Audio Dropout Problem (722, 722K)

[mentsmin]

New disk network subscriber here.

We have had the service less than a week and have already begun to notice audio drops. There were several tonight on a local, HD channel. We have the 722k STB, with a Sony receiver. I saw someone suggest in another thread that the problem can be fixed by using an optical cable; however, that isn't the case for us. Further, the drops can be replicated by 'rewinding.'

The ironic thing is that we only switched to Dish (from uverse) because of audio drops on uverse.

Is this the same problem being discussed here? I'm obviously new to this board, and I've tried to locate the most recent thread on this problem...

 

[mentsmin]

But this is the first time I've heard that bypassing the HDMI sound and using a fibre cable for the audio did not solve the dropouts.

Using a fiber cable hasn't fixed our audio drop problem, either.

 

[arbow]

Same 722 audio issues here. Been reading many posts. Looks as though a software fix has been promised for quite a while. Can't be the signal or when you rewind the audio drop out would be at the same place. When I rewind the audio is ok until the next occurrence.

 

[AVMe]

I did not read this entire thread but I want to report that I still experience audio loss problems on the center audio channel when using the digital optical port on my 722 receiver. I reported this problem on this site last year. My numerous complaints to Dish Network have not helped.

My problem mostly occurs on only a few of my local channels.

After thoroughly testing my home theater equipment I am 100% certain that the problem is a design defect in Dish's receiver or in their signal.

The last time I reported it to Dish I was told in a sarcastic way that it is not Dish's problem and that I should report it to my local stations. When I threatened to leave Dish I was told that was certainly my option. That is a horrible response to a 14 year customer!

 

[nlk10010]

Just found this thread.

I have a 622 on EA and recently I've been getting audio "pops" and dropouts across a variety of channels, both my locals and national (e.g. PIX11-HD and Bravo-HD).

There is no Home Theater equipment involved, just using HDMI cable to TV.

I have not had the time (yet) to see if this occurs only on HD channels or on my other receiver, 211.

Is there any sense that this could be connected to EA (61.5/72.7/77) vs. other setups?

Thanks.

Edit: Sorry, I just saw this thread is for 722, as I say mine is a 622. If there's another thread for this problem perhaps the mod can move it.

 

[gtr225]

Hello, I believe I have the same issue being discussed in this forum. I have a 722k connected via hdmi to my onkyo ht-6200 htib. I noticed that only when the receiver is receiving a Dolby signal (which means only the HD channels), I get the issue. Whether its Dolby 2.0 or 5.1 I get the problem, PCM 2ch is fine. Basically the audio drops out for a second but does it every 15 seconds or so. So for example when it happens the audio sounds like this: S_ __r exam__e whe_ _t hap___s the a___o sou___ _ike t__s. The only way I found to resolve it is to unplug the hdmi cables and plug them back in, but this is impractical and the problem comes back shortly thereafter.

 

[ceyancey]

Audio Dropouts

I also experienced the nuisance audio dropouts on both on DirecTV and on Dishnetwork. Taking advice from this thread, I moved the HDMI cable directly from the Dish DVR to the TV and ran an optical cable to my AVR. I've had this setup now for approx 2 weeks, and to date, I have not experienced any more audio dropouts...............Hallelujah! Perhaps these providers need to enlist NASA scientist like Toyota has done to find the real culprit behind this problem.

 

[t.salerno58]

I have audio drop outs from my 722 to my pioneer AVR. It is an older AVR so it does not support HDMI. I am using the digital optical output. It has been much better recently (in the last couple of months) but not completely gone. It seems related to the Dolby Digital signal processing.

As a previous poster has stated I can eliminate the dropouts if I take the HDMI cable to the TV and then Digital optical to the AVR. However, In my case that only proves that is related to the Dolby signal as my Samsung TV does not output Dolby Digital on the digital optical output. in this setup I am not getting the full Dolby Signal to the AVR.

 

[worldwithoutwires]

I have a client with the same issue, using the optical cable for audio and it only happens when viewing HD channels. suspect the AV receiver (a Denon), See if you can get it to work with the LR audio ONLY disconnect the optical. Then try another AV receiver. Optical transmitter in the satellite receiver gets flaky or the optical decoder in the AV receiver gets bad. Either way

 

[mstregamer]

Just switched from 622 to 722k I NOW have the same issues, dropped audio, brand new pioneer receiver with all up to date hdmi connections, also when I switch from a station that is transmitting digital 5.1 to stereo 2.0 I get NO sound until I turn off/on my samsung hdtv!

 

[SatelliteMike]

As a quality control inspector, I run across this problem, usually related to channel surfing in high speed mode one channel at a time, and occasionally when fast forward or rewind is engaged repeatedly on the DVR. The research I did indicates a "buffer overrun", basically a software glitch that causes errors in audio or video translation for any number of reasons. Changing cables, improving satellite signals, replacing receivers, etc, all had no effect on the outcome of these customers. My theory (THEORY only at this point!) is that the common denominator is "power user behavior". In short, there is no Turbo Mode on HD receivers, regardless of what is printed on the dish. Success resolving the problem for power channel surfers was reached when using the guide AND page up/page down, then up/down to determine channel selection. In DVR operation, add a pause button and a two count between button punching.
One other option, for those with audio amplifiers, is to send signal DIRECTLY to the TV via HDMI, and send audio back to the audio amplifier via optical cable, then observe the guidelines mentioned above.
Please note, this has happened to only 7 customers of the over 400 722/722K QC inspections I've personally inspected since July 2009. All were resolved by slowing down their behavior with the remote.
I do believe there is a "glitch" in the HD receivers, but think there will be a software update to address this issue when it is correctly identified by someone far more qualified than me. Until then, I put this forth as only my personal opinion.

 

[BK94541]

i have audio problems in showtime channel when i watch "THE TUDORS" every damn WEEK..piss me off i'm close to cancel SHOWTIME because of this sh*t

 

[mentsmin]

Our issues are definitely not caused from rapidly changing channels.

 

[rwalborn]

audio dropotus on 722 and Onkyo receiver

I am also hearing intermittent audio drop outs 722 DVR connected to an Onyko 875 RECEIVER thru HDMI. When the dropouts occur, the Dolby Digital indicator on the receiver disappears. I tried to watch "Never Give a Sucker an Even Break" on TCM in HD, and the dropouts were so bad , I couldn't watch the program. The dropouts get recorded with the program. The dropout occur on HDMI and Optical. I also tried the analog output. When the digital outputs drop out, the analog outputs gets really distorted and varying in level.

I never see any problem with the picture.

 

[mstregamer]

multiple channels for me too....run all audio through my new pioneer receiver using hdmi never had a problem with my 622dvr.....ever! You would think that the 722k is a better more improved model.

 

[cjz]

Rec'd installation on 4/18/10. We had technician inspect out set up and were told that we should have no problems. Experienced technical issue within two weeks of installation. My main TV had picture but no sound. Called dish and spent over and hour plugging and unplugging wires to be told it was a technical issue. We were told at that time that there was a software glitch with their receivers and panasonic TV's. It would require another receiver model to fix this. We asked at that time why installer was not aware of this & rep said they do not make installers aware of these problems? Dish sent me another exact receiver (722K) in which Dish said they would send a different receiver (722). I spent another hour and half with dish hooking up the wrong receiver to no avail didn't work either. Dish then said that they would send out a technician to see what was going on. The technician from satelites unlimited could not fix our problem and called Dish to send me out a different receiver (722). After about 5 days I had not received another receiver; I called Dish to find out what was going on only to be told that the tech from Satelites unlimited did not close out the work order and that is why they didn't send the receiver yet. The rep from Dish assured me that they would indeed send the replacement receiver (722). After a few days and yet no receiver I called Dish back and was told that since the receiver is not the same model as the that was installed (722K) that a supervisor would have to approve. I promptly told the rep that I already spoke to a supervisor and they assured me the receiver would be sent. After another few days had passed and you guessed it no receiver, I called Dish once again to be told that a supervisor had to approve the change in model number for the receiver before they could ship. I spoke to another supervisor and was assured they would ship the receiver & I would receive it in a couple of days. I called Dish again once a few days had passed and they gave me the standard answer of a supervisor had to approve the model change. At this point I had spent over 5-6 hours on the phone in 4 weeks time and no resolution. I told them I was going to cancel my service due to Dish's inability to provide a service. I was quickly told that if a cancelled they would charge me $420.00 since I signed a contract with them for 24 months. I do not feel that I should have to pay them a dime since they did not hold up to there end of the contract. We have already payed for one month of service as well that we were not getting. Any assistance you could provide me with would be greatly appreciated.

 

[rdharper]

I have a repeatable problem with audio. The wife plays a lot of games... Playin TV. The sound will always drop out if she provides no input for several minutes. We have two 722s, they both do the same. No dropouts in normal TV mode. The receiver she is using will remain with no audio until reboot, whereas the other receiver (on the same 722) will continue to work correctly.

Anyone else have this problem? This is not a hardware problem, it is software.

 

[tsummerall]

Me too

We have these half second audio dropouts when watching recorded material on our 722 all the time. I didn't know about this thread so I started one a few days ago to see if anyone else noticed it.

 

[sunelec]

I have been having the audio dropout problem on my 622 for several months now. Tv sound thru HDMI goes out but audio still works on Home Theatre system. Happens on various channels several times each day but CNN seems to be the worst. What I do is change the channel and then return right away and the audio is back.

 

[Mogrub]

Immediately after installation in 12/09, I had recurring audio drops on my new 722k Dish setup. The fault is triggered when recording using one tuner and watching live tv using another tuner. At that point, if you pause or rewind the live feed, when playback resumes, the audio drops out every few seconds from that point forward. If you then record that program, the drops are also present upon playback. Resets fix the issue for a short time, but when you replicate the fault inducing conditions, the problem recurs.

Connection is HDMI from the 722k to the Pioneer VSX 918V amplifier. There is an OTA module installed but the fault appears to be completely independent of it. Box is in single mode.

Dish sent a replacement 722k. Same problem under the same conditions.

In addition to the 722k to Pioneer amplifier HDMI link, I've also got the audio and video feeds from this 722k sent to a VCR via RCA cables, and from the VCR to the Pioneer amp using RCA cables.

I just replicated the conditions necessary to cause the audio fault, and had the audio drop clearly (and annoyingly) present while listening through the primary HDMI link. I then changed the Pioneer input so that I was listening to the same program via the RCA feed, changing nothing else. Via RCA, there were no audio drops. You can switch back and forth at the Pioneer amp to listen to the HDMI feed (problems) and then the RCA feed (no problems).

Fascinating. Irritating too.

So I took the audio signal from the 722k to the Pioneer amp via an optical cable. Same program still playing with audio drops. Only audible on the HDMI feed. Not via RCA or optical links.

So I moved all of the equipment and rewired as this problem dictated. The video signal now goes direct to the TV from the 722K via HDMI, and the audio travels solo from the 722k to the amp via optical. That's fine, as far as it goes, but since my HDTV is several years old, and thus has only one HDMI input, I am now forced to take the BluRay player video signal to the TV directly, where I'm forced to use the component video jacks, since the only HDMI input is now monopolized by the direct feed from the 722k. Not ideal.

I am reposting this information since it may help somebody else with their audio headaches. The new connection scheme resolved all issues. I am going to have a new AV Receiver in place in the next 30 days, will try again on the hoped-for connection sequence (via HDMI from Sat Receiver to AV Receiver, and via HDMI from AV Receiver to TV), and will repost with any information on that. Obviously there have been 722k software changes since the original problems occurred, so if they do not recur when I change over, it will leave unanswered whether the correction comes from the new software, the new AV Receiver, or some combination of the two.