Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Digital EX/ES with old Processor ?

This is topic Digital EX/ES with old Processor ? in forum Film Handlers' Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Nic Dreier (Member # 333) on 08-21-2000, 05:53 PM:

Hi there

Yesterday I was discussing with a friend of mine, how we could use our old sound processors (all CP-50) in the time of Digital Sound. Now that was our idea: What about connecting the RS/LS-Line-Output of the current Digital System to the CP-50 to play back a EX/ES encoded film ? I think you would need to double the RS/LS-Line. One goes into Non-Sync (for normal 5.1 tracks) and the other line goes into "to Adapter Right/Left". so that the signal is sent through the matrix. For EX/ES playback you simply push "Stereo with no surround" (=Rear Left/Rear Center/Rear Right), and for regular surround push Non-Sync (with an additional switch to combine the splitted speaker array on the rear wall).

So what do you think about that ? Would it be possible to achieve a proper decoding of the rear center channel, or is it simply a gimmick ? I'm very interested in your opinions !

Have a nice day

Best Regards

Nic

Posted by Alan Gouger (Member # 543) on 08-21-2000, 08:04 PM:

Nic
What you are describing will work but for $300 US dollars why not get the SmartCS-3X jr.
You will end up with superior seperation with the smart. It also has a pass thru built in for your current surrounds.

Posted by Nic Dreier (Member # 333) on 08-22-2000, 03:36 AM:

I already thought about the "Smart Junior." But why expending more than 300$ (in Switzerland it's more expensive !), when you can do it for free with some older equipment? And by the way, the "SmartJr-Solution" wouldn't have a proper EQ-tuning possibility for each channel. I don't know, if the channel separation with the Smart would be much better ?! I just like that old equippment, and it would break my heart to throw it away.

Bye

Nic

Posted by Oscar Neundorfer (Member # 458) on 08-22-2000, 07:01 AM:

Nic,

What you are describing will probably work, and you will not have to spend much money to put it all together. While Alan is correct that the CS-3X, Jr. will work, you are right in that it will not provide the EQ function that you should have in a theatre. The CS-3X, Jr. is a great product, but it was designed for consumer use and is more suited to that task in terms of connectors and automation features.

If you were going to spend money to do the job, then I would recommend the CS-3X professional version which has EQ and the automation features you need, or the Panastereo SP23 which is the top of the line product for this purpose in my opinion.

Also, one thing to investigate is this: what matrix is in the CP50? You would want a later version matrix to get the best performance.

Oh, one last thing: NEVER, NEVER throw anything away!!!

Best regards,

------------------
Oscar Neundorfer
Chief Engineer
SMART Devices, Inc.

oscar@smartdev.com

Posted by Gordon McLeod (Member # 33) on 08-22-2000, 08:18 AM:

Since I believe in 1/3 octave eq on the surrounds and hated giving that up with a full cp200 when we added ex we used a cp50 for the eq as it has cat 64b's in it
also we slaved the cp200 fader to it so the ex wasn't pre fader
We took theoutput of the DA20/DTS70 failsafe ls and rs through a 6 pole relay
one way the outputs of the DA 20 go to the cp50 and the 3 surround outs go to the amps
if the relay is relaxed the internal 1/3 octave of the cp200 is in effect for normal playback
Oscar as usual is right NEVER THROW ANYTHING OUT

Posted by Dave Cutler (Member # 515) on 08-22-2000, 09:14 AM:

Sounds like a great use of some older equipment. Wish I had some spare processors sitting around. Of course then I would need extra amplifiers and speakers (I don't have surrounds on the back wall).

I use a similar technique with my home cinema to get an EX/ES channel. It's really cool for DVD.

Posted by Nic Dreier (Member # 333) on 08-22-2000, 03:38 PM:

Hi Oscar,

Holy cow (not the THX one !!! I would never throw a CP-50 away !!!!! Even if there's absolutely no use for it, I would rather build a museum for that unit than throwing it away

According to the Matrix-Cat. I have to check that, but I think it's a cat150B, cause we use these cards in all theaters. I heard about the newer models, but my local tech told me, there wouldn't be a difference between the models, and because money is always a problem, we had to stay with the old ones. Is it such a big difference between a cat150B and a newer model, that upgrading makes sense ? How much is the price in the US for the newer models ?

So I think I have to check the CP's (for future use) !!!

Bye

Nic

Posted by Oscar Neundorfer (Member # 458) on 08-23-2000, 05:56 AM:

I really am not all that knowledgeable regarding the differences between the various versions of the CAT150 cards. I was more concerned that you might have a really old matrix. I think it was the CAT116 card, but I just don't know. Maybe Gordon or someone else can fill in the details here. It's all I can do to keep up with what SMART makes

------------------
Oscar Neundorfer
Chief Engineer
SMART Devices, Inc.

oscar@smartdev.com