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Author Topic: Ultra Stereo Oliver Harper Film Handler Posts: 29 From: Cambridge, United kingdom Registered: Mar 2007 posted 04-18-2007 04:44 AM                     this has probably been discussed before, but ive always wondered if Ultra Stereo is still in use?..ive never been to a theatre with it equiped. Ive noticed alot of movies in the 80s and early 90s were encoded with Ultra Stereo, was a cheaper alternative to Dolby?.Was it superior?  |  IP: Logged Alex Grueneberg Expert Film Handler Posts: 125 From: Chicago, IL Registered: Aug 2004 posted 04-18-2007 12:59 PM                        As far as I know the theater I started at (an old twined 800 seater) still uses 2 JSx-1000s with the old "8-track" style push buttons on the format cards. All the surround function did was basically a glorified quadraphonic surround but we had so many blown speakers it didn't really matter. They are great processors though that hold up, never had a problem. Actually I just was talking to my tech last night about Cinemark and their love for the Js-200. edit: I wanted to add one more thing. It was a great processor to learn on if not one of the best. [ 04-18-2007, 03:28 PM: Message edited by: Alex Grueneberg ]  |  IP: Logged Clint Koch Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1435 From: San Luis Obispo, CA, USA Registered: Feb 2002 posted 04-18-2007 01:10 PM                     Yes, Ultra Stereo Labs, or USL, Inc. as it is now known, is still in business. In fact we are celebrating our 25th year in business. Actually it is more than 25 years, we were incorporated 25 years ago. USL encoded many movies over the years including the ever popular "Headless Body in a Topless Bar" and "Attack of the KIller Bimbos". Actually we did do a few realy good movies, Robert Altmans "The Player" comes to mind along with a bucket load of "B" movies. We still produce a vast product line of cinema equipment. If anyone has questions on USL please feel free to e-mail me. Clint  |  IP: Logged Richard May Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1057 From: Floral Park, NY USA Registered: Aug 2004 posted 04-18-2007 01:37 PM                     I have not seen any decline in Ultra Stereo equipment in theaters. I still install their processors and service lots of theaters with their equipment. Parts are no problem to get for them either.  |  IP: Logged Monte L Fullmer Film God Posts: 8367 From: Nampa, Idaho, USA Registered: Nov 2004 posted 04-18-2007 02:27 PM                     I service a 6plex loaded with USL units - 2 JSX-1000's 3 JB series, and one JS-200 Used to service a 4plex that had one JS-5/95 unit. Service a single with a JS-200 Service a drive-in with a JS-200 (with L/R cards removed and just running Center channel option for the lobby sound - being the drive-in uses FM stereo) The USL people are great to work with and I commend and recommend them highly for what they've done. They're quite an easy processor to work with. Yes, I remember back in the late 80's and early 90's that UltraStereo was giving Dolby a decent run for sound encoding with the film releases of that time. Seems that about every 3rd to 5th movie release was encoded in UltraStereo -Monte  |  IP: Logged James Westbrook Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1133 From: Lubbock, Texas, Usa Registered: Mar 2006 posted 04-18-2007 02:47 PM                     With the possible exception of the Stars and Stripes Drive-in (I don't know what sound equipment is used there), Lubbock is 100% Ultra-Stereo. 33 First run screens (Cinemark's 2 complexes), and the independently owned sub-run theatre Showplace 6. 39 screens total.  |  IP: Logged Pete Naples Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1565 From: Dunfermline, Scotland Registered: Feb 2001 posted 04-18-2007 02:49 PM                     "The Limits Of Thermal Travelling" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113659/ This one sticks in my mind because the director was a lecturer at the university I attended. Quite a nice, if wacky, bloke. It also sticks in my mind as we'd never seen or heard an Ultra Stereo print before, it was a premier screening for the Edinburgh Internation Film Festival, and no one had a clue wether to run it 03, 04 or 05. In the end we did a few test screenings and 04 seemed to do the business the best. I've got a few USL processors on service, apart from not having the correct pink noise generator (I inject pink noise from my Abacus RTA via the back door, as it were), they seem to be decent units, only ever had PSU isues with them, which were easily enough resolved.  |  IP: Logged Tim Reed Better Projection Pays Posts: 5246 From: Northampton, PA Registered: Sep 1999 posted 04-18-2007 04:52 PM                       I always appreciated the Ultra "pink" noise generators.  |  IP: Logged Richard May Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1057 From: Floral Park, NY USA Registered: Aug 2004 posted 04-18-2007 05:28 PM                     I painted mine black.  |  IP: Logged Don Anderson Master Film Handler Posts: 312 From: West Bend, WI, USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 04-18-2007 07:56 PM                     We have UltraStereo processors in our two lower auditoriums. Work great, and tech support/parts from USL is awesome!  |  IP: Logged Timothy Eiler Expert Film Handler Posts: 126 From: Litchfield , Minnesota, USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 04-18-2007 08:23 PM                        I have several Ultra-Stereo units in my drive-in that have been working great for years. quote: Clint Koch USL encoded many movies over the years including the ever popular "Headless Body in a Topless Bar" and "Attack of the KIller Bimbos". Actually we did do a few realy good movies, Robert Altmans "The Player" comes to mind along with a bucket load of "B" movies. I also have a old Ultra-Stereo promo T-shirt from that lists several Of those B movies that were "Recorded in ULTRA-STEREO"  |  IP: Logged Oliver Harper Film Handler Posts: 29 From: Cambridge, United kingdom Registered: Mar 2007 posted 04-19-2007 05:57 AM                     wow!..thats cool that Ultra Stereo are still about!..cheers for the helpful info fellas.  |  IP: Logged Sam D. Chavez Film God Posts: 2153 From: Martinez, CA USA Registered: Aug 2003 posted 04-19-2007 10:30 AM                       Ultra Stereo is not only still here. it is flourishing. The JSD-80's are selling out every month and are being used by a lot of cinemas as the B-Chain processor for D-Cinema as there is no need for an A-Chain in this application. They also do the OEM manufacturing for most of the BACP readers, analog and digital. Great company to work with.  |  IP: Logged John T. Hendrickson, Jr Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 889 From: Freehold, NJ, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 04-19-2007 01:37 PM                     We have four processors in our complex running fine after seven years.  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 04-19-2007 11:46 PM                     USL has shown real forthought in their product line: They have their traditional bread and butter sound processors and Booth Monitors. They OEM to DTS and Crown They have very value priced IR hearing assist systems. They have the niftiest light meter in the PSA200...which make setting up a lamp (especailly for 2-projector systems) far superior than eyeballing it or using a point-n-shoot type meter. They make a relatively low cost Chromaticity meter (about 1/2 the price of its competition). They have a stand alone product to decode PCM, AC-3 and even analog pro-logic signals from video sources for cinema use (similar to the Dolby's DMA8 plus sans the Dolby-E capability). They even have a DCinema server in the works and designed their JPEG2000 board such that it could be licensed to other companies. There is also the red readers (Jaxlight) as well as the BACP product line. They seem to have film AND DCinema pretty well covered. About all they lack are the DCinema (or film) projectors! Steve  |  IP: Logged

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