let me explain what AFD is on Sony. Very misunderstood and very few people actually understand it. Horrible name Sony gave it but i will clarify what Sony cannot do.
There are 3 settings for AFD and ONLY 3 settings. You basically can choose between these 3 settings. 1 of the 3 covers multi channel input and then 2 of the 3 is where you can make a choice.
OPTION 1 - AFD AUTO:
When you set your Sony to AFD AUTO you are telling the Sony to play the audio EXACTLY as what the source was encoded at. When a multi channel audio signal is being input into the receiver such as Dolby 2.1 and above. Dolby 2.0 will NOT trigger the AFD because it needs more than 2 channels to trigger the AFD.
***** This is critical to understand the following as most people screw this up. When you have it set to AFD AUTO and a multi channel signal is being input you CANNOT change the AFD settings. What this means is that if there is Dolby 2.1 and above or any codec that is more than 2 channels the Sony will automatically play the AFD at whatever the source was encoded at. Example 1: if you are playing a DVD or something that is enoded with DTS 2.1 or Dolby 2.1 then the source was only encoded with 2 channels and a sub channel. This means that if you leave your Sony set at AFD AUTO then you will ONLY hear sound out of your front 2 speakers plus the sub channel. The AUTO means the receiver will play exactly as encoded thus in this example only the front 2 speakers get sound. Example 2: if you are playing a DVD with Dolby 5.1 then you are stuck with a maximum 5.1. However, if you have fewer speakers the Sony receiver will only output to what you have configured in your speaker setup configuration.
There is an Exception, and I go into this below. You CAN artificially fake additional speakers beyond what is being input into the receiver by setting the AFD to AFD E-SURROUND. In E-SURROUND, as I go into below, if the audio signal is encoded with MORE speakers than you have configured AFD E-SURROUND will then use the settings you have set up in the GUI MODE->SETTINGS->SURROUND->ENHANCED SURROUND MODE. This section you can choose between Neural THX, Neo:6, and ProLogic II or ProLogic IIx. ProLogic II will only be shown if you have 4 main speakers and ProLogic IIx will be shown if you have 6 main speakers. I prefer Neural THX as it is more natural. But, this screen, as mentioned in more detail will trigger the additional speakes you have configured IF and ONLY IF the audio input from the DVD or other source is encoded with fewer speakers than what you have encoded. Read more below.
OPTION 2: AFD E-SURROUND:
This is probably the most used screen in my opinion. As mentioned above this section is set in your Sony receivers SURROUND->ENHANCED SURROUND MODE section. This section ONLY comes into play when you have your receiver turned to AFD E-SURROUND. What this section does is you are telling the receiver what you want to do when an audio signal coming into the receiver is encoded with LESS than the amount of speakers you have configured. All the options given: Neural THX, Neo:6, or ProLogic II or ProLogic IIx are all surround sound codecs that convert 2 channel audio into multi channel audio. as mentioned above I believe that Neural THX sounds more natural with better true surround sound decoding out of the flatter sounding 2 channel audio input.
Example 1: lets say you have an old CD being input that is ONLY 2 channel left to right stereo input. No modern multi channel audio encoding. If you were to leave the receiver set to AFD AUTO then all you would hear is just the front 2 speakers because that is what AFD AUTO does, play exactly as encoded. However, in AFD E-SURROUND, the codec you have chosen (either Neural THX, Neo: 6, or ProLogic II) will take that 2 channel CD audio and try to extract out portions of the audio and convert it to surround sound - simulated or "enhanced" surround sound and thus E-SURROUND. This works better for movies.
Example 2: older DVD that is Dolby 2.1. Older DVD's that are only Dolby 2.1 are still considered multi channel audio because it has the .1 subwoofer channel. As with the first example in AFD AUTO all you will hear are the front 2 speakers and the sub channel. But, in AFD E-SURROUND the audio signal will be broken up and some of the audio signal will be interpreted as possible areas to be moved to the rear speakers. If you have your speaker configuration set up as 2 front and 2 rear speakers in a 5.0 or 5.1 setting and you have your E-Surround set as either Neural THX or Neo:6 or ProLogic II then you will get some surround sound on the rear speakers. If you have your speakers configured with 2 front and 4 rear speakers for a 7.0 or 7.1 setup and you have your E-Surround set to ProLogic IIx then you will get some sound out of the very rear speakers.
OPTION 3: AFD MULTI STEREO:
This is the option I leave my sony receiver at because it gives me the best of all worlds.
AFD Multi Stereo does NOT look at your E-SURROUND settings at all. Instead this setting does 1 of 2 things. If you audio signal is coming in as a multi channel audio and your blue light appears then it acts just like AFD AUTO and plays the audio just as it was encoded. HOWEVER, where this AFD Multi Stereo comes into play is when a standard 2 channel audio signal is being input into the receivers. 2 channel audio could be linear PCM, 2 channel left and right stereo, or 2.0 Dolby or 2.0 DTS. When the receiver is set to MULTI STEREO and a 2 channel audio signal is input you are telling the receiver you want to simply DUPLICATE the front speakers audio output to the rear speakers. Basically, all left speakers sound the same and all right speakers sound the same. This might be the best option for basic AM/FM radio or even Satellite radio input where music does not have encoding for surround sound. Since all the left speakers are duplicates of each other and all the right speakers are duplicates of each other you are increasing your sound output because you are increasing the number of speakers that are playing the same music.
I hope this helps explain what the AFD settings are on the Sony. I have posted this for the last 2-3 years on forums just like this and have helped many sony owners understand what Sony cannot explain very well.
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