PT-7020a DTS-MA bug?

[phonetic]

Hi guys, I stumbled upon what I believe is a bug in the DTS-MA processing in the surround channels (5.1 setup only).I seem to get dual mono in both speakers at the same time when I run Disney's WOW speaker calibration. I also checked with a DTS-MA speaker setup disk...same thing. I ran the calibration after a default set and everything went normally other than my bipolar surrounds being identified as out of phase...this is a common issue so I didn't worry about it. Can anyone confirm if this is also happening to others?
Cheers

[phonetic]

I ran the DTS-MA check disk forcing DTS core and it plays back properly. Weird. Also forgot to mention, I'd does an out of phase check as well and the speakers cancel themselves out during DTS-MA processing. It seems to be a serious issue that my elite avr didn't have. I hope maybe Keith or Lonnie sees this and comments. I'm off to work but will investigate further tomorrow.

[bootman]

Call tech support and get a case opened up.

[phonetic]

Sept 10, 2013 14:28:14 GMT -5 bootman said:

Call tech support and get a case opened up.

Will do. I plan on running a True-HD check as well. Levels calibrated ok though so I'm happy about that! I hope it's not firmware as there's probably little chance they'll fix a legacy product.

[bootman]

I also don't think the out of phase reporting is related.
So with the wow disk you get sound in the rear surrounds but not in movies?
What disks did you try?
tech support will want to know that.

[phonetic]

Yes I get sound in the surrounds(5.1 setup currently) but for both left and right channel test sound is emitted through both. WOW does it as does an iso of the DTS-MA channel check disk I have. Tried it both through my panny bluray player as well as a pivos aios media player. I will try using the panny to decode then send pcm to the PT-7020, however I suspect it will work as it should. The pivos will only bitstream hd audio though so it's not gonna be a valid solution. Fwiw, the file of the DTS-MA channel check is freely available on the net so I am hoping someone else can verify my findings. Thanks for your response to my query though!

[phonetic]

Sorry, for movies it's a difficult task to identify if both channels are active with the exact same content at the same time. It should cancel out the surrounds if anything. Like I said...more testing will be done on my end.

[bosshogg]

I just tried this on mine and the dtshd-ma test track with the little plane flying by the speakers plays in both speakers at the same time also. The TrueHD and LPCM test work as should. This is no good please tell me there is an update that fixes this. I would suspect the SR-120 and UMC-1 would have this issue as well.

[phonetic]

OK this might be long winded but here are the details:
Sherbourn PT-7020a firmware rev - W5.06.00.11

DTS-MA processing issue with the surround channels (5.1 is my current setup)

Panasonic DMP-BD65 Bluray Player test below

Disney's WOW Bluray disk - using the speaker ID test both the surrounds SL and SR are both getting the same signal as opposed to the channel being called out ie. "left surround channel" plays in both surrounds. Does this for the right surround as well...seems to be summing the channels together.
When I have the panny decode the DTS-MA and output LPCM everything works properly, bitstreaming however exhibits the above SL-SR summing issue.

Pivos Aios Media Player

DTS-MA Soundcheck File same issue as the WOW disk above, summing of the SL-SR channels. When forcing player to use the DTS core 5.1 output everything works properly no summing of the surrounds. Unfortunately due to licensing issues, DTS-MA can only be bitstreamed so no workaround can be implemented.

Here is a link to a file called Surround_DTS-HD_MA_7.1.m2ts that has a model prop plane panning from right to left in the surround channels. It clearly reveals the above issue with DTS-MA processing.
*ttp://mediafire.com/?nn5da4audch65nl (change asterisk to an h...)

I will be calling tech support with my findings however I think other might want to look into this as well.
Cheers

* just saw your post bosshog...glad I'm not losing my mind!

[phonetic]

Sent an email to tech support...will keep others updated.

[bootman]

Call. Speak to a live person.

[moovtune]

Guess I'll have to hook my new 7020 back up again to check this issue out. I also talked a friend into getting a 120 receiver, so need to clarify this before he hooks his new unit up and starts to yell at me. This is an unacceptable issue if it's common to all units. And concerning firmware, I couldn't find any source for firmware on the Sherbourn site. Where do you get the latest firmware?

[phonetic]

Mute-status-volume up in quick succession on the remote. Firmware rev shows up on display. Same as UMC-1. Still waiting for Damon to call me back regarding this issue.

[phonetic]

Bought mine August 16th, I assume this is latest firmware. Can't find firmware anywhere...Sherbourn likely only provides updates to dealers.

[phonetic]

Spoke to Damon, nice guy by the way, who spoke to the tech department about this issue. Tech said the processor should react correctly during movies...but suggested it was not fixable at the same time. I have doubts about the validity of the movies playing back correctly. My elite avr played it back correctly so there is more to this than what is being said. My hope is that word spreads throughout the forum and others check the functionality with their UMC-1, PT-7030, UMC-200 as well as the 2 sherbourn avr's to see if it's a systemic issue with firmware. I have a hard time believing someone who paid considerably more for a processor or avr would not have noticed this. Please pass the word and have others check to see if other Emotiva/Sherbourn products act the same or work properly. Unfortunately this particular item is final sale and not returnable. I really love the unit but need it to function correctly.

[bosshogg]

Crazy... I just looked at my email from emotiva and I bought mine on Aug 16th also. This is completely unacceptable and I am really surprised it has been out so long and no one has discovered this. I just called also and spoke to Damon also. He said since 2 people have called in for the same issue he if going push it up the command chain, Lonnie I think he said. I used the DTSHD-MA sound check on the Hunger Games Blu-ray. It is also on the Expendables 2 Blu-Ray and Dredd Blu-ray if anyone else can test. Test BD player is a Pioneer BDP-150. Also tested with the files you are talking about on my Pivos Aios with same results as you.

[mshump]

I have the 7020 also. I just ordered the WOW disc, will have it Friday, Will check this weekend.

Thanks for the thread on this

[phonetic]

Thanks guys/gals for checking things out.

[moovtune]

Thanks Phonetic for bringing this up. Since the test tones work correctly, this could be something that might not be noticed right away if we were playing new titles that we were not familiar with the mix for. And I wonder how it affects a PLIIx overlay on a DTS-HDM disc to extract rear speakers (for those of us with 7.1 systems) when the surrounds are a summed mono signal? I would expect the rears to be mono or non-existent. And with the majority of titles being DTS-HDM these days, this is a major issue that needs to be addressed. I was going to watch Star Trek tonight but I guess I'll have to hook this up in place of my 80.3 and see if the issue is there for mine too so I can weight in with Emotiva about it if it is. I'll report back later.

[phonetic]

Excellent! The more exposure the issue gets the better.