Just finished watching the new release Harts War and had three or four audio dropouts during the viewing. They each lasted about four or five seconds. Went back over some of the chapters but could not duplicate them again. I hope it is a problem with this dvd only. I have never had a audio dropout problem with my 950 and would hate to think that it would start now. Any one else Have a problem with this title?

I watched that movie on Tuesday and had no problems at all with a sony progressive scan dvd player hooked up to my 950 via the optical input. Great sound and a pretty darn good movie.

This thread regarding a 1050 ended with the interconnect being the culprit. Might be an area to look into.

http://ubb.outlawaudio.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/000418.html

[This message has been edited by Smart Little Lena (edited July 12, 2002).]

I had just changed from Audioquest to new .5 and 1.2 Outlaw interconnects in the last week. I would think that with their build quality that they wouldnt be a sourse of a audio dropout problem. But it is worth looking into. I will watch another movie tonight and see what happens, I mean hear what happens.

Just watched Hart's war tonight and had a very weird problem. Every time I started the movie, I would briefly get a Dolby Digital 2.0 display and a few seconds later it would drop down to PLCII. I restarted the movie several times to try to get Dolby Digital, but no luck. This hasn't happened with any other movies yet. Is this what you're referring to as audio dropout?

If the disc is playing in Dolby 2.0 (and I would hope that Hart's War would have a 5.1 track on it to use instead), the 950 would flash up the 'DOLBY D' and '2.0' then go to Pro Logic II because it's a two-channel signal and you've used PL2 previously for two-channel stuff. You can manually switch to Dolby Digital decoding to get the 2.0, if you really want it.

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gonk -- Saloon Links | Pre/Pro Comparison Chart | 950 Review

When requesting help like this always state which player you are using, which track (DTS or Dolby Digital if applicable) was being played, and if you are using a Toslink optical or Coaxial digital connection.

It may hold the answer, or at least point in a certain direction.

Thanks!

Smart Little Lena, Thanks for the heads up, that the interconnects could be the culprit. I have a Pioneer Elite DV37 progressive DVD player and I use a Outlaw 1.8m interconnect digital coaxial out to the coaxial 1, on my 950. While watching another title today, in Dolby Digital, I was able to find the cause of my audio dropouts. After just a few minutes into the movie I decided to turn on the overhead fan. When I turned on the switch, there it was a dropout for four seconds or so. I looked at the display on the 950 and it read S/PDIF and below UNLOCK.. Each time I hit the switch either on or off, there was the dropout. I also found that a florescent closet light switch would cause the audio dropouts. I then used a new Outlaw 1.2m with the same results, more audio drops. I then went back to my Audioquest stock and the dropouts never again were heard. I tried some older Radio Shack interconnects and again no drops.Are the Outlaw interconnects picking something up and passing it along to the 950,That it rejects and takes a few seconds to return to its Dolby D. setting. Does anyone know what S/PDIF UNLOCK means?

S/PDIF UNLOCK means that the processor has lost the signal coming from the coaxial digital input. There is no bitstream signal to LOCK on to.

Perhaps the Outlaw coaxial digital cable is not shielded enough from outside RF and other types of stray interferences.

You may also have your equipment hooked up to a circuit that has these items you mentioned on the same feed. This can cause interference in and of itself if the motors or ballasts are sending feedback into that circuit. You may need to consider (if that's the case) putting in a dedicated 20 amp power line just for your HT.

Dan

Gonk, interestingly, I tried a few weeks ago to get my 950 to do NEO:6 or 5 STEREO decoding on a 2.0 DD signal... didn't work. It only wanted to do DPL or stereo. Odd, eh? Although I am impressed that it will do both DD and DPL decoding at the same time.

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Matthew J. Hill
matt@idsi.net