Hey guys, on my scientific atlanta 4250HD cable box, what should i set the volume to in the setup menu, variable or Fixed?

Depends on what you want.

Fixed controls the volume through the TV, variable through the cable box and allows closed captioning when muted.

Page 17 of the manual:

http://www.cisco.com/web/consumer/support/userguides2/4003114.pdf

When I had the 4200HD I set it at "fixed" because when I had it set to "variable" someone would set the box volume to low and the TV very high so when we switched inputs to DVD or Satellite the volume was blasting.

Well , im not listening through the tv speakers, i have the cable box hooked up to my onkyo reciever with an optical cable, so what would be the optimal setting to set it to, variable or fixed? btw, the range should be set to NARROW or WIDE?

TV, receiver, same difference to the cable box. ;) If you don't want the cable box controlling the volume, set it to fixed.

IIRC, wide and narrow is the dynamic range, or the ratio to loud and quiet. Wide gives you a wide range, narrow, a narrow range (meaning with narrow, loud effects will sound around the same volume as dialog.) I think it's for people who want to keep all the sounds at a common level (so if they're watching late at night they can hear dialog without explosions waking the neighbors) or to tame commercials that blast you with loud sounds. I would PERSONALLY set it to wide, but it's up to you.

TV, receiver, same difference to the cable box. ;) If you don't want the cable box controlling the volume, set it to fixed.

IIRC, wide and narrow is the dynamic range, or the ratio to loud and quiet. Wide gives you a wide range, narrow, a narrow range (meaning with narrow, loud effects will sound around the same volume as dialog.) I think it's for people who want to keep all the sounds at a common level (so if they're watching late at night they can hear dialog without explosions waking the neighbors) or to tame commercials that blast you with loud sounds. I would PERSONALLY set it to wide, but it's up to you.

I really dont mind the sound being loud :D so set the range to WIDE and the volume to FIXED right? i dont want to compromise sound quality or anything like that..

Wide would probably be best sound quality in terms of range (it'll sound more realistic, anyway), although if the dialog is quiet you might have to turn it up (and then I hope you like your explosions LOUD.)

"Fixed" has nothing to do with sound quality. It's only where you want to control your volume, cable box or receiver. It'll sound the same either way. It just depends on what you find convenient. I can't answer that for you, because there's no right or wrong answer except your preference.

Wide would probably be best sound quality in terms of range (it'll sound more realistic, anyway), although if the dialog is quiet you might have to turn it up (and then I hope you like your explosions LOUD.)

"Fixed" has nothing to do with sound quality. It's only where you want to control your volume, cable box or receiver. It'll sound the same either way. It just depends on what you find convenient. I can't answer that for you, because there's no right or wrong answer except your preference.

So which setting do i choose if i want the reciever to control the volume? (without the cable box limiting any volume)

Wide would probably be best sound quality in terms of range (it'll sound more realistic, anyway), although if the dialog is quiet you might have to turn it up (and then I hope you like your explosions LOUD.)

"Fixed" has nothing to do with sound quality. It's only where you want to control your volume, cable box or receiver. It'll sound the same either way. It just depends on what you find convenient. I can't answer that for you, because there's no right or wrong answer except your preference.

No it will NOT sound the same way. Fixed/variable has a great deal to do with sound quality. First, if you have the volume set too low on the source (STB) you have to increase the gain on the amp and suffer poorer S/N ratio. Second, if you use any decoding, such as dolby, a variable level affects the decoder. It is designed for a fixed line level signal.

There is little reason to use variable if the volume is going to be controlled in a TV or AVR. Having two controls on the volume creates a great deal of confusion in users. I do so many service calls where this is an issue that I cannot count them.

For a receiver, you should use the digital audio output from the box (optical or coax) rather than the analog stereo outputs. The digital audio output is not affected by the fixed/variable, etc settings - that affects the analog audio output.

i do use optical for sound, but just for peace of mind, i should set it to WIDE and FIXED for optimal results right?

i do use optical for sound, but just for peace of mind, i should set it to WIDE and FIXED for optimal results right?

It won't matter at all for the optical audio output, those settings only affect the analog stereo (RCA red/white) outputs and the RF output. You can try each setting and compare yourself with some test audio.