[Jack White]

I have a Onkyo TX-504 receiver and Polk/Athena 7.1 system.

I have my Dish DVR hooked up to the receiver via optical digtal audio cable.

My dvd player through digital coax.

Whenever I listen any programming that's in PCM on Dish, I get faint popping sounds through the center channel in PL2X. Whenever I listen to Dolby Digital 2.0 or 5.1 movies on Dish I NEVER have the popping sound through the center channel speaker. I never get it on dvds either. Do you think this popping sound means that there's something wrong with my speakers or receiver or is it just horrible audio that Dish is giving me(garbage in garbage out?)?

Also, I'm even afraid to listen to anything that PCM on Dish through my system anymore because of the popping sound. Now I only use it for Dolby Digital or DTS encoded content.

 

[Paul Scarpelli]

Does the popping happen at all levels, or just when it's cranked? That's the first thing to check. If it happens at high levels, the center may be getting slightly more information, and either the amp or speaker are being pushed too hard. Is it a mechanical sound or an electronic popping sound?


BTW, the audio quality on Dish is really very good, especially on the newest HD receivers.

 

[Jack White]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul Scarpelli /forum/post/0


Does the popping happen at all levels, or just when it's cranked? That's the first thing to check. If it happens at high levels, the center may be getting slightly more information, and either the amp or speaker are being pushed too hard. Is it a mechanical sound or an electronic popping sound?


BTW, the audio quality on Dish is really very good, especially on the newest HD receivers.

I think it probably happens at all levels, but I usually crank it up to about 34 or 36 which is not really extremely loud. BTW, I switched to stereo, and then the popping sound came out of the left and right speakers.

 

[qboy]

I suspect the pre-amp of the PCM decoder creates the problem. It does not look like the speakers cause the problem since your DVD (DTS or Dolby Digital) is playing fine. Some receivers may not handle speakers with low impedance (I am talking about
Try to test your system using headphone rather than speakers. Usually the pre-amp drives a lower power amp that in turn drives the headphone. If the popping sound is still there, that means the problem is probably not related to speakers nor the power amp stage of the receiver. To verify, you may try this again with another PCM source (e.g. optical/digital out from a PC sound card), or you may take your reciever and the headphone to a friend's place who has a working dish system, to see if the popping sound is still there.

If the popping sound is not there in your headphone, that means your dish network is working fine and the problem could be after the PCM decoder, and there is a high chance that the reciever is faulty. Again, verify with another PCM source such as digital out of a PC sound card.