Official DataSat RS20i thread. (Setup Tips, Questions,General Info, etc) - Page 7

Might have found a couple of bugs... Then again, maybe I'm just doing stuff wrong as usual.

I decided to hook up an iPod to RS20i for music for a NY's Eve party... At first I just plugged a simple 2 channel analog cable in to the RS20 out of the headphone jack -- not pleasing, as I had suspected, but most concerning was the complete lack of bass from the subs either with BM engaged or not, so the lack of an LFE signal was not a factor. That, plus the rear surrounds were not firing even though I had them turned on -- And I triple checked all the settings to make sure I didn't have something goofy going on - all looked correct.
So I figured maybe it doesn't like analog signals so much - luckily I have an Onkyo iPod digital interface (kinda like a Wadia), so I broke that out and plugged it all in via digital coax. Good news - sounded fuller, rear surrounds were firing, but still no bass from the subs. Gotta play with it some more to really document the situation to understand the symptoms further.

I have also noticed that my screen does not time out no matter what it is set to - I currently have it set to dim at 1 minute, but it just stays on. Anybody else have this issue?

It is kind of odd since my AP20 before this was much less finicky - Granted I have really dug into this machine more than I did with the older box, but I am surprised by the variety and quantity of new issues I am running into.

Doubtful it is a bad unit -- I must be doing things wrong. I've been a DIY home theater guy for a long time with a multitude of different boxes in the rack over the years, but I'm getting to the point that I really wish there was a trained Datasat person that could come by and make everything better. Carl, are you going to be in Philadelphia any time soon?!

OK, I'll stop whining now -- Happy New Year all!

Mike - setting the display to 'dim' means the display will stay on, just dimmer. At work at the moment so just going on my memory, if you want the display to turn off I think the option is 'blank' or 'black' screen. Can't help you with the subwoofer problem but when I have run two channel analogue (rather than through HDMI) my subwoofers have fired up.

Stephen - I wasn't clear in what I wrote - it doesn't dim, nor does it black out. It just stays exactly the same after whatever the seconds/minutes it is set for have elapsed. The logo setting works though. Unfortunately that's not what I want!

OK - I read your post too quickly - hmmm, sounds strange!

schlitzie,

There was a bug in the software early on with the prototype that I had where I couldn't use the dim feature on the display. Try turning the dimming off and see what happens. I can't remember the specifics to the problem, it was very early on - I would have figured that was solved by now, but perhaps the bug persists.

Dan

Hi Dan
I have switched the dimming feature on and off, and have also re-booted several times now, and the problem persists. I plan to mess with it all some more this weekend as I have just been too busy this week to dedicate several more hours to the unit in order to document the list of issues.

Mike

Mike,

The display of your RS20i will always dim to a 'hard coded' fixed level. If the brightness of your screen is set low in normal operation you wouldn't notice a visible difference when dimming kicks in. I suggest that you check the brightness of your screen to see if this is your problem.

_____________
Best Regards,
Carl Huff

What i believe mike is referring to is the selection of black screen option.

I se ths option set to 5 seconds. So after 5 secs my screen goes black.

Now I know you can put in your own jpg image, it's in the manual somewhere. Perhaps the black screen is just another jpg and for some reason Mikes is missing or corrupt.

The screen remains on the home screen with the VU meters. That stays on continuously...
I'll look at it more in depth tomorrow to see if Carl's thought about the brightness setting has any effect.
While the screen is an issue, I am much more concerned about why the subs aren't firing correctly. I'll explore it all within the next 24 hours or so. Hopefully it's just me screwing up a setting, and not something funky with the machine or a long drawn out software repair

Dave,

How are you coming on your 'Wall of Sound" that you were trying to pull together?

You must have tons of dynamic headroom! I am sure that when you finally get tweaked it will sound phenomenal.
_____________
Best Regards,
Carl Huff

"Could it be that the galaxy 140 SPL meter is not working well at low frequencies?"

Dave,

Turning on the Dirac filters will change levels, but what you are seeing is more than what I would expect to see. You might well be seeing the affects of a 'C' versus 'A' filter on your SPL meter. If I were you I would fall back to using the SPL function that is in REW. I have limited experience with REW but it looks to have what you need. The fact that REW is not calibrated is not a problem if you set a master level using your mains and your Galaxy SPL meter and noting what that level is in REW. Then simply use that 'known reference level' for your subwoofer measurements using REW and your measurement microphone. You know that you can trust what you see using that combination.
______________
Best Regards,
Carl Huff
Edited by Carl_Huff - 1/4/13 at 8:28pm

Spent some more time with the RS20i, and it has become clear to me that something is funky - but perhaps not with the box... I decided to re-run Dirac as it just wasn't a satisfying sound - It was clear and all, but just no horsepower on the low end. My previous AP20 was much better, so I do know what these things are capable of. I broke out the SPL meter, and this time got very different results than last time, from 5DB low on the main and surround channels, and 15db low on the subs. And yes, all the other settings, inputs, and outputs were consistent. So now my culprit is a rogue meter - I just ordered another one, so I can report back in a few days once it gets delivered.

Also, Carl was right -- the dimming feature is non-existent when you normally set the screen to be semi-dim in the first place. When I cranked the brightness up, it became apparent the dimmer does indeed work. Unfortunately even at the dim setting it is way too bright, so I ended up just going with the black screen option.

Mike - good to hear things appear all OK with your unit. When I use the dim function I have set it to the lowest possible brightness and contrast settings and when watching a movie it is still quite noticable as you have also stated - but I do like to see the channels in action at times!

Stephen -- Well, I wouldn't go that far... It still does not like signals that are not HDMI based -- I'm not getting any bass through the analog or SPiF inputs, hence my desire to start over. I'll know more the end of this week.

Mike, out of interest. Have you tried a dts / ac3 5.1 signal via coax or toslink? If not can you give it a whirl and check if your subs are firing.

Sorry Dave, not I.

Me neither Dave - sounds all too complicated for my setup (and I actually am a bit odd - I don't mind my routine of 'firing' eveything up, I actually want it hard for my kids to play with 'my' system and my wife is not interested)

This is very interesting and I think limits the use of the Datasat (in my case). I was contemplating connecting Datasat to Trinnov MC8 but if this is the case I rather stick to the Rhapsody and save a few $$$$. I won't be able to use the 192 kHz ability of Trinnov...

There is no 192kHz ability in Trinnov - yet! Still on their "To do" list.

I re-ran Dirac yet again -- Still no subs. The guys at Datasat are looking at my config file, so hopefully they'll see what I did wrong and help me to fix it. Praying it's me and not the hardware!

Just a quick update -- We watched Frankenweenie last night even though the bass is not optimal -- And I do have to say that the sound generated by the RS20i with Dirac is phenomenal! Incredible clarity, amazing, seamless separation. There is one part where there is a tremendous amount of activity on the screen, and the datasat's ability to distinctly render the mix of sounds and directions was so engaging it struck me in the midst of it all. Granted it was a 7.1 DTS soundtrack, but I am most impressed.

If I can just get the subs to work I think my head might explode with satisfaction.

I'm sure you're almost there. It's probably something like; "Oh, with x subs you need to..." one of those pointers that never makes it into a manual.

Dan

Dave --

Download the VNC app to the iPad (I use the original one, not any of the others)
input the RS20i's IP (on the network page) into the app - it will find the RS20i
input the password (it is "-" just the dash!)

It should now be running. It is a little clunky but it works

Mike

Mocha Lite VNC works perfectly fine.

Free apple App store