DCP-o-matic

I recently converted a Brain Farm Digital Cinema Reel 2012 from Vimeo to a DCP using DVD O Matic and found sections of the audio had a distinct crackle which was not in the original mp4 download.

After checking the DVD and DCP O Matic websites I re-encoded the file with the Audio gain set to -12db. This has eliminated the crackle.

However the crackle does not appear to be created by our cinema system which is a Barco 10s projector, Dolby DDSS220 Server/IMB and 7.1 Dolby CP750.

Rather the original crackle was present in the DCP when it was played using dcpPlayer on a PC. The cinema system was merely reproducing the DCP audio.

Crackling audio therefore appears to be an artifact of the DCP conversion process rather than the cinema audio system!

Is this a valid interpretation of what is occurring!

Yes. If the audio level is too high it is clipped in the DCP's audio files, so it will sound nasty no matter what you play it back on.

Thanks Carl. A great program and a real life saver for us at a small community run cinema in Victoria, Australia.
Peter.