Dolby CP850 used

[Stefan Scholz]

Agreed. Base 950 with warranty and support for some years is a better idea. 850 is a good unit but you're paying to power the Atmos processor and hoping nothing fails soon. It does have advantages for AES67 distribution but for an analog system the 950 has been great for us. Unless you absolutely need a multichannel analog input.

I do have a similar problem in a site, classic film projection, analog out from the film sound processing. The CP 950 has 8 AES 3 pair as an input, film in 7.1 (3.4.1) configuration occupies 4. The remaining ones can be fed over a "A to D converter" with the film signals. If required, a passive input switch can be used to select the source.

[Christos Gartaganis]

I do have a similar problem in a site, classic film projection, analog out from the film sound processing. The CP 950 has 8 AES 3 pair as an input, film in 7.1 (3.4.1) configuration occupies 4. The remaining ones can be fed over a "A to D converter" with the film signals. If required, a passive input switch can be used to select the source.

I think that all AES pairs on the CP950 input need to be synchronized to the same reference clock supplied to input number 1.In theory, connecting two digital sources with asynchronous audio signals to the CP950 AES input is not possible.

[Stefan Scholz]

You may be right. I never deeply dived into it. But I will try. THen, use a hardware based switch - or change the RJ input plugs accordingly.

[Ryan Gallagher]

I imagine there is an external device that can handle 8 distinct pairs and reclock them, maybe even to an external clock source?

We have similar upgrades looming need to preserve our film capacity, but word on the street Q-SYS is in the running. ATMOS is also being considered (though seems less likely considering our venue architecture and minimal number of ATMOS titles we would screen).

The setup stephan describes is similar to how our current booth works with an AP20.. 4 pairs for digital, 4 pairs for film.

EDIT (Removed the AES67 comments, as what is being considered is the AES in/out... not the network AES67/BluLink ports on the 950)

Perhaps something like a AES 2x4 distribution amp sitting before the 950 inputs solves a potential AES reference clock issue?
https://www.scmsinc.com/broadcast-to...amplifier.html

[Ryan Gallagher]

The setup stephan describes is similar to how our current booth works with an AP20.. 4 pairs for digital, 4 pairs for film.

Actually, I need to confirm before I can say that is true from memory. I know we are only using 1-8 AES/EBU from the Doremi... but the AP20 also has 16 analog inputs which might be where I am remembering the split to handle the two separate film systems (650 and CP200). I know how our DCI was integrated often confuse Dolby techs that don't encounter the full compliment of gear very often. When CCAP is installed for festivals they just tap off the unused 9-16 from the doremi.

[Leo Enticknap]

Agreed. Base 950 with warranty and support for some years is a better idea. 850 is a good unit but you're paying to power the Atmos processor and hoping nothing fails soon.

I think it really comes down to how much Marco is looking at paying. If the 850 is in full working order and will only cost him a few hundred (including shipping and any import taxes/duties/tariffs), it might be worth rolling the dice on it. But if the total bill even approaches half of what a new base CP950 would cost, agreed that it's not worth it. As others have noted, the only other justification for installing a used-but-OK CP850 now would be if the multi-channel analog input is needed, and that is the only viable solution for the budget.

I know how our DCI was integrated often confuse Dolby techs...

They don't like AP20s, or at least they didn't when I worked at the Egyptian and they would be in to tune up for festivals. I couldn't work out if this was understandable frustration at the somewhat less than intuitive VNC UI, or an expression of "How dare you have a non-Dolby processor in your house?" indignation.

[Ryan Gallagher]

They don't like AP20s, or at least they didn't when I worked at the Egyptian and they would be in to tune up for festivals. I couldn't work out if this was understandable frustration at the somewhat less than unintuitive VNC UI, or an expression of "How dare you have a non-Dolby processor in your house?" indignation.

There is an element of that for sure, it depends on the Dolby Tech. Mostly they just are frustrated they have to remember how to use them (cause it's usually been a while).

[Stefan Scholz]

A combination of both, bot for sure the VNC interface is not really what I like. It is the combination of an extremely small segment on my 2 in 1 setup computer with a 3000 x 2000 resolution screen, with an extremely small cursor point, and the laggy action of the VNC connection. Combined with the not really intuitive arrangement of tuning/ crossover functions.
But is Dolby's actually better? At least it's a web server and proper full image on the screen.

[Ryan Gallagher]

A combination of both, bot for sure the VNC interface is not really what I like. It is the combination of an extremely small segment on my 2 in 1 setup computer with a 3000 x 2000 resolution screen, with an extremely small cursor point, and the laggy action of the VNC connection. Combined with the not really intuitive arrangement of tuning/ crossover functions.
But is Dolby's actually better? At least it's a web server and proper full image on the screen.

TightVNC viewer at least has a connection "scaling" option... and it accepts values above 100%. (Easier than changing your desktop resolution to get similar results).

[Marco Giustini]

with an extremely small cursor point

TightVNC also has an option to turn the point into a nice arrow

[Steve Guttag]

I use UltraVNC. If you go into the VNC file (it is a text file)...change the localcursor to "2" and you'll get an arrowhead instead of a "."

[Leo Enticknap]

It's many years since I've seriously used one, but my memory of the AP20's UI is not so much of a problem with its size, but that there are certain ways that the user interacts with it that are not immediately intuitive. Once you've figured it out, you're fine, but until then it can be a bit frustrating.

[Marco Fantino]

Thanks to everyone for assistance.