Onkyo USA announced its new TX-NR1009 home theatre receiver ($1,399), which features DTS Neo:X multidimensional audio technology.

For more information visit: www.onkyousa.com

Unedited press release follows:

Onkyo Debuts the World’s First Nine-Channel Home Theater Receiver with DTS Neo:X™ Technology

UPPER SADDLE RIVER, NJ (6/1/11) – Onkyo, a brand renowned worldwide for quality home entertainment technology, has introduced the world’s first home theater receiver to feature DTS Neo:X™ multidimensional audio technology, delivering a highly realistic sound experience for consumers. The remarkable DTS Neo:X technology, as implemented on the new Onkyo TX-NR1009, enables customers to employ up to nine loudspeakers with distinct direction clues that enhance the height and space dimensions of a home theater room beyond the capabilities of current seven channel systems—creating a lifelike 3-D soundscape.

The Onkyo TX-NR1009 is a THX Select2 Plus Certified, 9.2-channel, network-capable home theater receiver that, in addition to DTS Neo:X, includes several audio and video upgrades compared to last year’s TX-NR1008 model. These include Marvell Qdeo™ and IDT’s HQV® Vida™ video upscaling and processing circuits, and Audyssey’s MultEQ XT audio room correction.

“Onkyo’s application of DTS Neo:X allows the top-tier enthusiasts to significantly expand their home theater system’s sound stage with new combinations of channels,” said Paul Wasek, the marketing manager of Onkyo USA. “When combined with its new higher resolution video capabilities, the TX-NR1009 becomes a powerful tool that far exceeds the capabilities of our competitors’ offerings even at several times the price.”

Brian Towne, executive vice president and chief operating officer of DTS, Inc., commented, “As the world’s first commercially available receiver to harness the power of Neo:X technology, the TX-NR1009 marks an integral milestone in our journey to take 3-D audio from concept to reality. We’re proud to take this step with Onkyo, knowing its customers will benefit from the superior audio afforded by the market’s most flexible AVR. This product integration further demonstrates DTS’ commitment to delivering solutions that push home entertainment to new levels and also accommodate new emerging content delivery platforms—so consumers can enjoy a fully-immersive and authentic 3-D audio experience.”

DTS Neo:X is the industry’s first 2.0/5.1/6.1/7.1-to- 9.1/11.1 conversion technology within a single algorithm. On the TX-NR1009 it offers a number of different ways to set up the speakers in a 9.1-channel home theater system. A basic 5.1-channel set-up can be complemented by one of three different arrangements: (1) the addition of surround back- and front-height speakers to bring out ambient, non-directional sounds; (2) adding surround back- and front-wide speakers to provide a more expansive soundstage; or (3) adding front-height and front-width speakers to create an immersive space without needing to install rear speakers. With Neo:X technology, consumers will experience a natural and spacious surround soundscape unlike anything else on the market.

On-board video processing on the TX-NR1009 is handled by two highly advanced technologies: HQV® Vida™ VHD1900 and Qdeo™ technology by Marvell. Vida offers upscaling of all 480i/p, 576p, and 720p video sources to high-resolution 1080p. Qdeo, meanwhile, performs full 4K (3840 x 2160) upscaling of 1080p sources.  The Vida processor incorporates Auto HQV™ and HQV StreamClean™ to enhance video images in real time and eliminate noise in compressed video. With multi-cadence tracking, expanded 12-bit color processing, and four-field motion-adaptive de-interlacing, Vida optimizes the quality of both standard- and high-definition video images. On the TX-NR1009 also supports independent ISF calibration for optimum video performance.

Like most new Onkyo receivers, the TX-NR1009 includes extensive networking capabilities with an Ethernet connection plus front and rear USB ports for digital storage devices and Onkyo’s optional wireless USB LAN adaptor, the UWF-1. Direct digital connection for iPod/iPhone is available through the front panel USB. This receiver is certified for Windows 7 and DLNA, and can playback a wide variety digital audio file formats via a home network or USB devices, and it is capable of wireless connectivity via Onkyo’s optional UFW-1 wireless USB adaptor. It supports MP3, WMA, WMA Lossless, FLAC, WAV, OggVorbis, AAC, and LPCM files.  An iPod or  iPhone can also be connected using and optional dock connected via Onkyo’s proprietary Universal Port. This U-Port can also be used for an optional HD Radio Tuner and forthcoming wireless devices.  The network connection provides Internet radio and streaming music services, with preformatted service packages for Mediafly, Pandora®, SlackerTM, Napster, Rhapsody®, vTuner, SIRIUS XM Internet Radio®, and Last.fm.

The Onkyo TX-NR1009’s powerful 135-watts per channel amplifier section easily achieves THX-Select2 Plus Certification.  Each of the nine amplifier sections employ the company’s low-negative feedback Wide Range Amplifier Technology (WRAT), three-stage inverted Darlington circuitry, and the High Current Power Supply (HCPS) uses a massive transformer. In addition, TI Burr-Brown 192 kHz/24-bit DACs are used on each channel to ensure that all digital signals are converted perfectly to analog sound.

The Onkyo TX-NR1009 uses several different audio processing technologies to help improve the room acoustics and to enhance the ambience dimension of the listening experience. The new Audyssey MultEQ XT room-correction technology allows full spectrum acoustic measurements from multiple locations. Audyssey Dynamic EQ® provides loudness correction and Audyssey Dynamic Volume® to maintain optimal listening level and dynamic range. For home theater enthusiasts who wish to explore expanded ambience with height and wide loudspeakers, they have the option of using Audyssey DSX high or wide channels, or Dolby ProLogic IIz height channels. The receiver also includes Dolby Volume processing technology to optimize the sound for any listening level.

The TX-NR1009 has one front- and seven rear-panel HDMI inputs, dual HDMI outputs with lossless audio processing using Dolby® TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio™ decoding.  There is also a full complement of legacy analog and digital connections, including multi-channel audio, stereo, optical and coaxial digital inputs, and a phono input. There are two component video inputs, plus composite/S-Video inputs for four devices. It also has a nine-channel multichannel analog preamp output for possible use with a separate component power amplifier.

The TX-NR1009 has a bidirectional, preprogrammed, and customizable RI remote control. When connected to the Internet, it maintains up-to-date RC control codes for connected devices. With the receiver’s Overlaid Graphical On-screen Display, users can speed through on-screen setups while still viewing their program. The remote also includes Macro presets for four activities. Additionally, the receiver has bi-directional Ethernet and RS232 ports for control, IR input and output, two 12-V triggers, firmware updates via Ethernet and USB, GUI Navigation via HDMI, powered Zone 2, and Zone 2/3 preouts.

The Onkyo TX-NR1009 will be available from Onkyo dealers in June with suggested retail price of $1,399.

Since 1946 Onkyo has been passionately committed to developing audio products that deliver uncommon performance, quality and value. Bundling proprietary technologies and innovations with other sound-enhancing exclusives, Onkyo continues to created award winning products that are lauded by many of the industry leading audio publications. The company’s philosophy is to deliver products that are superbly designed and built to a consistently outstanding standard of excellence. Today, Onkyo is at the forefront of the home theater and digital revolutions. For more information about this and other fine Onkyo products, visit www.onkyousa.com or call 800-229-1687.