Can the 522 audio drops be fixed?

[Sapient]

While a lot of problems seem to come and go, the one constant I've had with my 522 is the 1-2 second audio drops. Do you think that this is actually a hardware issue that simply will never be fixed in some future software release?

I love the 522, but those audio drops really bug me. I'm getting about 4/hour right now.

 

[GetMeABeer]

You say the dropouts have been constant, but that hasn't been my experience. They were pretty much fixed with the L232 software. Under L232 the dropouts and audio/video sync problem was basically nonexistent. That was a pretty good month for the 522. Then they put out L233, that fixed nothing and ruined everything. Now the sync issues are worse than ever. The subtitles stop working. The disk diagnostics comes up in certain search situations. Timers fire but don't record anything. It's a joke.

 

[Sapient]

The only real problem I have had, and continue to have, is the audio drops.

 

[kluken]

The only real problem I have had, and continue to have, is the audio drops.

I had similar issues with two 921s and gave up, I suspect it is a resource issue that the receivers can't handle it at times.

 

[jtravel]

With L232 and L233 I had the Audio dropout and slight Video Glitch problems.
After a couple weeks I can't find anything L233 might have improved or any new problems it might have caused.

No missing DVR events so far.
Never had any timers that didn't fire unless there was a conflict to explain it.

Dishpass has worked pretty well although I had to tweek some settings.
I had a Dishpass for Carnival on HBO and it was working good but then one week it decided to record the Spanish language version on HBOLT.
Limited the dishpass to the specific channel and fixed that.

I have also noticed that it sometimes shows in upcoming events that it is going to record the same show at the same time on both TV1 and TV2. This causes other shows to be skipped due to conflict.
I set one of the Dups to skip and that fixes the conflict and it records the shows I wanted.

Minor problems and annoyances for the most part. Its not perfect but I still love it.

 

[ToJFS7931]

Now they just need to have folders so we dont have to scroll through an endless list of shows....

 

[tonyp56]

Throw the receiver out a 30 story building (making sure no one is below) then run down stairs and throw it out in the street just as a dump truck drives by, running it over, then for good measure pick it up and drop it. Package it up and send it to Charlie Ergen, PO BOX 389566, Denver Colorado 74575!

 

[drodenbo]

Nice (?) to know that I'm not the only one having this problem. I got my 522 off eBay a couple of months ago, got it activated through ceo@..., and have been very happy with it (much nicer than my 510 and 501 lease models), _except_ for the audio dropout issue. I assume E* is aware of it, yes? If I have the warranty plan with them, would replacing the unit help, or is this a problem with all of them?

 

[old corps]

Have the audio drop problem with my 921 as well. Seems like it only occurs on HD recordings. VERY FRUSTATING when it happens!! GGGRRRRRR!!!

 

[old corps]

and it's fruSTRATing too..............................

 

[Stargazer]

Its just a matter of time, at least I hope it is, otherwise they made a seriously bad decision with a manufacturer of one of the components in the receiver. Most likely its just their software.

 

[MikeD-C05]

It's got to be the software or there is a glitch from the satellite itself. I don't get any drop outs on my ota digital recordings unless I lose my antenna lock . Then I get the aquiring signal message. It happened on my 721 and on the 921 on regular satellite recordings . I have also noticed it on the 522 . The only thing I can say it is Dish's fault and they need to fix it.

 

[maximum]

Its just a matter of time, at least I hope it is, otherwise they made a seriously bad decision with a manufacturer of one of the components in the receiver. Most likely its just their software.

I've been hoping a software fix would eliminate it too but it's been a problem with every software version since 1.65 (the earliest version I've had). They seem to be more interested in adding new features than fixing this bug.

 

[GunnerJoe]

Holy crap! Last night my wife and I were watching a recording of last night's American Idol, and we were getting an audio dropout accompanied by a slight video glitch every 30 seconds to 2 minutes. Extremely annoying. We skipped through most of it anyway since the results shows are drawn out, but still, it was crazy. Backing up and replaying a dropout just repeated that dropout. That was the only timer running when it recorded, and nothing was recording when we were playing it back. Two timers were recording simultaneously before that show, but I have yet to see how those came out.

Of all the 522 problems, I have had very few. Audio dropouts is the biggest one. I can live with 1 or 2 every now and then - although I shouldn't have to! - but last night was ridiculous.

 

[bippi]

What is your signal strength?

 

[drodenbo]

Holy crap! Last night my wife and I were watching a recording of last night's American Idol, and we were getting an audio dropout accompanied by a slight video glitch every 30 seconds to 2 minutes. Extremely annoying.

I haven't seen the problem quite that severely, but I get a droupout on at least 60% - 70% of the shows I've recorded. Somtimes, I can rewind a bit and the dropout will not be there. Sometimes, it doesn't matter how many times I rewind - seems like the droupout is part of the recording (and yes, I see the video glitch at the point of dropout, too). My signal strength is pretty high, so I don't think that has anything to do with the problem - especially since my two previous recorders (501 and 510) recorded without fail, using the exact same cabling and dish.

 

[bippi]

You wouldn't happen to have a number to that signal strength, would you? Go into the menu, hit '6', hit '1', hit '1' again (this should take you to the point dish). At home, I get a 70 (I can't remember what satellite it was off of though, I'll get back to you), and I rarely get an audio drop...but I do get an audio drop from time to time (about once in every....maybe 4-8 hours, watching recorded shows (and that's all I watch)).

So, watching live shows, you get no audio drop? (I know, hard to tell...I don't watch live TV anymore either)

I would like to blame this on signal strength, because wouldn't it make sense that playback either works or it doesn't? It seems to work for the most part, so I want to believe that maybe there's something interrupting signal at some point during the day.

 

[drodenbo]

You wouldn't happen to have a number to that signal strength, would you? Go into the menu, hit '6', hit '1', hit '1' again...

Since I'm at work right now, I really can't do this. However, I've done it in the past, and my signal usually hovers in the mid to high 80's, sometimes wanders in to the 90's.

I would like to blame this on signal strength, because wouldn't it make sense that playback either works or it doesn't? It seems to work for the most part, so I want to believe that maybe there's something interrupting signal at some point during the day.

I'd like to blame it on the black helicopters hovering over my house, but reality has to rear its ugly head from time to time. My signal strength is strong, and my previous Dish DVRs did not exhibit this problem.

 

[bippi]

Edited and gone.

 

[bippi]

Edited and gone.