Rsp-1069

[Kevin D]

Should run it through the scaler just to apply OSD information.

Kevin D.

[nash]

FWIW, I haven't noticed movies looking darker after adding my 1058 into the mix. My DLP was calibrated before I had the 1058, and it looks the same to me now that I am using the 1058 as a switcher. I have not brought up any patterns to verify this - but it certainly doesn't look darker to me. I feed it 1080p from both BD and HD DVD players.

I have DVE on HD DVD avaiable - is there a test pattern I can pull up to let you guys know if something is being clipped?

[Nolan B]

FWIW, I haven't noticed movies looking darker after adding my 1058 into the mix. My DLP was calibrated before I had the 1058, and it looks the same to me now that I am using the 1058 as a switcher. I have not brought up any patterns to verify this - but it certainly doesn't look darker to me. I feed it 1080p from both BD and HD DVD players.

I have DVE on HD DVD avaiable - is there a test pattern I can pull up to let you guys know if something is being clipped?

There are two tests you can do.

Black level:
On the HD DVD side of your DVE do the video test patern for black levels. You yu can look at the pictures from my post above to see the test patern. It has 4 blocks of white and grey going down the middle and 2-3 bars on each side of it. You should see two bars and just barely see the third (furthest away from the centre). You may not see the third at all which is OK.


Also when you have the disc in and there is some text on the screen which is static have a look at the text. Watch it for 30 seconds or so up close and see if you see anything strange happening to it like going in and out of focus. This is happening with my 1069.

[crowland]

Sorry to hear about the video issues This might be slightly off topic, but how does the thing sound? Could or would you say that there are any noticable sonic differences between the 68 & 69?

The reason I ask is because the 68 pretty much meets my video needs and if it's sonics are pretty much the same, then I might be able to save a couple of bucks by going w/ a nused 68.

[Nolan B]

i am starting to get very frustrated with the 1069. It may be becuase I am used to all sources going through a switcher and relying on my fujitsu to scale/de-interlace, but since you are FORCED to use the 1069 to upscale i notice a very noticable drop in PQ.

A major issue is that you cant choose difference scaling options for different inputs. Meaning if you have a HD source like a HD DVD/BD player hooke dup you have to set the 1069 to output 1080i or 1080p and that means ALL sources are upscaled to that. If you choose to ouput 480p then HD sources are downconverted to that. Its all or nothing :roll:

Rotel didn't not really think this product throu. Not having the choice to simpy bypass any processing is frustrating and kinda lazy on their part. I have owned two different iScan processors and they offered the choice to bypass I just cant think of a good reason why this would not be an option. I really wanted to like this thing, but I just cant as it is.

My SD tv looks far worse, not only are all the black levels off, but I have confirmed the colors are not correct either. 1080i signals from my TV and HD DVD/BD seem to have more noise and when looking very close the PQ is not stable. My display is a magnifying class when it comes to the good and the bad, and i can say the scaler in the Rotel 1069 is mediocer at best.

I cant play my xbox 360 and if I could hear it it would be stuck in SD.

I am still awaiting a responce from Rotel and have to say if their response is anything but recognition of the issues and a firm date for a fix this unit will go back and I will just keep my 1068.

I would advise anyone considering this pro to wait and see what the fix is for it.

[Nolan B]

Should run it through the scaler just to apply OSD information.

Kevin D.

thats right, but I dont think that should mean the scaler does anything to the singal. It should just detect the signal. The scaler, however, seems to be doing various things.

[Dmantis]

i am starting to get very frustrated with the 1069. It may be becuase I am used to all sources going through a switcher and relying on my fujitsu to scale/de-interlace, but since you are FORCED to use the 1069 to upscale i notice a very noticable drop in PQ.

A major issue is that you cant choose difference scaling options for different inputs. Meaning if you have a HD source like a HD DVD/BD player hooke dup you have to set the 1069 to output 1080i or 1080p and that means ALL sources are upscaled to that. If you choose to ouput 480p then HD sources are downconverted to that. Its all or nothing :roll:

Rotel didn't not really think this product throu. Not having the choice to simpy bypass any processing is frustrating and kinda lazy on their part. I have owned two different iScan processors and they offered the choice to bypass I just cant think of a good reason why this would not be an option. I really wanted to like this thing, but I just cant as it is.

My SD tv looks far worse, not only are all the black levels off, but I have confirmed the colors are not correct either. 1080i signals from my TV and HD DVD/BD seem to have more noise and when looking very close the PQ is not stable. My display is a magnifying class when it comes to the good and the bad, and i can say the scaler in the Rotel 1069 is mediocer at best.

I cant play my xbox 360 and if I could hear it it would be stuck in SD.

I am still awaiting a responce from Rotel and have to say if their response is anything but recognition of the issues and a firm date for a fix this unit will go back and I will just keep my 1068.

I would advise anyone considering this pro to wait and see what the fix is for it.

I'm awaiting the answer you reply from Rotel. I'm wanting a new pre as I also own the rsp1068 and want everything HDMI connected for both audio and video. The issues you have I have not seen since the older model receivers with HDMI switching and DVI switching. Denon had a 4 series that allowed DVI in and HDMI monitor out. Well that never worked correctly. Certain gear would pass and most would not.

I still ask why Rotel first off decided to use HDMI 1.1. I feel they are completely behind before they released the 1069. I don't care what supports what now. It can not process whats going on now or what could tomarrow so that already sucks. Now taking a video signal in digital and scaling it to a certain Rez should be flawless no matter what you send it.

If you send the 1069 a component signal in 1080i and upconvert or scale it to 1080p, it should come out 1080p and not change the quality of the signal for the worse like in your case blacker blacks. I gotta assume there is some kind of video adjustment you can make in the 1069 which is causing this. I wish I had one in front of me I would figure that out.
the ability to pass audio from any HDMI source VIA HDMI , the device should be set to LPCM. Whatever the Rotel can decode in LPCM is what you are going to get. I my opnion, they should have had 1.3a and had full abilities. But it does not so the 1069 can only do whatever 1.1 can do. Thats all you get.
In all the receivers I do I have had no problems with the HDMI switching. Sometimes I get the occasional drop out from cable when changing channels. If you change channels again , the audio comes back. I think thats a comcast cable problem as even in analog, the audio drops out from time to time.
Anyho, Others are doing what Rotel cannot. You must decide if it's the right preamp for you. Don't be married to a brand. I love Rotel as much as the next guy but if they don't do what I need them to do, I will look elsewhere. I see nothing wrong with going with a solid receiver with preouts with 1.3a switching untill Rotel gets this one worked out or until they release the 1098's replacement which I'm hoping is at least 1.3a or better. I have seen a huge change in the HDMI world since 1.2 and better came along. I have not seen cableboxes , DSS receivers and DVD players not work like the older models did. I can spec a job and know it's going to work. Unlike in the past.

If anyone in here is a custom Installer and has been in the bussiness at least 5+ years, then you know exaclty what I'm talking about. It's about what works first , then performance 2nd. If it don't work correctly, it doesn't matter how good it sounds.

[Nolan B]

I gotta assume there is some kind of video adjustment you can make in the 1069 which is causing this. I wish I had one in front of me I would figure that out.

this is no video adjustment in the 1069. None.

It's about what works first , then performance 2nd. If it don't work correctly, it doesn't matter how good it sounds.

I agree 100%.

[Nolan B]

Alright I am going to attempt to make a few brief observations on the audio from the 1069. I havent spent all that much time with it, and I am not an expert by any stretch when it comes to making a relavent review. What I think sounds worse could actually sound "better" in the AV community. I would be very interested to know if anyone else agrees or not.


2 channel bypass:

I am not sure if its even possible for the 1069 to sound better then the 1068 in 2 channel bypass since its jst bypassing the signal, but to me this is a noticable improvement. It could be the DACs, or something else but when listening to my RCD 1072 in bypass mode it produces a more transparent sound. While wondering around my loft listening to CDs I found myself wanting to sit and listen much more then normal. The sound was very conrtrolled and seemed to have more black around each sound.

Dolby Digital and TV:

Take this with a grain of salt and form somoene who has not spent very much time with this. My initial impression is that the sound seems slightly compressed, and there seems to be less base in male voices. I was watching a show called "Resturant Make Over" which is a show my wife and I watch very often so we are used to the sound. The narrator's voice is male and I noticed righ away that its missing depth. It certainly sounds different. Again some may say it sounds better, or more realistic, but I think it sounds thin, lacking and airy.

My wife and I watched "the reaping" on pay per view which had a DD track. The dynamic range seemed to be VERY noticable. When it was quite it was very quite. I had to have the volume set to 74 when I am normally used to lisenting to the volume with DD tracks at about 67-69. When things got laud I had to drop the volume to 62 to keep it tolerable. Could have been the track or it could have been the 1069. It was certainly nothing i can remember experiencing before...at least to that extent.


PCM via HDMI.

Sounds great. I have always had the ability to listen to lossless with HD DVD, but never with BD becuase I only have a PS3. Now that I can send PCM via HDMI it has certainly taken my BDs to the level of my HD DVDs. Dropping all the cables form my HD DVD player to just 1 HDMI is a welcome plus. My only wish is that the 1069 would somehow be able to display if the audio is 16 bit or 24 bit.


***quick side note. The 1069 does not give you the choice to set the volume speed. With the 1068 you could choose what speed or how much you would want to change the volume with one push of the volume on your remote. I always had mine set to "2" so for each time I pressed te volume up or down it would do so in increments of 2. What possible value did Rotel see in removing this feature? Does the 1058 have this feature?

[nash]

There are two tests you can do.

Black level:
On the HD DVD side of your DVE do the video test patern for black levels. You yu can look at the pictures from my post above to see the test patern. It has 4 blocks of white and grey going down the middle and 2-3 bars on each side of it. You should see two bars and just barely see the third (furthest away from the centre). You may not see the third at all which is OK.


Also when you have the disc in and there is some text on the screen which is static have a look at the text. Watch it for 30 seconds or so up close and see if you see anything strange happening to it like going in and out of focus. This is happening with my 1069.

I tried the PLUGE pattern test - I can clearly make out one bar, barely make out a second bar, and can't see a third. More importantly, it's exactly the same whether the HD-XA2 is plugged directly into the TV or through the 1058.

I also stared at the lettering on the DVE disc and couldn't see the focus problem you were encountering. In other words, my 1058 doesn't seem to be affecting the video coming from the HD DVD player.

Is your HD DVD set to 1080p or 1080i? How about your TV? I am using 1080p across the board (save for my Tivo, which is 1080i). I am using a 2007 model Samsung DLP. It's possible that I don't have these problems because I have a 1058 instead of a 1069, but I think it's more likely something else in our setups that is different.

PS - I haven't seen a volume speed menu option, but I haven't explicitly looked for it.

[Nolan B]

I tried the PLUGE pattern test - I can clearly make out one bar, barely make out a second bar, and can't see a third. More importantly, it's exactly the same whether the HD-XA2 is plugged directly into the TV or through the 1069.

I also stared at the lettering on the DVE disc and couldn't see the focus problem you were encountering. In other words, my 1058 doesn't seem to be affecting the video coming from the HD DVD player.

Is your HD DVD set to 1080p or 1080i? How about your TV? I am using 1080p across the board (save for my Tivo, which is 1080i). I am using a 2007 model Samsung DLP. It's possible that I don't have these problems because I have a 1058 instead of a 1069, but I think it's more likely something else in our setups that is different.

PS - I haven't seen a volume speed menu option, but I haven't explicitly looked for it.

great glad to hear yours is ok an perhaps that means some of my issues will be an easy fix for rotel.

My HD DVD is set to 1080i as my fujitsu is 1266 x 768p and 1080i is the best signal to send. All of my sources work fine direct to my TV and work fine through my DVDO HDMI switcher so by process of elimination its the 1069.

Thanks for checking into the lettering. Can anyone else with a 1069 conduct this test?

You seem to be passing the test patern fine by your description.

[Pez]

Vancouver - thank you very much for posting everything you have, could be very helpful info for anyone on the fence about getting the 1069 (like myslef). I really want the 1069 but the more you post the more I am leaning toward a denon receiver to use as a pre/pro.

[tboo72]

I got an email from Rotel today asking for my firmware #s.

[Nolan B]

Vancouver - thank you very much for posting everything you have, could be very helpful info for anyone on the fence about getting the 1069 (like myslef). I really want the 1069 but the more you post the more I am leaning toward a denon receiver to use as a pre/pro.

Pez. Take my feedback with a serious grain of thought. I am not in a gret mind set because of the video issues. I think this piece has fantastic potential and if it can be fixed its could be a very good and useful piece. Rotel's response to my issues will be very telling should prbably mean the most.

[Nolan B]

I got an email from Rotel today asking for my firmware #s.

me too....what is your software version?


my video version is v1.4

my regular version is v 1.1.1 070706

[tboo72]

me too....what is your software version?


my video version is v1.4

my regular version is v 1.1.1 070706

Thats mine as well.

[Dmantis]

me too....what is your software version?


my video version is v1.4

my regular version is v 1.1.1 070706

How many firmare versions could ppossibly be out, it just came out?? Am I missing something here???

[Pez]

Pez. Take my feedback with a serious grain of thought. I am not in a gret mind set because of the video issues. I think this piece has fantastic potential and if it can be fixed its could be a very good and useful piece. Rotel's response to my issues will be very telling should prbably mean the most.

Will do but the video side is very important to me as well. I have no doubt it sounds great but I find that as a given for a rotel product. I hope these problems arent because they didnt go hdmi 1.3. I didnt think having 1.3 was all the important but now I am not so sure.

[tboo72]

Will do but the video side is very important to me as well. I have no doubt it sounds great but I find that as a given for a rotel product. I hope these problems arent because they didnt go hdmi 1.3. I didnt think having 1.3 was all the important but now I am not so sure.

I highly doubt it has anything to do with the fact that the 1069's HDMI outputs are HDMI 1.1 & not 1.3. I really dont have any problems other than the clipping & Im confident Rotel will remedy this shortly.

[Nolan B]

I highly doubt it has anything to do with the fact that the 1069's HDMI outputs are HDMI 1.1 & not 1.3. I really dont have any problems other than the clipping & Im confident Rotel will remedy this shortly.

the issues have nothing to do with the fact its HDMI 1.1 and not 1.3. That I can confirm.

[ILuvDefTech]

1069 with HTPC

Anyone hooked up an htpc via dvi or hdmi? I have an MSI 8500GT with hdmi out. If I go direct to the display it's fine, but going through the 1069 I get no video at all.

[Nolan B]

Who else has the 1069 and can you post your thoughts on the Audio quality for regular DD and multichannel hi rez PCM?

I have my 1069 hooked up to a 1077 and I am not enjoying it as much as i hoped to. Aside form the video issues I am experiencing I am having the follwing issues with audio.

1.) The audio (for muliti channel PCM) needs to be turned way up. It seems like the dynamic range is way out of wack. When I used to listen to DD+ or TrueHD form my A1 vi analog i would have the volue set at 67-69....not with HDMI PCM, the volume needs to be at 74-76, but gets WAY to laud when the dynamic range kicks in durring lauder scenes.

2.) Is it just me or does the sound seem compressed? What did you have before the 1069 and how does it compare? I really think the 1068 sounds better for movies.


I have calibrated the 1069 but maybe the PCM audio is not getting processed and benefiting from my calibration?!

Is it possible the 1069 is doing something to the hi rez PCM audio?

I still have not heard back from Rotel with my video problems. With the black levels clipping and the "on and off blury effect'" they are geting more and more annoying.

Tonight was the first time I saw Transformers on HD DVD and with the video and audio issues I found myself concentrating more on the issues then the movie :M

[RebelMan]

Vancouver, I think you lost me. In an earlier post you commended the audio now you condem it. Can you clarify? Don't take this the wrong way but I think you should have held out until next spring, hint hint. I think you know what I mean.

[tboo72]

Who else has the 1069 and can you post your thoughts on the Audio quality for regular DD and multichannel hi rez PCM?

I have my 1069 hooked up to a 1077 and I am not enjoying it as much as i hoped to. Aside form the video issues I am experiencing I am having the follwing issues with audio.

1.) The audio (for muliti channel PCM) needs to be turned way up. It seems like the dynamic range is way out of wack. When I used to listen to DD+ or TrueHD form my A1 vi analog i would have the volue set at 67-69....not with HDMI PCM, the volume needs to be at 74-76, but gets WAY to laud when the dynamic range kicks in durring lauder scenes.

2.) Is it just me or does the sound seem compressed? What did you have before the 1069 and how does it compare? I really think the 1068 sounds better for movies.


I have calibrated the 1069 but maybe the PCM audio is not getting processed and benefiting from my calibration?!

Is it possible the 1069 is doing something to the hi rez PCM audio?

I still have not heard back from Rotel with my video problems. With the black levels clipping and the "on and off blury effect'" they are geting more and more annoying.

Tonight was the first time I saw Transformers on HD DVD and with the video and audio issues I found myself concentrating more on the issues then the movie :M

I think the PCM audio sounds great over HDMI. In fact, I have the latest & greatest Onkyo 905(that accepts the new formats over bitstream) sitting on my floor all packed up because it lost out to the Rotel.

[hifiguymi]

I still have not heard back from Rotel with my video problems. With the black levels clipping and the "on and off blury effect'" they are geting more and more annoying.

Tonight was the first time I saw Transformers on HD DVD and with the video and audio issues I found myself concentrating more on the issues then the movie :M

I talked to the guys in tech support at Rotel about your issue and they had forwarded your e-mail on to the factory. I know they are working on it but there was no time table as to when the factory would have a reply.

Eric

[btf1980]

I also would like to report that I am having none of the issues Vancouver is having. I had the 1066 prior to the 1069 now, and in no way shape or form was the 1066 better. It's unfortunate, and I hope Rotel sorts it out for you. The 1069 does run a little warmer than my 1066, nothing alarming, but warmer nonetheless.

[Nolan B]

Vancouver, I think you lost me. In an earlier post you commended the audio now you condem it. Can you clarify? Don't take this the wrong way but I think you should have held out until next spring, hint hint. I think you know what I mean.

Hey rabelman,


My first post on the audio w/ regards to PCM was after watching 1 movie. I have had a chance to listen a bit more and I have revised my initial impressions. The 2 channel bypass is good and has been good as i mentioned earlier, and regular DD still sounds compressed.

Yes I know what you mean about waiting until the spring for the new Classe. Nothing is stopping from getting that unit if its a winner :T

Experimenting with different equipment is part of the fun for me.


To all others who have this unti (the 1069 not 1058 ) I strongly suggest you go out and get a copy of DVE. I fyou have not professionally calibrated your screen or even calibrated your screen with DVE you may not notice the video clipping issues. I can assure you the problem is there with the 1069.

Is it possible that only my unit has this problem? yes, but i think its more possible an issue like this would be tied to more (if not all units) then just mine. I dont think its a hardware problem, but a software problem.


One other issue i know ALL of the 1058 and 1069 owners have is that you are forced to run your video through the internal scaler. This posses a problem if you have a quality display with good scaling/de-interlacing, or if you own an external video scaler.

[RebelMan]

My first post on the audio w/ regards to PCM was after watching 1 movie. I have had a chance to listen a bit more and I have revised my initial impressions. The 2 channel bypass is good and has been good as i mentioned earlier, and regular DD still sounds compressed.

Yes I know what you mean about waiting until the spring for the new Classe. Nothing is stopping from getting that unit if its a winner :T

Experimenting with different equipment is part of the fun for me.

I gotcha. Thanks for clarifying.

I agree that experimention is another and important component to this diverse hobby. Enjoy the ride! :T

[Mikael]

Hi RebelMan
Thanks for clearing it up for me.

[Nolan B]

I am putting aside the video issues I can not address until I hear an offical response from Rotel about a fix, and im trying to figure out some audio fixes which I may be able to tweek. Here is what im facing and I cant figure out whats up.

At this point the audio gain (level of the volume on the rotel) needs to be considerably higher on the 1069 then the 1068. I have a theory but my theory has holes.

When listening to the Transformers HD DVD DD+ sound track through HDMI with the 1069 i needed to have the volume set at 76-78. If it was any lower it was hard to hear dialog and my wife would start to complain.

I figured that perhaps my sound calibration was off and perhaps I needed to dial up the centre channel since most of the dialog came form there. That solution didnt seem to do much....i needed to have the audio for watching "The Shinning" on HD DVD last night set to 80! I have never had any move set that high with th 1068.

Here is what i am thinking.

1.) The volume gain is simply set different in the 1068 then the 1069. The problem with that theory it does not explain why things get SO much lauder durring scenes which explosions as an example.

2.) The 1069 is not processing the PCM signal...what I mean by that is the 1069 is not bumping up the centre channel i set higher when the PCM signal passes through. The problem with that thought is that I dont believe when having my HD DVD player hooked up to the 1068 via analog that the 1068 was processing the analog single either, and I never noticed the audio issues.


any ideas?

basically we cant comfortably hear dialog, so we turn it up but when explosions happen it is so laud my neighbors get upset.

Does anyone know if the Dynamic range set for Dolby Digital Plus and TrueHD is set to a standard or does a processor have the ability to alter it? I know you can set a prcoessor to a low, med, high dynamic range, but when its set to high (with no compresion) will certian processors make the dynamic range even higher?

[Pez]

Have you set the speaker levels in the HD-DVD player or is that not necessary since you are using HDMI for audio? When I did that it helped with the dialog being to soft however I am using the multi-channel outputs from the HD-DVD player to the 1068.

[Nolan B]

Have you set the speaker levels in the HD-DVD player or is that not necessary since you are using HDMI for audio? When I did that it helped with the dialog being to soft however I am using the multi-channel outputs from the HD-DVD player to the 1068.

I like your thinking and that crossed my mind. Setting the speaker level in the HD DVD player definately help with analog outputs, I can not confirm that those settings have any effect one a PCM signal being sent HDMI. Can anyone confirm?

[Nolan B]

New issue

when trying to play a SACD on my PS3 i get the following error message ib the PS3

""playback of this disc using the connected device is prohibited."

[Kevin D]

Pretty sure HDMI 1.1 only supports DVDA, SACD was added in 1.2.

Kevin D.

[nash]

I like your thinking and that crossed my mind. Setting the speaker level in the HD DVD player definately help with analog outputs, I can not confirm that those settings have any effect one a PCM signal being sent HDMI. Can anyone confirm?

The settings do make a difference over HDMI for my Blu Ray player, so I assume the HD DVD player would be the same.

Check/adjust your speaker settings on your Toshiba and see if that helps.

I also run my 1058 a bit louder than my 1066. I used to run the 1066 at 50 for most things, and now I run the 1058 at 60 for TV and 60-65 for movies. I have not found that uncompressed tracks are particularly quieter than DD+ or DTS tracks.

[Nolan B]

Pretty sure HDMI 1.1 only supports DVDA, SACD was added in 1.2.

Kevin D.

1.1 supports PCM which I have confirmed gets sent over HDMI when using the PS3. You are right that if I was sending SACD or DSD direct with HDMI i would need 1.2

[Dmantis]

1.1 supports PCM which I have confirmed gets sent over HDMI when using the PS3. You are right that if I was sending SACD or DSD direct with HDMI i would need 1.2

Another reason I feel Rotel should have released the 1069 with 1.3 a.

[Jack Van]

Does anyone know if the Dynamic range set for Dolby Digital Plus and TrueHD is set to a standard or does a processor have the ability to alter it? I know you can set a prcoessor to a low, med, high dynamic range, but when its set to high (with no compresion) will certian processors make the dynamic range even higher?

I have noted that the dynamics on Dolby True HD are very substantial. This should be uncompressed tracks similar to those used on Laser.
So there is some dynamic problems. This I found especially true with the movie Troy.

[Stevebez]

I sometimes find my 1068 play centre a little soft relatively with DD movies ... and thats with a decent spl calibration for each speaker (aka my naked ear!).

If the 1069 compresses this even more - Ill go deaf and not even know what the movie was about!!!

[Jack Van]

I sometimes find my 1068 play centre a little soft relatively with DD movies ... and thats with a decent spl calibration for each speaker (aka my naked ear!).

If the 1069 compresses this even more - Ill go deaf and not even know what the movie was about!!!

Please note, the 1069 is not compressing anything. The compression or in this case, lack thereof, is enhanced by the 1069 I would assume.
The first TRUE HD disc I listened to gave me this same feeling.
The dynamic range can be huge and the sign of a good processor is when it allows the range to flow as it was recorded.

[Stevebez]

Undersood but then if thats the case I dont like the recordings!! ... Too often I find myself straining to hear speech over sound effects which are simply too loud.... as nice as they are its just too intrusive and diminishes the overall experience rather than enhance it.

So it may well be a recording although I have very seldom experienced this as much at the cinema.

What is wierd is this is even after the speaker levels have been calibrated I often crank up the centre channel some 4-5 db just to make it more "balanced"

[Jack Van]

Undersood but then if thats the case I dont like the recordings!! ... Too often I find myself straining to hear speech over sound effects which are simply too loud.... as nice as they are its just too intrusive and diminishes the overall experience rather than enhance it.

So it may well be a recording although I have very seldom experienced this as much at the cinema.

What is wierd is this is even after the speaker levels have been calibrated I often crank up the centre channel some 4-5 db just to make it more "balanced"

Yeah that can happen especially with placement or if the center is slightly less efficient etc. The good thing about the sountracks is that DD or DD+ or DTS work very very well, probably 90% of the True HD soundtracks so you can still have a good time and enjoy the film.

[apodaca]

People are missing the point here. No compression = High dynamic range.Just like in real life you would not be able to hear yourself and others speak if an airplane came crashing through your roof. Thats the whole point! I used to be 'bothered' by dialog being lower so I had to re train my senses.

There are times when dialog enhancement can be useful for example watching a movie late at night in the bedroom etc. so processors often offer a night time mode to bring the dialog and special effects closer in volume. If this is what you seek during all of your movie watching then knock yourself out. Me I will take as much dynamic range as my equipment will allow.

[Pez]

I come across that often, dialog is too low. And I am not talking about a heavy action sequence but when just a couple of poeple are talking on screen with nothing else going on in the scene. Now if an airplane was flying by I fully expect the voices to be drowned out. This is all after calibration with meter and test disc.

[Nolan B]

Please note, the 1069 is not compressing anything. The compression or in this case, lack thereof, is enhanced by the 1069 I would assume.

This is what I was wondering. Does 1069 have the abaility to enhance dynamic range?

The first TRUE HD disc I listened to gave me this same feeling.
The dynamic range can be huge and the sign of a good processor is when it allows the range to flow as it was recorded.

yes True HD is very dynamic, but I notice it more so with the HDMI connection from my A1 to my 1069 then i did with the analog connection from my A1 to my 1068. Its my understanding that in theory it should be the same.