Time Warner Cable - Signature Home Service - Page 15

What are the sound issues? It could well be the Device settings in your STB. Is problem with STB and the TV' built-in speakers, or with an external sound system? How is the audio from the STB connected (HDMI or digital audio out)?

Thanks Dave. I have detailed a full description of my sound problem below (I posted over at the other TWC (NYC) forum here at AVS). If you can see a certain key test that I overlooked, I am all ears (pun), but so far, I cannot draw any conclusion other than my distorted sound as being caused by the cable. I use an HDMI cable to connect my TV to the Cisco 8742 STB. I then connect a digital optical cable from the TV's digital output to a zvox sound system's digital input. I have tested my sound both with the TV speakers and the zvox, and with different audio cables. More information on these various comparisons comes after the break.

Regarding settings (and I am going from memory here as I am not home), I did indeed check the sound settings. Here goes: In the STB settings menu: digital output is selected in one "audio" sub-menu. Then, in a separate "devices" sub-menu, I selected: HDMI, which only allows me to have "fixed" (not variable) settting, and then "normal" range (not wide or narrow). Just last night I played around with ALL of these settings, and my sound problems are no different. Below is a copy & paste of the full description of the sound problem Thanks.
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I could not find similar issues after a brief search, so I am throwing this problem I am having out there. Has anyone experienced inconsistent/poor sound quality from TWC-NYC, particularly when watching recorded shows? I am Signature Home, and using the new Cisco boxes, and I have poor sound quality, but on only one TV/Cisco set-up in my bedroom. My bedroom set-up includes a Panasonic LX700 television, Zvox v220 sound system, and the new Cisco DVR.

To test the problem, I did the following:

Play a program on the TV and output sound to zvox, then separately, output sound to TV --> Fuzzy audio.
Change the optical cable connected to zvox from TV to STB --> Fuzzy audio.
Swap optical cable to RCA interconnects --> Fuzzy audio.
Output sound to zvox via standalone DVD player, then separately, output sound to zvox via iPod --> No fuzzy audio.
Move zvox to another room with a different TV and output same TV programs --> No fuzzy audio.

So, my results indicate a fuzzy sound, particularly with vocals and when using the DVR to watch a recorded program, when I output sound from the STB to either my TV speakers or the zvox. However, I get no fuzzy sound when the audio output is from either a DVD player or an MP3 player. The sound is sorta fuzzy, or garbled, or staticy, mostly for some vocals or bass. The poor audio is only present on some channels, some frequencies, and on most but not all recorded programs. My conclusion is that it's either the set top box or some poor cable wiring leading to this particular set up. Based on all of my years connecting various audio and video equipment, I am somewhat surprised that it's seemingly the cable and not the speaker system or TV, or even the connecting audio cable, but all of my comparisons rule out those causes.

Does this make sense to the forum? Am I missing a key test that would truly isolate the cause of the "mysterious fuzzy sound?" Has anyone else has had any similar poor audio quality experiences with TWC-NYC?

thanks for any input!
Edited by walkman666 - 8/30/12 at 9:07am

Walkman666,

Interestingly, I have run into a similar "fuzzy sound" issue, which was resolved by rebooting (unplug power to the STB - pulling the plug in back will do, for 30 seconds and then plug back in and wait several minutes till the time shows up on the STB). In my case, I was doing something funny that could have caused the issue to occur. I periodically make DVD recordings (SD) from my 8742 DVR. The 8742 does not have a S-Video output, which gives a better SD signal to my DVD recorder. I purchased a Monoprice HDMI > NTSC converter, which provides a S-Video out. When I connect the HDMI input to this converter, it signals the DVR to switch to HDMI audio (I have to switch back to Dolby Digital when done). One of those times I was getting a fuzzy sound from the DVR - even happened on the digital output as well. I found that rebooting took care of the problem.

A note on your setup with the ZVox: The odds are that with your connection, 5.1 digital is NOT being fed to the ZVox. HDMI is a 2 way connection. The source (your cable box) "asks" the sink (your TV) what audio it is capable of. The TV will signal back that it is 2 channel - so that is what get's sent. The digital audio out on the TV is meant to provide 5.1 on broadcast programs (using the TV OTA or QAM tuner) to your surround sound system. As a result, only 2 channel is sent from the cable box to the TV. If you usually use the ZVox, then you might want to run the digital audio direct from the cable box (and set the Audio: Digital Output to Dolby Digital).

Thanks, Dave. Very interesting that you had the same experience. I will reboot (have done that enough times in my cable daze), and will also run the digital line from the Cisco STB instead of out from the TV to get the 5.1 signal. I'll change the settings within the Cisco menu to correspond (I know exactly to what you are referring). I'll loop back here to let you know if the "fuzzy sound" issue changes as a result of the reboot (that would be an amazingly wonderfully simple solution).

Hey Dave. I tried the reboot, and initial observation is that it worked. Thanks! I am a big The Daily Show watcher, via DVR, and it kills me to have distorted sound through that program. I re-played portions of the same show that was distorted last night, and the sound was clear and crisp without distortion. I will do some more testing.

I also changed my optical connection from TV > Zvox to STB > Zvox, and changed the settings from Digital: Audio > HDMI to Digital: Audio > Digital Output, but that resulted in no sound. I then went back to HDMI, and I still had no sound (??). I then chose Digital: Audio > Other, and that got me sound back. Kinda weird. Any thoughts on this?

thanks, - steve

The "Other" setting is 2channel PCM, I made the assumption that the Zvox used Dolby Digital - a quick check on the specs reveals that it isn't. So no wonder that my Dolby Digital suggestions didn't work. The Zvox depends on a matrix digital (that's what 2 channel from 5,1 is).

OK, forget my earlier suggestions (except that the reboot took care of the original problem). Sorry to take you down the rat-hole:rolleyes:.

Ah, no worries on that, Dave. At least now I understand...I really appreciate the advice. So, if I go back to running the audio from my TV to my Zvox (so that I have audio from both cable and my DVD player), what digital audio setting should I use from the TWC menu: Digital: Audio > HDMI or Digital: Audio > Other? Both seem to work.
Edited by walkman666 - 8/30/12 at 5:40pm

I would be cautious in getting u-verse , unless you know how far you are from the DSLAM that would be serving your neighborhood, because the both the TV , internet and phone all run over a DSL line unless your lucky enough to get fiber to the prem,

I used to do call center support for u-verse so I just want to let you know before you get into it, want to make sure you get the right impression of it before you dive into it

A friend of mine just got a postcard from TWCNY saying that, as of 10/15, he would be charged $3.95 a month rent for his internet cable modem, or that he could buy one if he preferred. I have not gotten that postcard yet. Does anybody know if Signature Plan subscribers are included in the new rental plan?

Thanks,
-barry

Nice.. First beat up all the video customers with a bad guide software and throw a poor SDV system in there and now hit all your internet customers for more coin. Looks like the Metrics for the next quater will have loss of internet customers.

I live a few blocks away from my friends, and they got the postcard about rental fees, and I did not. Maybe TWCNY is not going to charge Signature customers.

If they do charge us, I guess I'm going with a Motorola SB6121. I'm pretty happy with the SBG6580 that TWCNY is providing me with, and the 6121 seems to be pretty similar, but with no WiFi and no router - and it's much cheaper.

-barry

I thought I read somewhere that Signature Home customers would not be charged (at least this time).

Edited by davehancock - 10/3/12 at 8:58am

Is there a deployed DOCSIS3 modem that includes phone?

xnappo

I receive the same postcard from TWC, an extra $3.95 a month. You can choose to use your own modem. But if you have phone service you have to use their modem, or cancel it to use your own. TWC current policy will not allow customers to use their own equipment with twc phone service.

My current equipment:
Arris TG852G (good modem, WiFi is so so)

Quick question is there a list for Time Warner Cable boxes, so I can see which ones are the newest

It varies with the division. People would be more able to respond to you IF you would include your LOCATION in your profile!

:)Sorry about that New York City

Went to one of the Buffalo area TW Cable Stores to replace a remote to and asked about combo MTA/D3 modems for the hell of it. The lady pulled out an Arris and a Ubee and asked me which one I wanted. I took the Arris and yes it was the TG852G as well. I didn't have my current Ubee 3611 and Arris TM502 modems with me, so the lady gave me the modem and said to call to get it activated and return my current hardware at a later date. When I got home, I was on the phone for about 50 minutes with Signature Home support. There was some big time issues getting this thing activated. At one point the internet worked but the phone didn't. But eventually got it all squared away. This is great! I already dug out my old three way splitter I was using prior to having Signature Home and pulled down one of the cable lines that was hooked to one of the modems and went back to three lines, one for each DVR and one for the modem. Now if I can just get my hands on a couple Cisco 8742s, I’d be all set.

Last month one weekend I was doing some work in the garage and accidently nicked the incoming cable line with the hedge trimmer. It didn’t affect service but I wanted to get it eventually taken care of. I called up on a Thursday morning to schedule an appointment and I could have had a tech out as soon as 4-7PM THAT DAY. Not knowing what time I’d be done with work that day or Friday I had to decline and schedule an appointment for Saturday in the 1-4PM slot. At around 12:45 the tech called and said he’d be over in about 45 minutes and he was. The following week, after noticing some pixilation in the bedroom that wasn’t present in the living room I called up late on a Friday evening and scheduled another service call for the next day. Another Saturday 1-4 appointment. Same tech showed up, and called when he was about 20 minutes away. As the tech was leaving and I thanked him as I was walking out the door I said something about the new 8742HDC, he said he had one brand new left on his van and asked me if I wanted it. I said Hells Yeah and he took the spool of cable out and returned with the new DVR and his laptop to swap out one of my boxes. I cannot complain one bit about the service. It has been nothing short of A+ excellent when I have needed it.

What exactly should Whole House DVR be that it isn’t? You can share recorded content on any set top box on your MOCA network. What else is there to do? You constantly and unnecessarily gripe about Navigator, when it doesn’t lack anything major that DirecTV’s DVRs can do.

The easiest way to get all your wants is to get an IPad and install the TWC app.

And how exactly do you do that with DirecTV? I can’t do that with an HR34 and an HR24 whole house set up, DirecTVs two best DVRs on the market running either the National Release software or the beta software.
If that’s your thing, then go with satellite, that’s the best option for that and I can’t argue about it. Me, personally I think that is an asinine ‘feature’. I’d rather have every TV connected to a full-fledged DVR with independent tuners. Using dumb terminals like the C31 in conjunction with the HR34 on DirecTV for their Genie System or the Joey with Dish’s Hopper just doesn’t make sense in my mind when you can have a real box instead. I can almost understand why it may be useful in some situations but, at the same time, I can’t wrap my head about any distinct advantages. The only thing dumber than this type of set up is Dishes x22 receivers where one receiver with two tuners feeds two TVs, but the slave TV is connected via RF coax. Friggin stupid!
Can’t say I really care about guide filters and the 16:9 GUI is a massive disappointment, and sucks big time. I posted the screen shots in the other thread a while back, you really don’t see anymore info on DirecTVs 16:9 guide than you do with Time Warner’s 4:3. Would I rather have a true 16:9 HD GUI, sure, if it’s implemented like DirecTV did, then I say keep it 4:3. The black HD GUI on DirecTV is also slower to respond than the blue stretched GUI was. The one thing I will give DirecTV is they don’t do that retarded color coding crap like some other providers. Red for movies, green for sports and so on. That is the most retarded thing I’ve ever seen, I believe Craprizon does that with Fios.

And you’re a well-established hater. If I didn’t think Time Warner was the best MSO on the planet period, with the best service ever, and blows away the pizza pans, I wouldn’t be spending $300/month with them. Especially when it comes to programming. There are other providers who don’t care about HD like DirecTV and Verizon, you have providers who are anti Sports like Dish and you have failed attempts that result in garbage quality like AT&T. So I can’t see how TW is #1 especially with all the improvements that have come with Navigator

To DirecTVs credit, the 5 tuner DVR with a 1TB is a nice option, even if the software it runs absolutely hideous. Although since I watch than delete all of my records and with the very initiative conflict resolution of Navigator, the extra tuners and hard drive space don’t do much for me personally. DirecTV extra sports programming and 3D content (even though the damn HR34 keeps f’ing up 3D) are enough to keep me with the service for a while.

Yes, I am an extremely proud Time Warner fan boy as they are the best solution around.

You said, “Navigator Whole Home lacks ALOT compared to DirecTV. You can't schedule across clients, you can't see a central list of scheduled recordings…”

I said, “And how exactly do you do that with DirecTV? I can’t do that with an HR34 and an HR24 whole house set up, DirecTVs two best DVRs on the market running either the National Release software or the beta software.”

That has nothing to do with lack of knowledge, which I have plenty of by the way or you switching or not switching to satellite. You brought up a supposed feature of DirecTV, and I would like to know how you initiate those said features. Because I can’t figure it out, and according to you it is a feature that is available on DirecTV, but not on Time Warner’s Navigator.

No, I get that. But your constant unwarranted bashing of Navigator is getting old. And is anything but fair.
As someone who has had Dish Network for over 5 years, DirecTV for 2 years after that, Time Warner for 6 years and both TW and DirecTV again for the past year, using flagship products from each service, I think my opinions about this stuff are more valid than most. It’s not trolling, its called the truth.