Quote:
Originally Posted by
Carpaccio 
Let me make sure I understand this correctly: If I have "AUTO" selected, then it turns off (or maybe a better way to put it is "doesn't engage") any Advanced Surround effects such as "ACTION" and the like?
but you guys are suggesting I set it to "DIRECT
first, no problem on helping
on your #1, yes. Action, Scifi, etc are what pio calls "advanced surround modes" but in reality all they are is taking the decoded format & adding some reverb effects to make it a little echo-y. Hardly anyone uses these anymore, and I'd highly recommend not using them because they add something that if "fake" and the audio can easily end up sounding worse not better. With enough reverb, which btw you can adjust in one of the settings, you can make it sound as bad as a rock concert in an auditorium. The only one I occasionally find useful is Monofilm, which takes the mono signal, typically sent to the center speaker, adds a touch of reverb and sends it to the l/r/surrounds to give the sound some sense of space. It's so subtle you barely notice it, but, vast majority of the time, I just use good old stereo mode for mono, just to turn the center since l/r fronts are more robust sounding than the center all by its lonesome
on #2, no, at least I didn't say that
. You certainly
could use Direct and for some movies and especially multichannel 5.1 music, it might sound the best. However, in Direct you don't add any post-matrixing, like Prologic IIx, dts Neo, or THX. All you are going to get in Direct is what's coming from the disc. If it's 2 channel, then you get 2 ch, if it's 5.1, then you get 5.1 & no back surrounds.
Auto Surround just means it's not in Direct or Pure Direct mode, and where you can chose Prologic or Neo. THX is its own set of choices in Auto Surround. Prologic & Neo are what Pioneer lumps under Standard Surround, a subset of Auto Surround. Auto-Direct-Pure Direct.
Under Auto is Prologic, Neo, and THX. Under Direct is std. Dolby Digital & straight DTS (whatever # of channels is on the disc). Pure Direct removes nearly all MCACC, processing, tone controls, EQ, etc.
Example, watching a Blu-ray with 5.1 Dolby TrueHD and you only want the side surrounds, then Direct will do. But if you want the back channels, then select Auto or Standard, add Prologic IIx and you get back channels derived from the sides added. DTS-Master Audio is a different beast, and what you get is highly dependent on the disc, the type of decoding the player does, and the capabilities of the receiver whether it can add IIx/z or not for DTS-MA. Some cannot, including earlier Pioneer models. It wasn't until recently that the SC models could add IIx to DTS-MA tracks. One of Pioneer's quirks in implementing it.
My 1st choice for movies is Auto Surround, add the PLIIx and forget about it
For 5.1 multichannel music, I personally only use Direct because I don't want to add derived back channels to the mix on the disc. Try them and use whatever suits your fancy..there are no right or wrong answers
Sounds more complicated than it really is. It's actually quite simple once you get familiar with the receiver.
That explains why something hasn't been right the past couple weeks.... dumb, dumb, dumb 
