just got the 1068.

[malcky]

Hi folks, well i took the plunge and paid for a display model of the 1068 to use for a week to see if its much better than my roksan processor (and the 1066 which i borrowed from same dealer last year and returned as didnt think it was good enough to replace my roksan)

so first impressions are:

1) excellent sub settings/options, i have waited ages for a pro to allow differant sub settings on 1 input, let me explain. most of my viewing is from satalite on a optical connection so now i can set the sub at 0db if its a dolby digital film and +6db if its normal dolby surround and set sub to off when listening to music, so its a case of once set thats it. now only have to press one button to flick from stereo to surround. this is the best selling feature to me apart from the listening test of course.

2) simple to set up

3) the hiss issue that the 1066 had is not nearly as bad as i cant hear it from more than a couple of inches from the speaker this time and its a very low hiss at that.

4) sounds very good so far, going to watch a dvd tonight for proper test of it though.


on a possible down side though, when watching a dolby surround programme and i put my ear right up at the rear speakers i can hear what sounds the chipmonks on speed (very fast squeaky voices, very low in volume) when there is not much detail/effects coming though to the rears and it either goes away or is drowned out when a proper effect goes to the rears, but you dont hear this squeak when more than about 4" from the speaker so i am not that bothered by it. so if any knows how to cure this let me know.

will post again ince watched a couple of films.

malcky

[Andrew Pratt]

which surround mode were you using on the satellite feed with the chipmunks? Try DTS:Neo and see if its still there...or PLIIx Music (or Cinema)

[aud19]

Welcome

One, You may have to fiddle with the settings for DPLII to get the surround results you desire. Two, most of the time it's the fault of the original mixing or your service providers when we get crappy sources from either of those sources, there's not much any surround mode can do to improve it. Try testing DPLII with something you know has good quality DPL signal like an good studio-VHS tape.

Jason

[malcky]

I was on pro logic 2 cinema mode, however i remember seeing a setting about cinema eq which i have set to off at the moment so will swap that to on when i get home tonight to see if that changes anything. Another thing i should mention is the programme that i heard the chipmonks was anything i would normally watch as my other half was watching her soaps so its not the best thing to test it on in terms of surround sound.

We watched the texas chainsaw massacre (2003 version) and i was very very happy with the results even though again its not exactly a demo disc like fifth element or anything but the sound placement seemed very accurate and clear.

I still have a bit of tweaking to do as i set all sound levels to 75 db on a sound meter and think i might put the sub up a bit more as i always had that set higher just for a bit more oomph.

malcky

[alkalay]

Hey malcky,

:T for taking the time to share you experience, please keep us posted with further testing.

Oh yes, how do you find the 1068 at playing music in good old stereo?

Thanks,
Itai

[malcky]

just got home and done a few adjustments with the cinema eq setting and i still get the funny squeek from the rears, so i sat at the processor and scrolled through the sound settings (pro logic 2, dts neo ect) and i checked with the front speakers for the squeek (as they were the closest to me, lazy bugger that i am) and discovered it on the front too.

It actually sounds like the processor is trying to remove any speach from these channels as they are not meant to be there (on a dolby surround programme), but as a side effect is causing the squeek albeit very faint that you need to shove your ear right at the speaker to hear it.

So as a test could anyone that has a 1068 or even a 1098 test theres to see if its a fault on mine or if every one has it.

thanks


oh and by the way, done a little demo while setting sound levels on jurasic park 3 where they land the plane then quickly take off as being chased by a spinosaurus (or something) then crashed and i thought it was absolutely superb.

I think the sound from the rotel takes a while to get used to because for me on my roksan processor it was easy to pinpoint which speaker a sound came from, however on the rotel the sound engulfs the whole room and makes it seem as you are right in the middle of scene.

[Andrew Pratt]

I'll have to give my 1098 a listen but it could very well just be part of the decoding that's going as you suggest and it may very well be common to all processors using this DSP chip and or PLII decoding.

[Stevebez]

Have u tried system reset to factory defaults?

Rgds Steve.

[Aussie Geoff]

Malcky,

When watching a dolby surround programme and I put my ear right up at the rear speakers I can hear what sounds the chipmonks on speed (very fast squeaky voices, very low in volume) when there is not much detail/effects coming though to the rears and it either goes away or is drowned out when a proper effect goes to the rears, but you dont hear this squeak when more than about 4" from the speaker so I am not that bothered by it. So if anyone knows how to cure this let me know.

I suspect that what you are hearing is an artefact of the Pro Logic IIx or II decoding. Essentially it is looking for signals that are out of phase with each other in the front channels and applying special steering logic to move these to the back. Similarly it looks for common signals that are in phase across the left and right channels and puts these in the front centre. Now, there will always be small signal differences or similarities between the left and right sound tracks that are in phase or out of phase not intentionally by the DPL encoding engineers. So the Pro Logic IIx picks these up (very tiny sounds) and faithfully copies them to the back.

For example a voice in the front centre - a bit left or the right will often have a small out of phase component to some sounds (echo, microphone artefact etc). So you can get a tiny echo of this copied to the rears. I have heard this (much louder) on some older Dolby Pro Logic Soundtrack as well on my previous Denon 3802. You don't notice it blended into the sound track - only if you really get close or turn off the front channel speakers....

It's a miracle really that there is as little sound overflow between the speakers as there is for Pro Logic II and IIx given that is is all derived from 2 channels - a testament to the cleverness of Jim Fosgate and the lads as Dolby Laboratories

Geoff

Geoff