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Author Topic: SDDS Theatres Joshua Burnham Film Handler Posts: 43 From: Rainier, WA, USA Registered: Feb 2003 posted 05-06-2003 05:07 PM                     Can you have Dolby digital sound in an SDDS equipped theatre or will the number of frames present a problem? I have SDDS in my largest auditorium w/ DTS 6D and SR-D but no digital. My DTS system is on the fritz so I am now stuck in plain ol' Dolby. any insight into this matter would help greatly. Thanks to all you techers out there.  |  IP: Logged Michael Brown Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1522 From: Bradford, England Registered: May 2001 posted 05-06-2003 05:35 PM                     Can you give us more info? Two things are making me say huh?: quote: will the number of frames present a problem? and: quote: I have SDDS in my largest auditorium w/ DTS 6D and SR-D but no digital  |  IP: Logged Michael Schaffer "Where is the Boardwalk Hotel?" Posts: 4143 From: Boston, MA Registered: Apr 2002 posted 05-06-2003 05:51 PM                        Of course you can have all three formats in one theater. You can mount the SDDS and dts readers only on top of the projector while you can install readers for Dolby Digital both above and below the picture gate. It is usually not a big problem to find the right places for the readers which are within the area that is allowed by the frame offsets for the formats. It is difficult to find space for all three readers on top, but I think there are DD readers for all projector types that can be installed near the analogue reader. The information you have given us is a bit confusing. By SR-D without digital I gather you want to tell us you have Dolby Stereo but not Dolby Digital, and only confused the terms. You should tell us exactly which pieces of equipment you have: Which SDDS and which Dolby processor, and of course which projector. Or is the SDDS processor also playing the analogue sound? In that case you have a DFP-D3000. You would need to get both a DD reader and a DA20 DD processor, and that`s quite an investment. And what do you mean by dts is on the fritz?  |  IP: Logged Joshua Burnham Film Handler Posts: 43 From: Rainier, WA, USA Registered: Feb 2003 posted 05-06-2003 07:08 PM                     I new at this so thank you for bearing with me. I'm trying my hardest to not look like a complete fool. So with that said. You're right i am running the DFP-3000 w/ Dolby Stereo and DTS 6D Mounted directly under my SDDS Reader. My problem is i just dont understand why they would equip the theatre w/ stereo but no digital. I hope that all makes sense I look into it more. Thanks for the help. Joshua Burnham  |  IP: Logged Michael Schaffer "Where is the Boardwalk Hotel?" Posts: 4143 From: Boston, MA Registered: Apr 2002 posted 05-06-2003 07:25 PM                        Since the DFP-D3000 can play analogue stereo as well as SDDS, and you already have 2 digital formats installed, there really is no need for a 3rd digital format. All these toys are not exactly cheap. Are you playing the analogue track with the DFP-D3000 or do you also have an analogue Dolby processor? This can be a bit confusing sometimes: On the DFP, the analogue formats are not called Dolby A and SR, but NR1 and NR2. That means Noise Reduction 1 and 2. Those are the Sony emulations of the Dolby formats. Sometimes the DFP is set up to read Dolby A and SR on the front panel to make that less confusing, although it is not exactly right since there is no actual Dolby technology in the DFP. I understand from some other topics that some distributors do not always put an SDDS track on their prints. But you still have the dts although I still don`t understand what it means that it has gone to the fritz. If that means that it is broken, it will definitely be cheaper to fix it than buy a DA20 and DD reader.  |  IP: Logged Joshua Burnham Film Handler Posts: 43 From: Rainier, WA, USA Registered: Feb 2003 posted 05-06-2003 07:43 PM                     It has problem dropping between DTS & SDDS. Even with the reader completely shut off it still has the same result. Tech is still trying to come up with a solution. I'm not looking at purchasing anything right now I'm trying to come to some sort of understanding, but all this is very helpful. Even though some of it is beyond me. Hey I'm still learning though. Feel free to respond w/ any suggestions or troubleshooting you might have on this matter. Thank You, Michael  |  IP: Logged Michael Schaffer "Where is the Boardwalk Hotel?" Posts: 4143 From: Boston, MA Registered: Apr 2002 posted 05-06-2003 08:42 PM                        Not an uncommon problem: the dts-6D is very likely not properly installed to the DFP. Most technicians get this wrong and then wonder why it doesn`t work as it should. And then blame it on the DFP... It is completely covered in the SDDS technotes (available for download here) how to do this right. Only, many techs don`t read them!!!!!!!! You can also check if the fallback is properly set up in the software. Of course, as always this can be dangerous if you change any options you don`t understand. But it is completely OK if you just look without changing stuff randomly. To do this, you have to access the menu. Select the white square key on the right (Preset 8) where SDDS should be. Push the down arrow and then select MENU. It is very easy to use: navigate with the arrow keys and press ENTER to select an option when it is blinking. Go to CONFIG. Once you select it, the DFP will want a password. It is usually SDDS. Use the fader knob to select the right letters, press ENTER to go to the next letter. If the password is changed, there is also a trick around it which I will tell you if needed. Once inside, press ADMIT. Then go to PRESET. The formats with all their settings are called presets in the DFP. Use the down arrow until you reach #8:SDDS . Below the format name, it says ACM. ACM (Analogue Concealment Mode) is the fallback sequence for SDDS. If your dts is set up on Preset 6, and the analogue stereo ("SR" or "NR2") on Preset 5, then it should say ACM:# 6 5 See the SAVE option on the right? As long as you don`t change any settings and confirm the changes there, nothing will be changed. You also have the EXIT option right there. If it only says, for example ACM:# 5 , then the DFP will fall back straight to analogue. If the ACM is configured according to the presets on the front panel, then it will remain to check if the hardware setup is done properly. Which, as I said, it almost never is.  |  IP: Logged Antonio Marcheselli Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1260 From: Florence, Italy Registered: Mar 2000 posted 05-07-2003 06:05 PM                         |  IP: Logged Karen Hultgren Master Film Handler Posts: 492 From: Agoura Hills, CA, USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 05-09-2003 01:21 PM                        What's wrong with your DTS unit? Karen at DTS khultgren@dtsonline.com  |  IP: Logged Don Sneed Master Film Handler Posts: 451 From: Texas City, TX, USA Registered: Aug 2001 posted 05-09-2003 08:16 PM                        Joshua, the DTS-6D automation cable should be connected as follow to the Sony DFP-3000, program the preset # 8 as Micheal explaned, very important to fallback, I have installed about 90 of these systems with DTS-6D,Dolby DA-20 & SA-10, always work for me using the connection below...good luck... DTS---------------SONY Pin-13 (com)--- Pin-14 (Logic Com) Pin-10 (Gnd)--- Pin-34 (aux1)or Pin-35 (aux2)  |  IP: Logged Michael Schaffer "Where is the Boardwalk Hotel?" Posts: 4143 From: Boston, MA Registered: Apr 2002 posted 05-09-2003 10:03 PM                        Thanks for adding that, Don. I wanted to come to that once Joshua had checked the software setup. My guess here is that both units are perfectly OK, but that they are not set up in the way we described here. This will give the DFP a permanent status info rather than the pulse logic with which the dts-6D is commonly installed to classic Dolby processors. Without this status info the internal fallback logic of the DFP will conflict with the external pulse logic from the dts processor. I wouldn`t be surprised if his equipment was set up with the dts pulse logic and an ACM structure like 8 5 (SDDS directly to analogue) as in the factory presets. And then of course it won`t work properly. I have seen many installations where this was simply done wrong and then blamed on the hardware. If it is done the right way, there can even be multiple fallback through all 4 formats with the DFP-D3000. Don, you seem to be the only technician I ever met who has read the installation notes! [ 05-09-2003, 11:54 PM: Message edited by: Michael Schaffer ]  |  IP: Logged

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