Question about DolbyDigital 5.1 EX

[Maggi]

Hi Guys,

last week I purchased the DVD of "Lord of the Rings" and I noticed it offers three audion streams, a german and english version in DD 5.1 EX and a german DD 2.0 version.
At home I use a Denon AVR-1802 5.1 amplifier and it seems to be impossible for me to listen to any of those two 5.1 EX audio streams.

I use my PC as DVD Player, software is WinDVD and all other movies in DD5.1 (non-EX) and/or DTS5.1 run flawless, offering full 5.1 support.

When I choose 5.1EX as sound stream, my amp switches to Dolby Digital mode, but I don't hear anything except for very silent whispering and when I turn my volume to the max (!), I can hear some silent audio, but every now and then it gets interrupted by some heavy klicks/peaks, that are almost shooting my speakers off the wall and giving me heart attacks.

Now my questions:
[*]Does anybody have experiences with 5.1EX playback on a regular 5.1 system ?[*]Shouldn't 5.1EX be downwards compatible to 5.1 ?[*]Shouldn't 5.1EX sound streams at least offer some sort of fallback to 5.1 ?

Any input would be highly apreciated.

Thanx,
Maggi

[az]

Maybe your soundcard has problems routing the 5.1EX signal through the digital out? Have you tried using 5.1 analogue outputs (I know this kind of defeats having an expensive HT system)? Have you asked your soundcard manufacturer about it?

BTW, what kind of "bonus material" is there on the DVD? I heard there would be a DVD which incorporates something like a "director's cut", with many minutes of unseen scenes - is this the DVD I'm talking about, or is there merely a "making of" and stuff like that on it? (IIRC, there should be a "normal" DVD version, with the "standard" DVD extras, such as making of, etc., and one "special edition", which includes scenes that were cut for the theater version). Thanks

AZ

[Maggi]

Hi AZ,

as I said before, it works fine with regular 5.1 streams (DD & DTS) and this 5.1EX stream triggers my amp to go from standard 2 channel into DolbyD mode. It's just that I cannot hear anything, unless I risk killing my speakers by setting my amp to max output.

I never had any 5.1EX DVDs before and hence I guess it's related to those extra channels, confusing my amp.

As you can imagine, I tried about everything to get it working in 5.1 and therefore I didn't have any time to look into the enclosed bonus DVD, but I'll let you know as soon as I find the time.

Thanx,
Maggi

[Rakido]

Maggi,

unfortunately it seems to be the 1802. Look here for problem-reports of other 1802-owners and
look here for a statement from Dolby


Rakido
(edit: fixed url again)

[Maggi]

PS: I don't have any option to use an analog 5.1 ouput.

[Maggi]

Originally posted by Rakido
Maggi,

unfortunately it seems to be the 1802. Look here for problem-reports of other 1802-owners and
look http://www.areadvd.de/reports/dolbydigitalex_flag.shtml]here[/URL] for a statement from Dolby


Rakido
(edit: fixed url)

ACK !

not exactly what I wanted to hear ...

[Rakido]

yeah, i know. But it's not only the Denon

Home cinema receivers from Denon, Kenwood and Onkyo are unable to produce Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound when playing the Jurassic Park III and Pearl Harbor DVDs, due to a mute-inducing problem with the machines' Cirrus Logic CS49300 chipsets.

"We're awaiting further news from Denon Japan and Dolby about this flaw, which only affects our AVR-1602/1802 receivers," says Denon's Roger Batchelor, adding "We're keeping a list of users who've experienced the problem so we can contact them with the solution."
Kenwood says the problem affects just one of its receivers, the KRFX-9050D. "Anyone who experiences this flaw should take the unit back to their dealer, who'll fit a replacement chip," says Kenwood UK's Mark Hockey.
A spokesman for Onkyo confirms that the problem is affecting most of its models, specifically the TX-DS595, TX-DS696,TX-DS797, TX-DS898, TX-DS989, RDC-7 and the TX-L5.
He says: "we think the problem's due to a software conflict with these particular discs. It lies within the Dolby parts of the circuits or discs, as where a DTS or PCM track is included it's OK. Onkyo is making sure its next generation of machines won't have this conflict."
A spokeswoman for Dolby Labs says the problem has been traced to "consumer equipment that misinterprets information found on some recently produced DVDs and digital broadcasts."
"Dolby and its partners are currently working with the content industry to disable the new features in these movies and broadcasts that trigger these problems. We're also working with manufacturers of the affected products to identify potential solutions."
If you've encountered this problem, contact Dolby via http://dolby.custhelp. com, or Denon customers can call the firm's helpline on 01234 741200.

Rakido

[Maggi]

I just had a quick phone chat with Denon Germany and they said:

"We have a fix for it by exchangin one EPROM, but unfortunately you'd have to bring your AVR to your local dealer for modification."

Wooohooo ... that's what I call decent customer support.



Cheers !
Maggi

[Rakido]

good to hear. Hopefully you get the AV back soon.

Still have to built my equipment up again, as i moved this weekend to a new house (and i hope my 3801 has no probs with LotR)


Rakido

[Maggi]

just to close this case, I picked up my modded AVR and all is fine now.

[az]

AZ

[Jammrock]

Makes me glad I picked up the AVR-3802 Have no troubles with Lord of the Rings on that beasty little box.

Jammrock

[Maggi]

LOL

If I could afford the 3802, I'd have picked up that one for sure ...

[Rakido]

Come on, that's just two Parhelias (ok, maybe two and a third (Drittel??) )


Rakido

[Dogbert]

Seems that if you bought an Onkio, you're f****d.
They'll take care of it in the next line of amps.