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Anyone experiencing audio drop out over HDMI?

5K views 10 replies 6 participants last post by  bbear 
#1 ·
I have had a DCX3400 for a few months now and have been putting up with random audio dropouts over HDMI. Prior to the DCX3400 I had a 6416, connected to my TV using component and I never had any issues with audio dropout.

Finally Eastlink agreed to install a second DCX3400 for me but I am experiencing the same issues. I have a Panasonic HD 42" plasma which is about six years old which has never given me any issues, although as I mentioned I had been using component connections with the 6416 previously.

Both DCX3400 boxes drop audio for three to five seconds, it can occur after only 10 minutes but usually it is more like every half hour to an hour. Generally I only watch HD content so I can't say if the problem happens with SD or not. I experience the dropout on live TV but also on recordings. When it happens during playing back of a recording, if I skip back and play again the drop out doesn’t occur (i.e. the drop out is not present in the file which is stored on the hard drive in the box)

I have replaced my HDMI cables but the problem is still there. I also tried playing audio from my Sony Blu Ray player over HDMI to the same Panasonic TV and doesn't exhibit any audio dropouts whatsoever. The next step is to borrow another TV and see if it has any audio dropout issues when sourced by the DCX3400.

I would be interested to hear if anyone else has suffered the same audio dropout issues when using the DCX3400

thanks
 
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#3 ·
Yes, I can try that. I should still have the component cables and stereo audio cable somewhere. Ultimately I want to go back to HDMI though as the cable is much easier to tuck away. Definitely a good experiment though - thanks for the suggestion.

At the moment I have one of the DCX3400's connected to another TV, a Sony LCD HDTV. I am using the same HDMI cable which I used for the Panasonic. I need to run the test for a few hours before I can comment on whether the audio dropout is there or not.
 
#4 ·
I had a similar problem, but with the picture instead of the sound. The symptoms were virtually the same as you describe just with the picture. My issue was the Sony amp everything was going through, when I took that out everything was fine or if I used any connection but HDMI. A software update of the Eastlink box got rid of the problem about six months ago, had no issue since. I understand how annoying it is as I kept getting picture drops during crucial parts of the sports games etc. Like you it also happened on recorded programs but if I skipped back the programme was still intact. All I can suggest is a component connection rather than HDMI.
 
#5 ·
Thanks, it helps when talking to Eastlink to point out that I am not alone in having these problems.
Yesterday I connected one of my DCX's to a Sony LCD HDTV, I watched TV all night and there wasn't a single dropout.
From that that you might determine that my Panasonic is the problem but how come my Sony blu ray works fine with the Panasonic?
I suspect it may be to do with the way the different pieces of equipment handles what the DCX'S is pushing out. Maybe one piece of equipment has more buffering than the other?
With the Sony + DCX combination, I tried setting the DCX to PCM but there was no sound out of the SonyTV, so I can't test it with the same setup as I had been using with the Panasonic.
I will try playing with the different audio settings on the Panasonic and the DCX to see if there is one combination which doesn't give me dropout.
 
#6 ·
Perhaps you need a firmware update on the TV since it's a few years old? Here's an FAQ on HDMI issues. Go through the checklist of things there one by one and see if anything pops up that you can check/try. With HDMI there is a "handshake" that takes place at the start and then occasionally thereafter. This may not be working properly with your "older" TV.

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=71112

Here's a useful post for those new to the forum: http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=57741
 
#9 ·
Thanks everyone for the suggestions. Having read the HDMI FAQ I have set up the DCX3400 to output in DVI mode. For audio this means that I had to connect a regular stereo cable between the DCX and my Panasonic TV. Fortunately my TV has a stereo input just for such a situation, so when there is no audio coming into its HDMI input it uses the analogue stereo input instead. I checked, and the A/V sync appears acceptable at the moment.

I am hoping that by using HDMI for video but analogue for audio the audio dropouts will be gone - time will tell.

I have also set my DCX to force the output to 1080i and will try audio over HDMI again to see if that helps. If not then I hope the analogue audio workaround will solve the dropouts. Of course it means another cable but it is still much easier to route a HDMI cable + stereo cable compared to a set of component leads.

Forgot to mention...

I will look into whether my TV is capable of receiving a firmware update but since it doesn't have an Ethernet, USB or wifi connection I would imagine is would need to be sent in to a service centre. It was manufactured in 2005 and has been a pretty decent set but time is coming for an upgrade. Maybe OLED in a couple of years?
 
#10 ·
Hi there, Why don't you take your DcX700 and move it to the tv you are having audio issues with? This way you can see if your hdmi is working correctly on your tv set. You said it worked with no audio problems on your sony, so you know the dcx700 is not an issue.Use the same hdmi cable and setup that you use for your 3400. This way you can see for sure whether it's a 3400 box issue, an hdmi issue or a tv issue...
 
#11 ·
Sorry, but I don't have DCX700, maybe you are confusing with another post.
Certainly it would be good to try another DVR with my Panasonic TV. Besides, for what I have read, when it comes to the different flavours of HDMI playing together, it is not always that black and white.
For now I am happy with my setup, the only slight downside is that there is noticeable buzz (60hz?) at higher volume level, maybe due to a ground loop.
 
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