Arcam DV88 software upgrades

As far as I know, latest software is 1.74 firmware is, I think LO14.

 

bishman: Sounds right to me, and we keep stock and stuff for the Arcam rep round us, so we get everything first.

[ 01-10-2001: Message edited by: ReTrO ]</p>

 

Well sorry to hear about your drop outs, did you complain to Arcam when you noticed them, as I've had them with Every up to date Arcam player, 3x DV88, so I upgraded to FMJ 27 still having the drop outs and Arcam said there may be an incompatibilty with my AX1.

Hmmm.....So I changed my amp to the Denon AV1SE ( nice amp btw <img src="smile.gif" border="0"> and still had drop outs, I never thought it was my amp as I was getting very slight picture freezes too. Spoke to colin at arcam and he said more ppl were starting to mention drop outs ???? and they were investigating it..

Well for such a nice player I never had any problems with any dvd player sub £800 ( 2* Pioneer and 1* Sony)...I gave up waiting...although they were happy to keep swapping the player, I wasn't and was getting fed up watching dvd's for sound drop outs. So I took it back Paid even more and got the Onkyo 939..Boyo boy is that a player and a half...NO SOUND DRop outs whatsoever...FAMTASTIC.

Dunno what I'm saying here really...Slight dig at arcam for not solving the problem and thumbs up for Onkyo. This has cost me An addition £3500 cos the DV88 proved to be beyond arcam to sort !!!!

Hope the latest firmaware if and when it arrives solves everyones problems but it was way to too long a wait with a piece of .hmmm..expensive kit with prob's....

GAry

 

I should check my speeling and grammar....hmm...Forgive the bad english <img src="smile.gif" border="0"> <br />G.

 

Hi,

Havent been on here for a while so forgive me if this question has been asked before.

I had the two software upgrades that came out in may/june (Rev14??). my player still occasionally drops out on various discs. I have contacted my dealer who said there has been a few software revisions released recently....

What is the latest software and firmware revisions to be released????

Cheers

 

I thought thats what revision we were upto.

I know that one of the s/w rev numbers is displayed when you turn the player on (mine says 1.74), but can you remind me how to check the 'LO14' s/w revision?

thanks

 

The 2 discs I've had problems with are R1 - Traffik and R2 - Instinct, neither are DTS.

 

I had three arcam dvd players each one having problems. For a thousand pounds there should not be any problems at all, in my opinion the player is a waist of money. what is the sense of having a player with good sound and picture if half the time it dosent play the films properly.

 

Yup, I had the dropouts with DTS Discs too, with Frimware 1.74 with both LO14 and LT13 drives ( Since I had several Arcam Models players)

Seems there's more of this drop out business not being mentioned, or ppl holding out for new firmware.

As to drop outs happening on specific discs...it appeared absolutly random with me, I could watch it and get some drop outs watch it again and no dropouts 5.1 and DTS.

As i said maybe its worth holding on to what is essentially a good player, but if you start watching movies looking for dropouts instead of the movie - get shot of it, as for friends with £200 players laughing at me spending £1600 and having these problems...Pah..all in the past noo.

Wee G.

 

Hi everyone - I am sorry to hear there are still Arcam owners experiencing occasional problems with our DVD players and certain discs. Our helpdesk says it now receives very few queries with regard to problems with the current drive and player firmware; nevertheless we are always anxious to improve our products and, as always, we welcome constructive feedback from members of this forum.

In order to get to grips with any remaining issues I would appreciate it if anyone who is experiencing either dropouts or disc crashes would contact me directly with the details. Use my work e-mail - johnd@arcam.co.uk - I will then be in a position to compile a definitive list and if necessary purchase the relevant DVDs, which can be then examined by our engineering team.

We need the disc title, publisher and region, plus information on exactly what the problem is and whether it is reproducible. If you discover a workaround for a freeze, please let us know what that is too, as it gives us a big clue as to where the problem may lie. If you have dropouts we would like to know how many (the exact timings help a lot if they are not random) and whether they are audio, video or both. We also need to know if you experienced this on PCM, DD or DTS sound and the model number of the amp or receiver you are using. Don't forget to include the player serial number plus drive firmware and player firmware issue numbers too and anything else you consider relevant. I know this sounds like a lot of trouble but solving some of these issues is akin to finding a needle in a haystack and we need the best information you have

For the record the current player firmware for both DV88 and DV27 is v1.74 and the drive firmware is LO14 for LO type drives and LT18 for the LT type drives we are now starting to use. There are a very small number of players out there with earlier versions of the LT drive firmware and IMO it is worth upgrading these to LT18 (preferably via your dealer), but only if you have any dropout problems. We have <br />CD-ROMs available in Customer Support for this purpose. E-mail them direct at support@arcam.co.uk or tel 01223 203 203.

If anyone has sensible suggestions for operating or other improvements to either our DV88 or DV27 DVD players then I'd like to hear about these too. Of course I can't promise we'll carry them out but we will look at all of them. As you might expect we already are compiling a "to do" list but there will certainly be things which we haven't thought of and which might be both useful and not difficult to implement. So speak out or forever hold your peace!

John Dawson (Arcam)

 

I am on my seventh DV88 like Gary I changed my amp to a Denon AVC 1SE but problem still remained picture freeze and sound drop out,I am hopeing that this player number 7 which I got the weekend will not have the faults like the previous six.<br />only thing that has shown up so far is layer change on gladiator.

 

I have a DV27 and am having drop outs only on DTS tracks. DD has been perfect. I'll get probably 5-6 dropouts on every DTS track I play. They are random and do not happen in the same place. The sound completely drops out and will not come back until I hit mute, forward/reverse etc.. I will e-mail this to Arcam. I am using the coax output with an EAD TM8 processor.

 

I did have some dropouts before upgrading the software, now I rarely do, and only on few rented DVDs...

 

My DV88 is at the latest levels of software and I'm still getting drop-outs. Traffik region 1 froze and Instinct region 2 crashed the player. I sent both discs to Arcam who confirmed the problem was with the software but couldn't give me an ETA for fixes. I've been impressed with the player when it works and I'm also very impressed with the Arcam customer service. However, in the back of my mind I do now watch new DVD's kindof waiting for them to drop out. So I guess I've lost a little confidence in the player

 

What are the dropouts everyone is exeriencing now? Are they with DTS still, or DD also?

I have only ever noticed a problem once, the sound seemed to stop but only for a brief fraction of a second, I replayed the offending moment several times and it never went wrong, I assumed a speck of dust on the disk or something.

I might have said before, but the only problem I have had is with the Criterion edition of The Rock, it won't play from the start movie option on the menu, I have to go to chapter selection and choose chapter 1. I guess I should drop Arcam an e-mail regarding this.

 

Do they export the better ones, or am I just lucky...

As I said before, after the upgrade I never had any errors on my DVDs, DD or DTS, just very few on rented movies, all DD over here...

 

Well, I guess I'm just lucky. I've owned one DV88 and have had a grand total of zero dropouts either of sound or picture. I'm running the latest firmware, but then wasn't getting problems before the upgrade. I play a mix of Region 1 and 2 / DD and DTS material and haven't seen (or heard) a single problem with the player.

 

Yes the audio drop-outs are still there on DTS playback. The sound usually goes for a split-second at least once or twice on all DTS discs. Sometimes it may happen during a very quiet passage in the film, so people may remain oblivious to it, but its there.

 

You know the worst thing about repeatedly complaining about the dropouts to Arcam and the Dealer is the comment "We've sold lots of these units and you are the only one getting problems" AAArrrgghhh Talk about making you paranoid, I thought maybe its dirty power lines, EM from other peripherals, Dirty discs, Crap Amp or just me house is Located over some hellmouth.

I'm almost back to normal now ...ie...enjoying a movie instead of listening for dropouts and picture freezes.

Again good luck to you all who persist.

Wee G.

 

Well my dealer (Sevenoaks in Hove) has agreed to let me swap mine.

Hopefully I will get a player that doesnt give me grief.

To John Dawson; I will give a few problem movies a spin and I'll let you know how I get on. Thanks for your support.

 

Well I have to join in with this!

I am on my second player (only because the first was stolen )

When I got it it was on firmware 1.4 and I got it upgraded. To recap my first player had a ton of problems with dropouts on all soundtracks. But this player has been fine not one dodgy disk (and I have 300+ Reg 1,2,4).

My only problem is that the pause/stop and search functions stop working whilst watching a movie.. the only buttons which still work are the chapter skip. Once I have skipped chapters then the software seems to reset itself.

I use a Yam RXv795 amp and so I believe the amp is not the problem..I hope I do not get any major probs.. as trying to get a insurance replaced player sorted would probably be a major hassle.

As a note after the player was nicked I did consider getting the Sony 9000 instead.. never got that option in the end!

Cheers

Matt

[ 04-10-2001: Message edited by: Matt Horne ]

 

Just to add my 2p;

I've had no problems whatsoever with my DV88 / AVCA1SE combo. I guess I'm lucky too!

I think John Dawson is being more than fair here in trying to rectify the problems, and should be rewarded for doing so. Just think how far you'd get in trying to contact one of the big Jap manufacturers!! To those people berating the product by stating that "a £1000 DVD player shouldn't go wrong", then why did you buy one in the first place? Just go back to your £200 Tesco Box, and watch in peace.

 

A £1000 player should not go wrong! If it's possible for the budget manufacturers to get it right then I can't see why Arcam can't.

Was the DV88 rushed to the market? I don't know, but IMO type testing of these players should have ironed these problems out before they were released.

I am sure that if this problem had happened to another manufacterer then they would been flamed....

The only reason for me perservering with this player is that for the money I dont think you can get anything as good (especially for the music) and the fact that John Dawson and Arcam obviously care about this issue.

Perhaps a free upgrade to the DV27 would be in order??!!

 

Yeah I would go for that! The FMJ looks great...

Matt

P.S And how about being able to power up the player without the remote (and without turning it on/off).. And having remote control codes which can be learned by universla remotes. And having a standard remote which is backlit or glows in the dark.

 

Matt
Whats the remote; and what exactly is the problem.

 

Oh.. I am using the Sony Rv2000 Remote and it learns the Arcam codes but they only work once as they do not have the parity bit. So hit the number one and it works , hit it again and it does not register as its waiting to be reset with the parity bit.

The only remote I know which works is the Pronto due to the Arcam stuff using philips codes. I haive not decided whether to get Pronto yet... I'm a bit lazy to have to pounce around setting it up for months!

Matt

 

For those of you wondering what the problem is with some remotes not learning the Philips RC5 codes properly it is that RC5 includes a toggle bit (what Matt has called a parity bit) in its output. So every time a remote code is output from a properly compliant remote, a "packet" of data is sent out which always contains the same code values, plus the infamous toggle bit. So when you press a button, the first time the toggle bit value is 1, the next press it is 0, next press it is 1, and so on.

This is done for a reason - it tells the receiving product that a key has been pushed once (and whether or not it is then held down continuously), or if it has been repeatedly pushed, say to increment tracks on a CD. If you didn't have the toggle bit then a person waving the remote around and breaking the code stream (someone walking in front of the IR receiver would have the same effect) would be interpreted as multiple key presses.


Unfortunately the toggle bit confuses many learning remotes which expect an identical command every time, and therefore learn random toggle bit values. So when such a remote is used with a product expecting to see the toggle bit increment each time (such as our DVD players), then it confuses the player. Of course some remotes do work properly, including the Philips Pronto and our own CR9000.

The fault unquestionably lies with the improper implementation of RC5 code learning function in non compliant learning remotes. However I acknowledge that there are a lot of these out there It is possible for us to rewrite the DV88/27 system code to ignore the toggle bit, but it is quite a big job, not to be undertaken lightly. I would appreciate people's views on how useful this would or would not be in the scheme of things.

John Dawson (Arcam)

 

Hi
Dont follow all the tech stuff; but the Marantz RC5000 (almost the same as the Pronto) certainly does have the same problem as mentioned above. eg will not accept a repeat button press on the DV88. There is stuff about this on remote central.
The easiest work round on the Marantz (and the Pronto if it has the same problem) is to add a second command to the button. It does not mattter what this is so long as it does not actually effect anything. I get it to learn a command from a remote which controls something in a different room. Dont know if Matts remote can ascribe two codes to one button if it does this solves the problem.
Hope this helps someone
Richard

 

John.... Can you buy the Arcam 9000 remote on its own ? Maybe this is the answer for me.

the sony cannot learn a second key press unlike the Pronto

Is the Arcam remote backlite/glow in the dark? And is it a Arcam only model or have you re-badged an existing remote.. (I have never heard about this one!)

Cheers

Matt

 

Matt,

You certainly used to be able to buy it on its own for around £120. I got mine with the Alpha 10/DAVE.

It's a rebadged model, similar to that used by Tag for the AV32R.

It is backlit and works well, except that navigation (arrows) and transport (Play, FF, etc) share the same physical keys.

Cheers,
Liam