Yamaha RX-Z11 User Guide

■ Elements of a sound field

What really creates the rich, full tones of a live instrument are the 
multiple reflections from the walls of the room. In addition to 
making the sound live, these reflections enable us to tell where the 
player is situated as well as the size and shape of the room in which 
we are sitting.
There are two distinct types of sound reflections that combine to 
make up the sound field in addition to the direct sound coming 
straight to our ears from the player’s instrument.

Early reflections
Reflected sounds reach our ears extremely rapidly (50 ms to 100 ms 
after the direct sound), after reflecting from one surface only (for 
example, from a wall or the ceiling). Early reflections actually add 
clarity to the direct sound.

Reverberations
These are caused by reflections from more than one surface (for 
example, from the walls, and the ceiling) so numerous that they 
merge together to form a continuous sonic afterglow. They are non-
directional and lessen the clarity of the direct sound.

Direct sound, early reflections and subsequent reverberations taken 
together help us to determine the subjective size and shape of the 
room, and it is this information that the digital sound field processor 
reproduces in order to create sound fields.

If you could create the appropriate early reflections and subsequent 
reverberations in your listening room, you would be able to create 
your own listening environment. The acoustics in your room could 
be changed to those of a concert hall, a dance floor, or a room with 
virtually any size at all. This ability to create sound fields at will is 
exactly what Yamaha has done with the digital sound field 
processor.

■ CINEMA DSP

Since the Dolby Surround and DTS systems were originally 
designed for use in movie theaters, their effect is best felt in a 
theater having many speakers designed for acoustic effects. Since 
home conditions, such as room size, wall material, number of 
speakers, and so on, can differ so widely, it is inevitable that there 
are differences in the sound heard. Based on a wealth of actually 
measured data, Yamaha CINEMA DSP provides the audiovisual 
experience of a movie theater in the listening room of your own 
home by using the Yamaha original sound field technology 
combined with various digital audio systems.

■ CINEMA DSP HD³

The actually measured sound field data contain the information of 
the height of the sound images. CINEMA DSP HD³ feature 
achieves the reproduction of the accurate height of the sound 
images so that it creates the accurate and intensive stereoscopic 
sound fields in a listening room. 

■ SILENT CINEMA

Yamaha has developed a natural, realistic sound effect DSP 
algorithm for headphones. Parameters for headphones have been set 
for each sound field so that accurate representations of all the sound 
field programs can be enjoyed on headphones.

■ Virtual CINEMA DSP

Yamaha has developed a Virtual CINEMA DSP algorithm that 
allows you to enjoy DSP sound field surround effects even without 
any surround speakers by using virtual surround speakers. It is even 
possible to enjoy Virtual CINEMA DSP using a minimal two-
speaker system that does not include a center speaker.

■ Compressed Music Enhancer

The Compressed Music Enhancer feature of this unit enhances your 
listening experience by regenerating the missing harmonics in a 
compression artifact. As a result, flattened complexity due to the 
loss of high-frequency fidelity as well as lack of bass due to the loss 
of low-frequency bass is compensated, providing improved 
performance of the overall sound system.