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Topic: CP55 non sync level

David Whitbeck
Film Handler

Posts: 70
From: Tempe, AZ
Registered: Jun 2001

posted 05-29-2002 09:02 PM

Is it possible to adjust the non sync level on a CP55 or do I have to just turn down the fader? It's kind of inconvenient doing that but if that's the way it has to be, then so be it. The manual said to adjust the fader when switching from non sync to the program format but maybe one of you knows a trick?

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Kenneth Wuepper
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1026
From: Saginaw, MI, USA
Registered: Feb 2002

posted 05-29-2002 09:26 PM

David,
There is a pot inside the processor for each non sync left and right channels. This is an adjustment which requires the technician's "diddle stick" screwdriver. I have found there are two ways around this. One is to have the earphone output of the CD player (usually with volume control) feed the signal to the CP-55. Another way is to install a dual 10K pot in the input circuit between the sound source and the processor input.

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Josh Jones
Redhat

Posts: 1207
From: Plano, TX
Registered: Apr 2000

posted 05-29-2002 09:58 PM

Actually you do not need a diddle stick, or tweek stick as it is better known, just use a small screwdriver. Monitor the surround channel and adjust the two pots to a comfortable level. Then match the two so that there is as little dialog in the surrounds as possible, or until the center channel indicator on the matrix decoder is the brightest and the left and right look balanced, i.e., one isnt lit brighter than the other, ect.

Hope that helps

Josh

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David Whitbeck
Film Handler

Posts: 70
From: Tempe, AZ
Registered: Jun 2001

posted 05-29-2002 11:36 PM

Which card are these pots on?

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Paul G. Thompson
The Weenie Man

Posts: 4718
From: Mount Vernon WA USA
Registered: Nov 2000

posted 05-30-2002 12:18 AM

Cat 242 card. Near the top. Check the inside of the door panel - it'll show you exactly where they are. When you make this adjustment, make sure your master fader is at the nominal running position for your theatre.

It has been a long time, but it seems to me that if you have a full-blown CP-55 that will handle the digital formats and an external SRA-5 adapter is used, the non-sync pots are in the SRA-5 external adapter, but I am not certain about that.

I just chatted with John Westlund, and he indicated the non-sync adjustments are behind the external SRA-5 adapter door if you are using that set-up. Thanks, John. My memory is refreshed.

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Pete Naples
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1565
From: Dunfermline, Scotland
Registered: Feb 2001

posted 05-30-2002 03:34 AM

Paul that's true IF the SRA-5 is installed the old way, using the non-sync inputs (comes up on the 'AUX' button). If it's been installed the new and better way (Comes up on what was the 03 Dolby Stereo, no surrounds) then the non-sync pots in the CP55 work as non-sync level control. If it's got all the mods for digital, then the SRA-5 must be installed the new way, as Format 10 Dolby Digital comes up on what was the 'AUX' button.

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Manny Knowles
"What are these things and WHY are they BLUE???"

Posts: 4247
From: Bloomington, IN, USA
Registered: Feb 2002

posted 05-30-2002 10:04 AM

Just in case there's anybody else who's interested in having uniform levels in all cinemas...

Non-Sync was a pet peeve of mine at AMC; different levels in every auditorium. Also, some had the music coming out of the surrounds whereas others had music emanating mainly from the screen.

What can I say? I'm a sucker for uniformity!

Very recently, I experimented with one auditorium here until I got just the level I wanted and then I ran a 1kHz tone through the CD player to make sure I had balanced left/right: watch the lights on the NR card, and then double-check that the Centre channel has the strongest signal (lights on the front panel of a CP-45).

With the tone still playing, I went around to all of the other processors and set the Non-Sync input to the same LED pattern so that they'd all play at the same level. (It's a lot like setting Dolby tone.)

I'm using CP-45's but I think the Non-Sync is very similar on the 55's.

The CD was a freebie from TDK.

------------------
~Manny.

Some people can read "War and Peace" and come away thinking it's a simple adventure story while I, on the other hand, can read the ingredients on a chewing gum wrapper and unlock the secrets of the universe.
Lex Luthor, "Superman: The Movie"

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Paul G. Thompson
The Weenie Man

Posts: 4718
From: Mount Vernon WA USA
Registered: Nov 2000

posted 05-30-2002 12:08 PM

Thanks for the information, Pete.

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Pete Naples
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1565
From: Dunfermline, Scotland
Registered: Feb 2001

posted 05-30-2002 05:37 PM

Nae bother Paul.

You can tell I was up early today, I got there before Gordon or Steve G.!!

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David Whitbeck
Film Handler

Posts: 70
From: Tempe, AZ
Registered: Jun 2001

posted 05-30-2002 11:58 PM

I'm pretty sure we have it set up the "new" way. We have the SRA5 on there and I'm pretty sure it's on 03, and we have a DA20 and I'm positive it's on AUX. So, I will check those pots on the 242.

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Paul G. Thompson
The Weenie Man

Posts: 4718
From: Mount Vernon WA USA
Registered: Nov 2000

posted 05-31-2002 12:04 AM

David, be sure you know what format non-sync is coming up with. Then you will know for sure what to do. Indiscriminate "Knobgetwitzen make fer sparkin und spitzen", as the saying goes.....

....got that out of the PRO-35 manual........

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David Whitbeck
Film Handler

Posts: 70
From: Tempe, AZ
Registered: Jun 2001

posted 05-31-2002 12:51 AM

All I need to do is turn it down, it's almost as loud as the movie is.

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Kenneth Wuepper
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1026
From: Saginaw, MI, USA
Registered: Feb 2002

posted 05-31-2002 07:26 PM

RE: Diddle Stick vs. Tweak Tool

The Diddle Stick is a tool used by an earnest experimenter to induce unknown changes in unfamiliar equipment.

The Tweak Tool is used by an expert in the adjustment of the equipment and with experience, beyond the service manual, for making optimal settings.

Webster, rest in peace~

IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT DOES ... DON'T TURN IT!

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Josh Jones
Redhat

Posts: 1207
From: Plano, TX
Registered: Apr 2000

posted 05-31-2002 08:41 PM

Or if you are still curious as to what it does, twist it, note any changes, then turn it back

Josh

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Kenneth Wuepper
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1026
From: Saginaw, MI, USA
Registered: Feb 2002

posted 05-31-2002 08:50 PM

Josh,

When I was 9 years old I took my father's pocket watch apart to see "what made it tick?"
It never did again.
KEN

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