This is a first. For the first 2 minutes of Atlantis the audio drops out completely exactly every 4 seconds for about 2 seconds. After that it pretty much does the same thing but occasionally will play for about 10 seconds before doing the 4 second/2 second thing again for a while. This is the second one I've tried & they both do exactly the same thing. Also the Digital light(above the DTS light) turns off right after the silence starts and comes back on a second later. I'm sure it's my DVD player but has anyone else had the same problem with their 1050?

------------------


[This message has been edited by synthfreek (edited January 27, 2002).]

Does this happen on DTS or only with Dolby Digital? A similar problem has been reported with Jurrasic Park III, but only on the Dolby Digital track (DTS is fine).

Atlantis does not have a DTS option.

------------------

Is this track supposed to be Dolby Digital EX? Sounds like the exact same behavior some people have seen on Jurassic Park III and Pearl Harbor.

Just answered my own question -- it is DD EX encoded. Sounds like the same problem as JP3 and PH. Also sounds like time for the studios to try to fix their problem.

By the way, I rented JP3 today (mainly to test it out on my 1050). I haven't watched it yet, but checked it briefly and the Dolby Digital soundtrack seems to work fine on my 1050 (played on a Panasonic A310, connected via coax digital). Makes me wonder even more if it is at least partially the fault of newer players and how they pass the EX flag. I'd be curious to see some report from the industry on what the problem really is here, since it was partly responsible for the delays on the 950.

------------------
Gonk

[This message has been edited by gonk (edited January 27, 2002).]

Hey Gonk, did you watch JP3 in Dolby Digital 5.1 or 6.1 cuz it works perfectly fine in 6.1 mode it just drops off in 5.1 mode.

and Synthfreek I thought Atlantis comes with DTS??? Did you get the regular version or the Special Edition?

I'm assuming it's just the "regular" version. DD 5.1 only. Another thing: digital connection is via optical cable.

------------------

I watched JP3 in 6.1, and the review of Atlantis that I saw indicated no DTS track...

------------------
Gonk

Attention 1050 owners:

There are three discs with potential dropout problems. They are Pearl Harbor, JP III, and Atlantis. These discs all have one thing in common, a new encoder algorithm developed by Dolby which include provisions for EX flag recognition. There are several brands of units on the market (all of them with 6.1 flag recognition circuitry) that exhibit this problem. Both Dolby and the film studios are aware of the anomaly and are taking steps to resolve this matter. There is nothing defective in the 1050 in that it was designed and certified by Dolby in all of its DD operations, including 6.1 flag recognition.

For the time being the way around this problem is to watch the films in DTS. If on Atlantis there is no DTS track then you might possibly encounter this problem in Dolby Digital. If you do encounter this anomaly, we will all have to wait for Dolby and the studios to resolve this problem.

[This message has been edited by Scott (edited January 28, 2002).]

Yike! While it's true that we've known about this for a bit (see this thread if you missed it before) as related to Jurassic Park III and Pearl Harbor, it's still sort of a pain to see it continuing on new releases. Last time I checked, it affected Outlaw, Onkyo, and a few others. Hopefully Dolby has had time now to start watching upcoming releases. Thanks for the confirmation, Scott.

Here's an idea that occurred to me for people with Atlantis who are having problems. It's a pretty irritating solution (since it means possibly having to fall back to Pro-Logic), but it might be worth trying to use the DVD player's internal decoding. Connect the stereo analog outputs and the flag that's causing all of this should go away (the 1050 would then be processing a two-channel analog input through its Dolby Pro Logic decoder). Or, if your player has a Dolby Digital decoder and you have some analog interconnects handy, use the player's internal DD decoder and go to the 1050's 5.1 input. If either of these work for synthfreek or anyone else, let us know...

------------------
Gonk

If anyone is interested in getting the Atlantis DVD get the Special Edition because that one DOES come with DTS so incase the DDigital doesn't work you could always fall back to DTS which should be better anyways.

I picked up the movie this morning and just played with it briefly. I have the 1050 and Panasonic RPV 56 , the movie played fine, no audio dropouts on 6.1. When i played in 5.1 i did get dropouts, but then the 1050 set it to 6.1 mode.

I will watch it tonite, the opening scene sounds great.

Just like gonk and others have said I switched over from 5.1 to 6.1 and didn't have the drop outs anymore. I don't have a center surround but it's the only way I can watch JP3 and Atlantis. Still sounded fabulous.

Are there any problems with running it in 6.1 even though I don't have a center surround?

Just an FYI, but I believe a work around has been developed for at least the Outlaw 1050. Some folks have noticed that only some people report this problem while others, such as myself, reported not seeing the problem. Some of us suspected it was a combination of DVD Player, Receiver and/or Connection Type (COAX vs TOSLink). However, I received a phone call from two of the Outlaw's the other evening and they asked me to do some testing (I was one of the five public beta testers of the 1050 back in the summer of '00) to help them firm up their suspicions ...

My 1050 is configured with six speakers and I've not had the drop outs. They asked me to go into the 1050's Speaker Configuration menu and DISABLE my Center Surround speaker ("C S OFF"). I then plugged JPIII into the DVD player and low and behold ... DD audio drop outs! The Outlaw's said there's no risk of damage to the 1050 if the Center Surround speaker is configured as being ON even if there really isn't one. So, I also turned the Center Surround back on ("C S ON") and physically disconnected my rear center surround and watched the same section of the movie ... no drop outs and no other problems.

Any Outlaw 1050 owners that are suffering from these DD audio drop-outs may want to check to see if their Center Suround speaker is configured as OFF and turn it ON. If it is ON and you're still seeing the drop-outs, you probably should call 1-866-688-5292 (Outlaw Audio Tech Support) and let them know.

Like I said, just FYI ...

------------------
pat----

email: pat@sklenar.info ---===--- home page: Grumpy's Lair

VERY interesting! Explains why a number of us have not been affected... Maybe I'll try to rent one of those this weekend and test that out for myself.

------------------
Gonk

You the MAN! I will try it right now.

m-mmeyer

Wow it worked. It makes sense to, that it would effect the receiver if it was in 5.1 mode and saw the bad 6.1 flag and get confused. Now I don't have a easy excuse to tell my wife why I am spending more money to get the DTS versions.

m-mmeyer

Phew!!




Uh, you want I should shut up now?
------------------
pat----

email: pat@sklenar.info ---===--- home page: Grumpy's Lair

[This message has been edited by psklenar (edited February 01, 2002).]

Hey, this post brings the total to 1024 in this conference... 2^10. I don't know why I find that interesting, but I do.

Hey, did you know you can't post twice withing sixty seconds?

No don't sweat it. After 10 years of marriage I've learned to be resourceful, I'll figure out something.
Thanks for the tip though and thanks to the Outlaws for working on it even though it is not their fault!


m-mmeyer

I turned the ctr surround on even though I don't have one and Atlantis worked like a charm. My question: Does turning the center surround on create any additional processing in the signal and take away from the rears?

Zac,

Not that I've been able to tell with my ears. It's only on these problem discs (currently known to be JPIII, PH & Atlantis) that it might be an issue because the 1050 will force itself into 6.1 mode ... Only one of the real Outlaws (Hi Scott! ) could tell us if something might really be lost from the rears on these discs.

However, on all other discs just leave the Center Surround turned on in the speaker setup, but just make sure that the Play Mode is only 5.1. You'll have no more problems with this than I do watching any movie in 5.1 ... my Center Surround simply isn't used in those instances.


------------------
pat----

email: pat@sklenar.info ---===--- home page: Grumpy's Lair

I'll probably just leave it off. I don't have JPIII or PH, they are both pretty bad as movies go, and I guess Atlantis is too. My kids all walked away from it while watching, even after I fixed the dropout problem.

If a Disney cartoon can't keep two 5 year olds watching, it must be bad.

Just an opposing viewpoint, I LOVED Atlantis. Haven't got it yet, but will probably get the Collector's Edition. Anyway, I realize at 30 I may be a bit above the attention span of a five year old. However, my five year old cousin has been bugging her dad about Atlantis for the last month. She already knows when new movie Tuesday is and has been waiting for the Atlantis release. He had to rent the VHS for her the day it was out, and was very disappointed in the experience. Sound and picture terrible.

Went back the next day and got the DVD, greatly improved! There was the sound and picture from remembered from the theater! She's made my poor uncle watch it five times already this week.

Anyway, guess my point is just cuz your kids didn't care for it, doesn't mean it's bad. All a matter of perspective. BTW, did you watch it all, zacster?

Just wanted to say I completely agree with Owl_Warder.

I, My 7 year old and my 4 year old loved it

The DTS Soundtrack is pretty amazing and made up for the "forced buy".
Atlantis has no cute characters or songs and several characters die, its not really for little kids.
I hear over and over again that Disney stuff is so out of spec that they have to use the 'Disney DVD' logo rather than the standard 'DVD Video' logo, but that could be a rumor.

------------------
"Art is not a mirror, but a hammer."

I haven't seen Atlantis myself yet. And I probably never will because the kids don't want to watch it again. A bunch of film critics in my house.

The movie also left a bad taste in my mouth because my car died (to the tune of $1000 to fix) on the way to the Ziegfeld theater in Manhattan, where the rest of them saw it in DLP. I'm sitting for 2 hours in the car on the West Side Hwy waiting for a tow truck...

I could buy a 950 with that money.

Yes that is true that it is not a movie made in the Little Mermaid mold but I found it entertaining and both my daughters liked it. I'm always amazed at the star power that disney gets to do the voices in these movies(ie:Michael J Fox, Leonard Niomoy).

m-mmeyer

Actually, my kids don't like Little Mermaid, or any of the cutesy Disney stuff, except Snow White. They love Chicken Run, Shrek, Toy Story.

I do not understand the MPAA ratings for Disney films. Tarzan and The Lion King got G ratings, but to me they should have gotten PG ratings. It seems like all Disney movies (other than Toy Story I/II) are incredibly violent. They show a person hanging (in shadow) in Tarzan. That's ridiculous.

Personally, I bought Atlantis because of the kids in the house. I think Shrek is much, much better, and will likely never watch Atlantis again. There are crappy characters in Atlantis and there's really no good moral.

What about the most evil Disney film ever...Black Cauldron? That movie rules! Kids must've crapped their pants at the theater. I think it only lasted a few weeks at the theaters when it was first released. Horned beast gods and trippy hallucination sequences are always good in Disney flicks.

------------------