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2 recent, weird and isolated issues with BD playback

I'm running a McIntosh MVP881BR.  The deck is now 4-1/2 years old and has the latest firmware update according to the internal check routine.  

First problem:  When I've tried to play 2 different 20th Century Fox BD movies (Abraham Lincoln - Vampire Hunter and The Martian), I get the disc error message "your player needs to be updated."  Those are the only 2 Fox BDs I've ever bought.  Everything else regardless of studio, new or old, plays.

Second problem:  When I've played 2 different discs with Dolby Atmos (Mad Max Fury Road and Mockingjay Part 2), I only get front left, center, front right and subwoofer.  They are the only 2 Dolby Atmos discs I have.  My McIntosh MAC-3 processor registers the input as surround and the rear channels are definitely live, just no signal. 

I'm very satisfied with my 881 and consider it the most musical disc player I've ever owned.  Audio CD, DVD-A, SACD performance and DVD up-sampling I feel is outstanding.  The MAC-3 is an older 5.1 unit updated by McIntosh not quite 4 years ago and works fine with every other disc or source I've ever run into it.  

I have a query into McIntosh, but would like to know if anyone else here has run into either of these things.
effischer
tonykay
856 posts
 
I bought a Pioneer Elite BDP 09 here on Audiogon and had no problem playing CDs and DVDs. However, at some point I tried to play a Blu-Ray disc and the screen was blank. I called Pioneer and they walked me through the diagnostic, only to find my player did not have the "latest firmware update." They sent me an update disc (without charge) and once it was uploaded, no problem! 

I can't comment on the Dolby Atmos issue. My best advice is to call McIntosh and talk to a tech. They have probably heard everything and can help you troubleshoot the cause and find a solution. Best of luck!
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cleeds
2,065 posts
 
I have an MVP881BR and agree that it's a terrific player. I only use it in 2-channel mode.

I haven't had any real problem with it. It does need to be rebooted occasionally, but I'm sure you've already tried that.

Please keep us posted regarding the outcome. Good Luck!
oddiofyl's avatar
oddiofyl
1,076 posts
 
No experience with the McIntosh players but I recently upgraded the firmware on my OPPO 103d.  Shortly after the player started acting weird,  had I fully read the update I would have realized that it was imperative that the player be reset to its factory defaults for the update to work correctly.  It might be a good idea to write down your settings and reset the factory defaults...... Also give McIntosh a call they were very helpful when I called them for support on my preamp.
effischer OP
477 posts
 
@tonykay @cleeds @oddiofyl Was just able to follow-up on this with McIntosh directly after trying re-initialization and checking for firmware updates again (none available).  

The 20th Century Fox BD problem is apparently a hardware issue since the deck has the latest firmware update.  I've been referred to Pro Tech Electronics in Cuyahoga Falls OH for that part of it.

The Dolby Atmos thing may or may not be related.  Atmos was released after the 881 was discontinued, so unsupported for it.  They have no idea why the BD re-encoding option to Dolby Digital (required for my MAC-3) isn't producing a rear surround signal from it.

Atmos is irritating.  It means I either sacrifice video quality to get 5.1 audio via DVD playback or sacrifice rear surround to get BD video with movies encoded with it. Perhaps McIntosh will produce a new firmware update to address this, but now that the 881 is discontinued I'm not going to hold my breath waiting for it.

Thanks for the input everyone - much appreciated!
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