Hopper With Sling, Optical Audio Cutting Out

[comfortably_numb]

My 6 year old Sony only has an Optical Out. Are you guys sure the Coaxial Audio Out is passing 5.1 Audio? My Sony down converts it to 2 Channel on the Optical. Maybe newer sets allow this.

My tv is an RCA 48" flat panel, about a year old. It has the option to pass through "raw" uncompressed audio. So in answer to your question, yes, I am getting true 5.1 audio through the coaxial output. The TV is just passing through the audio from the HDMI cable.

 

[Skytrooper]

numb, you proved that this is an optical problem. Sure would be nice if Dish's Tech's could resolve this issue. This issue is getting very old and I am sick of it.

 

[lucky86]

What make and model AVR are you guys using?

 

[comfortably_numb]

KLH Model R5100 here

 

[mitchflorida]

numb, you proved that this is an optical problem. Sure would be nice if Dish's Tech's could resolve this issue. This issue is getting very old and I am sick of it.

You can switch the hopper with a joey and the problem will go away. Depends on what connections you have available on the other tvs.

 

[Skytrooper]

Receiver: Sony STR-DA4ES

Like I stated before, no problems with older Hopper.

 

[mitchflorida]

It doesn't matter what kind of AVR you have if the Hopper isn't sending out an audio signal . .lol

 

[comfortably_numb]

You can switch the hopper with a joey and the problem will go away. Depends on what connections you have available on the other tvs.

In my case, that solution was impractical as I prefer to have my Hopper hard-wired to Cat5 ethernet. My cable modem is right behind my TV, so that is where the Hopper goes as well. Moving a Joey to that location wouldn't solve the problem for me.

 

[caseynd]

I am having this same problem with a Hopper w/o sling
The hopper optical out is connected to a VIZIO S4251w-B4 5.1 Soundbar with Wireless Subwoofer
The audio cuts out when fast forwarding or rewinding, any chance there is a fix coming?

 

[comfortably_numb]

I am having this same problem with a Hopper w/o sling
The hopper optical out is connected to a VIZIO S4251w-B4 5.1 Soundbar with Wireless Subwoofer
The audio cuts out when fast forwarding or rewinding, any chance there is a fix coming?

Your Vizio soundbar has a coaxial audio input. If your TV has a coaxial audio output, connect it to your soundbar (assuming your TV is connected to Hopper HDMI output).

 

[caseynd]

Your Vizio soundbar has a coaxial audio input. If your TV has a coaxial audio output, connect it to your soundbar (assuming your TV is connected to Hopper HDMI output).

Thanks, I did see that workaround, I was just wondering on the status of the software fix, as it looked as though they were aware and working on it, but hadn't seen any updates since then. I was hoping to be able to use my optical out as the TV I have doesn't pass through 5.1 surround.

 

[TommyF@DISH Network]

Upgraded my old Hoppers 2 days ago for the new ones with Sling. What a nightmare. Every time I change a channel or when using the DVR to Fast Forward or Rewind the optical audio to my 7.1 Sony Receiver cuts out. When this occurs, the HDMI Audio to the TV speakers are OK. Never had this issue with the old Hoppers.
Last night, my wife while watching TV there was no sound. Her first response was to turn the volume up. Still no sound, so she changed channels. KABOOM. Everyone in the room jumped and the cat ran and hid. The protector light on my receiver lit up and saved my speakers. I hope.
Talked to Dish Tech Support and they said since you have a picture and HDMI Audio our obligations to the customer were met. I guess Optical Audio don't count for us customers who have older receivers.
I regret upgrading to these new Hoppers. If I would of known this issue had been around for a while, I would of never upgraded. I used to like my old Hoppers. By the looks of things this has been going on for a while and no solution has been found.
If there is not going to be a solution to this problem my only hope is someone helps me to buy out of this 2 year contract.
I am very angry about this and the damage it could of caused to my expensive 7.1 Surround Sound System.

I have the exact same problem. Ironically they fixed it with the last Sling version, but it just came back in the most recent software update.

Someone in software engineering dept. is clueless. The only "work-around" is to fast forward or rewind a couple of times until the sound comes back.


Good luck reporting it to technical support . . neinacrowd:

I am having this issue as well. Any time I fast forward or rewind, the optical audio disappears completely. Very frustrating!

I am having this same problem with a Hopper w/o sling
The hopper optical out is connected to a VIZIO S4251w-B4 5.1 Soundbar with Wireless Subwoofer
The audio cuts out when fast forwarding or rewinding, any chance there is a fix coming?

Hey guys, we have our engineering team looking into this and they need some more information. Can you four send me a PM with the receiver CA ID's please?

 

[mitchflorida]

In my case, that solution was impractical as I prefer to have my Hopper hard-wired to Cat5 ethernet. My cable modem is right behind my TV, so that is where the Hopper goes as well. Moving a Joey to that location wouldn't solve the problem for me.

Since you have been inconvenienced for at least three months on this issue, I would call up Dish Customer service and request a $5 monthly credit for 3 months.

 

[comfortably_numb]

Since you have been inconvenienced for at least three months on this issue, I would call up Dish Customer service and request a $5 monthly credit for 3 months.

Thanks for the suggestion, but it would take wayyyyy too much effort for me to try to explain this to an off-shore Dish CSR working in Pakistan who barely speaks English. More effort than it's worth.

 

[Skytrooper]

Hey guys, we have our engineering team looking into this and they need some more information. Can you four send me a PM with the receiver CA ID's please?

What the heck is a receiver CA ID ? Like another poster said, no signal out, no sound.

 

[n0qcu]

That's the Conditional Access number which on the Hopper is the R18 xxxx xxxxx

 

[lucky86]

When you say no signal out are you saying that you don't have a red light in the optical jack? If so, I would replace the box for hardware failure. I don't use optical cables but the red light is still visible.

 

[mitchflorida]

There is a red signal most of the time, except if you skip ahead or change the channel. Since a Hopper is $10 a month , you could ask for that credit. I know it was a big inconvenience. Plus you spend an hour on the phone with tech support and nothing gets fixed. Finally I used the tv's digital sound output instead and it works great.

 

[comfortably_numb]

When you say no signal out are you saying that you don't have a red light in the optical jack? If so, I would replace the box for hardware failure. I don't use optical cables but the red light is still visible.

Multiple people are having this issue, which would lead one to believe replacing the box wouldn't solve the problem.

 

[lucky86]

The reason I mentioned replacing the receiver is because I thought you were saying that the red light was not lighting up in the optical port. Not that the light cuts out when you FF and RW only. This is a software issue so replacing the box won't make a difference.