I agree wholeheartedly -- a flag issue shouldn't cause dropouts like this. I had a 1050 at the time the EX flag problem first came up, so I was very curious about the problem even though it didn't affect me (I had a surround back speaker on my 1050, which prevented it from exhibiting the problem). Never did hear a real complete explanation of the issue (which would cause 6.1 receivers with Dolby Digital support and EX flag recognition capability but not official Dolby EX decoding, since it wasn't available for licensing at the time), but there was something about the EX flag used on those three discs -- and now on Harry Potter -- that would cause receivers to drop out spontaneously every few seconds. Unrelated to layer change, chapters, or any other event that would cause the receiver to have to re-acquire the signal.

Whew! That was a longer reply than I intended. I am pretty much taking a shot in the dark that the EX flag has anything at all to do with it, but since 1050 users have discovered that the dreaded "problem" EX flag is back , I wondered about it.

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

I think it's also entirely possible that Dolby and DTS have some programming inconsistencies in the way they implement these flags which can cause problems with particular hardware combinations.

Or the producers of the discs aren't following protocol. (I don't have the Harry 2 disc yet, so I have no specific experience there.)

When a PC program has bugs, you don't blame the hardware. Same rules should apply in the computer tech that drives HT these days.

Good morning all,
Thanks for the discussion. I haven't had time to go back in and see if changing from DDm+cr to DD ex is the culprit or not. I should have noted the passages. I suppose it could be a long layer change, but 3 on one disc? Also remember that the display changed briefly, so that doesn't sound like a layer change. Could just be a funky disc. I watched "The Transporter" in straight DDm+cr last night with no problems as usual.
Thanks,

[This message has been edited by minuteman (edited April 19, 2003).]

For what it's worth, we watched Chamber of Secrets a couple of days ago. I let it default to DD+CRC (rather than DD-EX) just to see if it caused any problems. It played back flawlessly, no dropouts.

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

I'll post a quick follow up too. Can't remember the flic, but I watched a recent one with DD-CRC. I *did* notice that the 950 did lose and then reacquire the signal at the layer change, but, no dropout in the audio.

So you guys use DD-CRC and not DD-CRM?
I only tried DD-CRC briefly, and thought DD-CRM was the way to go.

For Cirrus Extra Surround, Pro Logic II, and NEO:6, there are both "C" and "M" modes for "cinema" and "music" -- the idea being that "C" is better suited for movies and "M" better suited for music. There is likely some personal preference involved, but in general I've stuck to "C" for movies and TV and been fairly pleased. I haven't used any of those modes much at all for music, but did recently tinker with it a little and felt like I could hear some benefit to the "M" mode.

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

What gonk said. I use the C mode for "normal" movie sources, and the M mode for things like concerts on DVD.

For broadcast TV I use PLII-CRM. Started off with CRC but found CRM gave me a better center channel. I also found that switching from digital to analog for ABC's implementation of DD5.1 improved center channel dialog on programs like Alias and Dragnet. ABC's implementation of DD5.1 causes way too much surround bleed through to the center channel. The bleed problem doesn't occur on the other networks.

On another forum I read that Jim Fosgate also prefers PLII-CRM on stereo TV sound.

This is interesting. I use the music mode straight across the board. The one time I tried Cinema, I thought it was lacking. I will have to revisit that mode.
Thanks,