AES Db25 pin cable from DoReMi to Processor

[Steve Guttag]

Thanks Mike...so again...Leo...just which of the purpose built (canned) cinema projectors don't have an LCR mix available?

[Leo Enticknap]

I thought the 750 didn't, but have just looked in the installation manual, and seen that it does.

However, what none of the "canned" processors (that I'm aware of) will do, is any sort of automatic switching between playing a DCP's HI track if it exists, and a passive mixdown if it doesn't. This would be a useful feature to have, because typically the HI track on a DCP is of a much higher quality than that generated in a processor (in studio DCPs at any rate, the left and right channels are actually adjusted according to the relative level of dialogue by a human doing the mixing, whereas in a processor mixdown, the settings are fixed). So if there is an HI track on the DCP that should be played, but if there isn't, you don't want silence through the headset.

[Harold Hallikainen]

The JSD-100 does an automatic HI source switch. It compares the level of LCR to channel 7 input and switches to LCR if it is much louder than channel 7. I did not do this in the JSD-60. It just got too complicated. But it could be switched with an automation cue.

Harold

[Steve Guttag]

Honestly, I never use the HI track and always have LCR with center emphasis. Thus far, no complaints...ever.

[Stefan Scholz]

The Yamaha DME 64 has been, and still is one of the most flexible solutions in a cinema environment. Even though today, I would start with a QSYS setup.
It enabled me to do mag 70mm in all combinations, it was possible to implement Earthquake playback that worked, and PerspectAsound, as well as my speaker processing for the 5 channel 4 way active and immersive 2 way driven surround group. Dedicated cinema processors, as a 750 or USL 100 had nothing to offer in the digital age. What do you need a source selector with basic EQ and volume control for, when everything else was to be done in the digital domain of a B chain controller?
So the Yamaha system came in handy. Network connectivity to a satellite box on stage to manage the front B chain, digital signal routing until the final speaker out. It was actually in Norway, where around 2010 I learnt and loved the flexibility it gave, during the digitization there.
I still need classic film processors as source units, when doing film projection, as the DME do not provide NR or surround decoding. An AP 20 or 950 (850) as a video switcher and HDMI deembedder is handy.

Regarding HI VI, I still live on a 1968 booth monitor/ induction loop amplifier, that delivers a center weighted sum of the 5 front channels with basic compressor drive to the auditorium loop ( for me the only form of assistive systems that make sense in real life), signal derived from the front channel outputs. And, any modern processor unit for theatres I know of has this function built in, so why waste a dedicated track?
Do I really need a narration track? Something I am not interested in discussing...

[Sean McKinnon]

Stefan, You will get no argument from me on the vast flexibility and benefits of using an advanced DSP like Q-Sys as a cinema processor. I am not familiar with the DME 64 but I am familiar with other offerings from Yamaha like the TF Rack and their consoles so I imagine the DME 64 is just as if not more flexible. My concern in this case was/is unless it has been programmed it is not going to be a direct drop in replacement for a CP-650 and if things like crossovers and gains are not setup correctly it could cause costly damage.