Amplifier
Pioneer VSX-934 |
Yamaha RX-V685 |
7 channel Direct Energy Amplifier: Pioneer VSX-934 features 7 channel power amplifier with Direct Energy design. It is rated at 80 W (8 Ω, 20 Hz - 20 kHz, 2 channel driven) and is able to drive 4 ohm speakers. |
7 channel Amplifier: Yamaha RX-V685 features 7 channel power amplifier. It is rated at 90 W (8 Ω, 20 Hz - 20 kHz, 2 channel driven) and is able to drive 4 ohm speakers. |
Speaker Configurations
Pioneer VSX-934's and Yamaha RX-V685's amplifiers can be assigned for different speaker configurations.
- Dolby Atmos Configurations: The following speaker configurations are supported for Dolby Atmos:
- Pioneer VSX-934: 5.2.2 with internal amplifier.
- Yamaha RX-V685: 5.2.2 with internal amplifier.
- DTS:X Configurations: The following speaker configurations are supported for DTS:X:
- Pioneer VSX-934: The speaker configurations for DTS:X are the same as for Dolby Atmos - 5.2.2 with internal amplifier.
- Yamaha RX-V685: The speaker configurations for DTS:X are the same as for Dolby Atmos - 5.2.2 with internal amplifier.
- Configurations without height channels: There are also other speaker configurations available which do not include height channels:
- Pioneer VSX-934: 5.2, 7.2 with internal amplifier.
- Yamaha RX-V685: 5.2, 7.2 with internal amplifier.
- 2-ch Bi-Amp: Both models are able to bi-amp up to 2 main channels simultaneously. During bi-amplification two amplifiers are used for one speaker. One amplifier powers the midrange and tweeter section of the speaker and another amplifier powers the low frequency woofers. Each amplifier is less loaded and performs better. In order to use this feature speakers must have 2 pairs of connectors.
Dolby Atmos
Pioneer VSX-934 and Yamaha RX-V685 support Dolby Atmos. It is a cinematic audio format in which sounds exist as individual entities, called audio objects. In Dolby Atmos, any sound can exist as an independent audio object, free of channel restrictions. They can be precisely placed and moved anywhere in your room, including overhead, to flow above and around you in three-dimensional space. Through the use of audio objects, overhead sound, and all the richness, clarity, and power of Dolby sound, Dolby Atmos turns your room into an amazing place for entertainment. The format supports up to 128 simultaneous independent audio objects in a mix for rich, realistic, and breathtaking sound. It recreates the director's original concept through descriptive metadata to provide customized playback for home theater and delivers sounds above you through overhead speakers, special upward-firing Dolby Atmos speakers, or a Dolby Atmos enabled sound bar.
- Dolby Surround Upmixer: Both models support Dolby Surround Upmixer. If the content is not mixed in Dolby Atmos then the Dolby surround upmixer will expand the audio to all channels including ceiling speakers. The upmixer has replaced the Dolby Pro Logic II family with improved upmixing algorithms.
- Dolby Atmos Height Virtualization: Pioneer VSX-934 supports Dolby Atmos Height Virtualization which is a digital signal processing solution that leverages Dolby's deep understanding of human audio perception to create the sensation of overhead sound from the listener-level speakers.
DTS:X
Pioneer VSX-934 and Yamaha RX-V685 support DTS:X. A technique used in DTS:X is similar to the one used in Dolby Atmos. Instead of a fixed number of channels, DTS:X defines object locations from the listener in polar coordinates. An a/v receiver then dynamically renders sound according to the current speaker configuration. The speaker layout employed by DTS:X is the sum of Dolby Atmos and Auro-3D. It has standard 7.1 channel base layer, a 5 channel height layer above the base layer on the front and side walls, and 3 rows of speakers on the ceiling.
- DTS Neural:X: Both models feature DTS Neural:X which is an advanced upmixer that can take non DTS:X content and upmix it to the DTS:X speaker layout. It has replaced the DTS Neo family with improved flexibility.
- DTS Virtual:X: Pioneer VSX-934 supports DTS Virtual:X which bridges the gap between DTS:X codec and the reality of so many consumers' homes, allowing you to enjoy multi-dimensional sound regardless of room size, layout, or speaker configuration. If you have a limited speaker setup you will miss a full immersive potential of your entertainment system. DTS Virtual:X adds height and surround audio effect to your system without adding height speakers. It works with multiple configurations and delivers immersive sound experience out of 5.1 or even 2.1 speaker layouts.
- DTS Dialog Control: Both models have DTS Dialog Control. This function adjusts the dialog levels during playback of the DTS:X stream. It allows you to separately increase the dialog levels in contrast with the background sound and hear dialog easily even under noisy circumstances.
Enhanced Audio Return Channel (eARC)
Yamaha RX-V685 supports Audio Return Channel (ARC) which allows the compatible TV to send audio signal to the a/v receiver through the same HDMI cable which is used to send audio and video signals to the TV. So one HDMI cable is used to transfer audio signal in both directions. New Enhanced ARC will support uncompressed audio formats such as Dolby Atmos, DTS:X, Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD Master Audio whereas the previous ARC could support only Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, DTS, DTS HD, and PCM.
Sound Processing
- Compressed Music Enhancer: Pioneer VSX-934 and Yamaha RX-V685 feature Compressed Music Enhancer which enhances the quality of the music files with lossy compression.
- Advanced Sound Retriever: Compressed music enhancement in Pioneer VSX-934 is done by Pioneer’s Advanced Sound Retriever. Hear the detail, warmth and clarity, the way the artist intended it, from all of your highly compressed MP3 and WMA files stored on USB, Smartphone and portable media players. By restoring data that tend to get lost in the digital compression process, Pioneers Advanced Sound Retriever Technology enhances audio reproduction all the way upto 20 Khz frequencies.
Room Calibration
Pioneer VSX-934 comes with MCACC and Yamaha RX-V685 comes with YPAO (R.S.C.) room correction system.
- YPAO: The Yamaha Parametric room Acoustic Optimizer (YPAO) function detects speaker connections, measures the distances from them to your listening position(s), and then automatically optimizes the speaker settings, such as volume balance and acoustic parameters, to suit your room.
- MCACC: Pioneer’s exclusive Multi-Channel Acoustic Calibration System (MCACC) delivers an easy-to-use, automatic sound adjustment system to precision-tune your Pioneer and Pioneer Elite receivers with minimal effort. Every MCACC system comes with a microphone to measure and analyze reverb characteristics. The equalizer optimally adjusts sound parameters to fit the size and shape of your home environment while maintaining the integrity of high-resolution playback without any degradation to the quality of your music.