A few items. My harry potter cos doesn't have a dts layer, as suggested by outlaw. Is mine different? Note to outlaw: reopen the potter thread. that's been the best source of information, and I suspect it will be needed more as time goes by. (I'm sick of surprises when my kids rent dvds.)Also, the "appalling" thing about the 1050 decoding issue is that it doesn't do what it was billed to do when I bought it in March. I never asked anything of outlaw other than information to help me guage the extent of my need for a player with onboard decoding make up for the 1050s shortcoming.

This problem with certain DVD's is really no ones fault. You mention the 1050 "decoding Issues" but we could also blame the DVD company for installing a sound track not playable by every receiver, or mabe we go back and scold Dolby for inventing 5.1 EX. How can OUTLAW be responsiable for the fact thier 1050 design of 4 or 5 years ago doesnt match todays latest technology? I recently read a small article that states DVD's are going to high def. video in a couple of years so all current DVD players may be useless. Who is at fault then? I know it a pain not hearing Harry Potter in all its glory but out of a 100 or so DVD's Ive played only 2 had a problem. when its all said and done, thats just the way it is.

e-dogg: First, as I read DRW's note, he is looking for a FAQ that honestly describes the problems and the workarounds if any. Something better and more accurate than what I put together in the original HP-COS thread. Frankly, I don't think that is asking too much of what is likely to be an on-going and and probably increasing problem. I should point out that he is looking at a potential solution that might cost him more than the 1050 did originally.

As for fault, I might agree with your argument more if I had purchased the 1050 4 or 5 years ago. The more relevant issue is what about people who purchased the 1050 much more recently (after Outlaw became aware of the problem)? If this was disclosed and they purchased the product then great, they shouldn't have expectations that it will work 100% of the time. I said I was appalled because I couldn't (still can't) find this disclosure in the FAQ or anything else that I could find outside of the one thread.

Personally, I think the problem lies in Outlaws attempt to push the envelope for its customers. To give us more for less, in this case 6.1. For those of us with 6 speakers, the solution still works and the value is still there. For those with only 5 speakers, its still there (as you correctly point out) maybe 99.99% of the time. However, that doesn't cut it when the family is trying to watch HP-COS, the LOTR-TTT or some other 5.1 EX DVDs with problems and you have to debug on the fly.

73Bruin: Well I guess its on me now. I rented T2 Extreme edition last night and all the above problems hit my 1050. First I had the sound dropouts, so I switched to rear center on. But I noticed the DVD was forcing my 1050 to go to dolby surround 6.1 I also ony have 5 speakers so I was losing rear surround information. I must admit I still thought the the movie sounded good but, I wondered what I might be missing. Your point about an increasing problem is a good one. I never stopped to think perhaps all DVD's may go to this type of soundtrack which would leave us all in a bind. My apoligies for being a smart-a--.

e-dogg: No appologies required. I certainly did not take offense.

By the way, I am hoping that Outlaw will take the high road here and help us by posting workarounds. For example could innovative wiring help? Some solutions I might be curious about include the following:

1) For those willing to permanently forgo 6.1 playback and willing to pay for downgrading their box to 5.1, a way to modify the 1050 to send the Rear CS preout to each of the 5.1 rear channels amps, thereby restoring much if not all of the lost signal. Obviously this might void any warranty and have some other hiccups as well but I have to believe this is possible. If Outlaw could work with its 950 owners to do upgrades including publishing upgrade instructions and identifying shops that could do the modifications (again at the owner's expense), surely they could do this for the 1050. My point is that this could be a lot cheaper than buying a DVD player with 5.1 output capability and the extra cables to connect that player to the 1050.

2) For those who want to keep 6.1 as a future option, a way to wire the 1050 externally so that the Rear CS speaker out gets connected to both the rear channel surround speakers along with their own input. On the surface this could be done with three y connectors, one to split the Rear center signal and two to join the split signal with the rears. I am not an electrical engineer so I have no idea if this carries any negatives with it.

Finally, if Outlaw knows that all of the workarounds that have been suggested to date will are subject to possible failure (as JasonJ posted he was experiencing with his 6 speaker configuration last September), please let us know now.

[This message has been edited by 73Bruin (edited November 04, 2003).]

I have been anxiously watching these threads wondering when I was going to get hit by the problem. Now I have. The new Finding Nemo disc has the issue and it can't be solved with DTS since it does not have a DTS track and the disc is forcing the 1050 into 6.1 mode.

My room doesn't fit a rear center speaker since my surrounds are on the sides of my couch and it's against the wall. So not only do I need to invest in a 6th $1000 speaker but I also need to buy a new house. My 1050 is less than 1 year old and I have little choice but to replace it if I don't find a workable solution.

I have little choice but to replace it if I don't find a workable solution

I like 73Bruin idea of connecting the rear center to my surrounds somehow. To bad you cant switch to Phamtom mode and have the 1050 redirect the surround information to the left and right surronds like it does for the front center to the mains.

Well...now this is back to me. Time for an update:

I wrote Outlaw Tech Support about the problem I was experiencing with these DVDs. They replied back to me by phone the day after I wrote the email. They supplied a fix that worked to correct my issue.

To review: I have the 1050 in a 6 channel set-up. When these certain DVDs were "kicking" my 1050 into the "6.1 Surround" mode, I would lose most of the content in my surrounds. Outlaw's fix for this was to put my 1050 into "6.1 Surround" mode before even attempting to play the problem discs. This way, the 1050 would lock in this mode before the flag on the disc had the opportunity to switch the modes on the 1050. I tried this fix and it worked to fix my problem.

For those with only five speakers, the workaround as I know it seems to be this:

1) Enable the sixth channel. (Set the Center Surround speaker to "ON")
2) Lock your 1050 into "6.1 Surround" mode before starting the disc.
3) Play disc.

I'm unsure exactly how much content you lose to the center channel. I'm sure it's some but I can't imagine it being that much.

Getting back to my experience, Outlaw tech support is great. If you're experiencing any problems that the forum can't seem to answer, please contact them directly. They really do care about each and every one of their customers.

Side note: In my note to Outlaw, I did say that I was concerned about the "Finding Nemo" disc as I saw it was DD EX. Interesting...

Woah. Let me make sure I understood what you did, as I've been watching this whole process for a while now. By enabling "6.1 Surround" before starting to play the movie, you can turn it off while the movie is playing and it won't try to re-enable 6.1 Surround?

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

No...sorry to confuse.

You have to keep it in "6.1 Surround" mode for the whole thing. Hopefully, the flags don't kick it back to 5.1 mode. As I tried to say, I don't know exactly what this means for you if you only have 5 speakers.

Hope this helps...