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8300HD, Dolby Digital 5.1 and Cablevision

post #1 of 11
3/10/12 at 2:11pm
Thread Starter 
Problem Solved!

If you're trying to avoid changing the Audio Digital Out setting when you go from TV internal speakers to external speakers, read on.

This was driving me crazy. My wife prefers to watch TV without dealing with the Receiver, therefore, internal speakers. I prefer to use the external speakers connected to the Receiver if Dolby Digital is available. Going to the cable box settings menu to switch back and forth is a pain.

Connections were as follows:
8300HD to Panasonic Plasma TV via HDMI
8300HD to Panasonic Receiver via Digital Coax

Connection added to solve problem:
RCA Red/White Audio from 8300HD to TV
Change HDMI setting on TV to take signal from Red/White Audio Cable (Component in my case)

Now, I just leave the cable box Audio setting to Dolby Digital. Prior to the extra connection, the TV would not get sound unless the Audio setting was HDMI. The Receiver would get sound on HDMI, but only 2.0.
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post #2 of 11
10/22/12 at 8:18am
Have you had any problems since cablevision updated the menu (software) on the box where if you have an HDMI cable connected to it it no longer outputs dolby digital over the digital coax cable? There used to be a setting on the cable box where you could choose if you wanted dolby digital to output over HDMI or digital coax/optical. It seems that that setting is gone and if the HDMI connection is established between the cable box and my TV it just defaults to outputting dolby digital over the HDMI cable. If I simply unplug the HDMI cable from the back of the cable box I get dolby digital out of the digital coax but as soon as I plus it back in it stops. I tried emailing cablevision's customer support but they have no idea what I am talking about.
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post #3 of 11
10/22/12 at 8:41pm
Thread Starter 
A few months ago I upgraded to a receiver which has HDMI passthru, so I no longer have the situation I described in the opening post.

I'm not surprised Cablevision isn't much help for this. When it comes to connection questions, it's hard to find someone who knows what you're talking about.

Sorry I couldn't be of more help.
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post #4 of 11
10/24/12 at 7:04am
I have this same exact problem. Ever since they updated their software my optical audio connection does not work to produce dolby digital sound. If I unplug my hdmi cable dolby digital sound comes through, however I have no picture smile.gif Go figure.

I have no idea what they did within their software to warrant this type of error, but its annoying as I cannot enjoy true dolby digital through my current set up and IM NOT going out and buying a new receiver!
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post #5 of 11
11/17/12 at 7:05pm
Cablevision tech support now admits there is a "known problem" with 8300 explorer boxes using the new menu. They admit that it no longer passes through a Dolby Digital 5.1 signal! It took me a while to realize this, as the "Dolby" audio setting produces a degraded pro logic signal. How can they do this when Vudu is using 1080p and Dolby Digital PLUS (7.1 discrete channels)?

They said "they're working on it." We need other subscribers to complain!!
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post #6 of 11
11/23/12 at 4:18pm
Same issue here: eventually got a live person (Paul, very nice guy) on Thanksgiving but he had to bump it up to a tech above him. Answer was to run opitical out of the tv to the receiver. Of course, it did not work. Not when the manual to the 8300 says any HDMI defaults to stereo. It still means, to my understanding, that the HDMI will not pass through 5.1 from the tv because it still is not receiving it. Second suggestion was an HDMI splitter but if the 8300 still detects an HDMI connection, whats the point of splitting a 2.0 signal? I love how the wording in the menu says all outputs will receive 5.1 when set to Digital On- ha! In your dreams. Looking at FIOS now for service.
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post #7 of 11
11/28/12 at 10:54am
I had the same issue with the 8300 and returned it to cable and switched to the Samsung box and changed service to DVR PLUS which now makes every box i have a recorder which im guessing is done on cables servers instead of an HD inside the box. DD now works on my receiver through the optical port. I haven't used it enought to compare yet but i believe the HD picture on the 8300 was better then the Samsung.
Has anyone gone this way and compared?
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post #8 of 11
1/25/13 at 7:20am
I have an eSata external drive attached to each Explorer box. The DVR plus interface is terrible - as terrible as the new channel guide. Why would I want to switch to a crappy interface, and substantially downgrade the number of recordings I can make?
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post #9 of 11
5/19/13 at 7:53pm
Hi! since the update we have lost our surround sound capabilities. They claim no one else has this issue but us, but I see here that others are having the same issue. Does anyone know how to fix it?
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post #10 of 11
5/19/13 at 7:54pm
Hi! since the update we have lost our surround sound capabilities. They claim no one else has this issue but us, but I see here that others are having the same issue. Does anyone know how to fix it?
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post #11 of 11
5/20/13 at 2:28pm
No luck at all, not enough of us are calling to get their attention. No one cares about sound anymore since MP3's!
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