sound drops in arc from tc-42g25 and ht-s3300

Hello!

I just purchased onkyo ht-s3300.

My tv has netflix streaming. When I watch neflix with sound to ht-s3300 via hdmi arc - the sound is fine on low volume levels - up to 30. if i go to 40 i start noticing interruption in sound in loud scenes. it's getting worse if i increase volume level further. at 60 and up almost no sound gets through just short bursts every now and then.

in the above config i have just hdmi cable between hdmi 1 on tv and hdmi out on ht-s3300. hdmi arc is enabled in 'hdmi controls' on ht-s3300.
input selector is set to 'tv/cd'
there is NO optical cable between tv and ht-s3300, just hdmi cable.

When I disable arc in 'hdmi control' on ht-s3300,
set 'default assignement' for 'tv/cd to OPT2 in 'digital audio'
and connect tv and ht-s3300:OPT2 with optical cable
the sound is fine on all volume levels. no sound drops.

When I use tv speakers the i don't notice any sound drops either.



2) I also have a question.
I have a dvd player connected to HDMI 1 on HT-s3300.
and in "HDMI input" I have BD/DVD assigned to HDMI1.

According to the ht-s3300 manual (page 31)

www intl onkyo.com/downloads/manuals/pdf/ht-s3300_manual_e.pdf

When an HDMI IN is assigned to an input selector as explained
here, the digital audio input for that input selector is automatically
set to the same HDMI IN (➔ 31, Digital Audio (Digital
Audio Input)).


But I've never seen "HDMI IN" choice in "digital audio' menu. All I have is
"----" COAX OPT1 OPT2. But I have sound from the dvd going to the ht-s3300 speakers fine.

Thanks,

Am I supposed to see "HDMI IN" among the choices in "digutal audio" menu ?
I don't have that choice there.
I will try assigning a second device to BD/DVD and see what happens.

Thanks,

ok. i tried all 3 hdmi cables i have.
Unfortunately they are all the same kind as I bought them toghether.
6', "gold plated", hdmi 1.3
and with each of them i had those sound drops.
(I will try purchasing another cable).

changing "listening modes" didn't have any effect on sound drops.

when i disabled arc and switched back to using optical cable sound drops were gone.
was listening on "MAX" volume and no sound drops.


Those sound drops happen only during scenes with very loud or loud and sharp
sounds ( I was watching martial combat fighting ).
I am not sure if I experienced them during quiet scenes with dialog.

I wonder if somebody could try to try reproduce this
by playing something loud over arc ...




and I have another question

3) Is there any advantage of using hdmi arc instead of optical cable ?
I mean in sound quality. I know that one advantage of arc is that there will
be one less cable.

Thanks,

I can't change audio input format for TV/CD. (i was holding audio for 8 secs.
and it worked for BD/DVD input source).
I think this is because I don't have anything assigned to that input source.

(page 39 of the manual says 'digital input signal formats are available
only for the input sources that you have assigned a digital input jack)

Should I have something assigned to TV/CD input source in 'hdmi input'
menu when i use arc ?



when i use optical cable i assign OPT2 to TV/CD input source.

-Thanks

It wouldn't let me to change from AUTO to PCM until I disabled ARC.
so i changed it to PCM and then enabled ARC. And I not 100% sure but I THINK
I had fewer sound drops and they were starting at higher volume levels than before.
It seemd could raise volume to 60-65 with no drops. Then some
drops would appear at around 70. So it seemed like it was better
than what I saw before.


Then I powercycled HT-S3300 and now it see sound drops appearing as before.


I was also watching front panel display on HT-S3300
and i noticed that "PCM" in "audio input indicators"
disapped couple of times toghether with
"PL II" in "listeneing mode indicator".

Another thing I noticed is when I press 'display' on low volume (when
i don't see sound drops) the display cycles through

"TV/CD 33"
"PCM fs:44.1kHZ"
"TV PLII Movie"


On high volume when i see lots of sound drops pressing display cycles mostly
through

"TV/CD 70"
"TV PLII Movie"

I almost never see "PCM fs: 44.1kHz" on display.



Don't know if this is an indication of something or not.






I have

-
thanks

JChin,

I just got a new hdmi cable from monoprice. The ARC support was listed in description of the cable on their website. With that cable I don't see any sound drops in ARC anymore !

thank you for your help.