20 0000 0000004 46 Connecting Video Displays 2 1 48 Connecting a Second Entertainment Zone 0 000000 0000000 49 Using the Programmable Outputs 20 002000 000000000002 2 50 Control Connections RS 232 IR Inputs Trigger Outputs 0 52 IN CASE OF DIFFICULTY Troubleshooting Guide 2 0 0 a 54 Servicing YourC2 2 0 2 57 TECHNICAL INFORMATION Technically Speaking 12 2 58 C2Design Overview 0 0 62 C 2 Specifications 1 2 Laaa 64 Licensing Acknowledgements 46 088889 Pe BEES E E E REE RS eee BEE EH 64 INDEX WW 65 Connection and Setup Notes 2 0000 0 67 UNPACKING AND PLACEMENT GUIDELINES FOR THE C 2 Unpacking Your C 2 Carefully unpack your C 2 from the shipping carton and remove all the enclosed accessories Master and SideKick remote controls with six AAA batteries Serial cable D9 female to 3 5 mm male plug for programming remotes AC cord 15 BNC to RCA adapters for component video RGB jacks 1 Omnidirectional electret condenser microphone for autocalibration with 25 foot cord and 3 5 mm plug 1 AA battery for microphone 2 triggercontrol wires each with a 2 5
44. Since the S Video cables are thick and hard to twist it pays to look at the end of the plug to line up its pins with the holes in the jack before trying to insert it Component video connections use three cables or five for certain equipment which has sepa rate synchronization jacks The component video jacks on the C 2 are the professional BNC type whose connectors lock firmly together when twisted but adapters are provided for use with cables having the more common RCA plugs The four audio connections are unbalanced analog balanced analog coaxial digital and optical digital Most analog sources such as tuners and tape decks and the analog outputs of CD players and other digital sources have unbalanced output circuits with one RCA jack per channel The channels are fre quently color coded usually red for the right stereo or right front channel and black or white for the left or left front If your best analog source or your amplifiers have balanced connections usually via three pin XLR jacks using them instead of the unbalanced RCA jacks will provide additional protection against hum and other noises especially if your equipment rack is crowded with other components or your cables are more than 10 feet 3 meters long For more information refer to the Balanced and CONNECTING AUDIO AND VIDEO SOURCES AND RECORDERS continued Unbalanced Lines page 58 Balanced and unbalanced input signals normally appear at both the
45. X Editor software which includes the infrared command codes for hundreds of current and discontinued IVs VCRs DVD players and so on click on Program at the top of MX Editor window then on IR Database and a manual and tutorial under Help You can download this software from www parasound con vhalo The C 2 comes with the cable you need to connect the remotes to a PC s serial port Most of the buttons on the Master remote and all the buttons on the SideKick have predeter mined functions whose names are printed on the button face However the ten smaller keys flanking the Master remote s LCD display are unprinted because their functions change when the remote Is set to a new control page therefore the functions you ve selected for these buttons are shown next to them in the display The Main Menu Page Pressing the MAIN button on the larger Master remote dis plays a list of the components this remote has been custom programmed to operate The factory default list shown below is typical but should be changed to match your setup Normally the 10 components you use most often would appear on Page 1 of this menu if you have others they would appear on Page 2 accessed by pressing the PAGE but ton shown The Master remote can hold very sophisticated control Instructions Including sequences macros that include up to 20 separate commands to simultaneously acti vate more than one component and issue more
46. You can also rename them yourself To rename the inputs on your system using the Master remote see Source Setup in the Adjustments Menus and Setup chapter Io rename the input keys on the remote s Page 2 menu requires the downloadable MX Editor software it can also be used to rearrange the Page 2 menu If you find a differ ent order more convenient 00000 AUD 3 AUD 4 PAGE The controls on this screen page which affect the currently i selected source only offer up to 12 dB of boost or cut of tre 5 CCZ ee ble and bass in the front left center and right channels and CI TRE TRE C J upto 12 dB of level adjustment in the center surround and WBass Bass CD subwoofer channels f For inputs you have set to Flat Trims in the Source Setup CEN CEN i i A menu see next chapter these settings go back to zero C9 JUR SUR _ once you switch to a different source for inputs set to No Cc SUB 4sSUB Change these settings will remain until you reset them Printed Buttons and the C 2 As mentioned in the previous chapter several of the printed buttons affect the C 2 s operation e OFF and ON on the Master remote change function to match the current control page When the remote s screen displays any of the C1 C2 control pages the OFF and ON buttons turn the C 2 on and off When a control page for another device is selected and displayed they turn power off a
47. a So if you have both composite and S Video signal sources use both types of connection between the C 2 and your TV monitor S Video plugs and jacks only fit together it they re oriented identically and this orientation is not standardized The S Video jacks on the C 2 are oriented as shown on views of the rear panel since the cables are thick and hard to twist it pays to look at the end of the plug to make sure that it s oriented the same way as the jack before you try Inserting It If your source and your video monitor have component video connections which use three cables you ll get even better quality by using these connections they re compatible with HDTV signals however you ll still have to use both component and S Video connections to your monitor because the C 2 on screen display is not sent to the component video outputs and VCRs don t have component video connections If any of your monitors lack component video inputs you ll have to use S Video or composite connections from each of your sources Note that there are two sets of composite video and S Video outputs one with OSD on screen display and one without The one with OSD should be connected to a monitor in the same room as the C 2 If you have a large screen or projection system you might want to connect it to the S Video output labeled No OSD so that your guests won t have to see on screen display mes sages Then install a second small TV connected to
48. and DTS THX provides further realism with most sources E E E E see the chart on page 14 With THX post processing THX Ultraz Sub Yes switched on THX Surround EX is selected automatically if Peete ral Le i a Dolby Digital soundtrack includes the digital flag that Back speakers los identifies it as carrying this information for surround back Exit speakers and you selected Back speakers in Speaker Setup Size on page 26 Bass Limiter Setup Bass limiter setup allows you to cap subwoofer output levels Bass in today s film soundtracks is often louder than it is on music recordings or older films and it can cause distortion or even damage to small or older subwoofers Halo C 2 owners are apt to have large high output subwoofers that don t require this protection therefore the factory default is Off The Bass limiter is not needed with subwoofers meeting THX Ultra2 standards so it is not available if you select Yes next to THX Ultra2 Sub further down in the THX Audio setup menu If you ever hear distorted bass from your subwoofer you can turn the Bass limiter on and set its level to match the sub s capabilities To set the bass limiter first press the MENU button on the C 2 front panel or the thumpad on the Master remote to move the cursor to Limiter noise then rock the thumpad or turn the front panel knob one click to switch the noise on This will feed a low frequency noise signal to your subwo
49. annels on your TV cable or satellite receiver You can customize or change the input names that appear on the C 2 using the Master remote see Source Setup in Adjustments Menus and Setup page 31 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 soft ware and its instructions can be downloaded trom www parasound convhalo A separate user manual is supplied with the remotes and additional copies can be downloaded trom the same Web site Using Audio Recorders The C 2 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 t
50. around for easy access to its rear connections Rack Mounting Your Parasound C 2 If you plan to mount the C 2 into a standard 19 wide equipment rack you will need to purchase the optional Parasound HRA 3 Rack Mount Adapter With its four feet removed the C 2 chassis and front panel height occupies three rack spaces 5 or 133 mm When mounting equipment below the C 2 you will also need to allow about below the unit for the bottom chassis screws A single standard rack space occupies 1 vertical space in a standard 19 inch wide equipment rack Please call your Parasound dealer or Parasound s Technical Services depart ment If you need additional advice about rack mounting the C 2 GETTING STARTED The Parasound C 2 Controller is a complete home theater control center With it you can feed signals from any of four analog and digital audio and six audio video components to your surround sound and video system simultaneously feeding video and stereo audio even from a different source to rooms in a second entertainment zone and integrate the C 2 into multi room home control systems You can adjust volume bass and treble separately for each zone In the main zone you can use any of 15 sound patterns commonly referred to as modes from 71 channel surround Dolby Digital EX or dts ES to mono in the remote zone only modes that work with two channel signals are available The 71 channel analog input allows full sur
51. as the source for the Zone output or you ll hear an annoying and possibly soeakerdamaging loud howl The analog record outputs carry only two channel signals Surround information will be recorded CONNECTING AUDIO AND VIDEO SOURCES AND RECORDERS continued if your Source is matrix encoded analog material such as a video tape with a Dolby Surround soundtrack When recording from DVDs or other digital sources add left and right channel analog connections from the source to the C 2 and select that analog input for recording as multichannel digital signals are fed only to the digital output Note The Tape Monitor jacks can also be used as an external processor loop connected to an equalizer or other two channel processor With the processor connected between Rec Out and Play In jacks you can switch it in and out of the signal path trom your chair using the Tape key on the Master remote Connecting a Digital Audio Recorder What You May Need e Two pairs of unbalanced interconnects with RCA plugs RCA Plug Toink Connector e Two digital interconnects Toslink or coaxial e Digital audio recorder with digital and analog inputs Composite Zone amp Video Record S Video Record Digital Audio Out Record Out Outputs Outputs Inputs Balagged Analog Audio Outputs S Video Inputs L R ican Analog Audio Inputs Tape Monitor Analog Analog Record Playback Input Out
52. at You May Need e 1 to 4 unbalanced analog interconnects one per channel used Male Female RCA Flug ALR Connectors 1 balanced analog interconnect Inputs Balanced Analog Audio Outputs Composite Video Inputs Video Outputs S Video Inputs S Video Outputs L Analog Audio Inputs I Tape Monitor Analog Audio Outputs 7 1 Analog Audio Inputs Programmable Outputs The one balanced and four unbalanced Programmable Outputs enable you to enhance your system The jacks marked Pro 1 and Pro 3 Aux Channels 9 and 10 in the setup menu can address acoustics or room shape problems or add new effects The Pro 2 output duplicates the main subwoofer chan nel Pro 4 is similar with a 20 Hz low pass filter to feed tactile transducers floor shakers the output level and delay for Pro 2 and 4 is the same as the main subwoofer output Programming New Channels Here are some recipes to create channels for special functions see pages 29 30 We ve abbreviated left center and right channels as L C R left and right surround side channels as LS RS the surround back channel as B and the low frequency effects channel as LFE e Add Extra side speakers A simple recipe is to feed the additional left surround speaker 100 LS and feed 100 RS to the additional right surround speaker If the added speakers are toward the front of the seating area you might try blending 10 L 90 LS on the left side 10 R 90
53. audio input signals whether from unbalanced analog balanced analog or digital sources are available at the unbalanced and balanced analog outputs but only digital input signals also appear at the digital outputs Digital input signals are passed straight through to the digital outputs with no processing That means that signals from the digital outputs of the C 2 will not be heard in surround unless decoded or processed by some other component down the line The main balanced and unbalanced analog outputs are in groups of eight jacks each to handle up to 71 channel signals from multichannel sources or from stereo sources processed to include surround channel ambience by the C 2 The ninth balanced output jack Pro 1 is a pro grammable output that will be covered later in this chapter together with the four unbalanced programmable output jacks If you choose not to process them stereo signals will appear at the left and right front output jacks and mono signals will appear at the centerchannel jacks or if your setup includes no center speaker through the same left and right front outputs If the cable between the C 2 and your amplifiers is more than about 10 feet 3 meters long using the balanced outputs and amplifiers with balanced inputs will guard against hum and noise pickup in the cables With balanced connections it s feasible to mount your amplifiers very close to your speakers and use short speaker cables With some amplifier
54. bal anced and unbalanced outputs including the recording outputs However in Bypass mode see the chapter on Adjustments Menus and Setup page 34 when the balanced input is selected its signal passes Straight to the front left and front right balanced outputs and unbalanced signals go only to the unbalanced outputs Signals trom balanced or unbalanced analog sources do not appear at the digital outputs of the C 2 For best playback performance from digital sources such as CD DVD and DAT players or recorders connect them to the digital inputs of the C 2 It usually makes little difference whether you use coaxial connections black RCA jacks on the C 2 or optical connections small square Toslink connectors however if the cables must make sharp bends optical cables should not be used Signals from the digital inputs also pass through the 24 bit digital to analog converters in the C 2 to appear at its main analog outputs When Toslink jacks are not in use they should be protected from dust with the small black plastic plugs supplied General Rules When Connecting Sources to the C 2 e To avoid sudden blasts of noise which can harm your speakers make sure the power cord of the C 2 is disconnected or that its rear panel power switch is turned off the 0 position e Make sure all your cables are long enough so that they are not strained or stretched when you pull the C 2 out to make or change connections e Don t use
55. cable ground interrupter Ground loop among your Move the ground switch on your power ampli components fier s to the lift position Isolate the source component causing the hum Disconnect sources one at a time and listen for hum each time Press the C 2 mute button before you remove an input plug and unmute the C 2 after the plug is out When you ve disconnected a source and the hum disappears reconnect all of the other sources again Contact your dealer about modifying the cable used to con nect that component to break its ground path If the C 2 and other components are rack mounted use insulated shoulder washers to prevent metal to metal contact between each component s chassis or rack brackets and the rack rails Some headphones do Plug body too fat for front panel Get 3 5 mm stereo extension cord with thinner not work with C 2 hole plug body Surround modes Surround amps or speakers not Change Size entries in Speaker Setup from unavailable entered in Setup No to Small or Large THX modes not available Inapplicable mode or speaker Consult mode table in Using Main Controls setup Poor composite video Wrong cable type Use video cable with yellow plugs not audio image cable Audible dialog is out of DVD player does not correctly Switch off the progressive scan mode on the sync with speakers lip synchronize the audio signal with DVD player Check www parasound com halo for movements wh
56. cable with RCA plugs optional Oe e One three cable component video cable set with RCA O plugs at one end RCA or BNC plugs at the other optional Beco ce Oe Onno e DVD player with digital and analog audio outputs plus com posite S video and possibly component video outputs CONNECTING AUDIO AND VIDEO SOURCES AND RECORDERS continued ____ ou ets Lal ooooooooooooooooooossssss Composite Unbalanced Analog Digital Optical Component PMO Outputs Video Outputs ovo praver R G B Composite Video Inputs Video1 Vidpo3 Video5 CE Main Analog Audio Outputs Programmable Out Home theater systems can have three types of video connection composite S Video and com ponent and there are times when it pays to use all three as shown here Normally every type of video you feed into the C 2 would then be fed out to your main video display screen or projector and youd use the video display s input selector to determine which connection feeds the screen e Composite video connections will be needed if you intend to pass the source s video picture to another room via the Zone output on the C 2 or if you ll be recording it onto an older VCR which has no S Video input Composite video input signals are not available at the S Video output jacks e S Video connections give a clearer picture than composite video In the C 2 signals trom the S Video inputs are available only at the S Video OSD composite video output and S Vide
57. channel setup having two surround back speakers If the program includes an EX flag signal and if EX Enable is set to Auto page 35 the C 2 will select this mode automatically The Dolby EX mode can be selected manually for the many EX DVDs that lack the flag A list of Surround EX films can be found at www dolby com movies films_previous html Dolby 2 0 Two channel stereo recordings using the Dolby Digital signal format Processing modes avail able are mostly the same as those for stereo CDs THX In modes where it is available THX processing is controlled by the THX key on the Master remote s first C1 C2 page not by the remote s Mode keys or the SURROUND button on the C 2 The varieties of THX processing are described below THX Cinema This is the basic THX processing mode To save space it is shown only as THX on the C 2 s tront panel display When activated from mono or stereo mode or Direct mode with Dolby 2 0 sig nals this processing includes only re equalization to compensate for differences between home and the ater acoustics which would otherwise make movie soundtracks sound too bright and timbre matching to maintain frequency balance between front and surround channels see page 60 THX processing is also unavailable if no surround speakers are selected in Speaker setup Size except in mono and stereo modes e THX Surround EX A THxX enhanced version of Dolby EX for movie soundtracks
58. ches the trigger output from 12 to 0 volts Each trigger output can deliver up to 200 milliamperes 200 mA of current Delay adjusts the delay between a triggering event and the actual trigger signal output It can be set for No delay or for any of 14 delays of 1 second to 3 minutes Duration controls the trigger signal s duration The trigger signal can be set to remain active as long as the triggering condition applies Intin or to any of 16 periods from 10 milliseconds to 3 minutes If duration is set to 10 ms or 100 ms additional pulses of 10 ms and 100 ms are generated when the triggering event ends This enables the C 2 to control devices that require separate turn on and turn off pulses The third trigger marked On Off on the rear panel only operates when the C 2 is turned on and off It is set for positive polarity no delay and infinite continuous duration Thanks to the flexibility of its three triggers the C 2 can initiate and end a number of operations For example the On Off trigger could be used to turn power amplifiers on and off with the C 2 video based settings could be used to lower a projection screen turn on a video projector dim room lights and draw window curtains ADJUSTMENTS MENUS AND SETUP continued THX Audio Setup THX features are called post processing because they THA Audio setur are enhancements not replacements for Dolby Digital gt Bass Limiter Setur
59. cies caused by interference between the subwoofer s bass output and that of the other speakers if that occurs you can try reversing the polarity of your sub or simply shut EBASS off e TEST Sends a calibration noise signal to each channel in turn for use in checking channel iden tification and setting speaker levels For channel identification the signal advances from channel to channel every 2 seconds starting from the left front and moving clockwise to the center right front right Surround right back left back left surround and subwoofer When used for manual level setting it can be directed to whichever channel you re adjusting This feature is only available in Level setup on the Speaker setup menu e 7 1 Switches to the C 2 Controller s 71 channel analog unbalanced inputs for use with multi channel DVD Audio and SACD players or any future components that do their own surround decoding Like the Bypass mode for the balanced Inputs this is a direct pass through mode with no processing except the precision analog volume control for maximum signal purity Page 2 of the C1 C2 Menu BUE VID 1 VID 2 VID VID 4 VIDS VID amp AUD 1 AUD 2 USING THE MASTER AND SIDEKICK REMOTES continued The factory default input titles shown here match the factory defaults of the C 2 The inputs on this list and on the C 2 can be renamed by your dealer or installer to correspond to the sources in your system
60. crete digital surround systems as Dolby Digital and DTS THX Surround EX decodes information for the sur round back channels from signals matrixed into the surround side channels It is not available for non Surround signals or for those which like DTS ES Discrete carry back surround information as a sep arate digital signal To activate THX Surround EX press the THX key on the Master remote while in Direct mode THX Surround EX will be selected automatically if a Dolby Digital soundtrack includes the digital flag that identifies it as carrying this information THX Surround EX is available only when the presence of at least one surround back speaker has been noted on the Speaker Setup Size menu Advanced Speaker Array ASA available only in sys tems with dual surround back speakers compen sates for the effect of different speaker spacings on the size of the listening sweet spot When it Is active two more modes become available THX Ultra2 Cinema is designed for playback of 5 1 channel digital soundtracks over a 7 1 channel system THX MusicMode is similar but sends more sound to the surround back speakers and less to the side surrounds TECHNICALLY SPEAKING continued e Boundary Gain Compensation reduces excessive bass below about 35 Hz to prevent the boominess that can occur when speakers with substantial response down to 20 Hz including subwoofers that meet THX Ultra2 standards are used in typi
61. d interconnects with RCA plugs e One 75 ohm digital coaxial cable with RCA plugs OR one optical digital cable with Toslink connectors e CD player with digital and unbalanced analog outputs Toslink Connector For the best possible sound always use your source component s digital output if it has one It is not necessary to use the source s analog outputs as well unless you plan to record from this source onto an analog recorder such as a cassette deck or to listen to this source In a remote listening zone Digital signals appear at the main analog outputs but not the analog recording or Zone outputs For FM AM tuners and similar analog audio gear that lacks digital outputs only the analog input connections are used Note that the first six analog audio inputs at the lower left corner numbered Video 1 through Video 6 are associated with the composite video and S Video inputs whose numbers they share For audio only sources it s best to use Inputs Audio 1 through Audio 4 as those inputs cannot be used with composite or S Video sources they can however be used with component video sources Connecting a DVD Or Other Video Source Component to the C 2 What You May Need e One pair of unbalanced interconnects with RCA plugs _ 5 ww e One 75 ohm digital coaxial cable with RCA plugs or RCA Plug Svideo Cant nett one optical digital cable with Toslink connectors e One S video cable with multi pin plugs e One composite video
62. de If you preter outboard speakers feed the far left soeaker 60 L not 40 R which injects right channel signal with its polarity inverted and 60 R 40 L to the far left one e Add more front speakers if your two front speakers are closer to each other than their distance to your seat you can synthesize greater channel separation by feeding them from the Aux rather than the L and R outputs with say 100 L 30 R to the left speaker and 100 R 30 L to the right speaker Input Output Summary The table below summarizes the available connections AUDIO MAIN BALANCED RECORD 1 amp TAPE DIGITAL ZONE OUTPUTS OUTPUTS OUTPUTS RECORD2 MONITOR OUTPUTS OUTPUT OUTPUTS REC OUT Available From Digital Inputs Yes ft a Yes a 7 1 Channel Analog Inputs Yes Yes Yes No No Note Programmable Outputs can access the same sources as the Main Outputs VIDEO COMPOSITE S VIDEO COMPONENT COMPOSITE S VIDEO ZONE OUTPUTS VIDEO OUTPUTS VIDEO VIDEO REC OUT OUTPUT OUTPUTS OUTPUT REC OUT Available From Composite Video In S video In Component Video In Available at the composite video OSD output jack not available at the No OSD output jack D 62 CONTROL CONNECTIONS Inputs Balanced Analog Audio Outputs Composite Video Inputs Video Outputs 7 aA araon rar bad i S Video Outputs oO utput GP IR Inputs 12V Triggers oua O00000 J J J J RS 232 C l Main Zone P1 P2 On Off
63. de bass treble and so on If this parame ter is set to Full the OSD will always show additional information perhaps more than you need or want whenever you change a mode or an Input as shown here AUDIO Signal Input Hode WIDEO Signal Input CD Coaxial 2 Dolby PLIT Music No signal Auta 2 In Simple mode when you change a source mode the OSD will show only the new setting on the bottom of the screen Video format is used for selecting video source formats If set to S video the C 2 will automatically use the S video input jacks for the Video 1 through Video 6 inputs Setting it to Compos causes the composite video jacks to be used When It s set to Auto the C 2 automatically selects S video signals when they are available and selects composite video otherwise ADJUSTMENTS MENUS AND SETUP continued Distance units controls whether the Distance setup screen shows speaker distances in feet or meters OSD Output gives you the choice of sending on screen display information to the composite video OSD output the S video OSD output both or neither Off If you set this for an output you re not using or to Off all OSD information including background color will disappear from your OSD screen However you can then restore OSD by using the display and controls on the C 2 front panel OSD style changes the colors of the OSD text background and error messa
64. e Technically Speaking section near the back of this manual If the delay required for any of the channels exceeds the C 2 s capabilities its on screen display will change color to alert you As with most battery operated gadgets that you seldom use you should remove the battery when you put the microphone away to protect against damage should the battery ever leak Source Setup The program sources in your home theater system require a wide variety of inputs Associating each source with the correct input jacks is done through the Source setup screen gt Source i Title Digital input Preset No change Analog monitor Component video Off GFF Balanced routing HEEE EKIL Source Unless you ve modified them the source num bers correspond to the input numbers on the rear panel of the C 2 Sources 1 through 6 correspond to the Video 1 through Video 6 audio composite video and S video input jacks sources 7 through 10 correspond to the Audio 1 through Audio 4 input jacks You select the source you want to set up by turning the front panel knob or rocking the Master remote s thumbpad Note Ihe 71 channel analog input cannot be permanently associated with a video input instead the video input must be selected first followed by selection of the 71 channel input for the sound Title The factory set titles correspond to the inputs e g Video 3 for source 3 but you can eas ily alter them with the Master remote
65. e unusually low impedance USING THE MAIN CONTROLS continued Changing Your Listening and Viewing Source The C 2 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 e If you press the SOURCE button at the lower right of the C 2 front panel its halo will glow a brighter blue and the volume indicator on the display will be replaced by SOURCE and a circular arrow As long as the circular arrow Is displayed turning the knob will display all possible inputs one by one You can read the source selections on the front panel display if you have a video screen connected to an OSD video output the screen will show setup details of each input as you turn the knob After 5 seconds of Inactivity the source selection mode ends the halo around the SOURCE button dims and the knob becomes a volume control once more e The Master remote control supplied with the C 2 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 remote s MAIN button press the small key next to C1 C2 on the screen then press the PAGE button until Page 2 appears 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
66. eadphones 8 10 54 55 59 High pass filter 29 Hum and buzz 55 59 Imaging 60 Incompatible Source message 17 60 Infin See Trigger duration INFO button 15 18 Infrared See IR Input 6 14 37 38 62 64 Input Selection 7 8 9 11 17 19 21 31 56 Input Sensitivity 32 60 Input Setup See Source setup 7 1 channel 5 12 40 Input Output Summary table 38 51 IR Database MX Editor program 16 IR Input jacks 52 58 59 IR Remote Sensor 6 55 56 IR Repeater for remote Zone 21 49 52 58 59 B Late Night mode 17 Level Autocalibration 29 30 Level Setup 17 27 29 30 Level Trims center surround and sub woofer outputs 18 25 40 55 58 62 LFE Low Frequency Effects 17 24 26 2936 54 Limiter See Bass limiter Listening modes Also see Dolby DTS and THX 7 8 12 13 14 table 19 24 35 38 40 50 55 60 Long cables 38 46 50 58 Low Frequency Effects See LFE Low pass filter 26 28 29 55 Macros preset command strings 16 19 21 MAIN button on Master remote 11 12 16 Main menu on Master remote 9 16 18 22 23 Main zone see Zone Master power switch See Rearpanel AC switch Matrix DTS 13 14 MENU button On C 2 Controller 8 22 23 25 MENU button On Master remote 19 20 22 23 31 Microphone See Calibration microphone Mix levels Programmable Channels 9 and 10 28 29 62 Modes See Listening modes Mode keys
67. eck that the program is using the correct port The factory default is COM 2 if that does not work try the others beginning with Com 1 Note that the illustration shows only one of the program s seven main pages some of which open out into sub pages The program runs on Windows 95 and higher Parasound Halo Setup BE ABE p nann n ninnu n n n m n a a a a a a a n a a a a a a a a a a Pa Cau n u a a a a a a a Ma Ma Ma a a a a a a a a Ma Mana Ma a a Ma a Ma a a a S an a n n n a n n n nennen nn nn n Sa aa n a a a a a a a Ma a Ma Ma a a a a a a a a nn nn n nininini ninn m n n a n n n a n n n a n a a a a a a a Pa n n n n a a a a a a Ma Ma a Ma a a a a a a n a Pann nn n n n n n a Pa n n nn n n n a n nnna Pa a n a n a a a a n a a aa CONNECTING AUDIO AND VIDEO SOURCES AND RECORDERS D There are more than 100 signal input and output jacks on the Halo processor s rear panel more than you re likely to use but enough to ensure you can make any type of connection you re likely to need To simplify things the jacks are grouped by type and function Composite Balanced Analog S Video Digital Audio Component Video Inputs Audio Inputs Inputs Inputs Video Inputs Unbalanced Analog Tape Monitor 7 1 Channel IR AC Cord Audio Inputs Input Analog Inputs Inputs Inlet Even if your C 2 was set up by an installer it pays to know a bit about these connections in case you ever need to change them or trouble shoot your sys
68. ee Dist autocalibrate below but you can also set delays by measuring the distance from each speaker to your head and entering it in the screen below The C 2 then translates distance into delay as sound moves at approximately 1 ms millisecond per foot or per 0 3 meters For each speaker the distance can be set in 1 foot incre ments trom O to 71 feet 0 to 21 4 meters if you have set gt Left 7ft Distance units on the Display setup screen to ae a Meters If the distance between you and the left and Right surround Stt right main speakers differs by more than 2 feet the display Distance setur Right back None i Left back None will warn see vets ee Left and right ch delay difference exceeds 2ms Exit If your on screen display is set to a color mode see Display setup any speaker distances that seem unrealistically high more than about 22 feet 5 9 m will appear in a different color ADJUSTMENTS MENUS AND SETUP continued Aux Programmable Channel Setup The C 2 includes Parasound s exclusive 75 Channel Enhanced Surround with four auxiliary Aux channels that provide wonderful options for enhancing your home theater Two of these auxiliary channels provide for greater low frequency power and accuracy You can program the other two auxiliary channels to solve acoustical problems add greater reality or provide whatever audio enhancements or extensions your home theater needs T
69. el 10 speakers Exit The mix percentages need not add up to 100 If the mix for an Aux channel was Left 25 Center 100 and Right 25 that channel would be receiving as high a centerchannel signal level as the center channel itself does plus a bit of the left and right channels and the center would be 2 3 of the total signal Suggested mix levels for these applications can be found in Technically Speaking on page 61 ADJUSTMENTS MENUS AND SETUP continued Level and Distance Autocalibrate First prepare the calibration microphone supplied with the C 2 by unscrewing Its barrel to open the battery compartment inserting the AA battery supplied with its button end toward the PARASOUND Phones Cal Mic Mute Dim SPEAKER SETUP OOOO LEVEL AUTOCALIBRATE Plug the microphone into the Cal Mic input on the front of the C 2 Then sit in your favorite listening chair holding the microphone with its mesh screen pointing upward Tilt the Master remotes thumbpad to scroll down to the autocalibration mode you want level or distance press the center of the thumbpad to start the calibration and sit back tL autocalibration At the start of distance autocalibration the C 2 checks the ambient noise level again then plays repeated brief bursts of low level test noise signals through each speaker in turn Distance autocalibration requires about two minutes and during this time the on screen display shows
70. ellite chan nels can also be programmed for other favorite activities of yours These can be single commands or complex macros series of up to 190 commands that handle a sequence of events with one push of a button A FAV macro might for example turn on your video projector and satellite tuner lower the screen select the appropriate C 2 input close the draperies and dim your room lights e The MENU button when any C1 C2 page is active will bring up the Setup menus for the C 2 their uses will be covered in the next chapter m 00000 Mute i gt _ gt y Volume Vette ka p Volume P e Off HAR At E Volume e Thumbpad W Dj j fh Volume gt o p a Mute 2 oon o onl O T a i Note The printed buttons on either remote can be programmed for any single function or multi step macro If your remotes have been reprogrammed some of these descriptions may no longer apply Controlling Other Components In Your System Exactly what your remotes do when controlling other components will depend on what compo nents you have and how the remotes are custom programmed If your remotes have not been set up for your specific system you ll find the Master remote already programmed to control various popular TVs DVD players VCRs and more so that its device control pages can give you some idea of how it might be re programmed to control your system USING THE MASTER AND
71. en digital converters reach their overload point Note that signals from the digital inputs are not sent to the Rec Out analog jack and should be recorded digitally from one of the digital outputs on the C 2 e DYN or Dynamic Range activates Dolby s Late Night mode when the C 2 is playing Dolby Digital soundtracks This reduces the dynamic range of digital movie soundtracks by making the soft sounds louder and the loud sounds softer In late night listening this enables you to hear all the dialog with out awakening your family or neighbors when the sound effects get loud With anything other than Dolby digital signals the displays will read Incompatible source when you press this key e EBASS or Enhanced Bass is for use in systems that have some Large speakers i e those able to deliver adequate bass on their own See Size under Speaker Setup next chapter When EBASS is off bass from the program channels with Large speakers goes only to those speakers and the subwoofer receives bass from the LFE Low Frequency Effects channel and bass trom the channels whose speakers you selected as Small during setup With EBASS on bass from all program channels goes to the subwoofer as well This can lead to a bass increase which will probably be more welcome with movie soundtracks and with pop and rock music than with classical music However in some rooms it can lead to decreased bass at specific fre quen
72. en playing the video image in its progres further information on this issue a DVD sive scan mode No sound or picture in Remote zone turned off Turn remote zone on remote zone Remote control affects Remote infrared sensor plugged Move sensor cable to correct jack wrong zone into wrong jack TROUBLESHOOTING GUIDE continued TROUBLE PROBABLE CAUSE REMEDY Remote control does Remote beam reaching both built in Change setup so beam reaches only not work and remote infrared sensor at once one sensor Infrared beam from remote Clear any obstructions cannot reach sensor Battery problem Make sure batteries are fresh and are inserted correctly Autosearch can t find the Source component is turned off Turn source component on CESEN source Player is stopped Make sure player is in Play or Pause Wrong signal types Check connections and the Source setup menu to be sure desired source receives digi tal audio composite video or S video signals No picture from S Video TV is connected to the composite Connect the TV to the composite video OSD inputs video no OSD output jack output jack No on screen display OSD Video monitor off Turn video monitor on OSD set for wrong connection In Display Setup set OSD Output to Both Video monitor disconnected Reconnect video monitor Video monitor is connected to the Move cable to OSD jack No OSD jack on C 2 OSD hard to read against S
73. er for on screen display if you want to keep track of this remember that the capital letters come first in the character list followed by the lowercase alphabet then the punctuation marks then the numbers and finally back to the uppercase letters Even after you change a title on the C 2 the selector screen on the Master remote will still say VID 1 AUD 3 and so on To change those screen titles you ll need to use a PC and the MX Editor software The software can be downloaded from www parasound com halo Digital input The C 2 has eight digital inouts four coaxial jacks and four optical jacks By rock ing the thumbpad side to side you can associate any of those eight digital jacks with the source you re currently setting up G ADJUSTMENTS MENUS AND SETUP continued Presets he Preset menu line enables you to associate the source with any of the five preset combinations of bass treble and individual channel level adjustments and bass and treble boost or cut for the front left center and right channels only and center surround or subwoofer level adjustments controlled by the Preset setup submenu under Audio setup When you select a source that has an associated preset the preset s bass and treble settings replace those made on the main Audio setup screen and the center surround and subwoofer level changes are added to the values selected in Level setup If you use the tone and
74. es can be seen only via the component video outputs So If you have a VCR which probably has both composite video and S Video outputs you d want to use S Video to get the clearest possible pictures trom that If your system also includes a source with component video outputs the only kind that works for high definition television only component video links would give you all the picture quality that source can provide And if you have a source that has only a composite video output the signal from that source would appear only at the composite video jacks of the C 2 On screen displays such as setup and function menus are passed through the OSD composite and S Video jacks but not through the No OSD jacks But if you ll be sitting too far from the screen to read it and don t want to superimpose a lot of lettering on the screen your guests and family members are watching you might wish to connect a second small TV or monitor to the S Video or more likely composite OSD jack as shown You can also connect the OSD com posite video output on the C 2 to the composite input on your main video display and switch to that input whenever you want to see the C 2 status information or setup menus CONNECTING THE AUDIO AND VIDEO OUTPUTS continued Although the No OSD jacks do not pass on screen display information generated by the C 2 they will pass status information coming from such source components as VCR and DVD play
75. espect to ground making them equal but 180 out of phase with each other The input uses differential circuitry which amplifies only the difference between the audio signals but not the elements they have In common For example when a 1 volt signal arrives at a balanced input stage the differential input sees a positive 1 volt minus a negative 1 volt or 2 volts total Any external hum and noise that somehow does get into a balanced line appears on both conductors but with opposite polarities As a result the input circuit simply cancels the noise out a process known as common mode rejection One of the most important specifications for a differential circuit is its ability to reject signals common to both conductors This is measured in dB and is called the common mode rejection ratio or CMRR The Tape Monitor and its Many Uses The Tape Monitor Play In and Rec Out jacks on the C 2 are designed for easy integration of a stereo ana log recorder tape CD MiniDisc or even the inputs and outputs of your computer s sound card It is espe cially useful with recorders that permit simultaneous playback of the just recorded tape enabling you to quickly compare the recorded output to the signal you re recording simply by pressing the Tape key on Page One of the Master remote s C1 C2 menu The Tape Monitor jacks can also be used with equaliz ers and other two channel signal processors If you connect the Rec Out jack
76. excessively long cables they cost more money get in your way and can reduce signal quality Note Although analog audio cables have the same plugs as coaxial digital cables they do not have the proper characteristics to transfer digital signals properly However composite video cables which usually have yellow plugs can be used The following table summarizes the relationships between the different types of input and output in the C 2 AUDIO MAIN BALANCED RECORD 1 amp TAPE DIGITAL ZONE INPUTS OUTPUTS OUTPUTS OUTPUTS RECORD2 MONITOR OUTPUTS OUTPUT OUTPUTS REC OUT Available From Digital Inputs Yes Yes 7 1 Channel Analog Inputs Yes Note Programmable Outputs can access the same sources as the Main Outputs VIDEO COMPOSITE S VIDEO COMPONENT COMPOSITE S VIDEO INPUTS OUTPUTS VIDEO OUTPUTS VIDEO VIDEO REC OUT OUTPUT OUTPUTS OUTPUT REC OUT Available From Composite Video In S video In Component Video In Available at the composite video OSD output jack not available at the No OSD output jack CONNECTING AUDIO AND VIDEO SOURCES AND RECORDERS continued Connecting a CD or Other Audio Source Component to the C 2 OUTPUTS A Unbalanced Digital Optical Digital Coaxial Analog Audio Output O CODATA 900 Analog Audio Inputs Tape Monitor Analog Audio Outputs 7 1 Analog Audio Inputs Main Analog Audio Outputs Programmable Out C What You May Need RCA Plug e One pair of unbalance
77. ges There are 30 possible settings the default is white lettering on dark gray with error messages in white lettering on red We recommend dark gray instead of a colored background to extend the life of TV monitors and front or rear projectors that use CRTs cathode ray tubes Trigger Setup Many home theater components including amplifiers retractable screens and some lighting equipment can be controlled by DC trigger signals The C 2 has three trigger outputs two of which P1 and P2 are programmable through this setup screen Trigger sense defines the event or condition that you wish the C 2 to sense in order to generate a trigger volt age A few examples are the moment when the C 2 is turned on whenever the remote Zone is turned on activa tion of its display dimmer the presence of a composite video signal an S video signal or whichever comes first a sonel Posit is change of video source except component video or any LOOMS audio source or selection of any specific source including the 71 channel input and whichever source Is assigned to the balanced input Polarity does not change the trigger jack s output to and vice versa as its name implies Rather it selects whether the individual trigger output is normally off or normally on When Polarity is set to Posit the triggering event you selected will switch the trigger output from O to 12 volts when set to Negat the triggering event swit
78. hannel amp is a convenient way to add a pair of channels and most amplifiers have unbalanced inputs If you own a two channel amplifier that s better or more powerful than your five channel amplifi er we recommend you use it for the left and right front channels to assure the best possible sound when playing stereo music It would also be possible to use the balanced outputs on the C 2 as long as your amplifiers have balanced inputs For powered subwoofers unbalanced connections are commonly used as few subwoofers have balanced input jacks CONNECTING THE AUDIO AND VIDEO OUTPUTS continued Connecting Video Displays What You May Need Sinn e Two composite video cables with RCA plugs j C e One S video cable with multi pin connectors e One three cable component video cable set with RCA PEA Tug S Video Connector plugs at one end RCA or BNC plugs at the other Composite S Video Component Video Outputs Outputs Video Outputs Inputs Bala ed Analog Audio Outputs Composite Video Inputs Video Outputs Record Zone 7 1 Analog Audio Inputs Small TV for Viewing OSD Main Viewing Screen It may seem odd to connect the C 2 to your main video display three ways as shown here but in many systems it makes sense This is because composite video sources are not available at the S Video outputs though S Video sources are available at the composite video OSD output jack and component video sourc
79. hased at any dealer who sells PCs or computer accessories Further the RS 232 port can be used to update the C 2 Controller s operating software should future developments such as new types of surround recording make it necessary or simply to incorporate ongoing Parasound upgrades We ll post news about product developments on our Web site IR Inputs These two jacks accept remote control signals relayed or repeated from remote IR receivers or sensors Repeater systems extend the range of your remote control handset permitting it to control the C 2 when it is installed in a cabinet with closed doors Each of the two IR input jacks on the C 2 is dedicated to control of a single zone The Zone IR input is used to operate the C 2 from the second remote zone and commands received through this jack affect only remote zone operation The Main IR input affects only the local zone enabling you to operate the C 2 if it s mounted out of sight in a cabinet or equipment closet or from other rooms within the local zone Note Position the C 2 and any remote infrared sensors in the main room so that the beam from a remote control handset cannot reach both at once otherwise the C 2 may not respond correct ly to the remote s commands When positioning the C 2 and sensor remember that infrared can be reflected just as other light wavelengths are CONTROL CONNECTIONS continued 12 Volt Triggers The three trigger outpu
80. he Aux channels feed unbalanced output jacks Pro 1 Pro 4 and balanced output jack Pro 1 see diagram page 50 Pro 2 is an extra Subwoofer output paralleling the main sub output This permits use of multiple subwoofers where subs in two locations will perform better than a single sub or the use of two smaller subs where a large one Is too intrusive Pro 4 is another sub out but with all frequencies above 20 Hz filtered out This is ideal for driving tactile transducers such as floor shakers we recommend they only be fed the lowest frequen cies or another sub with really extended low frequency response Pro 1 and Pro 3 listed in this Setup menu as Aux channels 9 and 10 are more versatile channels because you can create their contents from any or all of the other 71 channels and also adjust their bandwidth level and delay as described below Here are just a few ways to benefit from 75 Channel Enhanced Surround If your home theater has more than a few rows of seats the left surround and right surround speakers can t provide adequate coverage for all listeners With Channels 9 and 10 you can add extra Surround side speakers as in commercial movie theaters and separately adjust the added speakers delays If the added speakers are very near your room s front seats you could mix a bit of the left and right front and signals in with the left surround and right surround signals feeding them To provide bass that blends with the s
81. he 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 it s recording from the Record outputs or you ll get feedback producing a loud very unpleasant noise through your speakers until you change the source or press MUTE G USING THE MAIN CONTROLS continued Because the signal for the Zone output is selected separately you can use that output to record one input source on an audio or video recorder while a different source is playing in the main zone Changes in volume control settings do not affect the signals at the analog audio Record outputs and Tape Monitor Rec Out jacks so you can readjust volume without making the signal levels in your recordings fluctuate The digital outputs can feed digital recorders but only with signals coming in through one of the C 2 Controller s eight digital inputs Selecting Sound Patterns Listening Modes The C 2 has a total of 15 surround stereo and mono sound patterns called modes which can be selected from the front panel or the Master remote From the front panel press the SURROUND button then within 5 seconds begin turning the knob until the desired mode is shown on the built in and on screen displays To change modes from the Master remote go to Page 1 of the C1 C2 menu press the remote s MAIN button then the key next to C1 C2 on the display then use the keys next to the MODE
82. he rear panel of the C 2 are used for connecting the C 2 to wired infrared repeater sensors or system controllers Note that the main and remote zones each have their own IR input jacks The IR input jacks accept standard 3 5 mm two conductor mini plugs with the positive wired to the olug s tip and the negative to its sleeve Your Authorized Parasound Dealer or custom installer can recommend a compatible infrared repeater system for the C 2 Preventing or Minimizing Hum and Buzz Audible hum and buzzing noises in a system are usually related to issues with the component grounds Ground Sometimes called common is a point of reference for voltages In virtually all audio and video components Every component has its own ground reference and the audio signal swings positive and negative in relation to that Problems occur when components with slightly different grounds are connected together Such ground loops allow unwanted voltages to flow between the components This causes an audible hum at the fre quency of the local power line 60 Hz in the U S and many other countries 50 Hz in Europe and elsewhere Harmonics of the powerline frequency 120 240 and 480 Hz in 60 Hz countries such as the U S A or 100 200 and 400 Hz in 50 Hz countries may add buzz to the hum Here are three tips to avoid hum and buzz 1 Keep the components in your system close togeth er with their power cords plugged into a common AC outle
83. l digital surround signal such as Dolby Digital or DTS or a 71 channel signal Dolby Digital Surround EX THX EX DTS ES This is not the same as a sub woofterlevel setting because the subwoofer output may depending on your speaker setup include bass from the main and surround channels as well as the LFE The LFE level can be set from 10 to O dB Reverb sets the level of reverberation in the Club and Concert ambient music modes It is adjustable in five steps Dry 1 3 and Wet with Dry which includes some reverb being the minimum The Club and Concert modes make recordings sound as if they were made in medium sized or large halls reverb changes the apparent acoustics of those halls A touch of reverb may also help create a more seamless transition between the left center and right speakers especially when the centerchannel speaker is positioned higher or lower than the left and right speakers Dolby DTS Setup The adjustments in this submenu are for use with two channel mainly analog sources when the C 2 is set to either Dolby Pro Logic II Music or DIS Neo 6 Music modes PL Il Panorama sends some of the front channel sound to the surround speakers for a wraparound effect It can gt PLIT Panorama off be switched on or off PLIT Center Width Min PLII Dimension i PL Il Center Width spreads the centerchannel signal into the left and right front channels to add spaciousness and for a smoother interchannel blend It has eight
84. lanced Analog Outputs Programmable Outputs Zone Output Rec Out Record Outputs lt 0 002 lt 0 002 lt 0 002 gt 102 dB gt 98 dB gt 107 dB 190 0 17 kQ 17 kQ 25 kQ per leg 75Q 50 Q 50 Q per leg 50 Q 50 Q 470 Q Input Sensitivity for THX Reference Level Digital Inputs Analog Inputs Maximum Input Levels Unbalanced Analog Inputs 7 1 Channel Input Balanced Analog Inputs Maximum Output Levels 7 1 Channel Outputs Balanced Outputs Programmable Outputs Zone Output O dBFS 2 Vrms 3 6 Vrms 8 Vrms 35 Vrms 8 Vrms 16 V rms 8 Vrms same as Input Rec Out Record Outputs same as input Licensing Acknowledgements Video Characteristics Bandwidth Component Video 300 MHz Composite S video 30 MHz no OSD 8 MHz OSD Input Impedance Component Video Inputs 15 S video Inputs 15Q Composite Video Inputs 75Q Output Impedance Component Video Outputs 75Q S video Outputs 75 Composite Video Outputs 75Q General Information Dimensions Width 17 4 437 mm Panel Height 5 4 133 mm Total Height with feet 5 150 mm Depth 16 406 mm Power Requirements 90 V to 260 V AC 50 60 Hz 65 watts Net Weight 18 Ib Shipping Weight 32 lb Features and specifications subject to change without notice Manufactured under license from Dolby Laboratories Dolby Pro Logic and the double D symbol are trademarks of Dolby Laboratories Manufactured under
85. lays your satellite or cable company s program guide e The numerical keypad can be used for channel selection time setting on VCRs direct frequency entry for tuning some FM AM tuners and so on Not all its buttons will necessarily be used for example some TV tuners require the use of a 10 key when tuning to channels 11 and higher or the use of an ENT Enter button for tuning to channel numbers with fewer than two or three digits but others do not USING THE MASTER AND SIDEKICK REMOTES continued D Using the SideKick The SideKick remote is set up at the factory to control the main functions of the C 2 but can be reprogrammed to control your entire home theater If you or your dealer or installer have not reprogrammed it it will work as follows LIGHT illuminates the SideKick s buttons for about 10 seconds If you wish to z turn it off sooner tap this button again Ar VOL raises or lowers the volume setting on the C 2 le CH changes the C 2 Controller s source input selection but can be repro SK grammed as a channel control for your TV cable box or satellite tuner 45 LE Was MUTE cuts off output from the C 2 to your amplifiers and speakers Normally ge it controls the main zone including the Phones jack on the front panel but S Ba M if the C 2 is in Zone control mode it will cut off sound to your remote zone Fe INFO presents on your on screen video display if you are using one the current source
86. le from any DVD player s 48 kHz digital output jack the C 2 decodes these signals at this same sampling rate to reduce potential noise resulting from multiple DSP clock rates then treats them like normal DTS 5 1 signals DTS Neo 6 Cinema For 6 1 channel decoding of movies with surround encoded two channel soundtracks adds a single rear channel which can be fed to two surround back speakers not available in systems with no surround back speakers DTS Neo 6 Music Similar to Neo 6 Cinema but for music It feeds stereo signals directly to the front channels bypassing the decoder while feeding the center surround side and surround back channels with ambient information derived from the recording to add spaciousness e DTS Neo 6 Extracts rear surround information trom DTS 3 2 1 tracks Not available for other signals e DTS Neo 6 Matrix Extracts rear surround information from DTS ES Matrix signals Not available for other signals including DTS ES Discrete signals which carry discrete rearchannel information e DTS 2 0 Two channel stereo recordings using the DTS signal format Processing modes available are mostly the same as those for stereo CDs e Music Modes Spatial effects available only with two channel signals Natural generates 5 1 channel surround from stereo signals without adding reverberation Club and Concert extract ambient information from the signal and add reverberation to make the music sound as if performed i
87. m in the recorded soundftield will be vague and bass may suffer e It is not necessary that your amplifiers have identi cal input sensitivity a measure of the input level needed for a given output power because any variations are automatically compensated for when you set up and match your speaker levels e Your amplifiers need not have the same power rat ings either Low bass requires the most amplifier power to reach adequate levels for music and spe cial effects So your most powerful amplifiers should be used for your subwoofers if they have no amplifiers of their own and for speakers that you identify as Large during C 2 setup If you have Large speakers in all channels the front speakers should get the most power then the sur round speakers and the lowest powered amps can be used for the surround back channels If you have a mix of Large and Small speakers use the more powerful amps for the Large ones THX Processing When THX modes are selected for an incompatible source or speaker setup the C 2 will remember the selection and will automatically apply it when the setup is changed or when a compatible source is selected Pressing the THX key on the Master remote turns on THX signal enhancements that work in conjunction with most of the C 2 listening modes The exceptions are music modes that generate surround signals from two channel source material such as PL II Music Neo 6 Music
88. mm sub mini plug on one end and a 3 5 mm mini plug on the other While you are unpacking your C 2 inspect it thoroughly for possible shipping damage and tell your Parasound dealer right away if you find any If possible save and store both the inner and outer cartons and most especially the foam packing inserts so you can use them if you have to ship the C 2 or to protect it when you move To save room in storage you can cut the seams on the bottom of the cartons and flatten them Placement Guidelines The C 2 will be easiest to use and stay reliable longer if you follow these simple guidelines Place the C 2 on a shelf that will adequately support its weight Unless you ll control the C 2 through remote infrared sensors pick a shelf placed where you can aim the remote controls at the C 2 easily If you do use remote sensors be sure the remotes beams can t reach the remote and front panel sensors at the same time Keep the C 2 away from heat sources such as air ducts or radiators Leave at least 1 of space on all sides and the top This helps facilitate passive heat dissipation If you re installing the C 2 yourself use cables long enough to leave at least two feet of slack that enables you to pull the C 2 out to change connections without inadvertently disconnecting things If you re putting the C 2 in a cabinet make sure there s grab space on each side with a space that s at least 22 inches wide you ll be able to turn the unit
89. n a small to medium or large space respectively The amount of reverberation can be adjusted through Audio Setup page 24 Party feeds dupli cated front channel stereo signals to the surround but not surround back speakers this spreads the sound more uniformly throughout the room Online Sources for Further Information www dolby com www dtsonline com www thx com www parasound com halo USING THE MAIN CONTROLS continued Listening Modes and the Signals They Work With TYPE OF DOLBY DIGITAL DTS STEREO INCOMING SIGNAL a 3 21 _ 2 0 DVD PCM CD Analog Available Modes a a Mono Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes stereo Direct Stereo96 a Dolby Modes J S S S l S Pro Logic Yes Pro Logic ll Movie No No No No No Yes Yes Yes Po Logioli Music No no No no no ves es es _ Dolby EX l S S a DTS Modes ee eee eee eee eee eee eee Neo 6 Cinema No No No No No Yes Yes Yes _ Neo 6 Music N j Mo No No i No t ivesi f fva l Ivet Neo 6 Matrix No Yes Yes No No o S S S T Musie Modes J d S S l S Natural No No Yes Yes Yes _ Party Club Concert No No no Yes ST S a a e FF THX Cinema Yes Yes Yes Yes ves Yes Yes Ss THX Surround EX Yes Yes No No No No No No THX Ultra2 Cinema No Yes No No Yes No No No THX MusicMode No Yes No No Yes No No no
90. n pin 1 positive on pin 2 return on pin 3 Should it ever be necessary for some reason to connect any of the C 2 s balanced jacks to unbalanced jacks on another component you can make an adapter cable by wiring an unbalanced cable s shield to pin 1 on an XLR connector wiring the unbalanced cable s center conductor to pin 2 and leaving pin 3 unconnected Unbalanced connections with RCA jacks are found on all home audio equipment RCA jacks and two conductor wires are less costly than the additional circuitry higher priced XLR connectors and three conductor wiring required for balanced connections In an unbalanced line the positive audio signal appears at the center pin of the RCA jack and the negative signal on the outer shield wire which also functions as the ground connection Unbalanced interconnect cables are vulnerable to hum from an AC line or other noise such as RFI Radio Frequency Interference which can be reproduced through your loudspeakers Since the unbalanced line s ground also carries the audio signal there is no way for the connected amplifier or preamplifier to distinguish between the audio signals you want and unwanted noise emanating from external sources In balanced lines the positive and negative audio signals are carried on separate conductors within a separately grounded shield that provides equal inter ference protection to each signal The positive and negative audio each have opposite polarity with r
91. nd on for that device only These buttons can also be reprogrammed to turn your entire system on and off when the remote is displaying its Main screen rather than screens for individual components unless reprogrammed they will control power for both the C 2 and the T 3 tuner when the remotes Main screen is displayed e The two VOL buttons on either the Main or SideKick remote raise and lower the volume setting of the C 2 regardless of the current control page e MUTE on either remote turns off the C 2 Controller s audio outputs in the local zone or if the C 2 is already muted unmutes it e The Master remote s STATUS button and the INFO button on the SideKick show the operating status of the C 2 on its built in display and as an on screen message on your TV or video moni tor if it s connected to an OSD video output on the C 2 USING THE MASTER AND SIDEKICK REMOTES continued e The circular thumbpad on the Master remote changes the CD a C 2 source input in either of two ways Rocking it to the AUDIO right or left makes the C 2 scan up or down through its signal Digital PCM input choices the scan ends when you release the thumb Input Coaxial 2 Mode Dalby PLIT Music pad Pressing the center of the pad starts or stops VIDEO Autosearch of all source inputs currently receiving video or fete ree digital audio input signals e The FAV button on the Master remote though normally pro grammed to help you find your favorite TV or sat
92. nel That s in part because we expect users will most often operate it by remote control and in part because many Tront panel controls do more than one thing The operations described in this chapter can be performed easily with the front panel or the Master remote control Other operations which can be performed only or far more conveniently with the Master remote are covered in the chapter after this one Here s a map of the panel Calibration Microphone Input Display Dim Setup IR Mute Status Display Exit Menu Knob Controller PARASOUND Soa ie 2 OC O l J O O Output On Off Zone Source Surround Mode The Main Operations On Off Volume Source Selection On Off When the C 2 is turned off the ON OFF button s halo glows a soft blue and the Parasound logo above the display glows a soft red If nothing Is lit either the C 2 is not plugged into a live outlet or the power switch on the rear panel is turned off Turning the unit on makes the button s halo and the Parasound logo brighter and turns on the display and the blue halos around the other buttons Turning the C 2 off with this button or the remotes leaves the C 2 inactive but able to respond to a turn on command from either remote control To turn the C 2 completely off for service or when you will be away for long periods first turn the C 2 off with the front panel ON OFF switch or remote control then reach around behind the unit s left side reach over the p
93. nel information is always derived from the information in the surround channels so those sounds will be heard in the surround channels if you select No back speaker Subwoofer select Yes or No Subwoofer filter On Off A low pass crossover filter that passes only the low bass which sub woofers are designed to reproduce and blocks upper bass midrange and treble which subwoofers reproduce very badly Most self powered subwoofers and many passive subs have such filters built in still you might prefer to use this filter instead because it works in the digital domain and therefore filters at 12 dB per octave without creating phase alterations Don t use both the filter in your sub and the filter in the C 2 or some frequencies you want may not be heard at all If your sub doesn t have a bypass switch for its crossover filter adjust it to its highest frequency setting to minimize redundant filtering Subwoofer freq sets the subwoofer filter s cutoff frequency in 10 Hz increments from 40 to 140 Hz The optimum setting will depend on your speakers your sub and your room s acoustics Enhanced bass gives you the option of sending bass from channels with Large speakers to the subwoofer as well When all speakers are set to Large the subwoofer normally gets only the Low Frequency Effects or LFE signal Switching Enhanced Bass on will give you more bass energy but switching it off may make the sound clea
94. nputs amp Outputs Composite Video Outputs amp Inputs seiis Bele ed Ahalo Audis ro ol OO EEIT EET oS TITI 0 00000000000 00 000000000 90 AC Power Unbalanced Analog Tape Zone amp 7 1 Channel Main Analog Programmable Switch Audio Inputs Monitor Record Analog Inputs Outputs Outputs Input amp Outputs Outputs GETTING STARTED continued When you connect the C 2 s audio and audio video inputs and outputs to the rest of your sys tem including your second entertainment zone if you have one you ll find it easier if you start with the unbalanced analog audio jacks which are on the bottom row then work your way up the panel from there It s a good idea to write down which component each jack is connected to so you can program the C 2 to display each source s name see Adjustments Menus and Setup page 31 rather than just Audio 1 Video 3 and so on The various types of video jacks composite S Video and component use differing connector types but the so called RCA type used for composite video simply labeled Video on the back panel is also used for analog and digital audio The RCA jacks on the C 2 are color coded red and white for right and left channel analog audio yellow for composite video black for digital inputs and red for digital output for the 71 channel inputs and outputs the surround side chan nel jacks are blue and gra
95. o Plays all sources in stereo through the front left and right channels When surround input signals are played in stereo mode the contents of the surround rear and center channels are reproduced in the stereo output signal e Direct Automatically reproduces the digital audio signal on any DVD signal in its own format whether it be surround stereo or mono Stereo96 A pure audio mode for analog input signals that raises the sampling rate of the A D convert ers from 48 kHz to 96 kHz and disables such DSP adjustments as tone controls see pages 18 24 and 26 and bass management Unlike other pure analog stereo modes Bypass mode for balanced Input or stereo feed via the 71 channel inputs this mode enables signals to be fed to the record and Zone outputs Note Tone adjustments you make in this mode do not affect the sound until you switch to another mode Dolby Pro Logic Decodes two channel signals from analog PCM or Dolby Digital 2 0 sources that have been encoded with Dolby Surround signals and feeds the results to the appropriate speakers of your sur round system It is designed for playback through four channels three in front and a fourth channel that s usually fed to both surround speakers of a home theater system This surround signal s treble is rolled off filtered to simulate the absorption of high frequencies by the seats and audience in a commercial movie theater Available only with two channel sources
96. o Record output jacks Signals from the S Video inputs are not available at the composite Record out or No OSD output jacks e Component video connections give you the highest possible picture quality and are the best choice for high definition TV HDTV However not all DVD players and other sources have com ponent video outputs nor do all TV sets have component video inputs In the C 2 component video signals go only to the component output jacks a straight pass through with the widest bandwidth to assure the cleanest picture for HDTV formats Note that the two component video inputs on the C 2 and its component video output have five jacks even though only three are shown in use Home theater equipment commonly uses the connection shown with three cables sometimes labeled Y R Y and B Y or Y Cb and Cr But computers professional video equipment and some projectors used in home theaters use a five wire standard RGB HV that uses separate cables for each color and for horizontal and vertical synchronization This system synchronizes the signal elements more precisely and elimi nates any possible trace of interference between them It also provides improved compatibility with the PAL video system used In Europe and many other places As with the CD player it is unnecessary to use both the digital and analog audio outputs from a DVD player unless you intend to record to an analog tape recorder or a VCR If you do use the player s anal
97. of the C 2 rear panel In this mode the signal is unaffected by tone controls and other adjustments and surround modes are unavailable In DSP mode all adjustments and surround modes can be used ADJUSTMENTS MENUS AND SETUP continued Display Setup The options on this screen affect the appearance of the on screen display OSD Display setur gt TU system NED SUPeErimpPose Off Temporary dise Simele Wideo format Auta Distance units Feet NSD Quteut NSD style Exit Both TV system sets the OSD to NTSC the television system used in the Western hemisphere and some Asian coun tries or PAL the system predominant in Europe If this is set incorrectly the OSD information will roll up or down your video screen when the C 2 is set to an audio only source when a video signal is played through the C 2 the Controller automatically selects the system matching the video input program Superimpose When On this superimposes OSD infor mation on the video program currently playing but only for screens or projectors connected to the OSD video output jacks When Off the OSD infor mation is shown on a solid background instead of superimposed over the video program Temporary disp display Governs whether and how information appears on the OSD when you adjust the controls of the C 2 Unless this parameter is set to Off the OSD will show briefly any changes you make to volume source mo
98. of the thumbpad or turn the front panel knob one click To save your changes and get out of setup altogether press the EXIT button on the front panel or the MENU button on the Master remote To get out of setup without saving your changes press ESC Escape on the Master remote Because the two line display built into the C 2 shows just part of the information on the full screen display the descriptions of individual menus and adjustments in the rest of this chapter show only the on screen menus The built in display always shows the title top line of the on screen menu and whichever line is pointed to by the cursor Each of the six setup titles in the Main Menu is the heading for a separate submenu each sub menu includes a number of control options or sub submenus which are described individually in the pages that follow Main Menu ADJUSTMENTS MENUS AND SETUP continued Audio Setup The settings made on this screen are global affecting all inouts and modes unless specifically overridden by gt D SetuP settings made via other screens or via the remote Audio setur Treble and Bass can be set here in 1 dB steps for up to 12 dB of cut or boost Tone control adjustments made via the Master remote will add to or subtract from these settings These adjustments affect only the front left center and right channels LFE level affects the level of the Low Frequency Effects signal the 1 of a 5 1 channe
99. ofer Next move to Limiter level and rock the thumpad sideways or turn the front panel knob to raise the noise level until you just start to hear distortion from your subwoofer Using the thumbpad or front panel controls turn the noise off and the bass limiter on Boundary gain comp compensation tames the exces Sive boomy bass that can occur when listeners are near the back wall of home theaters whose subwoofers meet THX Ultra2 standards or have flat anechoic response down to 20 Hz If you have such a subwoofer setting THX Ultra2 Sub to Yes gives you the option of turning this feature on or off try listening to it both ways to see which gives you more lifelike bass If your subwoofer does not meet these standards setting THX Ultra2 Sub to No will disable boundary gain compensation ASA Advanced Speaker Array processes the sound sent to the surround back not the sur round side speakers THX recommends that the two back speakers be placed close together facing the front of the room to broaden the sweet spot in the room where their effect is most beneficial and provides processing to compensate if they must be spaced apart Set ASA to Together if the speakers are within 12 inches 30 cm of each other to Close if they are separated by 12 to 48 1 2 m and to Apart if the separation is more than 48 ADJUSTMENTS MENUS AND SETUP continued Halo Setup Software An additional se
100. og output it and the video outputs should be connected to inputs having the same name the example in the diagram shows the DVD player connected to the Video 3 compos ite video S Video and unbalanced analog inputs CONNECTING AUDIO AND VIDEO SOURCES AND RECORDERS continued Connecting a Multichannel Source to the C 2 Certain multichannel sources such as SACD and DVD A players have internal surround decoders and D A converters and can deliver multichannel audio only via their analog output jacks The diagram shows a 5 1 channel source the most common type today and indicates the Back connections to be used with 71 channel components when they become available Like the balanced line Bypass mode this is a straight pass through of the analog signal from input to output with no signal modifications beyond the analog level controls including volume adjustment and the center surround and subwootferlevel trims on page 3 of the Master remote s C1 C2 menu _ What You May Need RCA Plug e Six 5 1 or eight 71 unbalanced interconnects with RCA plugs e One 75 ohm digital coaxial cable with RCA plugs or one optical 7 digital cable with Toslink connectors ail e Multichannel player SACD DVD A etc with digital and 5 1 or Toslink Connector 7 1 channel analog audio outputs Inputs Balanced Analog Audio Outputs Composite Video Inputs Video Outputs S Video Inputs S Video Outputs ce
101. ons call for extensive sig nal processing others for none at all The circuit path topologies of the C 2 take these factors into account Signal processing such as surround decoding filter ing and tone control works best in the digital domain where even the most complex processing won t add noise distortion or phase anomalies Analog audio signals in the C 2 therefore pass through a 24 bit 96 kKHz analog to digital A D con verter at the input and a 24 bit 96 kHz digital to ana log D A converter after processing Because analog circuits can handle low level signals with no loss of effective resolution volume control takes place entire ly in the analog domain The analog volume and level trim controls designed in collaboration with the C 2 design team have lower noise and wider dynamic range than any others in the world And to ensure that the volume adjustments will track perfectly together for all channels the volume control stages for all channels are under precise digital control Signals that require no processing such as those to the tape outputs pass directly through the C 2 entirely in the analog domain There is also a purist Bypass mode for the balanced analog input which sends the signal straight from input to balanced left and right front output with no processing save the volume control the same can be accomplished for unbalanced analog stereo signals by connecting them to the left and right channels of
102. ont and right front balanced output jacks avoiding the DSP section for additional assurance of the signal s purity see the Source Setup page 34 In Bypass mode signals from the balanced outputs are not available at the recording or Zone outputs if the balanced source also has unbalanced outputs connecting them as well will make its signal available for recording or remote zone listening Bypass only affects the balanced outputs so its benefits are only available with amplifiers that accept balanced signals Connecting Recorders Recorders require two way connections to the C 2 so that you can record from it as well as play back through it The C 2 has one pair of input and several sets of output jacks for recorder use There are other jacks available for playback Composite Video S Video Digital Audio Record Out Record Out Outputs Inputs BalaQg d Analog Audio Outputs Composite Video Inputs Video Outputs SpE Record S Video Inputs Component Video Inputs and Output Play In Rec Out Analog Audio Inputs gt S Tape Monitor Analog Audio Outputs 7 1 Analog Audio Inputs Main Analog Audio Outputs Programmable Out Tape Zone amp Monitor Record Outputs The output jacks for audio recording are all unaffected by the volume bass and treble controls and from changes of listening mode You can adjust any of these listening parameters even while you record without affecting the sound of the recording CONN
103. ontrol See Tone controls Bass limiter 35 54 BNC Connectors See also component video 4 37 49 59 Boundary gain compensation 35 60 Bypass mode 14 31 32 38 41 42 46 51 54 58 62 C1 C2 Menus on Master Remote 9 11 12 15 16 19 58 Calibration microphone 29 30 Calibration noise Test signal 17 27 Center Width setting 13 24 Central overhead channel 51 CH buttons SideKick remote 11 21 Club mode 13 14 24 60 CMRR see Common mode rejection ratio Colors of on screen display OSD 27 33 Common mode rejection ratio CMRR 58 Component video 5 6 11 31 32 34 37 38 40 42 46 48 9 51 59 62 64 Component video RGB jacks 4 40 49 59 Composite video 5 7 15 31 33 37 38 40 42 45 48 49 51 55 59 62 64 Concert Mode 13 14 24 60 Control jacks 5 34 46 49 50 52 53 Crossover filter 26 D A digital to analog converters 6 62 Delay Programmable Aux Channels 9 and 10 28 Delay Speaker distance adjustment 27 28 30 Delay Trigger 34 53 Device control pages on Master remote 19 Dial Norm Offset message 61 Differential See Balanced Digital audio recorders connecting 11 17 42 44 45 Digital Error message 56 61 Digital inputs and outputs 6 12 15 16 17 31 32 38 table 39 46 Digital Theater Systems See DTS Digital to analog converter See D A Dimension See PL II Dimension Dimmer built in display 8 15 34 Direct mode
104. ough the importance of properly packing your C 2 Shipping damage resulting from inadequate packing can cost you a lot of money and significantly increase the time required for repair Ship the unit with adequate insurance Once warranty repairs have been performed the unit will be returned to you via prepaid UPS within the continental United States TECHNICALLY SPEAKING Balanced and Unbalanced Analog Audio Connections Recording and broadcast studios use balanced connec tions almost exclusively because of balanced lines inher ent ability to reject noise and hum even when compo nents are far apart and connected by long cables Certain high quality preamplifiers amplifiers and sur round controllers built for residential use include bal anced connections with XLR jacks for the same reasons The C 2 s balanced outputs enable you to take full advantage of the inherent noise rejection capability and superior sound quality of Parasound Halo power amplifiers especially when the amplifiers are mount ed far away near the speakers The balanced input on the C 2 also ensures the best possible analog connec tion to a source component having balanced output And for the purest possible sound the C 2 has a Bypass mode that feeds the balanced audio input signal directly to the front left and right balanced outputs with no processing except volume control The balanced jacks on the C 2 are wired according to the AES standard shield o
105. ound from the left and right surround back speakers you can program a true rear Subwoofer channel by blending signals from only the four surround channels or have side subwoofers that blend front side surround and low frequency effects LFE signals Because sound from subwoofers takes a few milliseconds to reach you you might use a pro grammable channel to delay the signal going to a tactile transducer so its shaking doesn t reach you before the sub s sound does If your theater room is shallow and wide additional front or center channels will give you smoother coverage and smoother side to side panning For an interesting spatial effect you could add outboard front speakers that include some opposite channel signal with its polarity reversed The original proposal for EX surround included a centered ceiling speaker for more precise front to back pans or flyovers Commercial movie theater owners rejected that idea to save money but you can implement it in your theater All channels can be mixed into a mono channel to feed a speaker in your bar powder room or out in the hall by the popcorn machine so your guests can follow the action and dialog when they leave the room Suggested mix levels for these applications can be found in Technically Speaking on page 61 ADJUSTMENTS MENUS AND SETUP continued Programming Aux Channels 9 and 10 Each of these two channels has independently adjustable high pass and low pass fil
106. ound mode Recording and remote zone outputs are not affected When headphones are plugged in PHON precedes volume readouts on the built in display or OSD To the right of the jacks are the infrared sensor for remote control the MUTE button which cuts off the outputs In whichever zone you re controlling at the time and DIM which switches dis play brightness between normal and dimmed level Muting is automatically disabled when you raise the volume The status display normally shows you the current source operating modes etc for either the main or remote zone In setup modes it shows what you re adjusting and how It s currently set The MENU button Is used in setup modes The EXIT button is used to exit setup menus All these functions can be controlled from the C 2 s Master remote and some are controllable trom the SideKick Both remotes can also be set up to control other audio and audio video components in your system see this manual s chapter on Using the Master and SideKick Remotes pages 16 21 as long as those components are placed where the infrared beams trom the remotes can reach them In the next three chapters we ll cover the C 2 s controls in more detail including setup adjust ments you or your installer can make to optimize the C 2 for your setup USING THE MAIN CONTROLS Despite its versatility the Parasound Halo C 2 Controller has only eight pushbuttons a knob and a display on its front pa
107. ower cord and flip down the rocker switch This will prevent your hearing turn off thumps through your speakers and will ensure that the current volume and source settings are preserved when you turn the C 2 on again The OFF and ON buttons on the small SideKick remote have the same effect as the front panel switch On the Master remote the action of the OFF and ON buttons depends on the remote s operating mode When the remote s MAIN menu is displayed the OFF and ON buttons perform custom programmed macros designed to power your entire home theater system on and off To reach this menu press the MAIN button on the remote But when the remote s C1 C2 menu is displayed the OFF and ON buttons affect only the C 2 You ll notice the remote menu says C1 C2 this is because the same remote control is used for the Halo C 1 Controller USING THE MAIN CONTROLS continued Mute _ S a _ Volume may l i i Volume __ Gl i aia i Volume gt gt i amp wit Thumbpad Hsi ish Volume gt 4 Pan Volume and Muting The large knob on the C 2 front panel normally controls volume However when you press the front panel SOURCE or SURROUND buttons it will control those functions for the next 5 seconds or for as long as you keep using the knob to change those functions settings The C 2 Controller s volume can be adjusted over a 106 dB range 90 dB to 15 dB Once the C
108. put L R L R Digital Optical Digital Optical DIGITAL Output ROUTE To record all your audio sources to a digital recorder you will need both analog and digital connections between the recorder and the C 2 This is because the Digital Out jacks carry the signal from the currently selected digital input but not from any analog input and the analog record outputs do not carry signals trom any digital sources Io make digital recordings from analog sources use the analog Record or Rec Out connections and the recorder s analog input CONNECTING AUDIO AND VIDEO SOURCES AND RECORDERS continued Connecting a Video Recorder What You May Need e Two pairs of unbalanced analog audio interconnects h l with RCA plugs 4 2 i DA e Two composite video interconnects with RCA plugs RCA Plug S Video Connector e wo S video interconnects with multi pin plugs e VCR or other video recorder The video Record jacks and the Record 1 and Record 2 audio output jacks carry the same signal as the other main zone outputs Io tape one video or broadcast while you view another connect your video recorder to the Zone video and audio output jacks and use the Zone control mode to select the source you want to record Inputs Balanced Analog Audio Outputs Composite Video Inputs Video Outputs Record O nO Component Video Inputs and Output Video 1 CE Main Analog Audio Outputs Programmable Out
109. r switch off after 5 seconds For this and other adjustments see Display Setup in the chapter after next Pressing STATUS or INFO on the remotes will bring it back again or shut it off if you finish with it before the 5 seconds have elapsed Information is also displayed whenever you change a control setting you can select whether it will fill the screen or only appear near the bottom of the on screen display The built in and on screen displays are extremely important and useful in the Setup modes see Adjustments Menus and Setup pages 22 36 The built in display s brightness can be toggled between two levels by pressing the DIM button at the left of the front panel or the DIM key available via Page 1 of the Master remote s C1 C2 menu Dual Zone Operation The C 2 controller can provide different audio and video signals to two rooms or zones in your home the second or remote zone can Incorporate one room or several depending on your instal lation Only analog unbalanced audio and composite video outputs are provided for the second zone analog surround soundtracks fed to the remote zone can be decoded by a suitable amplifier or controller in that zone All composite video sources can be sent to the second zone Digital audio signals are not fed to the second zone but signals from the analog outputs of digital components e g CD and DVD players can be selected and fed there So if you want to enjoy digital
110. rademarks and technolo gies under license from their owners If you re eager to get up and running right away simply follow the basic step by step instruc tions If you want to learn about some of the technical and design aspects of your C 2 refer to the Technically Speaking and Design Overview sections in the back of the manual If you run into difficulties the Troubleshooting Guide should help you quickly remedy the problem We appreciate you taking the time to read these instructions and thank you for selecting Parasound for your listening pleasure And for updates and corrections to this manual check our Web site www parasound com halo Enjoy The Parasound Staff Keeping Records for Future Reference Record the serial number located on the bottom of your C 2 in the space below Also note your Parasound Dealer s name and phone number We recommend that you keep your purchase receipt with this manual and store them both in a safe place You may need to refer to this infor mation sometime in the future Parasound C 2 Controller Serial Parasound Dealer Phone Number Date of Purchase YOU SHOULD KNOW There is no Parasound warranty for this unit if it was not purchased from an Authorized Parasound Dealer Investigate any warranty claims made by unauthorized dealers very carefully as you will need to depend entirely upon the dealer and NOT upon Parasound Unauthorized dealers may lack the capability to arrange repairs of Paraso
111. required delay time as equivalent distance If you are accustomed to thinking about equivalent distance in terms of 1ms of delay 1 foot or 3 meter of distance you shouldn t be concerned when the C 2 displays sub woofer equivalent distance that is quite different than its physical distance from the calibration mic location This isn t a shortcoming or fault but rather it is because the C 2 autocalibration algorithm is extremely sophisticated and measures the real acoustical distance not simply the physical distance from the sub to the calibration mic Acoustical distance is the actual amount of time required for a sound burst to travel from the speaker to the listening position which the C 2 then converts to an equivalent distance in the display In the high frequency range with very short wave lengths physical distance and acoustical distance are nearly equal so equivalent distance does closely fol low 1 ms 1 foot But at lower frequencies with longer wavelengths the acoustical distance grows significantly longer than physical distance Further contributing to this are delays in the low pass crossover circuit the voice coil mass of the sub woofer driver s and the fact that longer wave forms require some time to travel from wall to wall in a room before they start to resonate The C 2 autocalibration is the only correct way to accurately adjust for the actual acoustical distance because It is the only way to ins
112. rer or even louder in some rooms because it eliminates the possibility of phase problems that can occur when speakers in differ ent parts of the room reproduce the same bass tones ADJUSTMENTS MENUS AND SETUP continued Level Setup For proper surround the sounds reaching you from the different speakers should have the same relative levels as the sounds reaching the audio engineer who mixed the soundtrack Because home systems vary the simplest way to do that is to send a standard test signal through each of the speakers In turn measure each one s sound levels at the main listening position and then adjust each channel s signal level so that all the sound levels are equal The C 2 can do this auto matically see Level autocalibrate on page 29 or manually The Level setup menu can be used for manual calibration or simply to check on the levels set by the autocalibration system To make manual adjustments you will need an SPL Sound pressure level meter it should be held micro 0 5d phone end upright near where your head would be when eae you sit at your main listening position Set the meter to its Right surround O 00B 80 dB scale and to C weighting Right back None Left back None Once the meter is set up and the Level setup screen is Left surround 0 008 Subwoofer O 0dB Exit displayed press the Test key on Page 1 of the Master remote s C1 C2 screen This will start a test noise that c
113. round operation with surround sound sources having no digital surround output such as multichannel DVD Audio or SACD players which have only analog multichannel outputs and any future formats with up to eight channels The output section already has 75 channels including two additional dedicated bass channels and two channels which can be programmed for even more bass functions or a variety of other uses An RS 232 serial interface allows the C 2 Controller s settings to be stored on and modified by a PC it also allows the software built into the C 2 to be updated as need be The digital surround processor engine can also be upgraded And an expansion port allows for technologies that haven t even been invented yet Any product this versatile is complex which is why this manual is so thick but we ve made operation as simple as we can As you learn more about the C 2 you ll be able to optimize its performance for your system and your tastes You ll find complete directions further on but here s all you need to get started Making Connections A Preview If you re installing the C 2 yourself the following should be helpful if it s already been installed for you you may preter to skip straight to the chapters on Using the Main Controls and Using the Master and SideKick Remotes later in this manual Balanced Analog Audio S Video Digital Audio Component Video Inputs amp Outputs Inputs amp Outputs Outputs amp Inputs I
114. rs 60 Polarity subwoofer 17 55 Polarity of trigger signal 34 Power supply 62 Presets 25 31 32 54 Preset setup 31 32 PREV CH button Master remote 20 Printed buttons on remotes 18 19 21 Pro Logic Dolby 12 14 60 Pro Logic Il Dolby 12 14 24 Pro Logic Il Center Width 24 Pro Logic II Dimension 24 Pro Logic Il Movie 12 14 24 60 Pro Logic Il Music 13 24 60 Pro Logic Il Panorama 13 24 Programmable Aux Outputs 5 28 38 42 46 50 51 62 64 Progressive scan 55 Rack Mounting 4 55 59 Radio Frequency Interference RFI 58 Re Equalization THX 60 Rearchannel sub 51 Rear subwoofer 28 Rear panel master AC switch 7 8 9 54 56 Rec Out See Tape Monitor 5 6 10 12 32 37 38 table 42 43 44 46 58 64 Record Outputs 5 6 10 12 38 table 40 42 43 44 45 51 58 Recording 6 17 38 40 42 43 58 Remote controls Also see C1 C2 menu 4 9 13 15 16 21 22 23 25 31 52 63 Remote control s Main menu screen 9 16 18 Remote zone See Zone Repair See Service and Repair 2 57 Reverb 13 24 RFI 58 RGB HV five cable component video 40 49 59 RS 232 serial connector 5 16 36 52 63 CJ S Video 6 37 38 Table 39 40 48 59 64 S Video Record jack 42 SACD players See 71 channel sources Second entertainment zone See Zone Second subwoofer See Programmable Channels Serial port See RS 232 Service and Repair 2
115. rsatility manageable the C 2 uses context sensitive control logic that with minor excep tions offers you only those options that are valid in your Current situation Two universal remote controls are supplied both programmable for multi command macro sequences as well as individually commands The Master remote gives you direct access to every conceivable adjustment and setup plus direct control of the C 2 and up to 19 additional components The smaller simpler SideKick gives you rapid access to the Master remote s most useful commands whatever you decide those are Free downloadable software lets users program the C 2 and both remotes from their PCs Finally the C 2 is highly upgradable Its operating software can be upgraded or replaced via a built in RS 232 serial port its custom DSP engine is replace able and an expansion port stands ready to accept other technologies yet to come PARASOUND C 2 SPECIFICATIONS Audio Characteristics Frequency Response Digital Inputs 20 Hz 42 kHz Analog Inputs 20 Hz 22 kHz 7 1 Channel Input 5 Hz 200 kHz 3dB 20 Hz 20 kHz 0 5 dB Total Harmonic Distortion Digital Inputs Analog Inputs 7 1 Channel Inputs Signal to Noise Ratio Digital Inputs Analog Inputs 7 1 Channel Input Input Impedance Coaxial Digital Inputs Unbalanced Analog Inputs 7 1 Channel Input Balanced Analog Inputs Output Impedance Coaxial Digital Output 7 1 Channel Outputs Ba
116. s especially tube amps and some speakers this can subtly improve performance The balanced and unbalanced outputs normally carry the signals from the balanced input and the unbalanced inputs You can select a Bypass mode see Source Setup page 32 to route the balanced input signal directly to the left and right front balanced output jacks passing through no circuitry except the analog volume control Should you wish to use Bypass mode you must use balanced connections between the C 2 and the amplifiers serving the right and left front channels The other amplifiers however can be connected via balanced or unbalanced cables We sug gest using amps with balanced inputs in locations farthest from the C 2 and amps with only unbalanced inputs nearby While it s best to use identical amplifiers for all channels it s some times more convenient or economical to use a mixture of amplifiers especially if you already have some See Using Unmatched Amplifiers page 60 CONNECTING THE AUDIO AND VIDEO OUTPUTS continued Connecting Audio Amplifiers to the C 2 Q ee What You May Need 3 e 6 to 8 unbalanced or balanced analog interconnects ona Female one per channel RCA Plug XLR Connectors RIGHT SURROUND PEAKER 5 CHANNEL AMPLIFIER RIGHT MAIN s CHANNEL POWERED SPEAKER SUBWOOFER Inputs Outputs 7 7 7 a CENTER CHANNEL Q SPEAKER TV VIDEO _
117. sound will not blend seam lessly with the other channels Aux channel setup Ch 9 or 10 Config Setup brings up this submenu Filter type can be None Lowpass or Highpass Ch amp configuration gt Filt Filter freq can be set in 5 Hz increments The high pass E SE filter commonly used to keep bass out of small speakers None can be set from 20 Hz to 1 kHz The low pass can be set p from 20 Hz to 18 kHz The factory default setting for both filters is 80 Hz recommended but not mandatory for use with THX THX Ultra and THX Ultra2 speakers and sub woofers If you want bandpass filtering for special effects select both high and low pass filters font fat ei z 2 z TE YE YE rg Mix Levels Mix Level sets the percentage and polarity phase of th 3 mix levels the new channel s content that comes from each of the gt Left other 71 channels in 1 increments The settings shown ee here indicate that channel 9 is set to include 10 of each Right surround 5 main channel s signal 50 of the centerchannel signal ae i and 5 of each surround channel signal The minus signs LFE 3 on the surround channel mix listings indicate that these signals are mixed in with their polarity reversed Reversing the polarity of some of the donor channels can give you interesting spatial effects especially when combined with a bit more delay than called for by the distance from you to the Channel 9 and Chann
118. sources in the remote Zone connect your digital players analog as well as digital outputs to the C 2 Pressing the ZONE button next to the on off switch or the key next to the Zone legend on the Master remote s C1 C2 Page 1 switches the C 2 to control one zone or the other Switching between the main and Zone control modes does not affect the signal fed to either one and changing settings for one zone does not affect settings for the other The C 2 will switch from remote zone to main zone mode 10 seconds after your last control input The controls and commands are the same for either zone and whatever you do with the controls will affect only the zone you have currently selected If you turn the C 2 off while the remote zone is in use the front panel display will show ZONE B ON until you press the ON OFF panel button or the OFF button on either remote USING THE MASTER AND SIDEKICK REMOTES The Master and SideKick remote controls supplied with the C 2 Controller are programmed at the factory to operate the C 2 and the Master remote is for testing and demonstration pre programmed at the factory with IR codes controlling various brands of televisions VCRs DVD players and other components However it can also be programmed to operate virtually every other component in your home theater system Usually your dealer or installer will do this but you can also do it yourself Programming the remotes for your system requires the Mx
119. t jacks transmit DC trigger signals that can be used to control many ampli fiers retractable screens TV sets and projectors and even some lighting equipment Outputs P1 and P2 can be Individually programmed to send trigger signals in response to such events as a change of audio or video signal selection of a specific input activation of the C 2 display dimmer and switching the C 2 on or off For each the trigger can be set off immediately or after a short delay or turned on when you press Stop on your DVD player Each of these trigger outputs can also be set for normally on or normally off operation These options are described in more detail in the Trigger setup page 53 The third trigger marked On Off on the rear panel only operates when the C 2 is turned on and off It operates with positive polarity normally on zero delay and infinite duration which is to say that it sends a trigger signal from the moment the C 2 is turned on until the moment you turn the C 2 off again Thanks to this flexibility the C 2 can trigger a number of operations To suggest just two examples An on off trigger could be used to turn power amplifiers on and off with the C 2 And video based settings could be used to lower a projection screen turn on a video projector dim room lights immediately or after a programmed delay and draw window curtains The C 2 comes with two triggercontrol wires Each wire is 3 feet 1 meter long with a 3
120. t or power strip to avoid problems created by resistance in the house s wiring 2 Use balanced input and output lines with your Parasound C 2 See Balanced and Unbalanced Lines in this section 3 When rack mounting always use insulated shoul der washers These break the ground loops caused by metal to metal contact between the rack the units and their rack mount bolts Washers are included in Parasound rack mount kits and extras are available trom Parasound Headphone Circuit The C 2 includes a high quality headphone amplifier It is suitable for headphones with an impedance of 8 ohms or higher with headphones of lower impedance if any exist volume may be unacceptably low The headphone jack accepts a standard 1 3 5 mm stereo mini jack If your headphones have a jack you will need a stereo jack to stereo 4 mini plug adapter Video Signal Formats The C 2 can handle the three common video signal formats composite video outputs S Video and component video Composite video combines all the components of the video signal and passes them through a two conduc tor cable It therefore offers the least vivid and detailed video images It is however the most widely used home video connection standard largely because It is the oldest In the C 2 composite video input signals are fed only to the composite video out puts RCA connectors usually yellow are used almost universally for this format S
121. tem Cables and plugs can cause more problems in audio and home theater systems than the components they connect do Connection Types The C 2 has three types of video and four types of audio connector and your other components may use some of each The three video connection types each of which uses a different type of connector are Composite video S Video and Component video listed in order of increas ing picture quality For connections between video sources such as VCRs DVD players and TV or satellite tuners and the C 2 use the highest quality output connection that source offers Signals from the S Video inputs also appear at the composite output jacks of the C 2 but com posite input signals appear only at the composite output jacks Component video input signals appear only at the component video output jacks respectively So to ensure that all video sources can be seen use both composite and S Video connections and component video too if available between the C 2 and your TV video monitor or projector Composite video connections labeled simply Video on the rear panel of the C 2 uses RCA jacks yellow coded to distinguish them from the RCA jacks provided for analog and digital audio S Video connections use multi pin plugs and jacks that must be oriented identically in order to fit together This orientation is not standardized the S Video jacks on the C 2 are oriented as shown on the rearpanel diagrams
122. ters and provision for deriving content from any or all of the other eight channels mixed in any proportion you like They are programmed from this menu Level adjusts the channel s level relative to other channels for proper sonic balance It is adjustable from 15 to 15 dB gt Ch S config setup in 0 5 dB increments When these channels are used for Ronee special effects it s usually a good idea to keep their levels low Because these extra channels can be used in so many ee eee ways it is impossible to prescribe specific level settings we delay a suggest starting at the lowest possible level gradually rais Exit ing it until the extra channel becomes barely audible then cutting the level back by a fraction of a decibel Aux channel setup Delay can be used simply to synchronize the arrival time of the programmed channel s sound with that of the other channels But it can also be used for special effects such as adding ambience It is adjustable trom 0 0 to 80 0 milliseconds in incre ments of 0 5 ms We suggest you first try increasing the delay by 0 1 ms for each foot or per 0 3 meter of distance from the speaker to your listening position then try slight variations Setting the delay a bit shorter than the measured distance calls for may make the sound of this channel more dominant lengthening the delay may make it less so If the delay varies by more than 30 ms from the delay settings based on distance the channel s
123. the 71 channel input As insurance against any possible circuit interactions the balanced circuits are on a separate board which is disconnected from the rest of the C 2 in Bypass mode and the 71 channel input has its own volume control For bass management the C 2 uses a patented hybrid of analog and digital circuitry to optimize head room while reducing noise and distortion It also preserves bass coherence by reducing time smearing when channels with differing delay times are com bined into a single subwoofer output The C 2 has a total of 75 output channels including an extra subwoofer output a low passed output for use with floorshakers and two programmable chan nels that can each be fed a userselectable mix of signals from the other channels The video side of the C 2 handles composite video S video and component video signals The component video circuits which have more than enough band width 300 MHz for any of today s high definition TV or video signals are also on a separate board that isolates them from the rest of the video circuitry The two component video inputs can be assigned to any of the ten audio and A V inputs Component Selection Signals in the analog domain are handled by high speed BurrBrown op amps running at high current in pure class A mode for linear performance and musicality The converters chosen for their ultra low jitter flawless performance and superb sound quality are 24 bit
124. the composite or S Video OSD output jack SO you can see the OSD If your amplifiers or other equipment accept a trigger signal connect the C 2 s trigger outputs to them so that they will turn on whenever the C 2 does The IR inputs let you control the C 2 from an infrared sensor in the second zone or trom a small infrared sensor in your main room if you want to hide the C 2 inside a cabinet Note If you use remote infrared sensors make sure the remote beam cannot also reach the sensor on the C 2 the C 2 may not respond prop erly to commands It receives from two sources at the same time GETTING STARTED continued AC Connection and Power The C 2 operates on 90 260 volts so no voltage selector switch is necessary Plug its power cord into an AC outlet that is always live unswitched The C 2 will not operate properly if it s plugged in to an AC outlet that might be switched off Next press I on its rearpanel AC Power switch This will enable the C 2 to be turned on and off from its front panel On Off button or remote control On and Off buttons The only time you might want to use the AC Power switch again is if you plan to be away for an extended time Note Do not press 0 on the AC Power switch or unplug either end of the AC cord before the C 2 has first been turned off by the remote control or front panel On Off button If AC power is removed from the C 2 before it is turned off you will lose the selections
125. to the processor s input and connect the processor s output to the Play In jacks you will be able to switch between the direct output of the C 2 and the output of the processor If you have so many components that you re short of input jacks the Play In jack can also be used as an extra unbalanced analog stereo input However the signal from this input will not be available through any of the recording outputs or Zone Bass and Treble Controls The bass and treble controls offer adjustment of overall tonal balance in the front left center and right channels The Bass controls allow you to boost or cut low frequen cles 12 dB at 20 Hz in 1 dB increments The Treble controls allow you to boost or cut high frequencies 12 dB at 20 kHz in 1 dB increments Io preserve sonic clarity use these controls sparingly and only for record ings that actually sound better with tonal correction You will find that very slight adjustments can add a degree of warmth richness clarity and airiness However greater adjustments may obscure musical detail and even risk overloading your speakers You can only adjust the bass and treble controls via Page 3 of the C1 C2 menu on the Master remote Bass and treble controls do not affect the Rec Out Record 1 Record 2 or Zone outputs but their effect can be heard when playing back through the Play In input TECHNICALLY SPEAKING continued IR Repeater Input Jacks The IR inputs one for each zone on t
126. tup aid is HaloSetup exe a Windows program that can be downloaded from our Web site www parasound com halo With a standard serial cable available from computer stores connecting your PC to the RS 232 connector on the back of the C 2 you can use this pro gram to set up the C 2 and to store settings you ve made through the setup menus described in this chapter This is also the only way you can reprogram the default messages C 2 is turning on now and Shutting Down Some of the program s terminology differs slightly from that used in this manual but operation is nearly self explanatory We strongly recommend that you save your original settings before you begin so that you can restore them later if you dislike the changes you have made Use the File Save As command to create a configuration Tile and give It a name you ll understand If you get back to it months later e g Harry s original stg If you have modified settings through the menus in this chapter use the Operations Download command or the F6 key to copy the current settings to the Halo Setup program to program the C 2 with settings you have made within the program use Operations Upload All settings F8 to copy all settings to the C 2 or use Operations Upload Changed settings F7 to copy only those you ve altered If uploading or downloading does not work use Operations Check Connections press the F5 key If that discloses problems go to File Options and ch
127. und equipment Authorized Parasound Dealers are listed at www parasound com or you can call 415 397 7100 between 8 30 am and 4 30 pm Pacific time A missing or tampered serial number could indicate that this unit was stolen or sold by an unauthorized dealer If this unit is missing its serial number you should return it to your dealer immediately for a full refund TABLE OF CONTENTS Unpacking And Placement Guidelines FortheC2 020 000 00 0 0 4 4 Getting Started 22 0 a 5 Controls and Operation 2 a a 7 OPERATION Using the Main Controls 0 00 0 9 Selecting Sound Patterns Listening Modes 0 00000000 0 12 Dual Zone Operation 2 a 15 Using the Master and SideKick Remote Controls 0 16 Controlling Other Components In Your System 0 0 0 0 000000 ee 19 Using the SideKick oss wu an eG 8 eR we ewe ee ew ee oe ew Roo eo 21 Adjustments Menus and Setup 2 0000 aaa 22 Audio Setup Dolby DTS Bass Limiter presets Treble and Bass LFE Level Reverb 24 Speaker Setup Level Distance Size Aux Programmable Channels 2 2 26 Source Setup Inputs Titles Preset Selection Analog Monitor Balanced Inputs 31 Display Setup 1 2 2 33 Trigger Setup 2 34 THX Audio Setup THX EX Enable Boundary Gain Compensation ASA Advanced Speaker Array 35 Halo Setup Software aaa 36 MAKING CONNECTIONS Connecting Audio and Video Sources and
128. und the other buttons glow and the front panel display turns on Always turn the C 2 off with this button or with one of the remote controls before turning off the master power switch on the rear panel this will prevent turn off thumps being heard through your speakers and will ensure that your current source and volume settings aren t lost The ZONE button selects whether the front panel controls will affect the main local zone where the C 2 is or the second remote zone While the Zone button is active all tront panel and remote control commands affect the remote zone in the same way they d normally affect the main zone The display clearly shows when the C 2 is in remote zone mode The SOURCE button turns the control knob into an input selector that cycles backward and for ward through the audio and audio video inputs The SURROUND button turns the control knob into a selector that cycles backward and forward through the available sound patterns surround modes These patterns include various flavors of real and generated surround stereo and mono the selection changes to match whatever input you ve currently selected The two jacks at the far left of the panel are for headphones and for the calibration microphone supplied with the C 2 for automatic surround calibration see pages 29 30 on Adjustments Menus and Setup pages 29 30 When you plug headphones in the C 2 shuts off all main zone outputs and switches out of surr
129. uperimpose set to On Set Superimpose in Display setup to Off video image OSD blanks video picture Superimpose set to Off Set Superimpose in Display setup to On Digital Error message Faulty input signal lf message persists more than a few seconds on display change satellite channel DVD or CD check source component check satellite dish Some C 2 functions Control microprocessor is Turn the C 2 off by its front panel switch then don t work latched or locked up by its rear panel switch wait about one minute and turn it back on again Note Additional information can be found by checking the Product FAQs frequently asked questions and tech bulletins on our Web site www parasound com halo SERVICING YOUR C 2 If All Else Fails Call Us for Help Call your Parasound dealer or Parasound s Technical Service Department toll free at 1 866 770 TECH 8324 We can often help you solve the problem with simple diagnostic tests you can perform yourself If we determine that your C 2 will need further inspection or servicing we will a refer you to an authorized Parasound repair center near you or b authorize return of the unit to us and advise you of the correct procedure Procedure for Returning your C 2 to Parasound for Service If we determine that you should send your C 2 to Parasound we ll give you a Return Authorization RA number This RA number must be
130. ure that a burst of sound occurring simultaneously in all channels will also be heard simultaneously at your listening posi tion It is another reason why the C 2 is capable of recreating a uniquely seamless and vivid envelope of sound in your home theater Helpful Web Addresses The following are the Web addresses for companies mentioned in this manual e Parasound Www parasound com e Dolby Laboratories www dolby com e DTS Digital Theater Systems www dtsonline com THX www thx com PARASOUND C 2 DESIGN OVERVIEW The Halo By Parasound components are designed to add extra distinction to Parasound s 20 year reputation for rock solid reliability amazing sound quality and unequaled value Although built for the home our components have seen extensive use in professional studios Parasound equipment was used by Lucasfilm in the production of two Star Wars movies we received screen credits for Episodes and II and by other production companies Our design brief for the Halo By Parasound C 2 was to produce a component that could serve as the cen terpiece for even the most complex home theater provide for future technical developments and meet the needs of the most critical listener and viewer Twenty two highly talented design engineers on three continents collaborated to fulfill that mission Audio and Video Circuit Path Topologies Some things are best done in the digital domain oth ers in the analog Some situati
131. ware from our Web site To program the SideKick connect the programming cable to your computer and click the MX Editor program s SideKick tab then using your computer s mouse drag the functions you want from the pictured Master remote and drop them onto the SideKick buttons you wish to control them with For Further Information The Halo Master and SideKick remotes are customized versions of the award winning Home Theater Master MX 700 manufactured by Universal Remote Control Inc Further information updates and literature can be found at Universal s Web site www hometheatermaster com together with the MxX Editor software and a tutorial and programming manual for it However the MxX Editor version at our Web site www parasound com halo is specifically adapted for the version supplied with the C 2 2 ADJUSTMENTS MENUS AND SETUP As you ve probably gathered from the many earlier references to this chapter just about every aspect of the C 2 Controller s operation is customizable to suit your preferences and your home theater system Don t rush your setup it might take a few hours or more But this time will be amply rewarded with years of incredible performance and ease of operation If your system has been set up for you by your dealer or installer you may still wish to read this chapter in case you want to make further changes yourself Navigating The Setup Menus page 22 Display Setup 2 page 33
132. which speaker is being measured how near completion its measurement is and the required delay in ms milliseconds that the C 2 will apply Note Autocalibration is a precision measuring and adjusting technique that requires a reasonably quiet environment Do not move the microphone once calibration starts And do not talk or make noise during autocalibration especially level autocalibration as high ambient noise or fluctuating noise levels may interfere with and interrupt the process If autocalibration is interrupted by extraneous noise the OSD will ask for silence count down for five seconds and then resume from where it left off It will keep try ing to autocalibrate until it either succeeds or it gives up and displays Exit to Abort To exit Autocal press the ESC escape button on the Master remote not the Exit button on the front panel If the subwoofer cannot be autocalibrated after three tries the OSD will request that you adjust subwoofer level manually as discussed under Level setup above If the subwoofer s level is still too high or low adjust the gain of the inter nal or external amplifier powering it ADJUSTMENTS MENUS AND SETUP continued The delay time which the C 2 calculates and displays for the subwoofer may appear quite differ ent than its physical distance based on 1ms as the time at sea level that it takes sound to travel 1 foot or 3 meters This phenomenon is explained on page 62 in th
133. y the center channel green the subwoofer pink and the surround back channels brown and tan Note Cables designed for analog audio do not work well for digital audio or for composite video even though all three have the same type of plug composite video and digital audio cables can however be substituted for each other if need be Recorders require output as well as input connections If a recorder is connected to the C 2 s Rec Out jacks its output should be fed to the Controller s Play In jacks If you have a second recorder connect its input to the Record 1 or Record 2 output jacks on the C 2 If a source component has digital as well as analog audio outputs you ll get better sound quality by using its digital output because the C 2 has truly superior digital to analog as well as analog to digital converters Moreover by using direct digital connections you avoid putting the signal through extra conversion stages the digital to analog or D A in your CD or DVD player and the analog to digital or A D in the C 2 If you need to use the analog inputs on the C 2 as you will for analog recording or for signals to be fed to a remote zone in your house use both digital and analog connections between your player and the C 2 For video connections you ll get better picture quality trom S Video than composite video con nections signals trom S Video sources also appear at the composite video outputs but not vice vers
134. ycles through your speakers As each speaker plays the dB on its line of this menu will be replaced by a musical G clef symbol 6 giving you a quick way to make sure each speaker is connected to the proper channel Speakers entered as No in Size setup will be shown as None on this menu and no signal will be sent to them For actual level setting rock the Master remote s thumbpad up and down to select the speaker you wish to adjust then rock the thumbpad to the left or right until your sound level meter reads 75 dB 5 on the 80 dB scale Then proceed to the next speaker The noise will automati cally go to the speaker you re adjusting If you pause for more than a few seconds the test noise will resume cycling through your speakers Distance Setup Proper surround also requires that the sounds reaching you from the different speakers in your system should have the same relative timing as they did in the studio mixing room If the speak ers in the studio were equidistant from the engineer but your main speakers are three feet further from you than your surrounds are the sound from the main speakers would reach you about 3 milliseconds 0 003 sec late and you might hear say a gunshot s echo before the shot Itself To compensate your system would have to delay the sound from the surround speakers by three milliseconds enabling the sound from the main speakers to catch up The C 2 does this automati cally s
135. you made during setup and you may hear some nasty thumps In your speakers For more detailed directions to connect the C 2 see the three chapters Making Connections pages 37 53 Controls and Operation For starters all you need to do is turn the C 2 on and wait a few seconds for it to boot up Select an input see below and raise the volume to a comfortable level The display will show what input is selected the listening mode and the volume level for example VIDEQ 1 ANALOG PEREC TUN seu This information is normally visible on the front panel display but is not normally part of the information you can feed to a video monitor via the composite or S Video OSD on screen display jack The OSD will however show briefly any changes in control settings Raise the volume 1 decibel for example and the bottom of the screen will show something like this 19 dB The bargraph above has a vertical marker at 0 dB plus a second marker the one at the left in this case to show the current volume setting After speaker levels have been set up see Speaker Setup in the chapter on Adjustments Menus and Setup a volume setting of 0 will correspond to THX reference level a sound pressure level SPL of 75 dB measured with the standard C weighting curve When you re making setup adjustments the OSD will show more information than the front panel display Calibration Microphone Input
136. ystem E eae Small speakers are those with limited bass capacity Back speakers A to avoid distortion the C 2 diverts bass signals from any a RE a channels with Small speakers and sends them to the Subwoofer fres 0O Hz subwoofer this diversion takes place at the frequency set Enhanced ba ure on the Size setup menu The bass from Large speak Exit ers which can handle it well is not normally sent to the sub If you re not sure if you should classify your speakers as Small or Large try both settings and see which sounds best Main speakers the left and right front speakers may be set as Large or Small M H Center speaker may be set to Large Small or No If your system has no center speaker set this to No so the C 2 will divert any centerchannel signals into your front left and right speakers This is sometimes referred to as a Phantom center because even without an actual center channel speaker you will still hear sound apparently coming from between your front speakers Surround speakers which are placed at the sides of the room may also be set to Large Small or No Back speakers are used for 6 1 or 7 1 channel soundtracks such as Dolby Surround EX THX EX and DTS ES Here a single speaker 6 1 channel will suffice for many listeners so the options are No 1 Small 1 Large 2 Small and 2 Large Back chan

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