Hi all... I was running the new Star Wars dvd yesterday set to 5.1 EX, and I only had my two front channels and sub turned "on". Every minute or two the sound would go out for a second and then come back on, and I could see the "Down Mixing" light on the display blinking. Long story short, I ended up turning all the channels "on" even though currently I only have my two front channels and my sub hooked up, which disables the down mixing, and didn't experience any sound drop outs after that. The instant I'd turn "off" any of the surround channels though, the down mixing would kick back in automatically (no way I can see to disable it) and I'd have the sound problem again.
There's a down mixing option on my Akai DVD, with the choices being either "Rt/Lft" or "Stereo". I tried both settings and had the same problem.
Does anyone know if what I'm experiencing is an issue with my Outlaw or what my DVD is putting out? I didn't have a chance to try it in Dolby 2.0 and see if, with the rear channels "off" if it happens, but I will tonight.
Also, can I do any harm to my receiver by having the channels all turned "on" without having speakers hooked up to them?

Thanks in advance,
James in Reno

If you are running only two speakers, I'd recommend using the Dolby 2.0 track. It sounds like the EX flag is trying to force the 1050 into Surround 6.1 processing mode. This issue relates to a bug in the 1050 and some other receivers of the same vintage (before Dolby Digital EX processing was available for licensing) - there are two forms of EX flags that have come into use that did not exist when the 1050 was developed and that can cause the receiver to try to switch to 6.1 mode. Setting the rear center speaker to "on" alleviates the problem.

The down mixing on your Akai player most likely refers to how the stereo analog output is created - the digital audio output ought to be untouched by the player.

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Thank you kindly! Makes sense, and I'll give both options a try!

Sincerely,
James in Reno

I've never had the 1050 "forced into" 6.1 mode, even with 6.1 movies. In fact, it has a known issue (with early units?) where sometimes the sound will go out completely if you are in 6.1 mode and it is fed a 2ch signal. POOF, no sound. :-( I usually have to turn the 1050 off and back on to fix it. Annoying, but not fatal.

However, I have run into a couple of DVDs that do not work well. They use 2ch Dolby Digital, and it worked when I used a PS2 as the source. Now that I have a shiny new Sony player, with these discs, the speaker symbols blink off then back on, and the triangle blinks next to dolby digital, and it displays pro-logic. It seems confused, but it's not like I want to replace any of the components. I tried other 2ch signals, and it works great.

Could there be other "hidden flags" that confuse the receiver?

I think the work-around is to switch to analog audio with these discs. Not an ideal solution, but it works.