Serious Sound Problems For Returning Dish Customer

[SpencerCat]

I recently returned to Dish after 2 years with DirecTV, preceded by 14 years with Dish.

I’m having an extremely annoying problem with the sound on recorded and paused programs.

Frequently while watching a recorded or paused program on the Hopper, every 10-15 seconds the sound will cut out for 1-2 seconds. If it weren’t for closed captioning, we wouldn’t know what was being said.

I was fiddling around last night and discovered a workaround, but it is completely unacceptable. For the money we pay Dish, we shouldn’t have to use workarounds, especially for something as basic as sound. Workaround:
Menu/Settings/Audio/Audio Output/change to ‘PCM only’/Save/return to program

Then repeat the process:
Menu/Settings/Audio/Audio Output/change to ‘Dolby Digital/PCM’/Save/return to program
Problem fixed.

Anyone else experience this problem?

Any suggestions about how to fix this problem?

I never thought I would say this, but because of this sound problem and the degraded Dish user guide, DirecTV is looking pretty good, and I’m beginning to regret coming back to dish.

Thanks for reading my mini-rant and for any suggestions.

Richard

 

[sam_gordon]

I don't understand. Does the sound cut out and stay out, or it comes back on it's own after 1-2 seconds? If it comes back on it's own, why do you do need to do the work around?

I don't have a hopper, but occasionally my 612 will drop audio for a second. By occasionally, I mean maybe 1-2 times a week. Annoying, yes, but not worth doing anything about.

Another stupid question... have you pulled power on your hopper for 10-15 seconds, then plug it back in? Let it get a full reset?

 

[Rolling Joe]

If this is occurring on the Hopper, you are experiencing audio dropouts talked about on this thread.

Adding an optical cable between the Hopper and the AVR and using that for audio eliminated the dropouts for me.

 

[SpencerCat]

If this is occurring on the Hopper, you are experiencing audio dropouts talked about on this thread.

Adding an optical cable between the Hopper and the AVR and using that for audio eliminated the dropouts for me.

Thanks for the thread reference. Most people in the thread seem to have Yamaha AVR's, but I have a Denon.

Per your suggestion, two days ago I added an optical cable from the Hopper to the AVR and then spent more than an hour stumbling through the archaic Denon menu system, which looks like it might have been written in DOS, for you old-timers. Anyway, I finally got everything set correctly and have not experienced any dropouts since the switch to optical cable, but I haven't watched many recorded programs since the switch. I have many recorded programs to watch, so tonight I'm going to stress test the new setup. If the dropouts come back, I'll be back here.

Thanks to Rolling Joe and sam_gordon for responding.

Richard

 

[BBCInc]

How long does the workaround stay in effect?

 

[Rolling Joe]

I installed the optical cable at the beginning of September. Not a dropout since.

 

[BBCInc]

Might have to do that... IF my AVR has an optical input.

 

[SpencerCat]

I’m back ... unfortunately.

As I wrote in an earlier post, I took Rolling Joe’s suggestion and plugged in an optical cable between the Hopper and the AVR. The sound dropout problem disappeared for about 3 weeks, but now the identical sound dropout problem is back: while watching some recorded or paused programs on the Hopper, every 10-15 seconds the sound will cut out for 1-2 seconds.

Yesterday morning, I unplugged the Hopper for 5 minutes, but the sound dropout problem reoccurred last night.

Last night I tried to watch a recorded program, but it was unwatchable due to the frequent sound dropouts, so I watched a recorded movie, which did NOT have sound dropouts. When the movie finished about 2 hours later, I went back to the earlier ‘unwatchable’ program, but the sound dropouts had disappeared, and I was able to watch the program.

Perhaps the most difficult kind of problem to fix is one that occurs intermittently and has inconsistent symptoms.

Regarding the sound dropouts, there is a 15-page thread on the Dish Support site, dating from March 25, 2013 to September 18, 2014. That’s 1.5 YEARS that this problem has existed, and if you read through the thread, you will see multiple promises from Dish that the sound dropout problem will be fixed in the next update.

On March 25, 2013, a Dish representative posted the following: “We are working to resolve this issue, and we do apologize that is occurring.” Note that the Dish representative made that comment 1.5 YEARS ago.

From the Dish Support site:
“by Ray C. Tue Mar 26, 2013 1:26 pm
There is a fix that is projected to resolve this issue soon. Resetting the receiver will temporarily resolve the issue for now.”

Resetting the receiver will cause the loss of any programs currently recording, and besides, considering the amount of money we pay Dish, we shouldn’t have to use workarounds, especially for something as basic as sound.

 

[Dirtydan]

I also plugged in an optical cable to my Denon and agree with comments about Denon menu settings being hard to figure out. I have had a few audio drops since, both on recorded and live, but only rarely.
Dan
In a previous post I stated that I had an Onkyo, my bad, that was my previous Avr.

 

[sam_gordon]

Perhaps the most difficult kind of problem to fix is one that occurs intermittently and has inconsistent symptoms.

Resetting the receiver will cause the loss of any programs currently recording, and besides, considering the amount of money we pay Dish, we shouldn’t have to use workarounds, especially for something as basic as sound.

Read those two sentences together. They are both true.

 

[mitchflorida]

it could be a faulty cable that you are using.

 

[dwarren2]

What happens if you bypass the AVR and plug the hdmi cable into the TV?

 

[SpencerCat]

it could be a faulty cable that you are using.

Would you clarify? My initial setup was HDMI from Hopper to AVR, and then HDMI from AVR to TV. Per a suggestion here, I additionally ran an optical cable from Hopper to AVR and then set the AVR to use the optical input instead of the HDMI for sound. So I don't know which 'faulty cable' you are referring to.

It's possible but unlikely that both the HDMI and optical cables are faulty.

And besides, many people on the Dish support site report the same problem, and they represent only a small portion of people with this problem; most people don't take the time to post on the Dish support site.

This sound dropout problem is very frustrating. For the 2 years I was with DirecTV, I was counting the months until the end of my 2-year contract, and I could return to Dish, where I had been for 13 or 14 years. But now, because of the sound problem and Dish's crappy program guide (which USED to be excellent), I'm almost at the point where I'm awaiting the end of my Dish contract so that I can return to DirecTV, something I never thought would happen.

As a side issue, I would like to comment on the seemingly perpetual discussion about which satellite provider has the best picture. I know that comparison of picture quality is mostly subjective, but after having been with DirecTV for 2 years and now recently returning to Dish, my subjective opinion is that DirecTV's picture quality is noticeably better than Dish's. And, except for the embedded PPV movies, DirecTV's program guide is definitely better than Dish's.

To wrap this up, after 2 years of eagerly awaiting a return to Dish, I'm finally back, and I'm very disappointed in what has happened to Dish while I was gone. It's like meeting an old girlfriend who used to be beautiful with a great body, and then discovering that, over the years, she's gotten fat and ugly.

Thanks for reading my way too long dissertation, but I felt that I had to get some things off my chest, and besides, my experiences and thoughts may help someone else.

Richard

 

[SpencerCat]

What happens if you bypass the AVR and plug the hdmi cable into the TV?

And leave the optical cable connected to the AVR? I don't want to use the TV's sound system, so I need to get the sound to my AVR somehow. Optical Out from the TV to the AVR?

You know, if Dish's software and hardware simply worked the way they are supposed to -- continuous sound with no dropouts -- we wouldn't even be having discussions about workarounds.

But don't misunderstand me, I do appreciate all the suggestions and questions that have been posted in this thread. I simply resent having to have these discussions because of Dish's buggy software, the fixing of which seems to be a very low priority for Dish, since the sound dropout problem has been around for at least 1.5 years: March 25, 2013 is the first reference I saw to the sound problem.

Richard

 

[ERSanders]

I had a similar problem with my HWS feeding HDMI into a Sony Bravia TV. Everything was replaced except the TV including all cables; RF, optical and HDMI, LNBAs, receiver (twice) and duo-node. The solution that worked for me was using component cables. This is, to the best of my knowledge, a specific Sony issue, but may be present in other brands. Do you have a Sony Bravia TV?

 

[Rolling Joe]

On March 25, 2013, a Dish representative posted the following: “We are working to resolve this issue, and we do apologize that is occurring.” Note that the Dish representative made that comment 1.5 YEARS ago.

Not to be flippant, but they did resolve it by adding closed captioning to the green button on the latest software update.



I'm still dropout free since the fix, but your experience with DirecTV and now DISH, mirrors mine, with both audio and video PQ.

 

[SpencerCat]

I had a similar problem with my HWS feeding HDMI into a Sony Bravia TV. The solution that worked for me was using component cables. This is, to the best of my knowledge, a specific Sony issue, but may be present in other brands. Do you have a Sony Bravia TV?

Yes, I have a Sony KDL60EX720. In the 15-page thread on the Dish Support site, I believe that people mention having TV’s other than Sony.

I read the following on the Internet (which means that it may or may not be true):

• “With component cable you only get video up to 720P.”
• “No difference in Video quality, except that your component will probably be limited to 1080i (not 1080p).”

I’m glad that you found a solution that works for you, but I’m going to stay with HDMI and optical and hope that Dish finally fixes the sound dropout problem.

 

[SpencerCat]

Not to be flippant, but they did resolve it by adding closed captioning to the green button on the latest software update.

Very funny. Ha, ha. Thanks for the laugh.

My signature used to be "Cynicism is just one of the services I offer."

 

[JSheridan]

Dude, your custom font is painful.

Component does up to 1080i.

 

[osumike]

Could you try running the dish receiver into the TV using HDMI, then the optical cable out of the TV into your avr?

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