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CP-1 Digital Audio Environment Processor
Introduction
Controls
and
Indicators
1
All of the operating modes in the Lexicon CP-1 Digital Audio Environment
Processor have a common goal: to draw you, the listener, more deeply into
a musical performance or a film. For music the CP-1 uses unique digital
processing to re-create either the original recording space or a new one of
your choosing. For films it offers an extremely accurate version of Dolby Pro
Logic Surround decoding and our own decoding for monaural film sound-
tracks. The increase in impact of a musical performance or film when heard
with the CP-1 is enormous, especially when widely spaced multiple loud-
speakers are provided, but even without additional loudspeakers, signifi-
cant gains are made.
To re-create the experience of being at a performance the CP-1 draws on
recent studies of concert-hall acoustics, and applies this research to home
listening rooms. Our auditory sense is quite adept at interpreting clues
about our physical environment. Even with your eyes closed, it is possible
to get a good mental picture of the room or hall you are in by listening to the
ambience, or reflected sound energy, in the room. We are not aware of our
auditory sense in everyday life because it confirms what our eyes identify
as the environment. When we listen to recorded music, however, there are
no visual clues and we rely completely on our sense of hearing. The
introduction of two-speaker stereo systems over thirty years ago brought
dramatic improvement to high fidelity music reproduction. With a care-
fully-designed system, and good recording, it became possible to produce
a good sonic picture of the original event. Unfortunately, our listening
rooms do not approximate the acoustics of a good concert hall, an intimate
jazz club, or a magnificent cathedral — our ears tell us where we really are.
The Lexicon CP-1 is designed to overcome this fundamental limitation to
two-speaker reproduction and bring us closer to the ultimate goal of
transporting ourselves to the original musical event.
The object is to increase the sideways-moving sound in a room, thus
increasing Spatial Impression, or SI. The CP-1 increases SI by either extracting
it from the original recording, using the Panorama or Surround effects, or
by generating a new acoustic environment with the Ambience or Reverb
effects.
When a listener is in the correct spot the Panorama mode provides an almost
ideal re-creation of the original recording space. It works by using digital
processing to cancel the crosstalk between the listener's ears, effectively
spreading the sound from the two front loudspeakers in a wide arc in front
of the listener. With the optional addition of rear speakers, Panorama can be
almost spooky in its realism.
The Ambience and Reverberation effects in the Concert Hall modes trans-
form the listening room into a new acoustic space, letting you choose an
environment which matches your music or your mood. Unlike most
ambience processors, the CP-1 provides full stereo processing, preserving
the critical SI information in the recording and expanding upon it.