Thanks.

Yes, I have proof that the DVD plays perfectly on 4 STBs. The only difference was this Player setup with 5.1 .

Is there ANYTHING I can do to inform the "Users" to adjust or setup their 5.1 to use the Stereo? Or should "any" 5.1 setup cope with a stereo only DVD?

Grazie

Grazie, I have 5.1 setup at home and have never had any problems playing back the DVDs I create at work which are "only" stereo.

Mike

Grazie,

Here's a shot in the dark.

What kind of system and how is the DVD player connected? The reason that I ask is because my home theater pre-amp has a "feature" that mutes the incoming signal (from the SPDIF input) until a lock or sync is confirmed. Perhaps this is what is happening in the affected pre-amp and/or the affected DVD player?

What this means is that, when the source material changes (say, from 2.0 to 5.1 or from PCM to Dolby Digital), there is a loss of sound - note that the loss is due to the muting, not an actual blank spot in the source. My understanding of the reason for this is to avoid harsh sounds or clicks that might accompany such changes in audio format changes. This happens to me during television when the audio goes from the program's 5.1 to a local commercial break's 2.0, for example - again, this is my equipment's muting mechanism.

This sort of sounds like what could be happening to you. Do these lapses in the sound occur at the very beginning of the program? One that you describe does not quite sound like it fits this scenario.

An idea to check my theory is to have "info" or "display" on the DVD player and/or pre-amp to show the source material audio signal format. For example, if I hit "display" on my DVD player, it will show the source bit rate as well as the format of the audio program. If you see the audio format change or go blank, then this could indicate the "muting" or syncing issue that I describe and might give you and idea of how to try to "fix" it by being more heavy handed in controlling the audio encoding.

Edit: In re-reading your description, it doesn't seem that this would explain it, because of the music "track" continuing to play and only part of the audio missing. However, the "info" or "display" idea still might help, as it might help confirm the encoding matches what you thought it was.

Thanks Mike.

Now then . . now then . . I've gone over my file and the 2 instances of the Audio No-Show, is where ONE channel is very LOW, and the other channel is Moderate. I'm now of the idea that maybe the person's 5.1 setup is devoid of one of the Banks LEFT or RIGHT. Is that possible? If that's the case then my "quiet one-side" has flagged this up. Is that possible?

Cheers

Grazie

Jason! Great feedback! Thanks.

G