SP2 makes popping noise when changing channels on cable receiver

James Tanner · « **Reply #20 on:** 14 Jul 2006, 11:11 am »

HI All,

We are looking at this issue more closely. It seems to be an issue with some Cable Boxes out there. It appears to occur when the signal is lost for a short time.

Next week I will have some new software which will allow you to mute the signal when you change channels. Send me an email to jamestanner@bryston.ca and I will send the software file and the instructions. It loads through the serial port on the SP2.

Has anyone experienced the clicking on other digital sources like DVD or CD?

james

Jason Nugent · « **Reply #21 on:** 14 Jul 2006, 12:00 pm »

James,

If it's a static discharge, how do I prevent the static from building up to begin with? It can be quite loud at times.

Jason

James Tanner · « **Reply #22 on:** 14 Jul 2006, 12:31 pm »

Hi Jason,

It usually results from the system not having a good ground but I will run it by engineering to see what they think.

james

Jason Nugent · « **Reply #23 on:** 14 Jul 2006, 01:18 pm »

Interesting. Both amplifiers are on dedicated circuits and go back to my entrance panel via ZeroSurge NEMA units, and the SP2 is on a third circuit for other rack equipment, which is also ZeroSurge protected. It's funny that I never get pops when listening to two channel music with just the SP2 and the 4B.

James Tanner · « **Reply #24 on:** 14 Jul 2006, 01:47 pm »

Hi Jason,

Sounds like you have done it right. When you say 2 channel do you mean in Bypass?

james

Jason Nugent · « **Reply #25 on:** 14 Jul 2006, 02:15 pm »

Yeap, bypass mode. My SP2 turns on my 4B and my 9B remotely, though, so even when Im listening in two channel mode I still have all channels "powered up", so to speak.

James Tanner · « **Reply #26 on:** 14 Jul 2006, 03:11 pm »

Ok thanks for the feedback.

james

mlawson66 · « **Reply #27 on:** 15 Jul 2006, 05:38 pm »

Quote from: Jason Nugent on 14 Jul 2006, 12:00 pm

James,

If it's a static discharge, how do I prevent the static from building up to begin with? It can be quite loud at times.

Jason

Maybe something like this would help?

Seriously, I don't know either. It really seems to be something going on with the digital board. I've got the new firmware set for 1 second of muting, automatically enabled when there is an interruption in the signal. This happens when you navigate through a menu on a DVD (NOT JUST WHEN YOU CHANGE CHANNELS ON THE MOTOROLA CABLE BOX). Some times, I still get a loud pop, before the automatic muting kicks in. Beats me. For now, I just mute the system until I'm pretty sure that everything has settled down.

The new firmware did help, but this problem does still happen from time to time. I've got 150 AGC-6 fuses for my Ampzillas now, so it doesn't mean a trip to the store every time this happens. James says they are taking a closer look at it, so we will see what they come up with.

On another note, I woke up this morning with a loud voice, sounding like it came from a bull horn saying "Is any body in there? Every body out NOW!". It was something from the movie that my wife was watching. Anyway, I jumped out of bed, tripped over my own feet, and just about had a biological incident. The next sound I hear is my wife spouting obsceneties, and saying "Come here and fix your *%#*)%#Q) Bryston!". She managed to hit some combination of keys on the remote that made the volume slew higher, and higher. I manually turned the knob down to "mute", and it climbed back up to max. It kept doing this, all by itself until I power cycled the unit. It's possessed! I think my wife was watching a horror movie, about possession.

Anyway, is there some valid mode on the remote that will exhibit this behavior? I didn't see anything in the manual about "slew to max volume". I don't want to leave it on all the time if it is going to randomly max its volume. That could cause amplifiers to over heat, and cause a fire! If this is an intended behavior, how do I shut it off?

I would also like to comment, the sound quality on the SP2 is excellent!

We just have a few quirks to sort out.

Jason Nugent · « **Reply #28 on:** 15 Jul 2006, 08:11 pm »

Hehe, great picture.

Another observation. I spent the entire day (literally) sitting in front of my system with all 7.1 channels going, playing a CD through my DVD player. My mode was set to DPLIIx Film + THX, which is how I watch movies that do not have DD or DTS sound tracks. Not a single pop the whole time. So, I think I'm fairly certain that this isn't static because the only thing that was different was that I was listening to a CD in the DVD player instead of watching a movie.

Mind you, I don't get pops all the time when I watch movies either, but I did a lot of listening today. Way more than a few movies worth of time.

Jason

John Casler · « **Reply #29 on:** 15 Jul 2006, 08:50 pm »

Jason,

Occasional "intermittent" pops can also be caused by other appliances with relays or start up electronics (like refers, airconditioners, fans, furnaces, elevators, doorbells, light switches, etc) that cause an arc, or broken connection or drain as they cycle, or are turned on or off, on the same line.

Just a thought, if it occurs for no rhyme or reason, and only on occasion.

And another consideration, is that "some" CD or DVD transport/drives build up static and then give off a "pop" discharge, that is dependant on atmospheric conditions and humidity so the frequency of pops vary.

Jason Nugent · « **Reply #30 on:** 15 Jul 2006, 09:34 pm »

Quote from: John Casler on 15 Jul 2006, 08:50 pm

Jason,

Occasional "intermittent" pops can also be caused by other appliances with relays or start up electronics (like refers, airconditioners, fans, furnaces, elevators, doorbells, light switches, etc) that cause an arc, or broken connection or drain as they cycle, or are turned on or off, on the same line.

Just a thought, if it occurs for no rhyme or reason, and only on occasion.

And another consideration, is that "some" CD or DVD transport/drives build up static and then give off a "pop" discharge, that is dependant on atmospheric conditions and humidity so the frequency of pops vary.

John,

I thought about it coming from some other appliance, but everything in the room is on dedicated circuits, including the lighting in the room. If this particular problem is atmospheric, I suppose that right now I'm in the best possible shape I'll be, since it's summer time and the humidity in my house is relatively high, compared to how it is in the winter. When it starts to dry out, I hope the pops don't get more severe!

Jason

mlawson66 · « **Reply #31 on:** 16 Jul 2006, 12:39 am »

We've spent some time watching movies today, both on DVD and cable, and no pops! I'm still amazed at the quality of sound the SP2 produces.

I'm beginning to wonder if it is solar flares causing the popping noise!

The system has worked flawlessly today. If anyone is using the firmare with the auto-mute feature, it seems like a 1 second duration is optimal.

We did have that runaway volume thing this morning, but it was probably user error. That was weird. I asked my wife again, "What keys did you press?", she claims that it was just volume, or maybe some combination of volume keys and THX. I'll remain skeptical until it happens to me.

There isn't some auto-tune your system feature is there? If so, I'll want to turn it off.

Well, Bryston guys, awesome job on the sound quality!

James Tanner · « **Reply #32 on:** 16 Jul 2006, 01:31 pm »

Quote from: John Casler on 15 Jul 2006, 08:50 pm

Jason,

Occasional "intermittent" pops can also be caused by other appliances with relays or start up electronics (like refers, airconditioners, fans, furnaces, elevators, doorbells, light switches, etc) that cause an arc, or broken connection or drain as they cycle, or are turned on or off, on the same line.

Just a thought, if it occurs for no rhyme or reason, and only on occasion.

And another consideration, is that "some" CD or DVD transport/drives build up static and then give off a "pop" discharge, that is dependant on atmospheric conditions and humidity so the frequency of pops vary.

Hi John,

Thanks for that input. My 2 systems at home and the systems at Bryston are all connected to the Torus isolation transformers so they are truly isolated from the outside/inside power grid.

james

James Tanner · « **Reply #33 on:** 16 Jul 2006, 01:37 pm »

Quote from: mlawson66 on 16 Jul 2006, 12:39 am

We've spent some time watching movies today, both on DVD and cable, and no pops! I'm still amazed at the quality of sound the SP2 produces.

I'm beginning to wonder if it is solar flares causing the popping noise!

The system has worked flawlessly today. If anyone is using the firmare with the auto-mute feature, it seems like a 1 second duration is optimal.

We did have that runaway volume thing this morning, but it was probably user error. That was weird. I asked my wife again, "What keys did you press?", she claims that it was just volume, or maybe some combination of volume keys and THX. I'll remain skeptical until it happens to me.

There isn't some auto-tune your system feature is there? If so, I'll want to turn it off.

Well, Bryston guys, awesome job on the sound quality!

Hi,

You know I am truly amazed at how good the SP2 sounds as well. I know I have a huge vested interest in this but when I insert other processors into my system the life and emotion disappear.

Also I will see if there is a code for volume ramp.

I also find the 1 second delay works really well.

james

Jason Nugent · « **Reply #34 on:** 3 Aug 2006, 08:43 pm »

Hey, James,

I flashed the SP2 to 1.05, and now I'm wondering where I have to go to enable the 1 second delay feature. Is it automatic?

Thanks,

Jason

sikoniko · « **Reply #35 on:** 3 Aug 2006, 09:36 pm »

Ive been having a heck of a time trying to find an RS232 cable locally. I went to compusa and got a db9 male and female cable, and it didnt work...

Jason Nugent · « **Reply #36 on:** 3 Aug 2006, 11:03 pm »

I've been using a standard DB9 male/female cable and it's been working fine. I don't run Windows though, but that shouldn't matter. I've been flashing the bios on the SP2 with cutecom, running under FreeBSD.

Don't forget to press "return" initially once you open your device. The menu doesn't appear otherwise.

James Tanner · « **Reply #37 on:** 4 Aug 2006, 05:33 pm »

Quote from: Jason Nugent on 3 Aug 2006, 08:43 pm

Hey, James,

I flashed the SP2 to 1.05, and now I'm wondering where I have to go to enable the 1 second delay feature. Is it automatic?

Thanks,

Jason

Hi Jason,

The code to set delay is 'CODE-0-9-3'.
It will show on the LCD display as .5 Seconds hit 'code193' again it will go to 1 sec and so on to a max of 3 sec.

I find the 1 sec setting works well with most cable boxes.

james

Jason Nugent · « **Reply #38 on:** 5 Aug 2006, 04:13 pm »

Thanks, James.

I realize the code is primarily for cable boxes, but I'll see if it also fixes my occasional pops with DVD content. I have it set for 1 second now.

Jason

Jason Nugent · « **Reply #39 on:** 6 Aug 2006, 02:17 pm »

I had a pop last night, watching a movie. It's strange - I think the one second mute kicked in right after it. The one second mute delay is obvious on other things, like switching in menus for movies and stuff.

I still can't figure out why I never ever get pops on non-DVD content.