Pioneer VSX-56TXi User Manual
Equipment Review
Pioneer Elite
™
VSX-56TXi
Home Theatre Receiver
John Kotches
Mid-Priced Receiver With Punch
And Performance
Pioneer Electronics has been a staple of the audio industry for
many years and traces its ancestry back to the late 1930s as
Fukuin Shokai Denki Seisakusho. In this company’s long career in
the audio industry, the number of first products to the market is substantial. Pioneer was the flag bearer for the LaserDisc format, which
had a near 20-year reign as the format of choice for videophiles.
Even in the DVD era of consumer electronics, Pioneer lays claim to
the first Universal Disc player, in their DV-AX10. The DV-AX10 was
the first of many universal players, and several years later a large
number of the universal players on the market are based on
Pioneer’s OEM kits.
“This $1,700 product’s warm, rich
sonic character does an excellent job in
conveying the message.”
Pioneer’s Elite Line is their premium lineup of audio/video products. It is in the Elite line that Pioneer’s technological advancements
are first brought to the marketplace. Pioneer continues to be a
leader in delivering FireWire®/i.Link®(IEEE 1394) products to the
market, and the VSX-56TXi receiver is their fourth receiver equipped
with this interface for transferring digital audio. Another technological advancement included in the VSX-56TXi is Pioneer’s MultiChannel Acoustic Correction Circuit, which is a DSP-based room
calibration and correction tool. Originally introduced in the VSX49TX, MCACC™has now trickled down in some form or another into
a large portion of Pioneer's product lineup.
Exterior Construction And
Connectivity
The Elite line carries Pioneer’s Urishi finish, which is an elegant
gloss black finish on a thick aluminum faceplate. I'm generally a fan
of silver over black on components, but the Urishi is one that could
convince me to change my cosmetic preferences. As our home theatre
SPECIFICATIONS
Inputs: A/V (4 Composite/S-Video/Stereo Audio),
Audio (4 including MM Phono), Component Video
(2 assignable), Eight Channel Analog (1), Digital
Audio (2 Optical, 2 Coaxial all assignable)
Outputs: Speaker Level (Front, Center, Back
Surround/Zone 2, Surrounds), Line Level (Front,
Center, Surround, Back Surround, Multi-room/
Source), Component Video (1), Monitor (1
Composite/S-Video), Monitor 2 (Composite),
Digital Audio (2 Optical), Audio Tape Loops (2
Stereo), Video Tape Loops (2 Composite/
S-Video/Stereo Audio)
Listening Modes: Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital
EX, Dolby Pro-Logic II, DTS, DTS-ES (Discrete
and Matrix), DTS: Neo6, DTS 24/96, PCM (to
24-bit/96 kHz), Numerous DSP Modes
Power Output (Rated): 110watts x7 (8 ohms,
20 Hz-20 kHz < 0.09% THD)
Video Stage (Component): 5-100 MHz (+0, -3 dB)
Dimensions (WHD In Inches): 16 9/16 x 7 7/16 x
18 5/16
Weight (In Pounds): 45
Price: $1,700
Manufactured In Japan For:
Pioneer Electronics (USA) Inc.
2265 East 220th Street
Long Beach, California 90810
Tel: 800 746-6337
www.pioneerelectronics.com
products become more complex, the number of buttons on the
faceplates seems to be growing exponentially with each year. The
VSX-56TXi has a clean, symmetrical look, with identical-sized large
knobs on either side of the faceplate, along with three buttons
above each knob. The rest of the buttons and front panel inputs are
hidden below the drop-down front panel with the Elite logo on it.
This hides lesser-used controls and the microphone input for
Pioneer's MCACC technology. I will discuss MCACC later in this
review.
I was somewhat surprised by the heft of the VSX-56TXi, which
weighs in at 45 pounds. Unusual in the under $2,000 price point,
the VSX-56TXi has a dual-layer chassis, with an aluminum exterior,
and a copper interior to improve noise shielding and stray EMI from
entering and exiting the receiver. The chassis is deeper than it is
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equipment Review
wide, so those of you interested in purchasing should be sure that your equipment
rack can handle its 18 5/16-inch depth.
The back panel is somewhat sparsely
appointed in terms of digital connectivity. I
feel that the number of digital inputs should
be larger than provided for a component at
this price level, since our systems are introducing more digital sources as time marches forward. Provided are two TOSLink optical inputs, with default assignments of
TV/Sat and CD-R/Tape 1. Two S/PDIF coaxial digital inputs are on the back panel, with
default assignments of DVD/LD and CD
also available. Should you be blessed with
a mismatch, a converter will need to be
employed. Upping both digital input connectors to three of each would likely handle
most end-user environments where the
VSX-56TXi is used.
Analog-only inputs for line-level audio
sources are also a bit shy but not to the
point of being troubling. Three stereo analog audio-only inputs are provided for CD-R,
MD/Tape and CD. In addition, those with LP
playback capability will be pleased to find
an MM-capable phono stage, with grounding also provided. There are four A/V inputs
provided and each has stereo audio, composite, and S-video connectivity. A pair of
assignable component video inputs is also
available. A single set of multichannel analog
inputs (7.1) are also included so that a single
multichannel disc player can be connected
via analog input. In addition, a pair of assignable component video inputs are available.
Analog tape loops are well accounted
for with a pair of audio only outputs available. In addition, two video tape loops,
with stereo audio, composite, and S-video
are provided. A pair of digital audio outputs via TOSLink are also included with the
VSX-56TXi
The VSX-56TXi carries the final “i” in the
model designation to indicate i.Link capability. i.Link (FireWire, IEEE 1394) is a specific
implementation of FireWire 1394a, which
allows for the uncompressed encrypted
transfer of audio streams, including highresolution DVD-Audio and SA-CD in their
native forms. Assuming you have an appropriately equipped player, a single cable can
be used for the transfer of all audio instead
of multiple cables. In addition, a USB Audio
input, capable of accepting MP3, Windows
Media Audio, and uncompressed PCM is
also available.
i.Link was a bit troublesome in its operation, and I need to take a few moments out
to tell you what the limitations are. When
setting up the VSX-56TXi there is a menu
option for SA-CD setup, which contains a
parameter for SA-CD direct mode. With SACD direct mode off, all SA-CD material will
be played back as stereo only, but you gain
the ability to use MCACC and bass management when not played back in direct
mode. This is even true when playing back
the multichannel tracks on surround SACDs. With SA-CD direct mode on, you can
listen to surround SA-CD tracks, but you
lose MCACC. DVD-Audio functions a little
bit cleaner, likely due to the ability to directly process the PCM data. MCACC and bass
management were available with 24-bit/96
kHz stereo and surround discs and 24bit/192 kHz stereo discs. For DVD-Audio at
24-bit/48 kHz and 24-bit/96 kHz, all DSP
functions were available, however, at 24bit/192 kHz stereo discs only bass management was available. This would indicate that
DSP horsepower is a limiting factor.
Operating on 24-bit/192 kHz data requires
four times the DSP horsepower; you have
twice the samples to work with and half the
time-window for the operations.
The binding posts on the VSX-56TXi are
decent, though not outstanding. While it is
possible to use bare wire or spade lugs,
given the tight spacing of the posts the best
candidate is the “good old” banana plug.
This isn't a problem for me, as all my loudspeaker cables terminate with banana
plugs. The spacing between plus and
minus posts is at 1 inch, so attached dual
banana plugs generally won't work. Once
connected, the banana plugs were gripped
tightly, and I never had issues with the connectors detaching accidentally.
Digital Topology
Receivers and preamp/processors are
brought to audio life by their digital stages.
There are a variety of solutions available,
and some of the process is in selecting the
appropriate components to achieve the
intended sonic goals, while not exceeding
the overall sonic goal of the product. Digital
to analog convertors are the last piece of
the puzzle, and they are responsible for taking the output of Digital Signal Processors
to convert the signal to an analog voltage,
which is used to drive a power amplifier
stage. In the case of the VSX-56TXi, there
are four stereo DACs employed. For the first
six channels (Front L/C/R, Subwoofer, Side
L/R) the Asahi Kasei Microsystems AK4383
is used. The AK4383 is a maximum 8x oversampling Delta-Sigma Modulation DAC
capable of decoding PCM input up to 24bit/192 kHz, as well as natively decoding
DSD (from SA-CD). Performance specs on
the AK4383 indicate a THD+N of -94 dB,
with a signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) of 110 dB.
This approximates 19-bit performance.
While not quite state-of-the-art for DAC performance, the VSX-56TXi isn't priced in the
REMOTE
state-of-the-art category either. The back
surround channels (used only for DTS®-ES
[Matrix and Discrete], DTS: Neo6, Dolby®
ProLogic®IIx, and Dolby Digital Surround
EX™) are handled capably by the
AK4382A, which has comparable specifications to the part used for the main channels,
but lacks DSD support, which is not necessary at present.
Digital Signal Processing is accomplished by a pair of Freescale (Motorola)
56367 DSP chips. The DSP56367 is a common part and is used by many in the industry. In this case, the first DSP56367 is used
for traditional DSP functionality (lossy format
decoding, matrix decoding, proprietary DSP
fields, time alignment, bass management).
The second DSP is used exclusively for
MCACC, to implement the equalization system.
It is possible to apply DSP to analog
inputs, and analog to digital conversion is
provided by the Asahi Kasei Microsystems
AK5380 ADC. The AK5380 is a stereo deltasigma modulator ADC, with output sampling
up to 24-bit/96 kHz with an S/N ratio of 106
dB and the ability to operate cleanly, even
in relatively high temperature environments
approaching 200 F. By sampling at 24bit/96 kHz, this allows for high fidelity to the
analog input prior to DSP application.
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