Yamaha RX-397: PLAYING AND RECORDING

PLAYING AND RECORDING

15

OPERA

T

ION

English

Extreme caution should be exercised when you play back CDs encoded in DTS.

If you play back a CD encoded in DTS on a DTS-incompatible CD player, you will only hear some unwanted noise that may damage 

your speakers. Check whether your CD player supports CDs encoded in DTS. Also, check the sound output level of your CD player 

before you play back a CD encoded in DTS.

1

Rotate the INPUT selector on the front panel 

(or press one of the input selector buttons on 

the remote control) to select the desired 

input source.

You cannot select any input source while the 

TAPE MON

indicator lights up in the front panel display.

2

Press SPEAKERS A and/or SPEAKERS B on 

the front panel or on the remote control to 

select speakers A and/or speakers B.

• Both SPEAKERS A and B can be selected.

• Make sure that the IMPEDANCE SELECTOR switch is 

correctly set (see page 10).

3

Play the source.

4

Rotate VOLUME on the front panel (or press 

VOLUME +/– on the remote control) to adjust 

the sound output level.

5

Press STANDBY/ON on the front panel again 

(or press STANDBY on the remote control) to 

finish using this unit and set it to the standby 

mode.

PLAYING AND RECORDING

CAUTION

Playing a source

Note

STANDBY

/ON

INPUT

PHONES

BASS

SPEAKERS

TAPE MONITOR

PURE DIRECT

5

5

1

0

1

4

4

2

2

3

3

+

–

VOLUME

l

 TUNING 

h

FM/AM

EDIT

A/B/C/D/E

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

MEMORY

MAN'L/AUTO FM

TUNING MODE

AUTO/MAN'L

B

A

TREBLE

5

5

1

0

1

4

4

2

2

3

3

+

–

BALANCE

5

5

1

0

1

4

4

2

2

3

3

R

L

LOUDNESS

5

7

1

FLAT

6

4

8

2

10

–30dB

3

9

1

2

5

4

0

12

12

2

8

4

∞

20

20

60

60

26

26

40

40

16

16

-dB

-dB

CD/DVD

PHONO

TUNER

MD

TAPE

AUX

SPEAKERS

B

A

POWER

STANDBY

+

–

u

d

SLEEP

A/B/C/D/E

MUTE

PRESET

VOLUME

2

4

1

INPUT

CD/DVD

PHONO

TUNER

MD

TAPE

AUX

SPEAKERS

B

A

POWER

STANDBY

SLEEP

Front panel

Remote control

or

Notes

SPEAKERS

B

A

A

B

SPEAKERS

or

Front panel

Remote control

0

12

12

2

8

4

∞

20

20

60

60

26

26

40

40

16

16

-dB

-dB

VOLUME

+

–

VOLUME

Remote control

Front panel

or

STANDBY

/ON

STANDBY

Remote control

Front panel

or

16

PLAYING AND RECORDING

■

Adjusting the BALANCE control

Adjusts the sound output balance of the left and right 

speakers to compensate for sound imbalance caused by 

speaker locations or listening room conditions.

■

Using the PURE DIRECT button

Routes input signals from your audio sources so that the 

input signals bypass the BASS, TREBLE, BALANCE and 

LOUDNESS controls, thus eliminating any alterations to 

the audio signals and creating the purest possible sound.

■

Adjusting the BASS and TREBLE 

controls

Adjust the high and low frequency response.

BASS

Increases or decreases the low frequency response.

TREBLE

Increases or decreases the high frequency response.

■

Adjusting the LOUDNESS control

Retains a full tonal range at any volume level, thus 

compensating for the human ears’ loss of sensitivity to 

high and low-frequency ranges at a low volume level.

If the PURE DIRECT button is turned on with the LOUDNESS 

control set at a certain level, the input signals bypass the 

LOUDNESS control, resulting in a sudden increase in the sound 

output level. To prevent your ears or the speakers from being 

undesirably damaged, be sure to press the PURE DIRECT button 

AFTER lowering the sound output level or AFTER checking that 

the LOUDNESS control is properly set.

1

Rotate the LOUDNESS control on the front 

panel to the FLAT position.

2

Rotate VOLUME on the front panel (or press 

VOLUME +/– on the remote control) to set the 

sound output level to the loudest listening 

level that you would listen to.

3

Rotate the LOUDNESS control until the 

desired volume is obtained.

Adjusting the tonal quality

BALANCE

5

5

1

0

1

4

4

2

2

3

3

R

L

PURE DIRECT

BASS

5

5

1

0

1

4

4

2

2

3

3

+

–

TREBLE

5

5

1

0

1

4

4

2

2

3

3

+

–

CAUTION

LOUDNESS

5

7

1

FLAT

6

4

8

2

10

–30dB

3

9

0

12

12

2

8

4

∞

20

20

60

60

26

26

40

40

16

16

-dB

-dB

VOLUME

+

–

VOLUME

Remote control

Front panel

or

LOUDNESS

5

7

1

FLAT

6

4

8

2

10

–30dB

3

9

17

PLAYING AND RECORDING

OPERA

T

ION

English

• The VOLUME, BASS, TREBLE, BALANCE and 

LOUDNESS controls and the PURE DIRECT buttons have no 

effect on the source being recorded.

• Check the copyright laws in your country to record from 

records, CDs, radio, etc. Recording copyright-protected 

material may infringe on copyright laws.

1

Play the selected source to record from.

2

Rotate the INPUT selector on the front panel 

to select the source you want to record from.

You cannot select any input source while the 

TAPE MON

indicator lights up in the front panel display.

3

Rotate VOLUME on the front panel (or press 

VOLUME +/– on the remote control) to adjust 

the sound output level of the selected source 

to record from.

4

Begin recording on the MD recorder, the tape 

deck or the VCR connected to this unit.

y

If the 3-head tape deck is used for recording, you can monitor the 

sound of recording by pressing TAPE MONITOR.

Recording a source

Notes

Note

STANDBY

/ON

INPUT

PHONES

BASS

TAPE MON

PURE DIRECT

5

5

1

0

1

4

4

2

2

3

3

+

–

VOLUME

l

 TUNING 

h

FM/AM

EDIT

A/B/C/D/E

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

MEMORY

MAN'L/AUTO FM

TUNING MODE

AUTO/MAN'L

TREBLE

5

5

1

0

1

4

4

2

2

3

3

+

–

BALANCE

5

5

1

0

1

4

4

2

2

3

3

R

L

LOUDNESS

5

7

1

FLAT

6

4

8

2

10

–30dB

3

9

SPEAKERS

B

A

2

3

0

12

12

2

8

4

∞

20

20

60

60

26

26

40

40

16

16

-dB

-dB

INPUT

CD/DVD

PHONO

TUNER

MD

TAPE

AUX

SPEAKERS

B

A

POWER

STANDBY

SLEEP

Front panel

Remote control

or

0

12

12

2

8

4

∞

20

20

60

60

26

26

40

40

16

16

-dB

-dB

VOLUME

+

–

VOLUME

Remote control

Front panel

or

18

PLAYING AND RECORDING

Use this feature to automatically set this unit to the 

standby mode after a certain amount of time. The sleep 

timer is useful when you are going to sleep while this unit 

is playing or recording a source. The sleep timer also 

automatically turns off any external components 

connected to the AC OUTLET(S).

The sleep timer can only be set with the remote control.

1

Press one of the input selector buttons on 

the remote control to select an input source.

2

Start playback on the selected input source.

3

Press SLEEP repeatedly to set the amount of 

time before this unit is set to the standby 

mode.

Each time you press SLEEP, the front panel display 

changes as shown below.

The SLEEP indicator flashes while switching the 

amount of time for the sleep timer.

4

Press SLEEP repeatedly so that SLEEP OFF 

appears in the front panel display.

After a few seconds, SLEEP OFF disappears from the 

front panel display, and the SLEEP indicator turns 

off.

y

The sleep timer setting can also be canceled by pressing 

STANDBY on the remote control (or STANDBY/ON on the front 

panel) to set this unit to the standby mode.

Using the sleep timer

Note

CD/DVD

PHONO

TUNER

MD

TAPE

AUX

SPEAKERS

B

A

POWER

STANDBY

+

–

u

d

SLEEP

A/B/C/D/E

MUTE

PRESET

VOLUME

1

3

CD/DVD

PHONO

TUNER

MD

TAPE

AUX

SPEAKERS

B

A

POWER

STANDBY

SLEEP

SLEEP

SLEEP 120 min

SLEEP 90 min

SLEEP 60 min

SLEEP 30 min

SLEEP OFF

SLEEP

SLEEP

19

PLAYING AND RECORDING

OPERA

T

ION

English

1

Press MUTE on the remote control to mute 

the sound output.

The MUTE indicator flashes in the front panel 

display.

2

Press MUTE on the remote control again to 

resume the sound output.

The MUTE indicator disappears from the front panel 

display.

Muting the sound output

MUTE

MUTE

MUTE