Annoying DirecTV Audio Issue - Page 2

The only choice I see in the DTV menu for HR24 and H24 is Dolby On or Off. I have it on without any problems. The sound dropouts you guys talk about only seems to happen when not going from DTV receiver to TV for both video and sound.

I read of many who use an AVR and not complained of sound dropouts, so I don't know if this issue is only with DTV or occurs with other STBs.

Having the Dolby switch set to on doesn't mean you are getting a DD5.1 signal to the TV, it only tells the sat box to allow it as an option. If the TV EDID information during handshake identifies itself as a 2.0 (stereo) device, the box will not send DD5.1 to the TV - it is the same as if the Dolby switch was off. I don't know for sure that this is happening in your case, but in my experience few TV's accept 5.1 input via HDMI.

The dropouts are affecting other cable and sat companies as well to varying degrees. It seems to be associated with MPEG4 encoded channels, but I'm not sure if that has been proven.

I am running HDMI cables from DTV to AVR to TV. Also, using optical cables from DTV to AVR. My TV will play sound without issue at all. The AVR has dropouts with certainly stations. Some won't play at all. The AVR actually displays that it switches from digital to analog while it dropsout. The funny thing is that now my DVD player is doing the same thing??? I am hoping my optical cables are shot... Anybody else using optical cables? Mine are Monster 1000 THX.

You have both HDMI and optical audio connections from your DTV box to your AVR. Which input is your AVR using for the audio? If the receiver is configured to use the optical cable, then the HDMI audio is handshaking with the TV to get a stereo signal. That would explain the dropouts on the AVR (getting a 5.1 signal via optical) but not the TV (getting a stereo signal via HDMI).

Why is the DVD player having audio dropouts? I don't know. Is it only on certain disks? How is it connected to the AVR, same as DTV with both HDMI and optical? If so, make sure the optical cable is fully inserted and not kinked or otherwise damanged. You can also try swapping optical cables with the DTV box. I've never heard of an optical cable wearing out.

Forget it dude. English apparently isn't your first language.

That is what I am doing. For God's sake trying reading with your eyes instead of your mouth(fingers).

I have video directly to the TV via component along with RCAs for sound. I can watch TV without needing the AVR on.

For the times when I want to use my AVR I have optical going to it.

Read this: The dropouts occur regardless of whether I am using the AVR.

English is indeed my first language.

Two other posts in this thread perhaps you missed:

Originally Posted by zchrisz
are you all using hdmi? i have this exact same issue and it's annoying, i seem to have noticed it when i upgraded my a/v receiver to one with hdmi switching... i dont notice any audio drop outs with my hd dvr upstairs just connected to the tv with hdmi.

Originally Posted by MitchB84
I'm having this issue as well. It only happens if run HDMI through my Onkyo AVR. If I run the HDMI cable from the DTV receiver to the TV I do not have this problem. It happens more often through the premium channels.

That may very well be the issue for some, but when you quote me and respond to me please keep my situation in mind.

Anyway, thanks for trying to help, but since you don't have any issues and have only tried to blame AVRs for the problem, not sure what you're able to add. In addition if it were an AVR issue we would have probably heard from some Dishnetwork and cable users with the problem.

IOWs, rest assured this is a Direct issue.

edit: Sorry to be short w/ you but for some reason you were unable to wrap your mind around what I was posting.

I have DirecTV and going straight from STB to TV using TV speakers with no audio dropouts. If this were a DTV issue, I imagine the problem would manifest itself for me as well, along with others who are not having this issue. What we have here are some people with dropout problem and the question is why? If you are going straight from STB to TV using TV speakers and having dropout problem--and not using AVR in the path, then the issue is intermittent in the sense it only occurs with some people, not all. So, are you saying your TV is hooked up via HDMI to STB with no AVR in the path?

I already explained that to you. The dropout is in the 5.1 signal from DTV...going straight to TV you only get the PCM 2.0 signal which doesn't have the dropout, or at least they are short enough to not be noticed.

Certainly some decoders are going to be faster than others in resynching after audio signal dropouts, but the receiver is not the source of the problem - it is in the DTV 5.1 signal.

If you would like some more data points before making a conclusion, this thread has more than 960 posts discussing the topic.

Most electronic problems are buggy in nature, completely random and not every user experiences them. That is why not everybody has this issue and is also probably why DTV isn't doing anything about it.

No, I never posted that I used HDMI, I have however posted that my STB is connected to my TV with component for video and standard RCA cables for audio and I experience drop-outs. This set-up allows viewing TV without need of an AVR.

In addition I also have an optical cable from my STB connected to my AVR for surround sound. With this connection I also have drop-outs.

That explains the issue if you're using a digital connection and an AVR, what would cause the drop-outs when you're connected via analog and straight to the TV? I suppose decoding has to place no matter what.

I am going to keep a note pad next to the couch and document the channel(including whether the channel is 5.1 or stereo), time and whether or not I'm listening via the TV speakers or through the AVR everytime the drop-outs occur.

I read the last page and it appears the solution for people using an AVR would be Sony:

"4. Some A/V receivers (including several Onkyo and Denon models) are far more sensitive to these audio glitches than others. A neighbor has DirecTV using an Onkyo A/V receiver. I have a Sony. I get virtually no audio glitches with the DD 5.1 signal through my Sony. He has long glitches all the time, on certain channels."

http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.ph...79#post2492479

Do you have the Dolby setting turned on in the DTV box? If so, try turning it off for a little while and see what happens. I'm wondering if it might be downmixing the 5.1 stream to the analog outs when Dolby is on.

Like I said, some brands recover faster than others. However, changing AVRs because one brand recovers quicker is not a "solution", DirecTV needs to figure out the problem and make whatever changes are required to send a stable signal out of their boxes.

Worth a try, but again what would cause the issue with both connection schemes? Nothing is being downmixed when I use optical output to the AVR.

It could be a combination of things. Another poster mentioned a possibly less than ideal signal strength. There is also very high compression in certain channels from what I am told. Couple that with quirky decoders in certain boxes and maybe it's the "perfect storm".

True, but when you downmix a signal with a dropout you get a...dropout.



I've heard the signal strength theory and I don't believe it. The signal is a digital stream that carries both audio and video information intermingled, it is hard to imagine signal strength affecting the audio but not the video. For times when there is a video breakup along with audio drop signal strength could be the cause, but that is a an infrequent occurence for me.

When people talk about high level of compression I generally think of lossy compression primarily of the video. The dolby digital audio stream is already heavily compressed and further compression, while possible, must be of a lossless type otherwise the stream could not be decoded.

Personally, I don't think the problem is in the dish -> TV chain. I think it is in the compression prior to uplink to satellite. The problem seems to have started around the time of the DTV transition when stations were scrambling to put digital equipment in place, and it appears to be mostly associated with MPEG4 stations. I suspect that a bunch of buggy MPEG4 compression equipment (lowest bidder?) was placed in service over a short period of time and is the source of the problem.

Best explanation I have heard yet.

Now, if they would admit they have problem and replace the defective equipment..........

This makes me wonder if sony receivers actually process dolby 5.1 correctly or if they just simulate. I can simulate Dolby 5.1 with pcm and avoid the dropouts but the quality is just not the same. I went from Dish to Directv and Dish does not have this problem with their HD feeds. I'll be going back to Dish when my 2 year contract is up if the problem is not corrected.

Did DirecTV put new dish in same place as Dish dish? Now that sounds weird, Dish dish.

I still have both mounted. I was going to take the Dish unit down but think I'll leave it up for now. I changed over because Directv had full time RSN in HD plus 7 locals in HD.

I came back from Cable to DirecTV just over a month ago. I absolutely love the Whole Home with Internet setup and no audio dropouts--but I am using TV speakers on all three HDTV's.

Yeah Tv speakers you won't have a issue. I love the MRV also along with the new HR24 is as fast as my Dish 722.

The HR24 is absolutely the best DVR I've ever had, does the job and is quiet!

I have 2 HR24's and 1 H24.

I do not believe it is an HDMI issue. I have my system set up using HDMI from the HR22 to the TV and digital (fiber optic) out to my HT processor (so I can use either the TV audio for stuff like news and surround when it matters). I have the same problem as described. 1-2 second audio dropouts and sometimes a video "momentary glitch".

If I use the TV audio, which gets there through the DTV receiver-TV HDMI cable, the audio dropout is much shorter in time, often barley noticeable.

My guess is that that the very brief audio dropout evidenced at the TV, is causing a longer dropout through the HT processor because the processor has to recalibrate the audio.

The problem is most evident on Showtime, TNT, and USA Network, perhaps because I watch a lot of their programming. It happens on recorded and live material.

DirecTV had me reformat the hard drive, update the software and move the dish to no avail so I went online to discover that their denials on any problems like this being reported are either disingenuous or just lack of connection between tech support and CSRs.

My DTV receiver is an HR22, the HT processor a Rotel RSP-1570, the TV a Panasonic 54V10 plasma.

Did anyone ever get a fix? I have my HR20 running HDMI to my receiver which only does HDMI video passthrough and I have an optical cable going to the receiver for the DD 5.1 from the HR20. When I watch recorded content in other rooms from on my H22 it also has the audio drop. It seems to me the box is recording the content with the audio drops. This leads me to believe it has to be in the compression. When I watch live video on the HR20 it also has audio drops, BUT when I watch live video on my other boxes I do not get the audio drops. Thoughts?

I have a uverse and a Motorola DVR (don't remember the model # off the top of my head), and I have the exact same issue that Kyuu mentioned earlier in this thread. The DVR is hooked into an ONKYO receiver via HDMI, and if the DVR is set on "surround" instead of stereo, the sound skips/drops out. It's really annoying. From the searching I've done in the past, it seems this has been an ongoing problem they've had and can't seem to fix. For how much I'm paying for their service, this pretty inexcusable.

I have Dish Network and the same issue only we have an older set using composite video and stereo audio. This has started happening more frequently after changing channels. I believe what is happening is an intermittent failure of the muting/unmuting section of the audio processor. The device is designed to mute audio during a channel transition sort of the same way as some go to a black or blue screen during transition.

I would suggest a call to the carrier to replace the control head. (set top box)

I'll chime in with an update. I haven't had any dropouts for quite some time regardless of connection.

I had forgotten about this thread. Now that you mention it and I think about it, I haven't had an audio drop out in months. They just seem to have dissapeared. Might lend credence to the earlier post about some cheap/malfunctioning equipment from the providers that may have eventually been replaced.