Pioneer Onkyo Europe GmbH

Audio Features

Would you like to know all the ins-and-outs of our AV receivers? Do you need more help to choose? Below we will go through the most important tech specs in detail.

MCACC (Multi-Channel Acoustic Calibration) is Pioneer’s own room calibration technology, developed to deliver optimum performance perfectly tuned for your living room. There are now three levels of MCACC available. Depending on the AV receiver you choose, you get MCACC, Advanced MCACC, or MCACC Pro.

MCACC

MCACC measures the speaker’s size, level and distance to the listening position. Based on this information, the MCACC system will automatically adjust all corresponding settings, in order to achieve the best possible sound quality. The Phase Control function adjusts the delay of the subwoofer sound to be in phase with the other channels.

ADVANCED MCACC

Advanced MCACC features a 3D calibration method with even more precise measurements, achieved by including a time axis. It also includes Auto Phase Control Plus for real time analysis and automatic compensation of phase difference between the LFE and the main signals in a content such like Blu-ray Disc, DVD and multi-channel file. Standing Wave Control helps reducing unwanted resonances, while the Subwoofer EQ is used to adjust the LFE (Low Frequency Effects) channel.

MCACC PRO

In addition to the features above, MCACC Pro goes a step further. It analyses and corrects the phase and group delay characteristics that are caused by the filtering systems in the speakers. This correction is also performed between the different channels, in order to provide a smooth sound flow. Other features include independent correction for dual subwoofers and speaker position adjustments in 1 millimetre increments. For all channels, MCACC Pro corrects phase differences in the original audio, as well as the sound emitted from the speakers.

The Virtual Speakers feature lets you enjoy full surround sound without placing extra speakers. By turning on the Virtual Wide, Height and Surround Back modes, you will experience 11.1-channel sound from a 5.1-channel speaker setup. Virtual Depth adds an extra dimension from ‘behind’ the screen – a perfect match for 3D video.
Jitter causes timing errors, which leads to an audible degradation of the digital audio signal. PQLS ‘speed synchronises’ the digital audio data between the AV Receiver and a compatible Blu-ray Disc player, reducing the jitter. The result is a clear, rich and precise multi-channel audio environment.

 

The Advanced Sound Retriever will restore your compressed audio to CD quality output, while the Auto Level Controlequalises volume level differences between the tracks. The Auto Sound Retriever interpolates the data that got lost during compression, and thus improving the sound quality of low bit-rate content. This is especially useful when switching between internet radio stations with different bit-rates.
The Audio Scaler will upsample 2-channel audio content up to 192 kHz/32 bit. It uses three technologies to achieve this:
  • Hi-bit32 Audio Processing expands a two-channel digital signal to 32-bit, to improve dynamics and precision.
  • Upsampling allows you to upsample the audio content to a sampling rate of maximum 192 kHz. This will reduce noise and helps to avoid distortion.
  • The Digital filter lets you select the characteristics of the digital audio signal.

When using digital sources, Hi-bit Audio Processing expands signal resolution, creating a more detailed and smoother sound that is closer to the original analogue signal.

The Hi-bit Audio Processing technology is effective for all multi-channel and stereo content, coming from disc players (CD, DVD, Blu-Ray, …), from the network, or any other digital source. From the LX58 model and up, the Hi-bit Audio Processing is performed in 32 bits.

These AV Receivers support today’s high-resolution surround sound formats, such as Dolby True HD and DTS-HD Master Audio. This way you can enjoy uncompressed multichannel audio from Blu-ray discs, as well as from other media. 

We are proud to feature Dolby’s latest audio platform (SC-LX58 and up*) for home theatre entertainment: Dolby Atmos®.

Dolby Atmos’ content consists of both static audio elements and sound ‘objects’ – freely locatable and movable sound sources in 3D space. With this technology, your room will be filled with astonishing clarity, richness, detail, and depth.

Enjoy hi-res audio playback like never before via USB/Network. WAV, FLAC, AIFF and Apple Lossless files up to 192 kHz/24 bits are supported from the VSX-824 and up. For the VSX-924 and higher models, also the latest multi-channel (5.1ch/5.0ch) WAV and FLAC audio files in 96 kHz/24 bit are supported.
The VSX-924 and up support playback of the rapidly expanding catalogue of studio quality DSD (Direct Stream Digital) audio files via USB/Network.

The SC-LX88 is equipped with a high grade asynchronous USB-DAC. This allows a direct USB connection with a Mac or PC and it supports 192 kHz/32 bit music file content. It will transform your FLAC and WAV music files into the purest audio possible.

The VSX-924, SC-1224 and SC-2024 are equipped with a high quality SABRE Premier Audio DAC (ES9006S), a digital to analogue converter that produces crystal clear sound. The DAC also eliminates jitter, so the signal remains free of digital artefacts.

The SC-LX58 and up are equipped with a 192 kHz/32-bit high quality SABRE32 Ultra DAC (ES9016S) for 9.2ch, featuring ultra-low distortion and high signal-to-noise ratio. It offers jitter-free performance for an astonishing audio reproduction quality with rich deep bass, bringing out the full potential of Pioneer’s Direct Energy HD amplifiers.

All models from the SC-1224 and up are designed to deliver clean and powerful audio output with high efficiency using Pioneer’s renowned and further refined Direct Energy HD amplifiers based on Multi-Channel Stereophonic Philosophy. The amplifier section of our new AV receiver delivers affluent power to each available channel, providing great detail and high dynamic range, with virtually no loss in performance even with all channels simultaneously driven at full volum.

The SC-LX78 and SC-LX88 come with an official AIR Studios Monitor certification. London’s AIR Studios is a state-of-the-art recording complex for film scoring, rock, pop, classical and orchestral music and postproduction. Hours of extensive and rigorous sound tweaking have gone into these AV receivers to reproduce audio that is as pure and precise as the artists intended.