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Author Topic: USL DAX 602 vs Dolby DA20 opinons Victor Liorentas Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 800 From: london ontario canada Registered: May 2009 posted 12-03-2011 11:28 AM                     I am only guiding the owners to purchase the right equipment when the time comes.They are working on financing for this and while it looks possible nothing is concrete yet. The distributors we mainly deal with have not come on board with any VPF and it looks like a VPF could end up working against us in the long run because we would be locked into playing stuff for too long and not playing the variety of titles we need to play. VPF seems to have more costs than savings at the moment unless you are a big player with multiple screens in the right location. VPF deals seem to be for those who don't need a VPF deal. We play art,foreign,independent,classics and the odd second run. Going digital is a survival tactic and it's not clear if we can survive this tactic. We are the last single screen in this city and we are coveted by local film lovers who want us around.Our commitment to quality presentations has not gone unnoticed,our attendance is increasing every year but is it enough? Who knows? We opened in 2005 with a Smart Mod 8 and Kollmorgan coke bottle lenses.Now our new standard is Ultrastar HD curved gates and the Dolby stuff which was bought without loan money. So the CP 650 and CP 750 advice is appreciated! Tony,I didn't see much on Film-Tech for CP 650S,Brads are more like $5000 and the other ones are $2000 but might be the lesser CP 650D or CP 650SR. Louis I will keep your NIB in mind but it sounds expensive.  |  IP: Logged Tony Bandiera Jr Film God Posts: 3067 From: Moreland Idaho Registered: Apr 2004 posted 12-03-2011 12:49 PM                     Victor, contact Louis and make him an offer of what you can affornd....based on the fact he even posted what he did the price is gonna be flexible. Again, contact me off site on getting one if you need to. I have CP-650's in screening rooms that have been on 24/7 for over 8 years without a single failure, so buying used in this case is not a risk at all. The CP-650's seem to be pretty bulletproof. (Now as for the current issue I'm having with my NEW CP-650 at UC Irvine, I am now inclined to think the problem is software related. See my newest post today in that thread for details.)  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 12-03-2011 05:01 PM                     Just to be clear Tony...your estimate for a CP750 is about $1000 high. In Victor's situation, I would definitely recommend the CP750 and keeping the CP55 with all the fixins since he already has it. The CP650 is far too limiting as an all-in-one. The only time we use them is if someone has one and is going DCinema (and even then, Dolby has a special quite often that makes using anything other than a CP750 quite expensive). The other time we use a CP650 is if one is putting IN a film system (yes, we still do that!) or is replacing an unreliable system. As to the CP55/65 parts being obsolete...which ones? The 2:4 decoder (Sanyo chip on CAT 150E or the Analog Devices chip on the Cat 150F)...is about the only one I know of. If so...big deal, getting a "prologic" decoder isn't really that hard and one can stock pile Cat 150s at this point. As for making a replacement Cat 150...just looking at the Cat 150F one can see they are down to putting a chip on the board (and that was about 10-years ago)...any maybe a regulator or two. One need not be too clever to fabricate a replacement Cat 150, if the need ever arises. Datasat took a different approach with their AP20...they fabricated a "film" board so that one could add film to what is essentially a DSP based box. So I stand with, rather than obtaining a CP650, I would add a CP750, JSD100, DCPx00 or any one of a bazillion DSP based processors. This is NOT a knock of the CP650 however one should think of it as a FILM processor that CAN play DCinema...if you bought one for film, Congratulations, your transition to DCinema will be at most, a card away. If you don't have one yet, then it is likely not your most economical nor most flexible solution in a DCinema world. -Steve  |  IP: Logged Louis Bornwasser Film God Posts: 4441 From: prospect ky usa Registered: Mar 2005 posted 12-03-2011 09:34 PM                        Kind of depends if your archive thinks it will have any future at all with film. I'm with Steve for commercial cinemas; but an archive might be better off even so with a 650.  |  IP: Logged Tony Bandiera Jr Film God Posts: 3067 From: Moreland Idaho Registered: Apr 2004 posted 12-03-2011 10:16 PM                     And Victor's operation would be better off with a 650 IMHO.  |  IP: Logged Ian Parfrey Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1049 From: Imbil Australia 26 deg 27' 42.66" S 152 deg 42' 23.40" E Registered: Feb 2009 posted 12-07-2011 02:08 PM                     Reading Victor's above post, it seems we are both in very similar situations. We run arthouse currently 4 shows per week - as of next year down to 3 shows/week. When there are 'non-cinema' suits holding the purse strings, it can be almost impossible to get any upgrade approved. Case in point -: Our gain rollup screen is 20 years old this year and in dire need of replacement. Said suits held a 'meeting' in the auditorium to consider an application for screen replacement. Result? Application rejected. Solution? To spray the screen with aluminium paint. Truly a 'What the ' moment. So, having suits with brains up their arses controlling the $$$, it is verging on the impossible to push for audio upgrades the likes of a 650/750 as much as I would prefer that option, hence the original question. As it currently stands, the most likely - read humanly possible - solution to getting 35mm Dolby Digital audio is to go DA20. My patrons have had to put up with SR for long enough (this is in no way a critique on SR per se) and I'm getting to the stage where if these jokers don't cough up some $$$ then I'll damn well buy something myself and install it. Addendum -: Said suits at above mentioned meeting are on $160- 170,000 a year.  |  IP: Logged

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