Pioneer VSX-D938TX - Manuals

5 Table of Contents Before You Start ........................................................................................... 6 Checking the Supplied Accessories ........................................................................ 6How to Use This Manual .........................................

6 Checking the Supplied Accessories Please check that you have received all of the following supplied accessories. FM wire antenna How to Use This Manual This manual is for the VSX-D938TX/D908TX/D908TX-G Audio/Video Multi-Channel Receiver. This manual is divided into two main sections which will tel...

7 PREP ARA TION Before You Start Operating range of remotecontrol unit The area in which you can use the remote control tooperate the VSX-D938TX/D908TX/D908TX-G is fairlylarge. To use, point the remote control toward theremote sensor on the front panel of this unit whilewithin the range shown below....

8 UNSWITCHED 100W MAX DIGITAL IN OUT OUT IN IN IN VCR2 CONTROL VCR1 PHONO TV/ SAT IN TO MONITOR TV DVD /LD IN VIDEO OUT FRONT SPEAKERS SEE INSTRUCTION MANUAL SURROUND SPEAKERS FRONT SPEAKERS SWITCHED TOTAL 100W MAX CENTER SPEAKERS MD/ TAPE1 TAPE2 MONITOR CD 1 PREOUT 2 3 4 PCM/ /DTS IN/MPEG IN RF IN ...

9 Connecting Your Equipment PREP ARA TION UNSWITCHED 100W MAX DIGITAL IN OUT OUT IN IN IN VCR2 CONTROL VCR1 PHONO TV/ SAT IN TO MONITOR TV DVD /LD IN VIDEO OUT FRONT SPEAKERS SEE INSTRUCTION MANUAL SURROUND SPEAKERS FRONT SPEAKERS SWITCHED TOTAL 100W MAX CENTER SPEAKERS MD/ TAPE1 TAPE2 MONITOR CD 1 ...

10 Connecting Your Equipment UNSWITCHED 100W MAX DIGITAL IN OUT OUT IN IN IN VCR2 CONTROL VCR1 PHONO TV/ SAT IN TO MONITOR TV DVD /LD IN VIDEO OUT FRONT SPEAKERS SEE INSTRUCTION MANUAL SURROUND SPEAKERS FRONT SPEAKERS SWITCHED TOTAL 100W MAX CENTER SPEAKERS MD/ TAPE1 TAPE2 MONITOR CD 1 PREOUT 2 3 4 ...

11 Connecting Your Equipment PREP ARA TION Example of connection using a DVD/LD or LD player VSX-D938TX model: Make sure you connect your DVD/LD or LD players using the AC-3 RF jack. If your player has an AC-3 RF output,this will ensure you can use all types of laser discs. See p. 37. DVD/LD player ...

12 Connecting Your Equipment External Decoder Input In some cases you may need an external decoder to play special analog or DVD sources. If you find you need anexternal decoder hook one up as shown below, but for most people this component is unnecessary. (See p.47)When connecting your equipment al...

13 Connecting Your Equipment PREP ARA TION FM ANTENNA FM UNBAL 75 Ω AM LOOP ANTENNA FM UNBAL 75 Ω FM ANTENNA AM LOOP ANTENNA GND GND FM UNBAL 75 Ω FM ANTENNA AM LOOP ANTENNA 5~6 m 7 AM loop antenna 75 Ω coaxial cable Antennas Hook up the supplied radio antennas as shown below. When connecting your e...

14 Connecting Your Equipment Speakers A full complement of six speakers is shown here but, naturally, everyone’s home set up will vary. Simplyconnect the speakers you have in the manner described below. The VSX-D938TX/D908TX/D908TX-G will workwith just two stereo speakers (called “front” speakers in...

15 Connecting Your Equipment PREP ARA TION First turn the receiver off, then press the power buttonwhile holding down the SPEAKERS button. Choose the impedance setting by pressing the SPEAKERS button again.You can choose the 8 Ω -16 Ω setting or the 6 Ω -8 Ω setting. To check which impedance the amp...

16 Connecting Your Equipment Speaker placement If you have a multiple speaker arrangement the placement of the speakers is extremely important. To achievethe best possible surround sound, install your speakers as shown below. Make sure all speakers are installedsecurely to prevent accidents and impr...

17 Connecting Your Equipment PREP ARA TION UNSWITCHED 100W MAX DIGITAL IN OUT OUT IN IN IN VCR2 CONTROL VCR1 PHONO TV/ SAT IN TO MONITOR TV DVD /LD IN VIDEO OUT FRONT SPEAKERS SEE INSTRUCTION MANUAL SURROUND SPEAKERS FRONT SPEAKERS SWITCHED TOTAL 100W MAX CENTER SPEAKERS MD/ TAPE1 TAPE2 MONITOR CD 1...

18 Display All the display information is explained and/or referenced here. 1 SIGNAL SELECT indicators Light to indicate the type of input signal assignedfor the current component (see “Front Panel”, % (VSX-D938TX), $ (VSX-D908TX/D908TX-G), SIGNAL SELECT). ANALOG : Lights when an analog signal is se...

19 Displays and Controls PREP ARA TION - Program Format indicator When a Dolby Digital or DTS signal is input, hefollowing indicators light to show the channelsbeing played back. L : Left front* 1 * 2 , C : Center* 1 , R : Right front* 1 * 2 , LS : Left surround* 1 , S : Surround (mono)* 2 , RS : Ri...

20 Displays and Controls Front Panel (VSX-D938TX) All the controls on the front panel are explained and/or referenced here. To open the front panel, push gently onthe lower third of the panel. 1 Main Power Switch ( — OFF, _ ON) 2 STANDBY/ON button Press to switch the receiver ON or into STANDBYmode....

21 Displays and Controls PREP ARA TION = MASTER VOLUME Adjusts the overall receiver volume. ~ EXTERNAL DECODER IN (See p.47) Use to hook up an external component that candecode other types of signals and input them intothe VSX-D938TX. ! DIRECT button Switches DIRECT playback on or off. Use tobypass ...

23 Displays and Controls PREP ARA TION = EXTERNAL DECODER IN button (Seep.47) Use to hook up an external component that candecode other types of signals and input them intothe VSX-D908TX/D908TX-G. ~ DIRECT button Switches direct playback on or off. Use to bypassthe tone controls and channel level fo...

24 Displays and Controls Remote Control 1 SOURCE button (See p.58-65) Use to turn on the power of your othercomponents after you have recalled or taught thesignals to this remote control. 2 MULTI CONTROL buttons Use these to select a source and thecorresponding remote operation mode.For example, pre...

26 On Screen Display There are a number of possible ways to hook up the receiver to your video components like a DVD player andhook up to your receiver to your TV, but some of them will not allow you to use the on-screen display of thisunit. To avoid this one simply needs to follow two rules. 1 Alwa...

27 Surround Sound Set Up SET UP Setting Up for Surround Sound To ensure the best possible surround sound, be sure to complete the following set up operations. This isparticularly important when using the DTS, 2 (Dolby) Surround sound and MPEG (VSX-D938TX only) modes. You only need to make these sett...

28 Surround Sound Set Up 3 Press the 5 or ∞ arrow buttons to move the cursor to the mode you want. Then press ENTER. In each mode, the current settings are displayed automatically. Wesuggest you adjust all these settings when you first hook up thereceiver. That gets them out of the way and you will ...

29 Surround Sound Set Up SET UP Speaker setting The following steps show you how to specify the type of speakers you connected. Use the 5¥∞ and 2¥3 arrow buttons to make a selection within the on-screen menus, and use the ENTER to register the information. 1 Select SPEAKER SETTING with the 5¥∞ butto...

30 Surround Sound Set Up 3 Specify the type of speakers you connected. See theexplanations below for the meaning of each size. 1 Press 2 or 3 to move the cursor to LARGE, SMALL, or NO (you cannot select NO for the FRONT speakers). 2 Press ∞ . 3 Repeat 1 and 2 for each speaker. Depending on your choi...

31 Surround Sound Set Up SET UP Channel delay Adding a slight delay to some speakers is necessary to achieve a surround sound effect. You need to figure outthe distance from your listening position to your speakers to add the proper delay. The following steps show youhow to set the delay time for ea...

32 Surround Sound Set Up Channel level The following steps show you how to balance the sound output level of your speakers. Proper speaker balanceis essential for obtaining high quality surround sound. If continuing from CHANNEL DELAY, go to step 1. Ifstarting fresh, complete steps 1-3 in “Setting U...

34 Surround Sound Set Up Crossover network The following steps show you how to adjust the crossover network. The crossover network is the frequency atwhich the system divides the signal and sends the different parts (high ,mid, low) to different speakers.Speaking precisely, this setting sets the cut...

35 Surround Sound Set Up SET UP Bass peak level manager The LFE (Low Frequency Effect) channel in Dolby Digital, DTS and MPEG audio (VSX-D938TX only) programsources can produce heavily concentrated ultra-low bass tones that may exceed the capabilities of your speakersystem. The following steps show ...

37 Surround Sound Set Up SET UP Digital-in select In order to be able to use your digital equipment properly, you need to assign digital inputs for each of the digitalcomponents you connected. Match the Digital 1-4 setting with the digital jacks1-4 in accordance with whatcomponent is hooked up to ea...

38 Playing Sources with Stereo Sound The following instructions show you how to play audio or audio-visual stereo sources with the VSX-D938TX/D908TX/D908TX-G. 1 Turn on the power of the playback component. 2 Press the RECEIVER button to turnon the receiver. Be sure that the standby indicator turns o...

39 Basic Playback OPERA TION Sound Modes The six sound modes on the VSX-D938TX (The five sound modes on the VSX-D908TX/D908TX-G) are explainedhere. These can be turned on from the front panel or from the remote control.There are four (VSX-D938TX) or three (VSX-D908TX/D908TX-G) cinema modes: STANDARD...

40 Basic Playback DSP modes The DSP (Digital Signal Processing) modes allow you to transform your living room into a variety of differentsonic environments when playing either two-channel or multi-channel sources. HALL 1 Simulates the acoustic effects of a large concert hall. Suitable for classical ...

41 Basic Playback OPERA TION Selecting a Sound Mode To ensure the best possible surround sound, be sure to complete the set up procedures described in “SettingUp for Surround Sound” (starting on page 27) before using the sound modes. This is particularly important whenusing the 2 (Dolby) Digital or ...

42 Basic Playback Playing Sources with Dolby Digital or DTS Sound The following instructions show you how to play Dolby Digital, DTS sound MPEG Audio (VSX-D938TX only)sources with the VSX-D938TX/D908TX/D908TX-G. 1 Turn on the receiver. 2 Use the MULTI CONTROL buttons or the FUNCTIONbutton on the rem...

43 Basic Playback OPERA TION Using MPEG audio discs (VSX-D938TX only) The VSX-D938TX can decode a variety of different types of audio formats for DVDs and these include MPEG.MPEG is a highly sophisticated audio encoding system which some discs use. If the disc you are using hasMPEG audio (it will be...

44 Basic Playback Switching ANALOG/DIGITAL signal input This switch moves the input fed to the receiver between analog, digital and AC-3 RF sources. You need to takespecial care to switch to the appropriate input, when necessary. For example, the switch would have to be ondigital to use DOLBY DIGITA...

46 Basic Playback Listening in MIDNIGHT LISTENING mode This feature makes it possible to get excellent surround sound effects even when listening at low volumes. Itcan be used with a variety of surround sound sources and plays soundtracks so that the quieter sounds areaudible while the noisier sound...

47 Basic Playback OPERA TION External decoder playback (front panel only) This feature allows you to connect an external decoder to enjoy certain types of specialized discs. Press EXTERNAL DECORDER IN. Each press switches the input between the previous mode andEXTERNAL DECODER. dB SIGNAL SELECT ANAL...

48 Basic Playback Adjusting bass and treble (tone control) (front panel only) Use BASS (–/+) or TREBLE (–/+) to adjust the low and high frequencies (the receiver must be in STEREO mode). Press BASS (–/+) to adjust the low frequencies. dB STEREO SIGNAL SELECT ANALOG SP A VOLUME Press TREBLE (–/+) to ...

50 Automatic and Manual Tuning The following steps show you how to tune in FM and AM radio broadcasts using the automatic (search) andmanual (step) tuning functions. If you already know the exact frequency of the station you desire, see “DirectAccess Tuning” on the following page. 1 Press TUNER on t...

51 Using the Tuner OPERA TION Direct Access Tuning The following steps show you how to tune directly to a specific frequency using the remote control. 1 Press TUNER. This selects the TUNER function on the receiver and sets theremote control to the TUNER operation mode. 2 Press BAND on the remote con...

52 Using the Tuner Memorizing Frequently Used Stations The following steps show you how to memorize up to 30 radio stations in 3 classes (each holding 10 channels).When memorizing FM frequencies, the receiver also memorizes the MPX mode (STEREO or MONO). Using the front panel 1 Tune in the desired s...

53 Using the Tuner OPERA TION Recalling Memorized Stations Using the remote control 1 Press TUNER. This selects the TUNER function on the receiver and sets theremote control to the TUNER operation mode. dB STEREO SIGNAL SELECT ANALOG SP A FM VOLUME 2 Press CLASS repeatedly to select a class number. ...

54 Setting Up the Remote Control to Control OtherComponents In addition to controlling the receiver, the supplied remote control can operate your other components (VCR, TV,LD, CD, etc.) after you program it to do so. In this way, instead of fumbling with many different controls andbuttons, you only ...

56 Remote Control of Other Components Learning mode: Programming signals from other remote controls If preset codes are not available for your component(s), or the available preset codes do not operate correctly,you can use this function to program in signals from the remote control(s) of your other...

57 Remote Control of Other Components OPERA TION 5 Press the button to be programmed. The MULTI CONTROL button lights steadily.• The TV POWER, TV FUNC and TV VOL +/– buttons are only available for learning when programming TV CONTROLoperations. 6 Point the remote controls at each other and press the...

58 Remote Control of Other Components Remote Controlling Other Components DVD or LD player operations • The following operations are available from the receiver’s remote control after you program your DVD or LD player’s preset code, but some operations may need to be learned by the receiver (see “Se...

60 Remote Control of Other Components CD player operations • The following operations are available from the receiver’s remote control after you program your CD player’s preset code, cut some operations may need to be learned by the receiver (see “Setting Upthe Remote Control to Control Other Compon...

64 Remote Control of Other Components TV operations • The following operations are available from the receiver’s remote control after you program your TV’s preset code, but some operations may need to be learned by the receiver (see “Setting Up theRemote Control to Control Other Components,” p.54-57...

66 Recording from Audio Components The following explanations show you how to record an analog audio signal with the component you connectedto the MD/TAPE 1 or TAPE 2 MONITOR jacks. Note that you cannot record an component that is onlyconnected digitally. If you want to record from a digital compone...

67 Using Other Functions OPERA TION Recording from Digital Audio Components The following explanations show you how to record digital audio. Using this method you can make exact digitalcopies of sources like CDs or MDs. The only drawback is that you cannot switch between various recorders atthe touc...

68 Using Other Functions Recording from Video Components The following operations show you how to record audio and video to the video tape recorder connected to theVCR 1 or VCR 2 jacks. Note that all signals coming out of these jacks will be analog and it is not possible torecord DTS soundtracks. Th...

69 Using Other Functions OPERA TION Multi Operations Multi operations allow you to tell the receiver and your other components to do a number of things with thepush of just two buttons on the remote control. For example, you can program the unit to turn on your TV, turnon your DVD player, go into a ...

70 Using Other Functions 5 Press the operation, for example TV (POWER), youwant to input. 6 Repeat steps 4 and 5 to input MULTI OPERATIONS forthe components and commands you want to input.You can also tell the receiver to go into a specificsound mode (THX, ADVANCED, STANDARD,MIDNIGHT, DSP or STEREO)...

71 Using Other Functions OPERA TION System OFF The SYSTEM OFF feature allows you to tell the receiver and your other components to stop and turn off withthe push of only one button on the remote control. For example, you can program the unit to stop your DVD,turn off your TV, turn off your DVD playe...

72 Using Other Functions Setting Up the Direct Function The direct function is designed in case you have an external video source connected to your TV (a video sourcethat is not going through the VSX-D938TX/D908TX/D908TX-G). For this explanation we will call this the “externalvideo deck.” You would ...

73 Using Other Functions OPERA TION Remote back light This function is useful for using the unit in a dark room. 1 Press and hold both REMOTE SETUP and 5 . The remote back light strength cycles in the following order: OFF MAX MID The default setting is MAX. S0URCE DVD/LD TV/SAT VCR1 VCR2 CD TV VOL T...

74 Using Other Functions Resetting the Remote Control The following operations allow you to erase the settings stored in the remote control. Erasing the multi operations 1 Press and hold both REMOTE SETUP and 8 for more than 3 seconds. The MULTI CONTROL buttons will blink 3 times and all personalmul...

75 Using Other Functions OPERA TION Erasing the learned remote control commands 1 Press and hold both REMOTE SETUP and 9 for more than 3 seconds. The MULTI CONTROL buttons will blink 3 times and all signalswhich have been learned from other remote controls will beerased. S0URCE DVD/LD TV/SAT VCR1 VC...

76 5.1 channel digitalsurround track 4 channel analogsound track (Matrix) DolbyDigitalencoding Dolby Digital for movie films Video Dolby Digital Dolby Digital is a compression format which recordsthe sound of 6 channels of the theater surroundsystem (Dolby Digital) on the movie film digital track.Of...

77 Techno Tidbits and Problem-solving DTS DTS has been adopted as a sound recording format in the latest movie theaters since the release of “JURASSICPARK” in 1993, and has a good reputation for high quality sound and dynamic surround effects.In this system, 6 channels of digital sound are recorded ...

78 Techno Tidbits and Problem-solving THX THX is a Lucasfilm, Ltd. program dedicated tomaximum accuracy in movie presentation. Moviesound tracks are recorded in large movie dubbingstages using movie theater equipment. For a soundtrack to be presented accurately in your home,special technologies are ...

79 Techno Tidbits and Problem-solving Preset Code List VSX-D938TX Device DVD LD SAT TUNER VCR Manufacturer TOSHIBASONYPANASONICJVCSAMSUNGSHARPAKAIRCAPIONEER DENONHITACHIPHILIPSRADIOLASONYTELEFUNKENPIONEER PIONEER PIONEER PHILIPSPANASONICTHOMSONSONYJVCGRUNDIG AKAIHITACHITOSHIBA MITSUBISHISHARPORIONSA...

84 Techno Tidbits and Problem-solving Troubleshooting Incorrect operations are often mistaken for trouble and malfunctions. If you think that there is something wrongwith this component, check the points below. Sometimes the trouble may lie in another component. Investigatethe other components and e...

86 Techno Tidbits and Problem-solving Specifications FM Tuner Section Frequency Range ......................... 87.5 MHz to 108 MHzUsable Sensitivity ...... Mono: 15.2 dBf, IHF (1.6 µV/75 Ω ) 50 dB Quieting Sensitivity ....................... Mono: 20.2 dBf Stereo: 41.2 dBf Signal-to-Noise Ratio ......

87 Techno Tidbits and Problem-solving FM Tuner Section Frequency Range ......................... 87.5 MHz to 108 MHzUsable Sensitivity ...... Mono: 13.2 dBf, IHF (1.3 µV/75 Ω ) 50 dB Quieting Sensitivity ....................... Mono: 20.2 dBf Stereo: 38.6 dBf Signal-to-Noise Ratio ................. ...

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