This is topic DTS Kicking In And Out in forum Film Handlers' Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.
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Posted by Brent Mahaney (Member # 1090) on 12-22-2001, 02:51 AM:
Okay...here's the deal. I have four identical DTS units in my booth. I have NEVER had a moment's trouble with the unit in our largest house. However, the other three are giving me fits. Sometimes attached trailers will kick out of DTS and into stereo surround...other times, the attached trailer kicks into DTS and right back out when the feature starts. I've had trailers that aren't on the disc kick into DTS (silence), and I've had trailers that are on the disc that won't kick into DTS. What did the technician tell me? "Well, you have to let at least seven seconds of leader run through to let the unit...blah, blah, blah," at which point I tuned him out for blatantly apparent reasons. I can't seem to get any intelligent answers (although, it may be that I'm not being thorough in my description of the problem). I've only recently returned to the booth from a 10-year absence (CULTURE SHOCK), and I would appreciate any wisdom that those of you who are more knowledgable than I am (which would be ALL of you, at this point) can impart.Thank you in advance. Just reading all your posts have REALLY hepled me get caught back up in the booth (And I apologize if this topic has been covered a thousand times before).
Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 12-22-2001, 03:18 AM:
The best thing you can do for the quickest and most accurate response is to give as much detail as you can with your system.What model is the dts unit?
What make and model processor is the dts running through?
What make and model automation is controlling the sound processor?
Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 12-22-2001, 01:16 PM:
In addition to Brad's questions, what does the LED do on the reader head? Solid green, flicker, or just plain drop out?Also, what movies are you running? Do you have the latest preview disk? Check to make sure the previews you are running are included on the preview disk.
Paul
Posted by Brent Mahaney (Member # 1090) on 12-22-2001, 11:42 PM:
Off the top of my head, I believe we're using DTS-6D units with the D600 reader head and USL DSP-60S processors. We don't have preview disks, so that may be a good place to begin my troubleshooting. However, that wouldn't explain why one unit works and three don't. As for what the LED on the reader head is doing...you know...I've been so caught up in the fact that there's a problem that I've not paid close attention to that important detail. I'll check that next time I work. Could it be that those units were improperly calibrated? Because they've never really read in a consistent manner since our theater opened earlier in the year. Brent
Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 12-22-2001, 11:48 PM:
Other things you might want to check is if there is a significant bounce coming from the platter. There are some recent threads over the last 2 weeks that discuss this.
Posted by Carl King (Member # 398) on 12-28-2001, 07:41 AM:
quick but expensive solution.....BUY DOLBY
Posted by Antonio Marcheselli (Member # 373) on 12-28-2001, 02:45 PM:
Quick and free suggestion: DON'T HEAR HIM! 
Antonio
Posted by Gordon McLeod (Member # 33) on 12-28-2001, 03:43 PM:
On the issue of trailors it is possible for there to be sufficient timecode on a trailor tail piece to actually trigger the DTS into atempting to play a non existant disk casuing it to crash
I think the firmware should be checked and also I find it a good idea to get a cd drive cleaning disk
Posted by Karen Hultgren (Member # 395) on 01-03-2002, 01:19 PM:
Hi Brent,First be sure the green light on the reader is glowly bright and steady when it sees timecode. If the reader blinks a lot, that is a bad sign.
You do not need a lot of leader between trailers, but do not splice or add any sound cues within timecode.
Since you say that the system has been fine until now, it could just be bad timecode on the trailers.
The DTS system should default to analog when not playing in DTS.
If you have any more questions, please send me an email.
Karen at DTS
khultgren@dtsonline.com